http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/ en-GB Mon, 08 Dec 2008 11:48:09 +0000 http://www.typepad.com/ http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/12/have-you-change.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/12/have-you-change.html Please go to www.thefinanser.co.uk to read this blog and, if you are using a feed, please use this one: http://thefinanser.co.uk/fsclub/atom.xml. The old feed is now broken and no longer works. Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:20:04 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/12/use-this-feed-n.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/12/use-this-feed-n.html If you want to keep up with the Finanser, go to www.thefinanser.co.uk and subscribe, or just enter http://thefinanser.co.uk/fsclub/atom.xml into your RSS feeder. Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:35:48 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/12/feed-no-longer.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/12/feed-no-longer.html Please note that theFinanser website has moved to the Financial Services Club's website. If you subscribe to this feed, please change your settings to the new one: http://thefsclub.typepad.com/fsclub/atom.xml. Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Tue, 02 Dec 2008 10:48:56 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/12/note-blog-feed.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/12/note-blog-feed.html Please note that theFinanser website has moved to the Financial Services Club's website. Therefore, if you subscribe to the feed, please change your settings from the old feed to this one: http://thefsclub.typepad.com/fsclub/atom.xml Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:43:53 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/12/banks-ignore-so.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/12/banks-ignore-so.html James Gardner, Head of Innovation and Research for a major UK bank and author of the blog BankerVision, commented on my urge for banks to rush into social media last week, and reckoned it didn�??t cut the cloth. Banks are... banking Chris Skinner General general interest Marketing Retail Banking Social Networking Technology The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Mon, 01 Dec 2008 10:15:21 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/12/another-uk-bank.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/12/another-uk-bank.html Just got news of the fact that London Scottish Bank, based in Manchester with around 1200 staff, has been placed into administration by the Financial Services Authority after being unable to meet its regulatory capital requirements. banking Chris Skinner FSA regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 01 Dec 2008 08:55:55 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/never-mind-the.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/never-mind-the.html In an interesting challenge to my own views, James Gardner at BankerVision posts a retort to the idea that social networking and social media are important to banks, by saying it's all irrelevant ... unless I'm mistaken. Based upon the... banking Chris Skinner Internet Retail Banking Social Networking The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:08:13 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/m-billing-a-kil.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/m-billing-a-kil.html I had a fascinating chat today with the head of payments at one of the largest British utility firms. She was very interested in one new channel, mobile payments, and particularly the potential of m-billing. m-billing appears to be another... banking Chris Skinner mobile payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:03:31 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/virgins-multich.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/virgins-multich.html Speaking of Virgin Trains, I was subjected to an encounter with multichannel misery today which, although unrelated to banks, is worth recounting as we can always learn from good and bad service stories. Virgin offers a train ticket that is... Chris Skinner Technology Chris Skinner Thu, 27 Nov 2008 13:10:35 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/no-answer-from.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/no-answer-from.html I've been having problems printing tickets for a Virgin Train I'm travelling on today, so I called their call centre. After going through the menu pick system, I got a message in an Indian voice stating: "Due to technical difficulties,... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Technology Chris Skinner Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:35:07 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/desperately-see.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/desperately-see.html I�??ve spent the last few weeks wondering about the fallout from the Lehman Brothers collapse and the onward losses in the stock markets. With $2.5 trillion of losses estimated by the Bank of England amongst the banking community, and over... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Technology The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:30:51 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/one-year-after.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/one-year-after.html Fascinating meeting today on liquidity and where it�??s all going, as I chaired a panel session with Chi-x, Equiduct, Turquoise, NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Bourse. I was amused to find that the LSE was not there, after my comments of... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner financial markets MiFID The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:35:16 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/banking-that-ro.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/banking-that-ro.html It was interesting watching the discussions of bank retailers at the USA�??s BAI Retail Delivery show. There was little discussion of the credit crisis, the bank bailout or subprime, although this was ever prevalent as a backdrop to the Show.... banking Chris Skinner Retail Banking The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:00:36 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/citigroup-is-de.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/citigroup-is-de.html After announcing the lay off of 52,000 staff, Citi saw a massive 20 percent drop in share price on Friday alone, a 60 percent drop on the week and a loss of $20 billion so far this year. The result... banking Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 22 Nov 2008 13:28:47 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/how-to-make-mon.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/how-to-make-mon.html So that�??s the end of a week in Orlando in a Mickey Mouse conference. Lots of great stories about the banks that are surviving who all seem to have one thing in common: put the customer at the core of... banking Chris Skinner Retail Banking The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:49:43 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/ing-direct-rebe.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/ing-direct-rebe.html At every conference you find a few highlights, and this one is no exception as I attended a plenary keynote yesterday starring Arkadi Kuhlmann, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of ING Direct USA. In a few short years, ING... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest Internet Retail Banking The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:40:51 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/resolving-the-c.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/resolving-the-c.html Some friends of mine who run the European Finance Convention have lined up a great conference on 8th and 9th December in Brussels, focused upon how Europe will approach resolving the financial crisis. Speakers include: Joaquin Almunia, European Commissioner for... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets MiFID SEPA The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:14:38 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/the-hills-are-a.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/the-hills-are-a.html The reason for my excitement yesterday about a new retail bank for Britain is because it�??s a new bank, and a bank by Vernon Hill. Vernon Hill is a bit of a legend, as he�??s a guy who built a... banking Chris Skinner General general interest Retail Banking The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:57:38 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/breaking-news-b.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/breaking-news-b.html For quite a while now, I�??ve been keeping a secret. The secret is that there is a brand new retail bank being launched in Britain next year. And it�??s not an internet bank. It�??s not a call centre based bank.... banking Chris Skinner General general interest Retail Banking The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:49:21 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/a-few-mickey-mo.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/a-few-mickey-mo.html This week I�??m at a major retail banking conference in Orlando, USA, home of Disney and Universal Studios. Sure, I can hear you all saying, what�??s Chris doing at such a Mickey Mouse Conference, but it�??s got over 4,000 retail... banking Chris Skinner General general interest Marketing Retail Banking The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:10:30 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/g20-roller-coas.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/g20-roller-coas.html I loved this cartoon about the G20 summit that appeared in the Financial Times by Ingram Pinn: As I'm in Orlando, I can thoroughly recommend that Disney puts up a ride called: "the Global Market Meltdown Rollercoaster" that works like... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets General general interest Globalisation regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:52:17 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/internet-bankin.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/internet-bankin.html A year ago, I talked about how unusable the Xiring terminals were and have seen loads of blogs and commentaries about how impractical these terminals are in everyday life since then. Thank goodness Visa has now integrated one-time passwords into... banking cards Chris Skinner Internet payments Retail Banking Technology The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sun, 16 Nov 2008 11:37:19 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/nows-the-time-t.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/nows-the-time-t.html Fascinating article sent to me in the New York Times just before the election results were announced. According to the article, "a $10,000 investment in the S.& P. stock market index would have grown to $11,733 if invested under Republican... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner financial markets Futures & Options The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:39:44 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/bai-retail-deli.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/bai-retail-deli.html Flying out to the USofA tomorrow to host a group of international CxO's from European and Asian banks at the BAI Retail Delivery Conference and Exhibition. The BAI Show is the biggest Expo for Retail Banking in the world, with... banking Chris Skinner Retail Banking The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:27:28 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/1802-quote-abou.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/1802-quote-abou.html A mate of mine sent me this quote from Thomas Jefferson, written in1802: "If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:03:25 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/the-battering-o.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/the-battering-o.html I�??ve been watching MiFID�??s (the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) progress avidly in the background over recent months. I say, in the background, because there�??s been so much stuff going on in the stock markets after Lehman Brothers that it... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner financial markets MiFID The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 14 Nov 2008 10:53:26 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/branch-or-int-1.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/branch-or-int-1.html Yesterday I posed the question branch or internet, and made it an extreme choice. Everyone says you would never have such a stark choice, but there was reason in my madness and the reason is that we are caught in... banking Chris Skinner Internet Retail Banking Social Networking Technology The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 13 Nov 2008 11:53:13 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/is-this-person.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/is-this-person.html Most of you know that I blog here and also at SWIFTCommunity's website. I log on this morning to the SWIFT site, and find I have 1 unread message, so I open it ... and laugh and laugh and laugh.... banking Chris Skinner Fraud General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:42:10 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/overcoming-thos.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/overcoming-thos.html Lehman Brothers staffers celebrate the fact they still have jobs in office Olympics (sic): banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:44:18 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/branch-or-inter.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/branch-or-inter.html Last year, I got into a long debate about investments in branches versus alternative channels, so I thought I would get into that debate again a year on �?� but with a twist. Today, if a bank does not have... banking Chris Skinner Internet Marketing Retail Banking Technology The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:13:55 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/you-dont-have-t.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/you-dont-have-t.html As I wrote the last two blogs about 'average being good enough' and large global banks , I realised that there was a link between the two. The link is that HSBC, Citi, Deutsche and more, are all aiming to... banking Chris Skinner Globalisation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 11 Nov 2008 01:51:55 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/riders-of-the-s.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/riders-of-the-s.html Whilst several banks have been hit and buffered by the storms of the credit crisis, with a few sinking with loss of jobs, there are one or two banks that have been sailing through this storm with determination and focus.... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis financial markets General general interest Technology The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:08:16 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/post-election-o.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/post-election-o.html Post-election, the Onion News Network reports that Barack Obama's supporters have lost the will to live: Meanwhile in his paternal homeland of Kenya, mothers across the nation are naming their children Barack or Michelle, after his wife, or Obama which... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest regulation SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 08 Nov 2008 03:20:40 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/just-being-aver.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/just-being-aver.html We had a huge bust-up last night, when my banking colleague and I were discussing customer service. Over dinner we were all recounting stories of good and bad customer services, and boy did we have a few humdingers. The change... banking Chris Skinner The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:38:36 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/uk-government-t.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/uk-government-t.html In a post reminiscent of something I wrote a few months ago, the BBC reports today that "supermarkets could be asked to take people's fingerprints as part of the government's identity card scheme." Watch that space. banking cards Chris Skinner payments Technology The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:58:37 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/how-to-beat-up.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/how-to-beat-up.html Just found a great new little blog called "How to beat up anything". It just shows how nutty folks are to come up with such a site. They even have a guide as to How To Beat Up an Apple-Throwing... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Weblogs Chris Skinner Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:36:00 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/banks-are-techn.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/banks-are-techn.html This week, there are quite a few folks in Prague at a conference on payments in Central & Eastern Europe including myself. Lots of local banks presenting as well as regionally focused transaction providers, such as ING, Raiffiessen and Deutsche.... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Technology The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 06 Nov 2008 10:42:55 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/american-banks.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/american-banks.html We wake up today to find that Barack Obama has been duly crowned Prince, sorry, elected as the next President of America. Whatever your view of that result, the fact is that it brings a sense of 'hope over fear�??... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets Technology The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:14:45 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/wells-fargo-a-l.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/wells-fargo-a-l.html I was delighted to host Wells Fargo to a meeting at the Financial Services Club last night. Wells gave an update on their Web 2.0 strategies, which are far and away ahead of most other banks in Europe. This was... banking Chris Skinner Internet Marketing Retail Banking Social Networking Technology The Banking Channel Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Tue, 04 Nov 2008 07:22:56 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/marketing-finan.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/marketing-finan.html Dick Stroud, an expert on using interactive channels to communicate with the over-50s market, posted a blog on his website yesterday that includes a link to his presentation on the subject. The presentation is fascinating as it shows the major... banking Chris Skinner Social Networking Technology The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 04 Nov 2008 07:19:00 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/fonejacker-on-s.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/fonejacker-on-s.html Nothing to do with banking, but this phone call between Sarah Palin and Neecolas Sarkozee is very funny. Not for Sarah Palin however. Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:36:47 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/halifax-a-succe.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/halifax-a-succe.html A couple of weeks ago, I had a moan about HBOS�??s marketing. Maybe it's not so bad though, as they seem to have pulled that advert. To add some balance therefore, here's an interesting case study about the Halifax, part... banking Chris Skinner Internet Marketing Retail Banking Technology The Banking Channel Web/Tech Chris Skinner Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:07:37 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/lloyds-tsb-firs.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/lloyds-tsb-firs.html After blogging about mobile the other day, I was surprised but pleased to see that Lloyds TSB claim to be the first to offer banking on the phone: What surprised me even more is that they are already advertising this... banking Chris Skinner payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 03 Nov 2008 09:43:49 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/what-could-you.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/what-could-you.html After talking about the £5.8 billion (near $10 billion) that the Sovereign Wealth Funds of Qatar and Abu Dhabi gave to Barclays in return for a 30% stake in the Bank, which is by no means a done deal by... banking Chris Skinner The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:14:10 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/a-diamond-maste.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/a-diamond-maste.html For quite a while now, MasterCard has been issuing a Diamond MasterCard. Yes, it is a MasterCard and yes, it has real diamonds in it. This one came out in the Spring in Dubai, and yes, that is real gold... banking cards Chris Skinner payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sun, 02 Nov 2008 08:33:00 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/happy-november.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/happy-november.html After having every little rugrat in the neighbourhood banging on the front door shouting "trick or treat", I gave their mums and dads a copy of this cartoon from Pugh: That soon got rid of them. Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs Chris Skinner Sat, 01 Nov 2008 11:18:38 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/every-bankers-m.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/every-bankers-m.html Just noticed this trailer for The International, a movie that is to be released in February 2009 starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts. The story, courtesy of the Internet Movie Database, goes: "An obsessive Interpol agent (Clive Owen) who spearheads... banking Chris Skinner General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 01 Nov 2008 10:01:00 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/hbos-lost-contr.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/11/hbos-lost-contr.html Watching the BBC's Money Programme, they have just started a six-part series about the Credit Crash on Thursday nights. The first episode focused upon HBOS and their issues. Fascinating programme that included an interview with Paul Moore, the Group Head... banking Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets FSA The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 01 Nov 2008 09:04:00 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/barclays-billio.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/barclays-billio.html I spent a lot of time talking about Barclays Bank yesterday, and the fact that they have not taken the government�??s offer of recapitalisation support, unlike RBS, HBOS and Lloyds TSB. This is an unusual move, and everyone wondered what... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 31 Oct 2008 11:57:32 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/is-this-what-we.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/is-this-what-we.html I just got sent this link. Nothing to do with banking although, as I watched it, it did make me think that maybe this is what we've been through the last month in the industry. I just hope the ending... Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:05:28 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/great-advert-fo.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/great-advert-fo.html I don't normally rave about bank adverts but there have been some good ones lately, particularly those from the card firms for contactless cards. The last one that stood out was the Visa ad, and now Barclaycard have produced a... banking cards Chris Skinner payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 31 Oct 2008 06:36:00 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/apologies-to-bj.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/apologies-to-bj.html After taking the piddle out of Iceland in my blog about their collapsing banks when the news broke back on 7th October, I do feel some sympathy for their situation. Especially as our banks are in crisis too. However, to... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:29:38 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/bankers-dont-he.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/bankers-dont-he.html So the governments of the world pumped in $3.5 trillion to the banking markets over the past month. Markets that have lost $2.8 trillion over the past year. And what do the banks do? Well the US banks, who received... banking Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets Hank Paulsen regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 30 Oct 2008 12:06:23 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/is-mobile-banki.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/is-mobile-banki.html Posted an article on Mobile Banking on SWIFTCommunity today that talks about the four levels of banking I see out there today on mobiles. There's basic text messaging, such as GCash in the Philippines: Then there's a fuller mobile wallet... banking cards Chris Skinner payments Technology The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 30 Oct 2008 11:51:44 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/28-trillion-is.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/28-trillion-is.html I noted in yesterday's blog about the Financial Stability Report from the Bank of England that they say UK banks ramped up lending to £700 billion ($1.1 trillion) over deposits between 2001 and 2008, but failed to mention that they... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:22:54 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/what-happens-to.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/what-happens-to.html Whatever we say about the Eurozone and its challenges, particularly in light of the credit crunch, we have a problem. When Ireland announced guarantees for all customer deposits, without limits, earlier this month it led to a crisis of confidence.... banking Chris Skinner regulation SEPA The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:11:48 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/the-financial-i.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/the-financial-i.html The Bank of England (�??the Bank�??) released their Financial Stability Report today ... or should we rename this the Financial Instability Report as that's what we've seen for the last few months. The Report reviews the UK banking system every... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis financial markets FSA regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:25:24 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/lets-all-move-t.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/lets-all-move-t.html The World Economic Forum (WEF) released their Global Competitiveness Report last week. Compiled by Michael Porter of Harvard University and Klaus Schwab of the WEF, it clearly shows the impact of the last year�??s market turbulence. In the preface, Klaus... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:04:53 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/a-tale-of-two-b.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/a-tale-of-two-b.html On Thursday 23rd October, I received an email newsletter from VRL Publishing with the headline titled: "HSBC stands out from the crowd�??. Here�??s the opening paragraph: �??HSBC's near-unparalleled strength in the face of the tornadoes blowing through global financial markets... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sun, 26 Oct 2008 11:33:01 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/it-was-the-doll.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/it-was-the-doll.html I received this image on email the other day: This was when the dollar was trading at over $2 to the £1. Now I got this image: Yep, you guessed it. The £1 is now only worth $1:50 ... and... banking Chris Skinner The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sun, 26 Oct 2008 09:35:23 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/viral-campaigni.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/viral-campaigni.html Barack Obama apparently raised $150 million in campaign funds in September, and now you can see where he's spending that wad of dosh. In a sequel to the Budweiser Wassup adverts from a decade ago, he makes a few key... Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest Chris Skinner Sun, 26 Oct 2008 08:22:06 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/more-jobless-ba.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/more-jobless-ba.html After my post the other day about bank layoffs, the news that Goldman Sachs were to layoff 10% of their 32,500 staff led to Here is the City posting a definitive list of the layoffs from all banks. Here's a... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis financial markets Technology The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 25 Oct 2008 08:17:00 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/corporate-socia.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/corporate-socia.html I just found this list of the best Corporate Social Media and Networks today. Amazingly long list that is short of bank examples. Here are the few financial links which includes both the good, the bad and the ugly: Accuquote:... banking Chris Skinner Internet Social Networking Technology The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Fri, 24 Oct 2008 14:24:13 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/sometimes-its-b.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/sometimes-its-b.html I chaired a dinner this week on speeds, feeds and latency in the City's Capital Markets. Fascinating stuff all about the latest Multilateral Trade Facilities (MTFs) and how Chi-X and Turquoise claim to be ripping up the old exchange models... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner financial markets MiFID regulation Technology The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:06:27 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/send-in-another.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/send-in-another.html I was in Ireland yesterday. As always, the humour and hospitality of my Irish friends was second-to-none as illustrated by this cartoon from the Irish Independent: Chris Skinner Credit Crisis financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:53:14 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/tech-its-an-age.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/tech-its-an-age.html Someone commented on my last blog that it's just me getting older. Looking at the latest E*TRADE ad, I see what they mean ... banking Chris Skinner Technology The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 23 Oct 2008 23:20:59 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/why-is-that-tod.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/why-is-that-tod.html Having spent the last month virtually non-stop talking about the doom and gloom of the stock markets and the financial industry, I thought I�??d be much more positive today and talk about technology. I grew up in the technology industry... Chris Skinner Internet Technology Chris Skinner Thu, 23 Oct 2008 10:50:58 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/cold-wars-in-ru.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/cold-wars-in-ru.html Russia claims that it�??s had little impact from the financial crisis, with banks growing at double digits and the Kremlin�??s coffers remaining strong. This week Anna Smolchenko, a reporter with the Moscow Times, writes that Prime Minister Putin states: �??On... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets Globalisation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 22 Oct 2008 08:58:37 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/todays-the-day.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/todays-the-day.html On September 15th, Lehman Brothers collapsed with $613 billion worth of debt. Today, that debt is unravelled and the winners and losers sorted out. Tomorrow, we can move on. Or can we? Read more ... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets Futures & Options The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 21 Oct 2008 10:58:56 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/apple-have-a-re.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/apple-have-a-re.html For all those who have kept up with my rants about Microsoft and Vista, I've stopped. I stopped because it was getting boring and, although I still have problems, there are a lot less since Service Packs and Updates by... Chris Skinner Technology Chris Skinner Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:28:44 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/looking-through.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/looking-through.html Looking through the key headlines of last week, the biggest headline of the week had to be the one from the Daily Telegraph: �??£2,000,000,000,000�?? That�??s about the size of the bailout budget generated by the actions of Gordon Brown and... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets FSA regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 20 Oct 2008 09:25:13 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/aussie-bank-in.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/aussie-bank-in.html On the one hand, I applaud them for trying. On the other, how darned stupid can you get? What am I talking about? National Australia Bank, or NAB as they're now known. I just got wind of what's going on... banking Chris Skinner Internet Retail Banking Social Networking The Banking Channel Weblogs Chris Skinner Sun, 19 Oct 2008 16:08:00 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/the-jobless-ban.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/the-jobless-ban.html I was looking at the layoff trends in banking over the weekend, and it�??s pretty hairy. 2007 set a record number of 153,000 US jobs lost in finance, three times the average numbers for the years before according to figures... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sun, 19 Oct 2008 11:00:49 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/more-credit-cru.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/more-credit-cru.html Apparently, Barclays Bank is so keen to turn a profit that they're changing their real estate into prime property: Mind you, it's getting so hard to see the value of money these days, that I was in a lap-dancing club... banking Chris Skinner Credit Crisis financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 18 Oct 2008 17:25:15 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/you-would-be-tu.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/you-would-be-tu.html I've heard some pretty dire stories about the credit crunch, but none more so than this Daily Mail effort that says folks cannot even afford to bury their dead. Apparently, "hard-up families are having to wait more than two months... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:03:00 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/the-ubs-banker.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/the-ubs-banker.html If you didn't catch this story in Portfolio Magazine, it's worth a read. Here's a short extract: Brad Birkenfeld, a Director for UBS Bank, "helped the very rich hide tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars from U.S. tax... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:29:00 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/how-can-you-do.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/how-can-you-do.html I�??ve got a job to do ... writing reports. Speaking about the future of the industry. Chairing meetings about banking matters. Dining with executives and dialoguing about infrastructures. The trouble is, it�??s all gone to pot. Whilst the markets are... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 14 Oct 2008 09:46:00 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/blue-blooded-wa.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/blue-blooded-wa.html From the Midget Quest blog, I found this photo: Apparently, someone's painted the bull on Wall Street with blue balls. Now we all need a bit of blue-blooded bull balls in the investment markets if we're to get this ship... Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:52:32 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/whos-to-blame-f.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/whos-to-blame-f.html The last month has seen the world crippled by financial markets that have dried up. Everyone is looking to blame someone, and governments are running around desperately trying to work out how to get the markets�?? heart beating again. For... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets regulation SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 13 Oct 2008 10:11:38 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/do-the-media-ma.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/do-the-media-ma.html My friend at WaMu told me that, when they reached crisis point, just before JP Morgan picked them up for a song, the internet bloggers, media and chatroom pundits made it ten times worse. Certainly, the connected world means that... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets Internet Technology The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sun, 12 Oct 2008 10:37:43 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/im-a-borrower-g.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/im-a-borrower-g.html It's been a while since I blogged about the stuff that's really interesting. No, not banking. Technology! But Technology is coming into its own right now, thanks to the credit crisis. Think about it. You're stuck at home, with only... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets Internet Social Networking Technology The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:38:55 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/bank-adverts-ma.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/bank-adverts-ma.html With the media running headlines 24 hours a day, 7 days a week saying that the world is imploding and it's all the banks fault, I kinda think that some banks should cut back their ad spending or rethink it.... banking Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:30:28 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/lehmans-fuld-wa.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/lehmans-fuld-wa.html This is former CEO, Richard Fuld, giving testimony to Congress about Lehman Brothers' collapse. The sequence shows that since 2000, he took home $480 million in remuneration and bonuses and Mr. Fuld is trying to defend it: I wonder if... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 11 Oct 2008 09:23:08 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/joking-about-th.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/joking-about-th.html Thanks to Paul Penrose for pointing me to the BBC website where they have not just one, but two pages of jokes about the credit crunch. Here's a few that made me laugh: An elderly lady receives an e-mail from... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:37:19 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/gordon-browns-p.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/gordon-browns-p.html For those interested, you can hear UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, talking about our banking crisis on the new Downing Street podcast service (4 MB download) or you can read the transcript. Here are a few extracts: "I know you�??ll... CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:16:33 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/take-the-low-ha.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/take-the-low-ha.html I went to an interesting conference this week . The numbers were down on the organiser's expectations, and the audience spent more time using their Blackberries to read the news headlines than listening to the presentations, but there were some... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:54:10 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/who-wants-to-be.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/who-wants-to-be.html Rory Bremner's sketch from earlier this year seems even more appropriate today: Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:51:08 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/any-idea-what-t.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/any-idea-what-t.html As a starter for ten. Gordon: "Alastair, do you think you could find another 10 billion of those?" Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:31:34 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/the-emperors-ne.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/the-emperors-ne.html I promise to stop doing this soon but after seeing the inspiration of Monty Python earlier this week, and how it energised our community, I thought I would try one more before moving on. Today, it�??s a bed-time story for... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets Futures & Options The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:47:40 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/who-can-get-thi.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/who-can-get-thi.html Each day it gets harder to know what to say about the events taking place all around us. Sure, a bit of gallows�?? humour, a bit of a laugh, a stick two fingers up at the markets and then put... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:43:08 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/new-g30-report.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/new-g30-report.html The Group of Thirty have just released a special report entitled: "The Structure of Financial Supervision: Approaches and Challenges in a Global Marketplace". Here's the blurb: "This G30 special report compares and analyzes different approaches taken in financial regulation, revealing... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 07 Oct 2008 15:22:22 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/this-bank-is-no.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/this-bank-is-no.html I dedicate today�??s blog to all those people who remember Monty Python�??s Parrot sketch with affection. The scene begins with a customer entering a bank. Customer: �??I wish to make a complaint.�?? Teller: �??We're closing for lunch.�?? Customer: �??Never mind... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets General general interest Internet The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 07 Oct 2008 09:17:20 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/volatility-play.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/volatility-play.html Having seen markets rupture over the past few weeks, it's no wonder that Chi-X is seeing more business coming through, but a quarter of FTSE 100 trading seems pretty steep. That's what Chi-X claim as peak on 20th August 2008,... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Current Affairs MiFID The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 06 Oct 2008 15:18:35 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/the-best-joke-a.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/the-best-joke-a.html There are lots of jokes about banking going around this week, but the one that made me laugh out loud was this cartoon in the Sunday Times by Nick Newman: banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:42:30 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/the-man-who-nea.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/the-man-who-nea.html Reading the paper�??s over the weekend, a few stories catch my eye, especially the story of new MBA graduate Chuck Casano, the man who nearly worked in banking. Lucky old Chuck has almost had six jobs this year. Read more... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:44:23 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/saturday-night.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/saturday-night.html I was going to hold back and post these tomorrow, but they are too priceless. Last night's Saturday NIght Live on NBC USA has two great sketches. The first is about the bailout vote: The second is a mickey-take on... Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:48:41 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/charlie-mccreey.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/charlie-mccreey.html I was proud to host Charlie McCreevy at the Financial Services Club last night. Here's the full text of his speech: The Financial Services Club London, 2nd October 2008 Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you for inviting me to address you... banking Chris Skinner financial markets MiFID payments SEPA The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 03 Oct 2008 23:06:53 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/europes-lack-of.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/europes-lack-of.html I�??m getting fed up with all this news about the world crashing around our ears as I am desperate to get back to blogging about really important things, like SunGard�??s acquisition of GLTrade or Google�??s new mobile telephone. But the... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis financial markets regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:47:28 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/my-bankers-got.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/my-bankers-got.html This is my last rant for the week, I promise. After all, it seems strange to be blogging to a readership of bankers and then be horrible about y'all, but I thought I had to share with you the customer's... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 02 Oct 2008 11:42:47 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/the-us-election.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/the-us-election.html We are almost a month away from the US elections. You may wonder why I'm interested in that, but it is because it will affect all of us. A lot. As demonstrated by the dialogue going on right now about... Chris Skinner Current Affairs Chris Skinner Thu, 02 Oct 2008 10:06:12 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/forget-the-bail.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/10/forget-the-bail.html I said yesterday that I have a solution to the credit crisis. I�??ve labelled this my solution because: (a) it might be rubbish, (b) I made it up, (c) it may be completely unworkable, and (d) it could be very... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets regulation SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:15:30 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/the-end-of-the.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/the-end-of-the.html I was asked to make a presentation today about �??Is the growth story still on?�?? at a banking conference. Making a presentation about growth at a banking conference right now seemed like a bit of joke, but there you go.... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets Futures & Options General general interest Globalisation Hank Paulsen regulation SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:38:14 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/the-nationalisa.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/the-nationalisa.html I wake up this morning to hear of a $16 billion bailout for Fortis, an asset stripping sale of Bradford & Bingley (B&B) to Santander with their mortgage book taken over by the government, and confirmation of $700 billion bailout... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 29 Sep 2008 07:09:25 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/bradford-bingle.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/bradford-bingle.html Speaking of Bradford & Bingley (B&B), I got into trouble this week. You see, they're a bank that's heavily exposed to the mortgage market in Britain and, as mentioned in my last post, they have a £40 billion mortgage book... banking Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 27 Sep 2008 10:02:52 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/whos-next.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/whos-next.html It's been a strange week, which is why I've only been intermittently blogging. For example, a visit to the countryside proved a challenge. There I was in a small village in Suffolk, with only one internet access point: the Library.... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 27 Sep 2008 09:21:25 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/ken-lee.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/ken-lee.html It's late at night and I'm going to bed ... but just as I'm finished for the evening, someone has sent me this clip on YouTube of Bulgarian Pop Idol (?!) where a young lady has become a superstar with... Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:48:39 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/500-million-you.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/500-million-you.html Further to my earlier blog about cover payments, I had a fascinating conversation with a banker who is heavily involved with the changes to cover payments regulations. He asserted several times that the focus upon cover payments will cost some... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:09:24 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/why-some-banks.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/why-some-banks.html I don't like to use this blog to whinge, moan or rant, but I found an issue during a mortgage transfer and think this letter speaks for itself: Dear sirs Attached is my payment for the arrangement fee of our... banking Chris Skinner Retail Banking The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:02:46 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/oh-dear-a-glass.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/oh-dear-a-glass.html Oh dear ... I was caught out at the Karaoke bar during SIBOS in Vienna at the closing night singing (?) Mack the Knife ... and no, this is not my mates, my film or my idea, but as it's... Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:39:37 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/are-europes-pla.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/are-europes-pla.html With SEPA, the PSD and MiFID all paling into relative insignificance as the major banking markets explode globally, there are questions about whether the European plan will succeed or is even needed now. Therefore, I�??ll be really interested to hear... banking CAPITAL MARKETS cards Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets Globalisation MiFID payments regulation SEPA The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:25:51 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/that-was-the-we.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/that-was-the-we.html Last week was probably the most dynamic and heartstoppingly frightening any of us have seen in our lifetimes in financial services. The fact we were all in Vienna, and therefore somewhat protected from the ups and downs of Wall Street... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets FSA Globalisation Hank Paulsen payments regulation SEC Chris Skinner Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:12:02 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/sibos-the-end-i.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/sibos-the-end-i.html The end of SIBOS 2008 or almost. The party is to come and I think folks a finally cheering up a bit. The weather is clear and sunny, the work is done, the markets are still turbulent but more stable... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:05:02 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/are-hedge-funds.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/are-hedge-funds.html So, the morning goes on, more dialogue and more debate. The highlight of the week so far, for me anyway, came with the session entitled: "This House believes that Hedge Funds are the root of all evil?" if nothing else,... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis financial markets regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:45:09 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/the-bears-run-r.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/the-bears-run-r.html Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Lehmans, AIG, HBOS, Lloyds TSB �?� and the week ain�??t over yet. Add in a few other names: Bear Stearns, Northern Rock, Dresdner, Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank, Postbank, RBOS, Fortis, Santander, ABN AMRO �?� and more,... banking Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 18 Sep 2008 09:36:08 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/its-business-un.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/its-business-un.html I finish the day and my feet are tired and my head is buzzing. I feel like I�??ve walked about 20 miles and been awake since 2007. SIBOS days take their toll. The breaking news about Lloyds TSB and HBOS... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:17:19 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/welcome-to-the.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/welcome-to-the.html After pounding the exhibit hall for a while, and dropping into a few sessions on SEPA and regulations without learning too much, I decided to see what today�??s main plenary would tell me. Walking down towards the plenary, my mood... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 17 Sep 2008 14:11:33 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/fiddling-whilst.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/fiddling-whilst.html Waking up on day three of SIBOS, I feel a little more positive than I did yesterday. After all, it's not raining, just cloudy, and the bus to the convention centre was a short 20 minute ride, unlike yesterday's 45... banking Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets payments SEPA The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:41:07 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/forensically-ev.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/forensically-ev.html Apart from lots more networking, I attended three more sessions in this final half of the day. One had to be Matteo Rizzi�??s discussion of SWIFTcommunity.net of course. Matteo runs this community for SWIFT and was discussing progress one year... CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis financial markets FSA regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:35:44 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/europe-paypal-a.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/europe-paypal-a.html Running around the conference and exhibition hall madly today and it's no wonder that SIBOS already feels like a week, even though it's only been a day. A hard day's night as they say. After meeting a few folks, chatting... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 16 Sep 2008 12:55:22 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/sovereign-wealt.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/sovereign-wealt.html It's morning on the second day of SIBOS 2008, and I'm thinking it's horrible. That's a good start to the day, but it's horrible weather. Non-stop rain and only 10 degrees C. In fact, it was horrible yesterday and the... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 16 Sep 2008 09:09:39 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/an-aria-to-e-in.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/an-aria-to-e-in.html The last bit of my day today was chairing a discussion on e-invoicing. This is a regular debating slot I host on the IBM booth each year, and it�??s now in its third year. This afternoon�??s debate included Charles Bryant,... banking Chris Skinner payments SEPA The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:36:49 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/risk-management.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/risk-management.html Just came out of the main plenary session with Herbert Stepic, CEO of Raiffeissen Bank saying how great Central and Eastern Europe and Russian banking is doing, followed by Martin Wolf, Editor of the Financial Times chairing a panel on... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets General general interest Globalisation regulation SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:01:27 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/a-momentous-mor.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/a-momentous-mor.html I'm here at SIBOS, Day One. Like last year's SIBOS, the credit crunch dominates the news. Unlike last year's SIBOS, the credit crunch is now a once a week affair. Last week it was Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Today,... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:31:09 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/sibos-vienna--.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/sibos-vienna--.html Just arrived in Vienna , Austria for SIBOS, the all payments focused conference run by SWIFT. This year, there are around 7,500 people attending - not bad for a credit crisis. For those who have not been here, it�??s a... banking Chris Skinner The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sun, 14 Sep 2008 20:46:40 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/europes-plans-t.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/europes-plans-t.html I�??ve spent the last two days locked in a conference centre in Nice at a key meeting of finance ministers, politicians, policymakers, bankers, insurers and exchanges. You can tell the type of meeting by the number of lashes each person... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets FSA Globalisation MiFID payments regulation SEC SEPA The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:59:06 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/banking-in-a-ze.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/banking-in-a-ze.html I know I go on and on and on about Web 2.0 and social media, but I do this because these trends illustrate a fundamental shift in the way we live. The fact I�??m blogging here every day, downloading music... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner financial markets Internet payments regulation Retail Banking SEPA Social Networking The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:11:42 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/video-makes-the.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/video-makes-the.html I have a few regular themes I explore about future banking, such as videobanking, social finances, chip-based future payments strategies and so on. This was something I spent most of yesterday discussing with a group of Japanese bankers who were... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Retail Banking The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 10 Sep 2008 13:05:20 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/is-your-bank-re.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/is-your-bank-re.html For over a year now, the �??hot�?? topic at all the places I visit has been mobile banking. Thus far, many of my favourite stories of mobile finance tend to come from Asia, such as the mobile wallet Edy in... banking Chris Skinner Globalisation payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:43:59 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/and-you-thought.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/and-you-thought.html Catching up with all the news today, and someone sent me a link to this video: It's basically a simulation of what would happen if the Earth was hit by a large meteor. Watch with care as it may be... Chris Skinner General general interest Globalisation Chris Skinner Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:14:10 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/london-stock-ex.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/london-stock-ex.html The bad news today is that the LSE cannot trade. Whoops! Their website shows that they haven't traded since 9:07 this morning due to connectivity issues, and they're still struggling to get back online at lunchtime. The TradElect platform, that... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner financial markets MiFID The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:55:59 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/the-ingredients.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/09/the-ingredients.html Hi everyone. After a week away, I�??m back: relaxed, recharged and reinvigorated. I don�??t know about you, but when I get back to the office I immediately wonder, �??What�??s happened? What�??s new? What�??s changed?�?? Looking at SIBOS, the SWIFT tradeshow... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 08 Sep 2008 09:46:24 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/does-the-world.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/does-the-world.html I�??m off on holiday today so this will be my last post until September 8th. The last post? Sounds like we need a bugle call on that one! Anyways, I normally have a rant or a joke when I�??m blogging,... banking Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets General general interest Globalisation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:26:15 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/how-many-cards.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/how-many-cards.html The banking industry continually seeks to find cost-effective methods to minimise fraud, although often in a way that creates issues or insecurities with the customer. A great example is the UK�??s implementation of Chip&PIN, with Canada, France and other countries... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets general interest payments Retail Banking The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:40:11 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/how-much-does-a.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/how-much-does-a.html For those who have enjoyed the Olympics, Yahoo! has posted a fascinating report of the investments Britain made in each sport, and the return on those investments. As a result we can see a pattern of funding for each medal... Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest Chris Skinner Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:07:14 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/where-did-sir-c.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/where-did-sir-c.html A recent bit of news has been little reported in August, but it is a fact that has been picked up by satirical journals such as Private Eye. The fact: Sir Callum McCarthy is leaving the Financial Services Authority having... Chris Skinner financial markets FSA general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 25 Aug 2008 10:07:21 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/the-new-rules-o.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/the-new-rules-o.html I'm intrigued to see that the latest methods of marketing are to create real life experiences in the real world with the launch of "Pot Noodle: the Musical" at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year. A festival that exists, in... Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest Marketing Chris Skinner Sat, 23 Aug 2008 14:38:10 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/the-fear-of-for.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/the-fear-of-for.html I would like to say it amazes me that Europe�??s countries are still very insular and resistant to open access and open borders for open business �?� but it does not. This week, it is the Germans who are being... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest Globalisation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:54:47 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/socially-networ.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/socially-networ.html I haven't written much about Facebook lately because we're all familiar with it now, although you may not be familiar with the fact that Wells Fargo have recently launched Stagecoach Island, their virtual world, in Facebook. But I'm more interested... banking Chris Skinner Internet Social Networking Technology Chris Skinner Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:19:37 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/money-for-nothi.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/money-for-nothi.html BATS recently extended their market data feeds into free real-time feeds for AOL and Yahoo! Finance users. In recognition of this move, NASDAQ OMX now delivers free real-time market data to Google, the Wall Street Journal, CNBC and Xignite. Real-time... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner financial markets SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:08:42 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/ebay-put-paypal.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/ebay-put-paypal.html Is it just me, but the news today that eBay are trying to force all Australian users of its website to use PayPal seems to be a bit of a strange strategy. Don't they remember that PayPal succeeded because it... banking cards Chris Skinner Internet payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 20 Aug 2008 11:39:37 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/the-lse-feels-m.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/the-lse-feels-m.html As 2008 progresses, some organisations are realising the true meaning of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, MiFID. First you have the new upstarts: Chi-X, Turquoise, BATS Europe, Equiduct, NASDAQ OMX Europe and more circling to take advantage. All of... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets MiFID regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 20 Aug 2008 10:54:27 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/that-was-the-we.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/that-was-the-we.html Absolutely nothing to do with banking but, as I think of this as a dialogue, I wanted to share a few stories with the Finanser community that made me smile this week, as well as made me proud to be... Chris Skinner General general interest Chris Skinner Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:15:19 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/how-recessions.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/how-recessions.html We use the word crisis to mean danger and opportunity, and yesterday I blogged about what that means for local communities, who are using the current crisis to create local currencies. Today, it's time to take a reality check regarding... banking Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:50:45 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/do-recessions-m.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/do-recessions-m.html In times of crisis, there is danger and opportunity, and this is no truer than when there is a recession, stagflation or war. In the 1920�??s for example, during the runaway hyperinflationary times of the Weimar Republic, Germans started to... banking Chris Skinner Credit Crisis financial markets Globalisation payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:33:28 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/you-cant-hide-1.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/you-cant-hide-1.html Following on from previous entries, U2 are now the subject of a scandalous lack of privacy when their new album, No Line on the Horizon, was filched by a tourist in the South of France. The tourist happened to be... Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest Internet Chris Skinner Sat, 16 Aug 2008 22:41:18 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/do-we-really-ne.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/do-we-really-ne.html Yesterday I asked the question, �??Do we really need Fund Managers�?? and there were a couple of interesting comments which, rather than responding individually, I thought it worth writing a follow-on note. The first comment was: �??If you're trying to... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:44:34 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/investing-20-do.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/investing-20-do.html As most of you know, I�??m always messing about with internet applications for social networking, virtual worlds, future tech, gadgets, games and so on and so forth. There�??s always a reason for this, as in it�??s fun, but I like... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:06:48 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/were-not-all-do.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/were-not-all-do.html According to the media in Britain this week, it's all doom and gloom in the financial markets. Unemployment numbers up, inflation rising, house prices tanking, the euro sliding and oil and gold prices sunk. The press are even forecasting that... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner Credit Crisis Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:06:32 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/its-banking-but.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/its-banking-but.html Some brands are fairly ubiquitous. I have a Sony TV, Sony Mobile, Sony Laptop and Sony Games. My friend has a Virgin Mobile, Virgin Media with Virgin Broadband and Virgin Television, and flies with Virgin Atlantic. Another shops with Tesco... banking Chris Skinner Retail Banking The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:17:28 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/social-networks.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/social-networks.html Social networks have created new forms of money already and, as I spend more time playing with these virtual currencies, I can see how they may become the future of money, from a retail and consumer viewpoint anyway. For example,... banking Chris Skinner General general interest Internet payments Retail Banking Technology The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Mon, 11 Aug 2008 10:41:02 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/rbs-results-not.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/rbs-results-not.html After posting the rumour that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) were going to record the biggest losses in banking history earlier this week, they actually announced a pre-tax loss of £691m for the first half of this year. That's almost... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 08 Aug 2008 12:32:53 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/more-smart-card.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/more-smart-card.html There was a nice little press release from research firm IMS this week headlined, �??Smart Card Global Domination Nearing Completion�??. The report is all about the fact that there will be over seven billion smart cards issued in 2009. The... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 08 Aug 2008 11:22:15 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/microsoft-pump.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/microsoft-pump.html Only because I feel badly about being so horrible about Microsoft and my rubbish PC, I thought I would be fair to them and let you know that Microsoft are putting significant marketing $'s into trying to turn around the... Chris Skinner Current Affairs Technology Chris Skinner Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:15:06 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/john-mccain-ver.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/john-mccain-ver.html Although it has nothing directly to do with banking, this is relevant as I'm hosting a group of European Retail Bankers to the USA this year. Timing will be November 17th to 21st for the BAI Show, which is just... Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest Chris Skinner Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:21:04 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/internet-hole-w.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/internet-hole-w.html Following on from yesterday's post, Dan Kaminsky spoke at the Black Hat Conference today and said that the hole he had found in the interent had been worse than feared, saying that "every network is at risk." The vulnerability is... Chris Skinner General general interest Internet Technology Web/Tech Chris Skinner Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:52:31 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/the-future-call.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/the-future-call.html I've long held the view that video over broadband will shake up retail banking. Today, we can see the start of this trend through the use of remote advisors over video into branches but, tomorrow, it will be remote advisor... banking Chris Skinner Retail Banking Technology The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:07:28 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/massive-securit.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/massive-securit.html I thought this was an April Fool, but it's August. Forbes reports that a massive security hole has been discovered in the base design of DNS addressing on the internet. They quote Ken Silva, chief technology officer for VeriSign who... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest Internet Technology Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:58:16 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/you-cant-hide-a.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/you-cant-hide-a.html In the second of a new series, Steve Jobs at Apple sent out an internal email at midnight UK time, 4pm PST yesterday. It's now all over the internet and, like Microsoft's entry in the first of this series, it... Chris Skinner Current Affairs Technology Chris Skinner Wed, 06 Aug 2008 11:29:19 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/the-future-of-t.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/the-future-of-t.html Sticking to the themes of the future covered yesterday, I wrote a white paper on the future of trading recently. Here's a short abstract: Lee Nixon opened his eyes as the room�??s walls illuminated to intensity level 4. The walls... banking CAPITAL MARKETS Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 06 Aug 2008 10:26:10 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/banking-fifty-y.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/banking-fifty-y.html I was trying to think about what life would be like in fifty years. This was prompted by the imminent launch of Virgin Galactic. My guess is that space flight will be commonplace within fifty years. So, what will the... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 05 Aug 2008 09:00:14 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/the-biggest-los.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/the-biggest-los.html The world of UK banking is expected to be shaken, not stirred, later this week when the Royal Bank of Scotland announces the worst results in UK banking history with a £1 billion loss for the first six months of... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:34:20 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/windows-is-dead.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/windows-is-dead.html The BBC reports today that Microsoft is planning to create a whole new operating system called Midori, which is being developed because "Windows is unlikely to be able to cope with the pace of change in future technology and the... Chris Skinner Internet Chris Skinner Mon, 04 Aug 2008 16:27:21 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/now-even-my-fri.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/now-even-my-fri.html I received an email last week that totally blindsided me. It read: �??Thank you for your reservation with SouthWest Airlines. Below are details of your flights: Wednesday, August 27th 2008 Nonstop, BUF-MDW 398 Depart Buffalo (BUF) at 10:25 AM Arrive... banking cards Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest Internet payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:41:34 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/dynamic-maps-of.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/dynamic-maps-of.html The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is so nice to us that they even provide a dynamic mapping capability for subprime mortgages. Here's the map of the ones that are in foreclosure: Isn't that nice of them ... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 01 Aug 2008 10:31:52 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/credit-crunch-c.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/08/credit-crunch-c.html Yesterday�??s post prompted me to revisit the part of the BBC's website with the credit loss timeline to see where we stand today. According to the various announcements, this is the latest list of consolidated subprime losses: Citigroup: $40.7bn UBS:... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Globalisation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:52:15 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/the-credit-crun.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/the-credit-crun.html The credit crunch is biting for many of us. From the major subprime losses reported by the banks, to the investment bankers losing their spouses, to the city traders who no longer enjoy their love life, times are bad. Outside... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:56:56 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/dave-birch-subv.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/dave-birch-subv.html I met David Birch yesterday, or Dave to his friends, guru of all things to do with mobile and card payments. Lovely chap. What I did not realise is that he's also seriously subversive and in danger of being exposed... Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:51:50 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/amazon-land-a-b.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/amazon-land-a-b.html As I've been talking about the internet this week, it's noteworthy that Amazon have just launched two new simple payments services. Checkout by Amazon allows you to take all the payments functionality that Amazon 1-Click offer �??auto calculation of payment,... banking cards Chris Skinner Internet payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:09:39 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/boa-the-1-onlin.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/boa-the-1-onlin.html Simon Deane-Johns pointed out yesterday that Comscore is also useful for looking at internet sites. True. A few of the most recent Comscore news items about banking include: Top Canadian Web Rankings for March 2008 One Out of Three U.K.... banking Chris Skinner Internet The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:48:05 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/cuil-to-rival-g.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/cuil-to-rival-g.html As previously discussed, a new search engine called Cuil (pronounced 'Cool') is launched this week. Developed by former Google employees, Cuil claims to be better because it indexes more web pages - 120 billion versus 40 billion - and uses... Chris Skinner Internet The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Tue, 29 Jul 2008 08:17:50 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/probably-the-1.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/probably-the-1.html I found a great new internet gadget last week: the Alexa toolbar. Alexa looks at site traffic for all sorts of companies, and shows how popular they are against a global index. For example, here are the most popular internet... banking Chris Skinner General general interest Internet The Banking Channel Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Mon, 28 Jul 2008 06:25:26 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/google-tell-por.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/google-tell-por.html Interesting to see that Techcrunch have questioned Google's post of a trillion unique URLs indexed, saying it's more like 40 billion. That's still a lot, but why would Google mislead us? Because a major new competitor is launched next week,... Chris Skinner Internet trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Sat, 26 Jul 2008 13:54:10 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/google-reaches.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/google-reaches.html Google blog about the fact that they've just exceeded indexing over 1 trillion unique URLs. That's 1,000,000,000,000. That's 1,000 times more than the billion pages they reached on their indexes in 2000, which was 400 times more than the 26... Chris Skinner General general interest trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Sat, 26 Jul 2008 11:46:17 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/the-payment-ser.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/the-payment-ser.html This is according to a survey performed by PSE Consulting and published on Euractiv yesterday. The Payment Services Directive (PSD) is the bit of integrating Europe's low value payments systems that provides the legal support for the Single Euro Payments... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments SEPA The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:07:23 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/a-borderless-ne.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/a-borderless-ne.html The phrase �??a borderless, neutral single market for securities across Europe�?? is one that appears regularly throughout all communications on settlements services from the European Central Bank (ECB) and European Commission. In fact, it appeared a lot last Friday, when... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:48:03 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/bbva-the-first.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/bbva-the-first.html I've blogged lots about social networks, social media, Web 2.0, blogs, mobile banking, mobile payments, internet banking and more. My continual gripe has been: where is the Bank 2.0? I've been talking about it, but I've never seen one. Today,... banking Chris Skinner General general interest The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:02:15 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/whats-the-solut.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/whats-the-solut.html The International Central Securities Depositories (ICSDs) of Euroclear and Clearstream are very competitive with and against each other and, as mentioned yesterday, there are many other services that CSDs offer other than just settlement. The Linked Up Markets group and... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:14:34 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/bank-social-net.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/bank-social-net.html Great example here of social media websites that rock, according to mashable.com. Of the 35 corporate websites chosen, including Blendtec (my favourite), Cisco, Coca-Cola, Dell, Ford, IBM, Marriott, McDonalds, the New York Times, Starbucks, Toyota and Xerox, three financial firms... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:00:16 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/you-cant-hide-a.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/you-cant-hide-a.html I'm not sure how far this series will run but, like the numbers series, I thought I would start a "can't hide anything" series. This is where information is leaked so fast it could be completely transparent. The star of... Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest Chris Skinner Thu, 24 Jul 2008 07:58:22 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/whats-the-probl.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/whats-the-probl.html In the context of Clearing and Settlement, we have an issue. The issue is one of transparency, access, interoperability and accounting. The European Commission, Alberto Giovannini, the Code of Conduct and the Monitoring Group have all tried to change this,... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:59:13 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/barclays-bank-l.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/barclays-bank-l.html For those who bank online and want to be educated about phishing, spam, online security and viruses through an easy-to-follow ABC video, then Barclays are your bank. A new vidcast launched last week that is quite educational and interesting, and... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest The Banking Channel Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:17:19 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/great-analysis.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/great-analysis.html If you haven't spotted it, Bloomberg is running a great analysis of the challenges Citigroup faces and particularly what their latest CEO, Vikram Pandit, is trying to achieve. Well worth the read. banking Chris Skinner The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:02:56 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/clearing-and-se.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/clearing-and-se.html Brussels. 1998. A small, windowless room, in the lower halls of the European Parliament. The euro is almost here and the European Central Bank has just been inaugurated. High value settlement systems are in play and central banks can process... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets payments regulation SEPA The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:30:47 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/capital-markets.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/capital-markets.html We make the financial world incredibly complex and, because I�??m going to spend the whole week talking about Clearing & Settlement, we need to simplify it. In order to do that, I thought I would relay a conversation I had... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:01:22 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/royal-bank-of-s.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/royal-bank-of-s.html Well I never. The Royal Bank of Scotland's insurance division, Churchill, are in deep water over their latest advert using the Whitesnake song, "Here I Go Again", as background. No, not for using the Whitesnake song, but for sneaking in... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:28:58 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/virtual-worlds.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/virtual-worlds.html For a while now, I have not posted a story about Second Life or other virtual worlds in banking ... because there has been no story to tell. This is because the virtual bank collapses in Second Life during the... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:43:18 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/can-a-billion-p.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/can-a-billion-p.html During the last year, we�??ve all enjoyed the rise of social media and social networking, with many of us now happily Twittering, Facebooking, Beboing, MySpacing, Cyworlding, Mixiing, QQing or whatever takes your fancy. In fact, the numbers are quite incredible... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest Globalisation payments The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:04:03 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/business-versus.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/business-versus.html I had a conversation yesterday which builds upon a previous blog. The conversation resulted in an insight which seems pretty obvious, but may be rarely stated. Operations people understand the business, technology people don�??t. Read more ... banking Chris Skinner The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:20:44 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/chinese-bank-cu.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/chinese-bank-cu.html Today was a really funny day. I'm in Hong Kong and have a bit of time to walk around before my first meeting here, so I go out and about, up and down the Nathan Road, which is one of... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:44:12 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/internet-bankin.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/internet-bankin.html I enjoyed a presentation today from one of the best internet banks in the world: eBANK, Japan. That�??s a bold claim, but the only bank that comes close to eBank, for me, is the Bank of America and that is... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:39:07 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/freddie-fannie.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/freddie-fannie.html Over the weekend were the frightening reports of the American mortgage industry facing collapse, as IndyMac moved into administration, followed by the departure of shareholders from Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae faster than rats from a sinking ship. Freddie and... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Hank Paulsen SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 14 Jul 2008 05:13:20 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/200-pounds-of-c.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/200-pounds-of-c.html A story picked up by various media this week is the news that a beggar, Laxmi Das, has managed to save over 30,000 rupees over a period of 44 years, begging at a busy junction in Calcutta, India. Why? For... banking cards Chris Skinner General general interest payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 11 Jul 2008 11:40:00 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/the-paranoid-ba.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/the-paranoid-ba.html I was amused to hear the comment this week that bankers aren�??t paranoid enough. The comment was made in the context that bankers do not believe things change very fast, so why should they be concerned about change? The markets... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 11 Jul 2008 09:35:23 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/microsoft-pull.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/microsoft-pull.html I�??ve blogged regularly about how much I hate Vista, Office 2007, Outlook 2007 �?� you name it. I thought my friends might appreciate the latest moan. As many of you know, I make presentations for my living, or at least... Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:29:07 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/the-stressed-ba.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/the-stressed-ba.html The news was so bad in the papers yesterday about mortgages, credit crunch, banking and retailing, that I was about to stop reading when I turned the page and found slightly better news. Headlined �??Is that a crunch in your... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:41:29 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/solving-the-gre.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/solving-the-gre.html At a presentation this week, someone said that computers emit more greenhouse gases than the airline industry as a whole. About 4% of all gases are from the IT industry apparently. Last year, I blogged about the fact that cows... Chris Skinner General general interest Chris Skinner Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:33:40 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/the-schizophren.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/the-schizophren.html Yesterday was a day full of interesting dialogue about retail banking. Much of the discussion was focused upon future revolutions in retailing bank services, thanks to technologies such as getting rid of cash through mobile payments, using RFID in branch,... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:11:39 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/numbers-part-11.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/numbers-part-11.html Everyone knows that I�??m a devil for numbers, with the series now up to #11 (last one was on eBay here). As a result, if someone sends me some numbers and I like them, then I always put them in... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:05:15 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/the-biometric-d.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/the-biometric-d.html In case any of you have missed it, I'm enjoying a knock-out discussion with Stephen Wilson. Stephen decided to take me to task over my contention that governments will force us into biometric banking. That started over here in mid-June.... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:16:23 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/will-our-cleari.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/will-our-cleari.html Later this month, I am due to make a presentation on: "Recent and proposed changes in Europe in clearing and settlement for the equity and exchange traded derivative worlds". It�??s all to do with clearing and settlement developments, in light... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Futures & Options MiFID regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:20:13 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/mt202-cover-pay.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/mt202-cover-pay.html I was looking through notes of a banker friend, who was making a presentation on the key trends in payments for the next two years last week, and one of the stand-out lines was: �??The Implementation of SWIFT MT202 Cover... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:54:01 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/the-challenge-o.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/the-challenge-o.html I was sitting at my PC today, drafting my blog whilst skirting over the news headlines on my iGoogle homepage. There were a few other windows open on my PC. One for Wimbledon live on the BBC, which I can... banking Chris Skinner General general interest Television The Banking Channel Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Thu, 03 Jul 2008 08:10:41 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/tipit-provides.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/tipit-provides.html After my blog entry about Germany losing Euro 2008 due to Twitter, Techcrunch are reporting a new service, Tipit, that allows you to make payments with Twitter. It actually doesn't though ... it just sends you a message to send... banking Chris Skinner payments The Banking Channel Web/Tech Chris Skinner Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:28:05 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/gsma-and-epc-an.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/gsma-and-epc-an.html Following yesterday's dialogue about the long tail of banking being mobile focused, the EPC and GSMA announced a cooperative agreement for mobile payments this week. Here's the press release: GSMA Press Release 2008 GSMA Teams Up With European Payments Council... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:49:24 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/they-shoot-bank.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/they-shoot-bank.html There�??s a fascinating roundtable discussion in Prospect Magazine this month. The discussion features: Jonathan Ford, Deputy Editor of Prospect and Chair of the discussion; Anatole Kaletsky, Economic Commentator and Associate Editor of the Times; George Soros, Chairman of Soros Fund... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:50:47 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/spain-win-euro.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/spain-win-euro.html Actually, it's the other way round: Germany lose Euro 2008 thanks to Twitter, according to CNet News. If you're not familiar with Twitter, it's a great way to communicate short messages and links and views, using SMS texting on mobile,... Chris Skinner trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:39:41 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/the-long-tail-o.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/07/the-long-tail-o.html Aneace Haddad has asked me to explain more about my idea of a Long Tail in Banking. The Long Tail in banking would be a mass market of niche microgroups that incur no cost overheads to manage but, for each... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:25:02 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/paypals-tenth-b.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/paypals-tenth-b.html I wrote an indepth analysis eighteen months ago about PayPal�??s 100 months birthday and now they�??re celebrating their official tenth anniversary, so I thought I would add a small addendum. Although I say it�??s a small addendum, it�??s quite an... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:31:35 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/arguing-about-t.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/arguing-about-t.html Anita Elberse has created a great discussion in the Harvard Business Review this week about the Long Tail, the theory expounded by Chris Anderson, editor of Wired Magazine. The theory goes that you can make as much money as an... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General The Banking Channel Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Sun, 29 Jun 2008 09:44:17 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/fortress-europe.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/fortress-europe.html I attended a long discussion yesterday about High Value Payments (HVP). I wondered why we even bothered to discuss and delineate between Low Value Payments (LVP) and HVP these days. Surely, we should just talk about Real-Time Payments (RTP), near... banking Chris Skinner financial markets general interest payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:04:02 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/who-knows-their.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/who-knows-their.html A question came up in today�??s EBA sessions for Joe Pawelczyk, Vice President for International Relations at CHIPS, the American Clearing House for over $2 trillion of wire payments each day. The question seemed quite simple: �??Why doesn�??t America use... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets payments regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:36:16 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/zimbabwe-keeps.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/zimbabwe-keeps.html According to a press release from the International Association of Money Transfer Networks, Zimbabwe's economy keeps going thanks to mobile remittances, even with an economy where inflation is currently running at two million percent and is expected to reach six... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:39:44 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/prepaid-just-an.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/prepaid-just-an.html I have been attending a conference on Prepaid this week, one of the largest of its kind with over 300 delegates all focused upon this burgeoning market. The fact so many are attending says something, and most of these attendees... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 25 Jun 2008 14:41:11 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/you-cant-hide-a.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/you-cant-hide-a.html A year ago, Wired magazine had the front page headline: Get Naked. It made me buy the magazine and turned out to be a fascinating article all about how the world is now transparent. Nothing can be controlled or hidden... banking Chris Skinner General general interest The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:24:09 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/europe-lacks-a.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/europe-lacks-a.html I don�??t write about politics, because I am not a political creature. However, I felt compelled to write about this subject after Europe�??s soul-searching over its identity since the Irish threw out the EU Treaty. The fact that the Constitution... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:21:13 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/an-oyster-thats.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/an-oyster-thats.html Intriguing discussions today about the Oyster Card in London. This is the contactless card operated by Transport for London (TfL) to allow everyone to travel across the London public transport system without using cash. It�??s basically a prepaid contactless card,... banking cards Chris Skinner payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:05:28 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/exchanges-fight.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/exchanges-fight.html It is fascinating to watch the fight that is going on between the traditional exchanges �?? Deutsche Bourse, Euronext and London Stock Exchange (LSE) �?? and the new guys �?? Chi-x, BAT, virt-x, PLUSMarkets, Boat, Turquoise, NYFix Millennium, NASDAQ OMX,... banking Chris Skinner financial markets JWG-IT MiFID PJ Di Giammorino regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:17:09 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/ebaday-stagflat.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/ebaday-stagflat.html EBAday, or is that days as it is now 2 days, is upon us next week. This is the annual jamboree for the Euro Bankers Association to celebrate the arrival of SEPA, after much anticipation since EBA days started three... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:07:56 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/mobile-phones-d.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/mobile-phones-d.html Conclusive proof that mobile phones do fry the brains ... ... or is this a viral video to promote popcorn eating? In case you're wondering why I posted this, it's because this video has been copied around the world. There... Chris Skinner Web/Tech Chris Skinner Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:46:28 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/it-architecture.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/it-architecture.html It�??s really tough dealing with technologists. It is like the old discussion of the businessman in the hot-air balloon who is lost. He spies a chap on the ground and asks if he knows where he is. The guy looks... banking Chris Skinner Globalisation The Banking Channel Web/Tech Chris Skinner Tue, 17 Jun 2008 10:43:59 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/payments-fraud.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/payments-fraud.html There was a lot of buzz around this year�??s Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago�??s Payments Conference, �??Payments Fraud: Perception versus Reality�??. First, there�??s the sheer numbers involved. For example, it is estimated that each year $3.5 billion worth of chargeback... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:52:45 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/governments-wil.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/governments-wil.html Picking up on one of the points made in the debate this week about identity and authentication that it is the government�??s responsibility to manage identities, I was kind of surprised by this view. This view stated that banks have... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest Chris Skinner Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:40:37 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/this-house-beli.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/this-house-beli.html Last night�??s debate, �??This house believes our current authentication and identification methods are good enough�?? was a healthy one, focusing primarily upon card authentication in retail transactions. But was the motion carried or rejected? All those in favour? All those... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 11 Jun 2008 10:23:43 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/digital-identit.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/digital-identit.html Today is a day that�??s all about authentication, identification and verification. First, I have been asked to make a speech at a payments conference all about how to minimise risk; and, second, we have a meeting of the Financial Services... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel Web/Tech Chris Skinner Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:29:22 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/are-banks-reall.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/are-banks-reall.html With oil prices falling to as low as $10 a barrel in 1998, rising to $72 in 2007 and now hitting $139 on Friday, what is happening? Forecasters are now saying that oil may break over the $200 per barrel... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:32:04 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/the-best-call-c.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/the-best-call-c.html I've seen lots of call centre comic moments, but this one made me laugh out loud, and I mean LOUD. Starring David Schwimmer and Simon Pegg, the 2006 film Big Nothing has this little 4-minute skitt: I'm sure that all... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:02:48 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/banks-versus-co.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/banks-versus-co.html Front Page of Business Week today: Banks versus Consumers - who wins? The focus is upon credit cards and debt collections and, with American credit-card debt hitting a record high of $957 billion in Q1 2008, up 8% from the... banking cards Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 06 Jun 2008 11:36:11 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/the-fragmentati.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/the-fragmentati.html In the theme of dialogue about our changing world, the conversations continued with my USA friends about how hard it is to get the marketing right these days. They lamented the fact that their marketing team are so traditional that... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 05 Jun 2008 02:19:20 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/hey-why-dont-we.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/hey-why-dont-we.html I spent yesterday discussing themes for a major conference in the USA later this year. My American friend was a bit down on it all ... but then that�??s not surprising when Ken Thompson, one of the most respected retail... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 04 Jun 2008 05:50:35 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/citi-identity-t.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/citi-identity-t.html I really liked Citibank's US ad campaign against identity theft that ran through 2006, and used many of the ads in presentations to discuss the implications of ID theft. If you haven't seen the ads, here's one of the best... banking Chris Skinner The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:24:29 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/swift-maps---a.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/swift-maps---a.html I've been asked by a few folks to comment on the Investment Roadmap that SWIFT is pulling together with FIX Protocol Ltd (FPL), the Financial products Markup Language (FpML) and the International Securities Association for Institutional Trade Communication (ISITC). I... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:52:30 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/can-regulators.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/06/can-regulators.html I found myself sceptically smiling when reading that the Financial Stability Forum is going to make the banking world safer by: Strengthening prudential oversight of capital, liquidity and risk management; Enhancing transparency and valuation; Changing the role and uses of... banking Chris Skinner financial markets FSA regulation SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:26:27 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/upgrade-evolve.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/upgrade-evolve.html As you walk the streets of Rome, you find modern and ancient intertwined. The streets are full of gorgeous clothes from designers ranging from Salvatore Ferragano to Versace, Louis Vuitton to Gucci, Prada to Armani. All the names are here... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 30 May 2008 21:15:00 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/what-have-the-r.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/what-have-the-r.html John Cleese: And yes, all right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us? Chris: Gave us banking? John: Oh, banking... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 29 May 2008 08:24:46 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/america-is-dead.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/america-is-dead.html In the eight years since George W Bush came to office, America has suffered 9/11, a costly war in Iraq, a period of economic growth that has come to a plateau and surprisingly speedy end, and a business climate where... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest Globalisation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 28 May 2008 08:41:05 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/uk-faster-payme.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/uk-faster-payme.html The Faster Payments project goes live today after over three years in the planning, $300 million investment in new systems and some delay - it was meant to go live in November but required such significant systems redevelopment that it... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 27 May 2008 17:12:01 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/what-is-financi.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/what-is-financi.html The European Commission is running a conference this week about financial inclusion and the unbanked. According to the Commission, almost half of all of the citizens of the EU10 �?? Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and other recent joiners, but... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 27 May 2008 07:51:49 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/credit-crisis-c.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/credit-crisis-c.html It shows how bad times are when even hedge fund guru's have to sell their home. Read more ... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 23 May 2008 11:04:14 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/a-little-bit-li.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/a-little-bit-li.html I'm always intrigued by adverts and how they create viral campaigns and brands. The last one that blew me away and I now use in lots of presentations is this Dove campaign: Campaigning for truth in beauty such that customers... Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Thu, 22 May 2008 15:26:17 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/mifids-new-mtfs.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/mifids-new-mtfs.html LSE reported a 52% rise in annual operating profits today, primarily related to trading which, thanks to bulk discounting to market makers, has doubled in the past year. Combine this with their acquisition of the Milan Borsa Italiana and LSE�??s... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets MiFID The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 22 May 2008 12:33:47 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/the-future-is-a.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/the-future-is-a.html I've said for a while now that Robots would eventually look after all my banking needs, and with the Semantic Web and Artificial Agents, we're almost there. But then I see these developments coming out of Japan: and I realise... banking Chris Skinner General general interest trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Thu, 22 May 2008 10:28:41 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/swfs-and-citigr.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/swfs-and-citigr.html Another excellent collection of folks at the annual Gateway conference, a meeting of British American Business leaders. Sir Wim Bischoff, Chairman of Citigroup, gave the keynote speech all about the impact of Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF). Although they have been... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest Globalisation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 21 May 2008 16:04:13 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/city-bankers-lo.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/city-bankers-lo.html The papers of the last 24 hours have been filled with fascinating stories about banking. For example, a call for balance sheets and core capital ratios to be a minimum 6%; the Eurozone calling for a single seat at the... Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Tue, 20 May 2008 15:00:25 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/is-it-really-yo.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/is-it-really-yo.html Whether it be watches or Windows, Louis Vuitton or Lagerfeld, Bangkok's street markets have them all. In the alleys and markets you can find every brand for a fraction of its price. The sheer audacity of the stores in the... Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Mon, 19 May 2008 15:30:58 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/bank-brands-for.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/bank-brands-for.html We had a great conversation today about bank brands at the Asian Banker�??s Retail Excellence Program (I'm an advisor to the program and sit on the judging panel for their Awards). It started with Nielsen sharing some data about a... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 16 May 2008 10:49:41 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/what-is-world-c.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/what-is-world-c.html It�??s a question that came up yesterday in discussion with a group of bankers and I often find myself challenged to discuss �??world class technology�?? with folks. This is because they want to be leading edge, innovative, seeking new ways... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Web/Tech Chris Skinner Thu, 15 May 2008 13:31:31 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/how-to-stay-off.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/how-to-stay-off.html The Financial Times has been writing about the end of the credit crisis this week, saying that BlackRock's $15 billion deal to buy a portfolio of distressed subprime mortgage debt from UBS, for 75 cents on the dollar, shows things... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 14 May 2008 11:19:01 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/a-smarter-simpl.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/a-smarter-simpl.html The SWIFT Annual Report came out last Friday (download it here, 3.4 Megabytes) and makes for some interesting reading, especially as I like numbers. Yes, it does include lots of numbers: there are 8,332 institutions connected to SWIFT (note: institutions,... banking Chris Skinner payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 13 May 2008 19:23:44 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/internet-bankin.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/internet-bankin.html The banking world makes radical changes slowly. Major changes are big risks and we don�??t like to jump into taking big risks too fast �?� unless it�??s a structured investment risk of course. But risks related to our technical infrastructures... banking Chris Skinner The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 12 May 2008 10:40:59 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/today-is-euro-1.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/today-is-euro-1.html The EU has an anthem. It is Beethoven's Ode to Joy, with the lyrics removed. The original German chorus has been removed to respect the fact that we don�??t have a common language in Europe, yet. Strange that, as I... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest Chris Skinner Fri, 09 May 2008 10:19:22 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/today-is-europe.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/today-is-europe.html You may not have realised it, but today is Europe Day. In the UK, we took especial notice of Europe Day by not mentioning it in the news, not talking about it on TV, not referring to it on the... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 09 May 2008 10:12:34 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/integrated-inve.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/integrated-inve.html After picking holes in banking infrastructures, and the lack of integration the institutions have with today�??s connected world, there is one part of the market that really gets technology. They do not just get technology, but they lead in it.... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Globalisation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 08 May 2008 09:36:25 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/fragmented-paym.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/fragmented-paym.html If payments is just transferring a file electronically between a sender and a recipient these days, why is it so darned complicated? Bearing in mind, the internet connects everyone and everything electronically, how come we have so many disparate payments... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 07 May 2008 11:48:08 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/third-annual-re.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/third-annual-re.html The Financial Services Club is pleased to announce to readers of the FinanSer the Third Annual Retail Banking International Leadership Summit (ILS) in Orlando, America, from November 17th to 21st 2008. This is an invitation-only gathering for senior managers from... banking Chris Skinner The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 06 May 2008 19:23:27 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/rbs-end-free-co.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/rbs-end-free-co.html After being at the Association of Corporate Treasurers annual bash last week, sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland, I got home and found a note from NatWest, the UK subsidiary of Royal Bank of Scotland, saying that there had been... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 06 May 2008 13:39:47 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/disconnected-ba.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/disconnected-ba.html Since technology first appeared in the financial world, we have worked harder and harder to use automation to reduce costs and increase efficiency. We successfully made the back office a processing machine, whilst trying hard to create a front office... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Tue, 06 May 2008 11:28:03 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/customers-think.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/customers-think.html A recent quote was on a UK poster. The quote was from Jeremy Clarkson, the biggest bloke (translates into yob, lout, brute) in Britain, and it said: �??money and rumpy-pumpy are the twin engines powering everything we do�??. ... in... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 02 May 2008 12:34:50 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/i-wish-banks-ha.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/05/i-wish-banks-ha.html This was a comment I made during a panel at the ACT Conference in Edinburgh, where I joined esteemed speakers in a BBC Question Time style debate, chaired by Andrew Neil, the political journalist and writer. The other speakers on... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Futures & Options General general interest Globalisation payments regulation The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Thu, 01 May 2008 12:37:37 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/james-wolfensoh.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/james-wolfensoh.html The ACT summit in Edinburgh has had a wide range of speakers of variable quality. However, today�??s keynote is one that most people take note of: James Wolfensohn. Wolfensohn is well-known for an illustrious career, including close work with Paul... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Globalisation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:49:35 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/internet-bankin.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/internet-bankin.html I�??ve been reading a range of articles about the next generation internet, or the semantic web as it is called by those in the trade. Semantic is a method of looking for the meaning and relationships between things, and the... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:57:59 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/sepa-is-working.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/sepa-is-working.html Unlike some of the sceptics about SEPA, I believe we are finally getting there. There�??s still a long road ahead �?? the SEPA Direct Debits (SDD), the Payment Services Directive, effective card schemes using the SEPA Card Framework (SCF), D+1... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 28 Apr 2008 15:05:17 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/government-webs.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/government-webs.html Two interesting stories on hacking this week. The first is a joke and the second is worrisome. The joke is that we have a race here in London. The race is to see who can win the vote for Mayor... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 26 Apr 2008 10:58:54 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/no-more-sex-and.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/no-more-sex-and.html The best story of the week is the leaked email from Der Spiegel of Deutsche Bank's instructions to employees to give up their sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll. As the credit crunch hits, no more market excesses are... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:05:19 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/with-zero-charg.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/with-zero-charg.html With Faster Payments going live on 27th May, the question the banks are really struggling with is how to make money. FPS means that banks no longer make money on their float, as we are talking D. Not D+1, 2... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:20:44 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/bird-fortune-ex.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/bird-fortune-ex.html Further to my previous post of Bird and Fortune, they've followed up with another classic interview with their fictional banker to explain the credit crunch. Fantastische! banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:47:40 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/what-a-bunch-of.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/what-a-bunch-of.html I was honoured today to join a panel at the Digital Money Forum of global bloggers, all of whom I think deliver great value to our industry. First was Dave Birch of Consult Hyperion. Dave runs the Digital Money Forum... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:13:34 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/what-sky-tvs-se.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/what-sky-tvs-se.html There are many examples of bad service and few of great service, but when you do find great service you might write about it and when you get bad service you definitely talk about it. That is why various studies... banking Chris Skinner The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:40:59 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/clearing---the.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/clearing---the.html This question occurs to me because it's top of mind with Charlie McCreevy, the European Commission and also many of the discussions taking place today in Paris at a tradeshow focused upon investment banking. Buy and sell side firms have... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 22 Apr 2008 12:39:46 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/paypal-give-ban.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/paypal-give-ban.html Reading the PayPal blog is worthwhile, particularly as this item appeared the other day. It�??s all about stamping out phishing with Michael Barrett, chief information security officer, blogging about the ways in which PayPal were attacking this issue. As PayPal... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:24:30 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/mind-the-gaap-n.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/mind-the-gaap-n.html The Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) used across the USA for financial reporting appear to be fatally flawed. As a result, America is scrapping GAAP to move towards the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) used around the rest of the... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Futures & Options Globalisation regulation SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:00:46 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/first-data-clos.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/first-data-clos.html Fascinating item sent to me by a mate that says that First Data are responsible for Frontier Airlines going bankrupt in the States. Apparently, Frontier blame First Data because they demanded a sudden jump in collateral, due to the credit... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 17 Apr 2008 13:44:29 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/what-keeps-the.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/what-keeps-the.html There were a couple of fascinating discussions during this conference on cash and treasury �?? been here all week if you haven't been reading this blog �?? about CFO's. The best of these was a panel chaired by Julia Homer,... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:41:10 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/online-banking.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/online-banking.html The fourth Foresee online financial services survey came out today, benchmarking banking websites for their engagement and satisfaction with the user. What it finds is that online banking websites score 82 in overall satisfaction, a 12% improvement since 2003, and... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:01:16 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/chris-stop-blog.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/chris-stop-blog.html I�??m in Miami at this cash and treasury show, and chaired a panel focused upon SWIFT and why is SWIFT relevant to corporates? Here�??s the blurb about the panel: �??SWIFT �?? It May Be Time You Connected �??Companies can use... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:03:16 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/fsa-fines-outso.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/fsa-fines-outso.html Under our radar, as it is in the pensions markets, but something very noteworthy occurred last week. The FSA attacked the outsourcing and Third Party Administration Markets by fining Liberata over a million dollars for failures in its systems and... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets FSA regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:32:51 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/america-is-not.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/america-is-not.html Matthew Bishop, the American business editor of the Economist, talked through his views on the credit crunch at a conference I am attending in Miami. He began by asking the audience if they thought the USA was in recession. This... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:43:28 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/are-stock-excha.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/are-stock-excha.html Reading today's news headlines, you might think that the markets had exploded or imploded, dependent upon where you sit. Apparently, hundreds of new exchanges and multilateral trading facilities have started up and are winning business away from traditional exchanges. But... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Futures & Options The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 14 Apr 2008 13:11:52 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/g7-creates-the.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/g7-creates-the.html The Global Ivy League is the scenario of truth for the future banking markets. More globally harmonised regulation creates less innovation, but more security, amongst the major league players who we feel we can trust. Or rather, our politicians feel... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest Globalisation Hank Paulsen regulation SEC The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Sun, 13 Apr 2008 13:33:22 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/where-trading-a.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/where-trading-a.html I saw this blog from a VC in NYC today. It's entitled: "We Need A New Path To Liquidity" and I had to read that as I thought it would be all about how to trade out of recession or... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Futures & Options General general interest The Banking Channel Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:35:59 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/g7-leaders-to-m.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/g7-leaders-to-m.html According to various reports, the seven finance ministers of the G7 have asked to meet leaders of the ten largest banks, including Citigroup and Mizuho Corporate Bank, tomorrow. The aim is to create a strategy to deal with the widening... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Globalisation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:58:34 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/microsofts-vist.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/microsofts-vist.html Not really, but there is a lot more debate about its pro's and con's amongst the tech community, with at least some saying it is not that bad. Not many, but a few. I reckon that 95% of Vista users... Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:29:35 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/sepa-the-good-t.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/sepa-the-good-t.html Earlier this week I attended the launch of a new book, the Future of finance after SEPA. I edited this book and was asked to present a summary of the views provided by the contributors. Bearing in mind that there... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:57:37 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/skinners-seriou.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/skinners-seriou.html For those who haven't noticed, I've recently started blogging on SWIFT's community website. Each day I will post something exclusively there that has my intellectual analysis - all of my IQ of 26 therefore - behind it. Here's what's been... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:18:47 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/to-see-the-futu.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/to-see-the-futu.html I have often said that tracking the future is normally demonstrated by tracking children's behaviours. Kids are excited about the future. They are desperately keen to rush headlong into the next week, month and year. "I'm eight and three quarters"... banking Chris Skinner The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:47:25 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/are-you-chewing.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/are-you-chewing.html It�??s a line that may become a classic, in a similar vein to Robert de Niro�??s famous Are you looking at me? from the film Taxi Driver. Are you chewing my cash? Why would this line be even remotely notable?... banking Chris Skinner payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 08 Apr 2008 08:10:53 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/april-fool-one.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/april-fool-one.html Further to my previous notes about Marketing in the Digital Age, this viral: seems to have worked well for Laptops Direct. Apparently, people are happy to have company logo's tattoed onto their foreheads. Luckily, an April Fool ... although 1%... Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Sun, 06 Apr 2008 12:35:55 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/just-ask-mick-a.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/just-ask-mick-a.html Nothing to do with banking and technology you may say, but this actually has everything to do with banking and technology as it is all about Marketing in the Digital Age and the way we use new channels. To start... Chris Skinner trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Fri, 04 Apr 2008 17:09:07 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/bank-brands-suc.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/bank-brands-suc.html I know, I know ... we all want to think we are hip and cool brands, so I got a reality check today from The Brand Channel, who just ran a survey of brandjunkies asking a range of questions: What... banking Chris Skinner The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:40:28 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/post-mifid-the.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/post-mifid-the.html Today's Financial Times has a report on algo trading, with the following line in the middle: "Last week Chi-X, an upstart platform majority-owned by Instinet Europe, marked its first anniversary by capturing almost 15 per cent of total trading in... banking Chris Skinner financial markets FSA MiFID regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:05:18 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/ibm-staff-told.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/ibm-staff-told.html OK. After all my cynicism about Second Life becoming mainstream, mainly due to the Wild West nature of the Linden Labs offer, I take it all back. My issue was related to mashups, bombing, cyberterrorism and more. It was also... Chris Skinner General general interest Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:23:06 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/gold-goes-up-ba.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/gold-goes-up-ba.html I regularly use Yahoo! chatrooms to look at what people are saying about different stocks and industries, so I was intrigued to see a link to Google Finance today. To me, it appears to be almost the same as Yahoo!... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:04:21 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/back-to-the-fut.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/back-to-the-fut.html Is it just me or is the sight of an advert for PayPal in a newspaper a bit like some form of colonic irrigation? I don't know why, but travelling along on the tube this morning, I saw a half-page... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Web/Tech Chris Skinner Wed, 02 Apr 2008 16:26:34 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/private-eye-lau.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/private-eye-lau.html For regular readers of the UK comic magazine Private Eye, they have decided to launch one of the world's more interesting hedge funds. Called the Curse of Lord Gnome Fund, it will have £200 million of funding with annual returns... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:55:35 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/the-end-of-data.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/04/the-end-of-data.html In a shocking move to quell the issues of terrorism and money laundering in Europe, the European Commission is apparently drafting the Financial Transaction Transparency Directive (FTTD), which imposes draconian laws on all European banks to release financial data to... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:41:47 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/bears-banks-and.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/bears-banks-and.html Interesting to see that Bear Stearns are suffering the same issue as NCR, seeing this report on 28th March: "A senior Bear Stearns executive with 20 years' experience has been accused of defecting to rival Morgan Stanley with so many... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 31 Mar 2008 09:56:23 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/mifid-starts-to.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/mifid-starts-to.html BATS Trading has announced plans to launch in Europe, putting further pressure on traditional exchanges. Their aim is to capitalise on the opening of the European markets to new execution and trading venues, such as Chi-x, Smartpool, Turquoise, Virt-x, MarkitBOAT,... banking Chris Skinner financial markets MiFID SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 31 Mar 2008 09:32:43 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/immunity-from-p.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/immunity-from-p.html It almost passed under the radar but, in light of the HBOS share drop of the other day, Alastair Darling - the UK Chancellor - announced on Thursday that anyone who snitches on their mates to the FSA about colleagues... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets FSA regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 29 Mar 2008 11:11:12 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/american-financ.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/american-financ.html The New York Times published the detailed proposals for Regulatory Reform for all American financial markets, from the Treasury on Saturday. The aim is to: consolidate all the regulations and authorities for everything from banking to hedge funds and private... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Hank Paulsen regulation SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 29 Mar 2008 10:35:56 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/shine-on-you-cr.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/shine-on-you-cr.html I really like Paul Kedrosky's Infectious Greed blog and, in a blaze of creative psychedelic, 1970s Floydism, he came up with this ode to Jamie: Remember when you came from Banc One, you shone like the sun. Shine on you... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:44:21 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/watch-out-for-t.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/watch-out-for-t.html According to the Byron review of social networking in the UK, Facebook, Bebo, MySpace and others sites are to be censored, and Google, Yahoo, MSN and others must show SAFE SEARCH in clear options from the home page. This is... Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:13:46 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/microsoft-throw.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/microsoft-throw.html Following on from my comments on Vista, this one is not my comment ... but Infoworld's. This was followed by this blog and it's worth reading the over 100 comments that follow that. Funnily enough, I'm now seeing 2-3 articles... Chris Skinner Current Affairs Web/Tech Chris Skinner Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:53:25 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/lse-sees-an-86.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/lse-sees-an-86.html Further to the mention of Iraq�??s electronic trading exchange going live this week, the LSE has been running electronic trading since 1986, when the Big Bang moved the Exchange from open outcry to electronic trading. This led to the introduction... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets MiFID The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:37:03 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/ft-says-terri-d.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/ft-says-terri-d.html Today's Financial Times reckons that Terri Dial is leaving Lloyds TSB after a three-year stint to head up global consumer banking at Citi. This proves interesting as Terri has really made a mark at Lloyds TSB and would be a... banking Chris Skinner The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:35:02 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/visas-ipo-strip.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/visas-ipo-strip.html Now that Visa have IPO'd and the execs and banks are profiting from the rocketing share price, the firm has decided to push the limits further by stripping their products down to the basics for their latest TV campaign. banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets payments Television The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 28 Mar 2008 08:23:43 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/iraq-starts-ele.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/iraq-starts-ele.html This week, Iraq has moved from a trading floor with a whiteboard and magic marker pen to full electronic trading in their Stock Exchange. This is good news for the country and a sign of a return to stability. Now... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:59:28 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/numbers-part-el.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/numbers-part-el.html More numbers, and I was fascinated to see a presentation from O2, the UK mobile service, the other day where they held up a few numbers that are fairly staggering. In the UK: 15% of people are dumped by a... banking cards Chris Skinner General general interest payments Chris Skinner Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:44:02 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/ncr-at-loggerhe.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/ncr-at-loggerhe.html Oohhhhh-errrrr. Like any good blogger I love a bit of gossip and nothing better than my old firm, NCR, getting into a spot of hot-under-the-collar bother with HP. Apparently, lots of NCR-ers have been toddling out of Dayton, Ohio across... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:28:59 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/credit-crash-fi.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/credit-crash-fi.html Ah well, I can't leave the credit crash discussion alone without a final mention of poor Mr. Jack and Mrs. Jill, the taxpaying citizens who are now left carrying the can of the debt-fuelled crash. With the banks being bailed... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:21:40 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/roll-up-roll-up.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/roll-up-roll-up.html Popped onto eBay today and found all this wonderful stuff being sold by Bear Stearns employees to try and top up the coffers lost in the JPM bargain basement sale (although it's slightly more expensive after JPM upped the ante... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Chris Skinner Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:21:04 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/causes-of-the-2.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/causes-of-the-2.html Having had a nice Easter break, this was going to be a short entry about the regulators role in the credit crash ... but it's really, really long. Sorry. But it does start to get to the heart of the... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets FSA Futures & Options General general interest Globalisation regulation SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:49:27 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/causes-of-the-1.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/causes-of-the-1.html In Part One, the fact that the markets are technologically turbo-charged was discussed. Today, it's the humans fault as technology is only doing what the humans tell the systems to do. I could talk about SIVs, CDOs, Credit Default Swaps,... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 20 Mar 2008 08:31:04 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/do-the-hokey-co.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/do-the-hokey-co.html A friend pointed out this video in French to me. I've no idea why, except that there's a new dance craze sweeping the world. The idea is to hold one leg off the floor whilst swinging your arms around. Not... Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:29:06 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/here-is-the-cit.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/here-is-the-cit.html It's been a long time since there's been a good banking song (the last one I put out there was way back in May last year), Here is the City has come up with another new one. Bohemian Rhapsody's subprime... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:21:03 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/do-not-take-you.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/do-not-take-you.html Oh dear ... being a stockpicker is not easy and Jim Cramer, CNBC's top stock picker, backed Bear Stearns big time on his show last Tuesday, March 11th. In fact, as can be seen at Jim Cramer's Mad Money website,... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 19 Mar 2008 11:14:52 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/causes-of-the-c.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/causes-of-the-c.html Technology is blamed as a major cause of the current market meltdown according to an in-depth article in today's Financial Times entitled: "Algo trading: the dog that bit its master". These themes build upon the review of capital markets I... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:41:22 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/eliot-spitzers.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/eliot-spitzers.html 10. �??Hey, what�??s new?�?? 9. �??It�??s Barack Obama. Remember our conversation about being my running mate? Never mind.�?? 8. �??Ralph Nader here. Glad to hear I�??m not the only politician who has to pay for it.�?? 7. �??Hi. I�??m calling... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets regulation SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:39:22 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/web-chat-worth.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/web-chat-worth.html Most of you know that America's fifth largest bank, Bear Stearns, was sold at bargain basement prices to JP Morgan over the weekend. The price? $2 a share. That's 90% less than the bank's valuation last week, and a fraction... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:13:32 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/regulators-teac.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/regulators-teac.html I just read the FSA publication, Market Watch 25, which focused on the systems and controls trading banks should implement in light of Societe Generale's rogue trader incident. Apparently, since the SocGen incident, the FSA has had cosy little chats... banking Chris Skinner financial markets FSA general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:53:56 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/banking-on-the.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/banking-on-the.html OK, OK ... after all the knocking of Microsoft over their horrific Vista and Office 2007 faux pas, I've found a good news story about them to balance everything. Yes, Microsoft has beaten Google's attempt to conquer space by building... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Globalisation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:10:22 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/avoid-identity.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/avoid-identity.html In the world of daft inventions, here's a great new one: the hamster shredder. No, it's not a machine for grinding wee hammy into pulp, but a document shredder driven by hamster power. The idea is that you get rid... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 14 Mar 2008 16:49:44 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/technology-may.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/technology-may.html Yesterday I alluded to a bank being like a human body, with technology its lifeblood. However, if technology is the blood of the bank, then you need a healthy heart, brain and soul to make that blood flow. That is... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 14 Mar 2008 14:20:11 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/credit-crunch-g.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/credit-crunch-g.html Prompted by the newsletter, Payment News from Glenbrook Partners, I had a look at The Wall Street Journal which ran a fascinating column today. The implication is that the lack of credit availability in the USA is forcing folks to... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Web/Tech Chris Skinner Thu, 13 Mar 2008 17:17:35 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/technology-stra.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/technology-stra.html In banks today, technology strategy is the essence of business strategy. In capital markets, where algorithmic trading analytics can make the difference between success and failure, technology is critical to competitiveness. If you cannot compete with another bankâ�?�?s new derivatives... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Thu, 13 Mar 2008 12:09:00 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/bank-technologi.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/bank-technologi.html I have had the contention for a while that Technology needs to be seen as disposable. The day you buy it, it is out-of-date. No sooner do you invest in new technology, than you find your investment is obsolete. It... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets Futures & Options General general interest payments The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:18:53 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/grids-clouds-pa.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/grids-clouds-pa.html We were debating Parallel Processing, Grids and Virutalisation in depth last week at the Tradetech Architecture conference. Halfway through the conference, discussions of Amazon started en masse. I have to say that until recently I thought Amazon was an online... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Web/Tech Chris Skinner Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:43:48 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/half-of-city-ac.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/half-of-city-ac.html Last month, City broker Venetia Thompson wrote a tell-all tale of hedonism and debauchery in London's trading rooms, which was published in the Spectator. This month, according to the Daily Mail, Venetia Thompson is on the dole queue (see endnote).... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:49:41 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/microsofts-inte.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/microsofts-inte.html A friend of mine sent me this link last week, having seen how annoyed I've been about Windows Vista. It's a link to internal memos from Microsoft SVP's and other senior staff in Q1 2007, airing the same issues I... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Sun, 09 Mar 2008 18:25:45 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/visualise-your.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/visualise-your.html Most of us are fearful of virus, malware and phishing, especially in the financial industry. Therefore, I was pleased to see a way to make our fears become reality by the online security firm Messagelabs. Messagelabs has visualised these online... banking Chris Skinner General general interest payments The Banking Channel Web/Tech Chris Skinner Fri, 07 Mar 2008 07:18:58 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/the-supply-chai.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/the-supply-chai.html As those who deal with me in my work as Balatro know, I'm a one-man band. I gain most of my knowledge by conferencing, networking, meeting, consulting and drinking with bankers and technologists through the Financial Services Club, and all... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Globalisation payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 06 Mar 2008 08:32:20 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/numbers-part-te.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/numbers-part-te.html It�??s been a while since I logged a numbers blog, the last one was in November, but it takes a while to find one that�??s worthy. So I was gratified today to find one �?? eBay. Now, what has eBay... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Wed, 05 Mar 2008 16:15:04 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/im-sorry-you-ar.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/im-sorry-you-ar.html I regularly run workshops on the future of banking. Part of the workshop explores the implications of virtual worlds and social networking on bank services, and what the world of banking might look like five years from now as a... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Tue, 04 Mar 2008 09:41:58 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/my-bank-is-so-s.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/03/my-bank-is-so-s.html There were plenty of great stories released over the last week. We had the Liechtenstein stuff and more on Northern Rock with the near £50 billion exposure to Granite ... but there were two stories that just made me smile... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 03 Mar 2008 00:22:56 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/the-death-of-in.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/the-death-of-in.html Forbes reports today that India's competitive advantage for offshore services is disappearing fast as wage demands mean that services are now 66% cheaper for US and European firms in India, compared with 84% a few years ago. As wage demands... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 29 Feb 2008 14:03:51 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/banks-have-no-i.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/banks-have-no-i.html An interesting little survey came out this month, looking at the fact that banks do not cross-sell effectively through their call centres. The truth is that most banks do not cross-sell effectively full stop. I have had the pitch from... banking Chris Skinner General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:34:37 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/bbc-survey-42-p.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/bbc-survey-42-p.html I hid this link in my blog about the Abbey, but had to draw out this survey in more depth. According to the BBC's Mintel survey of over 13,000 Brits, 57.5% are very satisfied or satisfied with their bank. Mind... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:40:57 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/problems-at-abb.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/problems-at-abb.html I mentioned the other day that Middle Eastern banks were upgrading core systems in six months whilst, in the UK, the last major upgrade I've been aware of is that of the retail bank, Abbey. Abbey are changing core systems... banking Chris Skinner General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:55:26 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/chi-x-is-now-se.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/chi-x-is-now-se.html Seeing this story about the impact that MarkitBOAT is having upon traditional data reporting, I received a heads-up from Chi-x, the alternative exchange launched by Instinet in April last year, that they traded 7% of equity volumes of the LSE... banking Chris Skinner financial markets FSA Futures & Options The Banking Channel Web/Tech Chris Skinner Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:17:03 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/fascinating-new.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/fascinating-new.html Just found this website for a soon to be launched integrated mobile-internet service called Ribbit. It's a method of having your mobile leave messages that are transcribed and stored on the internet for you to access anywhere and return call... banking Chris Skinner The Banking Channel Web/Tech Chris Skinner Wed, 27 Feb 2008 16:13:48 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/phishing-the-ph.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/phishing-the-ph.html Interesting podcast from the British Computer Society today discussing a Moroccan phishing kit called "Mister Brain" that you can download and use for free. It allows you to create a nice little phishing site of your very own. They even... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Web/Tech Chris Skinner Wed, 27 Feb 2008 11:24:55 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/microsoft-sap-w.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/microsoft-sap-w.html Just as Apple make their money out of being consumer friendly, Microsoft make theirs by being business friendly. This is why it intrigues me that they are trying to buy Yahoo! to compete with Google. This is a consumer-focused play... banking Chris Skinner General general interest The Banking Channel Web/Tech Chris Skinner Wed, 27 Feb 2008 10:46:00 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/what-is-value-a.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/what-is-value-a.html I've been hung up with office bingo for years and hate it when you hear words and phrases like scenario, paradigm shift and value-added. The reason is that the phrases are meaningless buzzwords that people throw out to sound intelligent... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Web/Tech Chris Skinner Tue, 26 Feb 2008 10:22:21 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/where-did-all-o.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/where-did-all-o.html Once news has broken, it becomes an avalanche. Jerome Kerviel loses �?�5 billion ... 7,000 news items later and it's old news. Credit Suisse panned over an unexpected $2.85 billion write-down ... 2,000 new items later and it's old news.... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:39:41 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/the-banking-jun.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/the-banking-jun.html Over the weekend, there were lots of references to animals in banking. It started with the Financial Times discussing the issues of Jerome Kerviel and the fact that traditional commercial bankers should stay out of investment banking. In this context,... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 25 Feb 2008 09:16:45 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/want-to-see-an.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/want-to-see-an.html I've spoken about community currencies regularly, but some folks find them hard to visualise. Well, there's one project alive and kicking in the Devon town of Totnes, as described in the Observer and many other articles. This BBC coverage of... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:07:32 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/facebook-myspac.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/facebook-myspac.html Maybe all the talk of Facebook's privacy policies being a concern are finally having an impact on people networking online as Facebook had it's first drop in usage in January. According to Nielsen's ratings, the number of unique visitors in... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Fri, 22 Feb 2008 11:05:18 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/fsas-data-hypoc.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/fsas-data-hypoc.html I had a fascinating conversation with a group of information security professionals yesterday. We were talking around the issues of data leakage and covered a wide variety of subjects from accidental leakage to deliberate theft, from human frailties to ISO27001... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets FSA General general interest regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 21 Feb 2008 11:17:56 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/wheres-the-best.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/wheres-the-best.html "Where's the best place to head office the bank?" is a question asked regularly by folks like HSBC, and the answer may be quite surprising. Obviously, key contenders would be London, Paris, Frankfurt, New York, Chicago, Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong,... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest Globalisation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:21:22 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/the-end-of-the.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/the-end-of-the.html There�??s been a recent storm of controversy over the ECB�??s decision to accept mortgage backed bonds from Spain. In effect, Spain has had a disastrous subprime mortgage collapse and has been bailed out by the ECB. This Investment Markets note... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets MiFID payments regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 19 Feb 2008 11:07:30 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/sia-to-compete.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/sia-to-compete.html A mate pointed this out from International Banking Systems Journal, December/January issue: "Italian payment network provider, SIA-SSB, is seeking to move firmly into SWIFT's domain, with plans to extend its SIAnet broadband network. It is taking its current infrastructure, which... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:47:23 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/george-w-bush-f.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/george-w-bush-f.html I was prodded to look at this broadcast from Valentine's Day by Keith Olbermann, anchor for MSNBC in the US of A. Mr. Olbermann is a highly articulate chappie and is obviously a little angry with Mr. Bush over the... Chris Skinner Current Affairs Chris Skinner Mon, 18 Feb 2008 10:46:22 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/the-britney-exc.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/the-britney-exc.html Due to the voracity of the stock markets and traders looking for new ways to wheel and deal, we will soon be trading in things we never thought of trading before. For example, I was intrigued that Britney Spears has... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Futures & Options General general interest SEC The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Mon, 18 Feb 2008 09:06:34 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/a-beginners-gui.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/a-beginners-gui.html I know I shouldn't post this, as some folks might take note for illicit purposes, but what I'm writing is nothing new. It's already well-known by the criminal fraternity, so I might as well share it with you. It�??s also... banking cards Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:10:58 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/changing-core-s.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/changing-core-s.html Another amazing area of change in the Middle East is the speed with which the banks can change core systems. Many of the banks here have changed their core systems to offer improved wealth management services combined with Shari�??ah compliant... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:00:22 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/a-different-loo.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/a-different-loo.html There were a number of good presentations at my Middle Eastern conference, but the one that stood out was from the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) in Jordan. Their CIO, Mohammad Hisham Al Khatib, presented their approach to technology and business... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Futures & Options The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 13 Feb 2008 18:07:59 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/chris-skinners.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/chris-skinners.html Chris Skinner, who has established a global reputation as a banking provocateur, is in good form with his new book, �??The Future of Banking in a Globalised World.�?? (John Wiley & Sons, 196 pages, £34.99) In it, he points out... banking Chris Skinner Globalisation payments The Banking Channel Tom Groenfeldt Tom Groenfeldt Mon, 11 Feb 2008 16:03:27 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/fawlty-towers-c.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/fawlty-towers-c.html I think the last 24 hours must be a record for the catalogue of amusing errors, in hindsight, experienced during a brief visit to the Middle East. I'm here for a two-day conference and cannot believe the journey down here.... Chris Skinner Events financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Weblogs Chris Skinner Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:47:34 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/enterprise-bank.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/enterprise-bank.html I�??m intrigued about bank organisational structures and how they have little integration, as a few recent projects I�??ve been involved with have shown the cracks in these organisations. In a retail bank, we were talking about internet, call centre, ATM... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sun, 10 Feb 2008 19:45:49 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/read-your-histo.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/read-your-histo.html Apologies to anyone in the FinanSer community who felt my discussion of the origins of money were disparaging any religious sensitivities. I was merely stating a historical fact. Nevertheless, apparently some people do not know their history, so here's a... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 08 Feb 2008 15:35:20 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/but-barter-is-b.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/but-barter-is-b.html Since time immemorial, folks have bartered and haggled over goods and services. It�??s the nature of society, which is why we have swap shops, car boot sales and markets. �??C�??mon, c�??mon, roll up, roll up, 3 for a £1 today�??.... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest Globalisation payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 08 Feb 2008 09:50:43 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/but-cash-is-bet.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/but-cash-is-bet.html After my discussion yesterday of cashless economies, and my blogs before about a cashless world such as this one, I find that nearly all of the cashless discussions come from the card companies. For example, Peter Ayliffe, CEO of Visa... banking cards Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 07 Feb 2008 10:11:02 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/now-greenspan-s.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/now-greenspan-s.html After my write-up of Alan Greenspan's speech at the end of last year, where he says the subprime crisis was unavoidable, I was reminded of one of my old presentations with a quote from Alan Greenspan, when he was head... banking Chris Skinner financial markets regulation SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 06 Feb 2008 15:10:58 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/we-are-living-i.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/we-are-living-i.html It is interesting to think about cash and where cash is going. Can we really be cashless? The history of cash, as those who know my presentations, is that it was invented for sex. I know a lot of people... banking cards Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Games General general interest payments The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Wed, 06 Feb 2008 11:37:14 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/wanna-be-a-mill.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/wanna-be-a-mill.html There's a new service called Yuwie. It's aim is to compete with Facebook and MySpace. You may say that space is full, but it's not. The reason is that Yuwie pays the social networkers to network. Unlike Facebook and MySpace... Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Tue, 05 Feb 2008 06:42:05 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/buddy-can-you-s.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/buddy-can-you-s.html A whole raft of headlines over the weekend to cheer up the weary investment banker. First, there's the news that BNP and Credit Agricole are going to fight over ownership of SocGen, after the French bank declared almost $10 billion... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets FSA Futures & Options The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 04 Feb 2008 09:30:37 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/yacrosoft.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/yacrosoft.html After writing my piece on Microsoft, they announced their $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo! Right or wrong choice? As I said in December, they should buy into the future and hence Facebook or something less over-valued in the Web 2.0+... Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Sun, 03 Feb 2008 09:37:32 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/finally-solved.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/02/finally-solved.html No, I haven't thrown out the PC and bought a new one, although I've been seriously tempted. But I like a challenge. So, back from Asia and, after months of whinging about Vista, I've finally solved the biggest issue I've... Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Fri, 01 Feb 2008 14:55:58 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/please-go-away.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/please-go-away.html I rang my bank call centre today and, as usual, it was diverted to their Indian call centre. Unusually, I then got this message: "We apologise for disruption to our service, but we cannot receive your call at the moment.... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs Events financial markets General general interest Globalisation The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:37:07 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/sepa-today-sapa.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/sepa-today-sapa.html Interesting to be in Asia at the moment, which is where I flew out to in case you were wondering yesterday. I'm here at a major payments conference and was sorry to miss the minor "hurrah" as SEPA went live... banking cards Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest Globalisation payments regulation The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Wed, 30 Jan 2008 09:15:34 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/banks-are-just.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/banks-are-just.html I often hear the cry that "all banks are the same". It is true that many banks appear to have little differentiation. They are all as good or bad as each other, they all appear to compete on rates and... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel trends Weblogs Chris Skinner Tue, 29 Jan 2008 08:20:05 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/a-french-letter.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/a-french-letter.html Over the weekend, I received this strange letter in French. Now my French is not very good, so I have done my best to translate it, but I apologise if it does not read very well. Even though I am... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Futures & Options General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 28 Jan 2008 05:16:52 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/anyone-wanna-go.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/anyone-wanna-go.html TED is a conference that takes place once a year in the USA and is like a Davos for business. If you don't know what TED is, then check it out here. The show is also where many of the... Chris Skinner Current Affairs Events Film General general interest trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Fri, 25 Jan 2008 12:46:08 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/ebay-moves-into.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/ebay-moves-into.html There are various forecasts of the future that may be right or wrong. For example, this one's a goodie. Called EPIC 2014, and nicknamed Googlezon, it forecasts that by 2014 the current media and news organisations are dead and gone,... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Futures & Options General general interest The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Fri, 25 Jan 2008 10:43:59 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/socgen-trader-l.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/socgen-trader-l.html Read the announcement from Societe Generale here (six page pdf). The rogue trader lost �?�4.9 billion through a series of fictional transactions. Societe Generale aren't naming him, but apparently the trader dealt in plain vanilla European stock market index futures... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Futures & Options general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:52:54 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/global-blogal-s.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/global-blogal-s.html In this worldwide web of global wonders, I'm getting fairly cheesed off with the number of social networks I'm now getting involved with. From Facebook to LinkedIn to Plaxo to Bebo, they're all starting to mindmeld into one. Add in... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:50:50 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/citi-bank-rupt.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/citi-bank-rupt.html There have been rumours this week of Citi being bankrupt in Banknet360 and Yahoo's message boards (see earlier blogs on Yahoo message boards and Citi) "Citi filing for Chapter 11 in the next few days" ... oh no! what a... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 23 Jan 2008 09:05:52 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/london-versus-n.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/london-versus-n.html Interesting stats and facts coming out of the hedge fund and private equity worlds this week. First, Hedge Fund Research (HFR) released their year end report of inflows and outflows to the hedge fund markets in 2007. The headline is... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Futures & Options The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 23 Jan 2008 09:04:21 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/hsbc-no-longer.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/hsbc-no-longer.html HSBC sent out a press release yesterday announcing that they are re-naming the "Corporate, Investment Banking and Markets Division". It will now be called "Global Banking and Markets". Global Banking and Markets comprises five main businesses: Global Banking, Global Markets,... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Globalisation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:51:07 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/bank-policy-ple.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/bank-policy-ple.html Little Britain, the UK comedy show, made a character that you may think is extreme. Her name is Carol, and she works for a fictional bank, Midwest. The way the sketch works is that each time a customer comes into... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Mon, 21 Jan 2008 04:04:03 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/ibms-global-rea.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/ibms-global-rea.html In an interesting article in the NYTimes, IBM's optimistic and upbeat assessment for a 15%+ rise in profits in 2008 is questioned. Answer: IBM's not reliant on the depressed American economy but is making shedloads in the BRIC economies and... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 18 Jan 2008 12:07:14 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/why-mobile-bank.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/why-mobile-bank.html I was looking at mobile finance this week, as we had a meeting to discuss this at the Financial Services Club last night. In the meeting, Samee Zafur of Edgar, Dunn and Company outlined results of research he has led... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Fri, 18 Jan 2008 11:57:39 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/bankers-are-ove.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/bankers-are-ove.html After my doom and gloom week, I thought this was a good title for a blog entry although this is not me talking ... rather it seems to be a campaign with a certain associate editor and chief economics commentator... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets FSA Futures & Options general interest regulation The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Thu, 17 Jan 2008 08:48:22 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/morgan-stanleys.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/morgan-stanleys.html Most people think the marketing of financial stuff is as dull as dishwater. Maybe that's why the Goldfish are cleaning the waters to allow the fish to swim freely ... what am I talking about? Goldfish. Goldfish is a credit... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:00:42 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/wall-street-jou.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/wall-street-jou.html My last blog referred to the Wall Street Journal, and I suddenly realised that I could get this stuff for free ... what's happening? It used to cost me an arm and a leg for a view of the WSJ?... banking Chris Skinner General general interest payments The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:24:27 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/credit-cards-do.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/credit-cards-do.html So I blog about credit cards not being the major issue yesterday and then realise that it is unsecured debt worth billions. Just in the USA, credit card debt nears $1 trillion. Therefore, just to show that it cannot be... banking cards Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Tue, 15 Jan 2008 10:44:19 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/credit-default.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/credit-default.html Wolfgang Munchau writes in the Financial Times today that the issues we faced in subprime in 2007 are just a mere drop in the ocean, and that this is more than just a subprime crisis: �??If this had been a... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Futures & Options MiFID The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:25:42 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/i-despise-faceb.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/i-despise-faceb.html I don't, but Tom Hodgkinson of the UK newspaper The Guardian does. Fascinating article on Facebook's ownership starring Peter Thiel, one of the founders of PayPal, and statistics on usage which is approaching 60 million worldwide, mainly in the USA,... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:23:18 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/best-place-to-w.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/best-place-to-w.html Stonewall have just released their annual ranking of the best employers for gay people in Britain. Interesting to see who's who in our community. For example, of the Top 100, we have quite a few nominations of good gay places... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest Tom Groenfeldt Web/Tech Chris Skinner Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:33:42 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/tony-blairs-new.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/tony-blairs-new.html News just in that Tony Blair's first job since being dumped (ed: leaving office) is with JPMorgan as an advisor. Wonder when JPM will invade (ed: open a branch in) Iraq then? Oh, they already have. banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 10 Jan 2008 13:28:22 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/boa-the-best-el.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/boa-the-best-el.html Interesting research from Keynote Systems has just been released evaluating website experiences for online banking services in the US and the UK. The researchers evaluate all sorts of stuff from load handling, response times, average site downtime, brand impact, ease... banking Chris Skinner General general interest payments The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:44:38 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/new-year-new-st.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/new-year-new-st.html I thought I should balance the books after picking on Citi, SocGen and HSBC yesterday by performing a quick look at the IT industry using Yahoo's message boards, another favourite. I love the message boards of Yahoo for seeing what... banking Chris Skinner General general interest trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:13:52 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/the-future-ipod.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/the-future-ipod.html Fantastic news from South Korea. Kookmin Bank and Samsung have joined together to develop the world's first music and video, MP3 and MP4 playing credit card. Who needs an iPod? banking cards Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Music payments The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:41:18 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/new-year-new-jo.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/new-year-new-jo.html Many of us start the new year looking for a new job, so I thought I'd dive into the wonderful website The Vault and see who's hot and who's not. Now I don't know if you've ever explored The Vault,... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 08 Jan 2008 09:43:24 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/five-firm-predi.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/five-firm-predi.html Welcome to 2008 folks, and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday break. I did ... but what goes on at Xmas, stays in Xmas as they say (hic!). Anyways, a year ago, I made a bunch of forecasts... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets FSA General general interest MiFID payments regulation SEC The Banking Channel trends Weblogs Chris Skinner Mon, 07 Jan 2008 11:55:11 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/a-brilliant-new.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2008/01/a-brilliant-new.html Way back in mid-December Chris Skinner did a review of retail banking. Here's an idea he may have overlooked -- think about how customers actually use your bank, and for American banks, offer some support for people who work internationally.... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Tom Groenfeldt Tom Groenfeldt Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:38:01 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/merry-christmas.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/merry-christmas.html Merry Christmas or Season's Greetings, depending upon your personal preference. To finish 2007, I thought I'd share with you a few of my nice little collection of Christmas ecards: SWIFT Eiger Systems LogicaCMG Sybase Diamond Consultants Vocalink If I missed... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 21 Dec 2007 09:53:12 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/2007-in-revie-2.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/2007-in-revie-2.html From a technology perspective, I think 2007 has seen the biggest changes in the payments world. From mobile and contactless payments proving themselves to come of age, to new currencies in the form of Linden dollars and Chinese QQ, to... banking cards Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets payments regulation The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:57:18 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/how-much-for-lu.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/how-much-for-lu.html I've been watching eBay this week as the London Evening Standard has been running a nice little charity auction in there for Plan UK, an international humanitarian, child centred development organisation who work in 46 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Futures & Options General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 19 Dec 2007 12:32:19 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/2007-in-revie-1.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/2007-in-revie-1.html For most retail banks, the credit crunch's knock-on effect has made it a fairly depressing end of year too, with tightening of policies for mortgages and lending. Mind you, considering the debt mountain in the USA, it is not surprising... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Wed, 19 Dec 2007 10:31:00 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/2007-in-review.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/2007-in-review.html The end of the year is nigh and not a day too soon for some investment bankers. Some say, with the $500 billion of subprime losses this year, this has been a major downer for the markets long-term. Others say... banking Chris Skinner financial markets FSA regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 18 Dec 2007 09:17:22 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/is-2007-the-yea.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/is-2007-the-yea.html This is my final week of blogging for 2007, and so I thought I'd spend it looking back over the year. Tomorrow and the rest of the week, I'll focus upon retail and investment banking and payments. Today, I thought... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Mon, 17 Dec 2007 09:11:17 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/8-million-peopl.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/8-million-peopl.html I got an email from BNET, the management website, with the title "8 Million Business People at Risk from Dreaded New Ailment", which made me open it, as you have here. The actual news item was all about people who... Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest Chris Skinner Thu, 13 Dec 2007 23:33:31 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/the-conclusion.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/the-conclusion.html Someone asked me this question: "Chris, why are still arguing?" about the debate I have been having for the last week. It is because one reader fundamentally disagrees with my views about IP being the foundation of today's bank. I've... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Globalisation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 12 Dec 2007 15:31:32 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/government-frau.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/government-frau.html Further to my comments about the UK's Fraud Review, I enjoyed a discussion with Ken Farrow of Control Risks. Prior to joining Control Risks, Ken was the Head of Fraud and Financial Crime for Lloyds TSB and, before that, a... banking Chris Skinner financial markets general interest payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 12 Dec 2007 09:50:46 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/deutsche-banks.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/deutsche-banks.html I have a lovely little presentation entitled "All Bankers are Criminals". It's all about the dangers of weapons of financial destruction, in other words Derivatives, and people tend to enjoy it ... especially the part about �??Greed is good�??. It's... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Futures & Options The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:58:42 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/bank-designs-ve.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/bank-designs-ve.html I�??ve been having an ongoing debate with some people for the last week over branch versus IP architectures, and it is clear that some people are confused so I will try to explain again. The discussion I started last week... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 07 Dec 2007 23:38:50 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/clearing-and-se.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/clearing-and-se.html On Monday, David Wright, Director, Financial Services Policy and Financial Markets at the European Commission, made an interesting statement of policy work around European Clearing & Settlement in the Securities markets. Here's his words as I captured them (e.g. not... banking Chris Skinner financial markets MiFID regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 06 Dec 2007 21:04:57 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/sepa-why-is-e-i.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/sepa-why-is-e-i.html More on my euro week and it's funny how the world goes around, what goes up must come down, tomorrow is another day, and e-invoicing is not part of SEPA. The European Payments Council (EPC), which comprises the bank policymakers... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:04:53 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/sepa-mastercard.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/sepa-mastercard.html There were plenty of discussions at the European Parliament about SEPA, but most of the discussions narrowed down to the current top-of-mind issues related to card and interchange fees. With the decision on MasterCard's Interchange fees about to be handed... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 04 Dec 2007 23:31:37 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/eu-love-in-betw.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/12/eu-love-in-betw.html After eighteen months, the European Parliament once again opened their doors to a dialogue about the state of European financial services. With a series of presentations and top-notch speakers, we review: �??The implications for EU integration of globalised financial services�??... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets FSA General general interest Globalisation MiFID payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 03 Dec 2007 18:24:09 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/to-dump-or-not.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/to-dump-or-not.html I never knew how much debate could be created by making the mere statement of placing IP-enabled networks at the core of the bank and re-engineering to exploit this as the basis of future banking. This is instead of placing... banking Chris Skinner financial markets general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 30 Nov 2007 07:11:26 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/a-month-after-m.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/a-month-after-m.html OK so it's not quite a month since MiFID came into force on 1st November, and I got a flurry of emails over a statement made by one of the research firms* that, "It's been remarkably quiet. I don't think... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets FSA Futures & Options MiFID regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 29 Nov 2007 11:42:57 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/bank-strategies.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/bank-strategies.html For half a millennia, retail banks have worked on the basis of physical distribution. For half a century, that model has been challenged to move towards electronic distribution. At the end of the first decade of the new millennium, we... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 28 Nov 2007 10:00:10 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/heres-to-the-su.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/heres-to-the-su.html Last night we entertained Steve Wilmott, Head of the Economic Crime Unit for the City of London Police, at the Financial Services Club. He was presenting the implementation of the results of the UK's Fraud Review, which combined the efforts... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 27 Nov 2007 10:12:58 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/workers-remitta.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/workers-remitta.html I had a good debate today with Citibank who, as we know, are heavily focusing upon taking a slice of workers' remittances following their February announcement when they teamed up with Vodafone to offer mobile payments for migrant workers. Most... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Globalisation payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:54:56 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/cls-break-the-1.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/cls-break-the-1.html I was fascinated to see an update on how CLS, the Continuous Linked Settlement system for FX, has progressed. CLS was founded in 1997 to eliminate settlement risk in the foreign exchange markets and now handles fifteen currencies: the US... banking Chris Skinner Globalisation payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Sat, 24 Nov 2007 10:40:18 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/how-many-banker.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/how-many-banker.html Eight of course. One to change the lightbulb. A second to assess the risk of the light bulb changing process. A third to ensure the light bulb changing process adheres to the internal compliance regime for health and safety during... banking Chris Skinner financial markets FSA Futures & Options regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 23 Nov 2007 09:14:04 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/a-wahoo-to-wamu.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/a-wahoo-to-wamu.html Leaving Las Vegas is always a bitter pill. On the one hand, you're leaving behind all the bright lights, shows, drinks, girls ... you name it - what goes on in Vegas, stays in Vegas ... on the other, my... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 22 Nov 2007 21:38:05 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/be-sure-to-canc.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/be-sure-to-canc.html There�??s a true story circling the internet that I�??ve seen twice in the past few months and so I thought it worth sharing. A lady died in January, and the bank billed her for their annual service charges on her... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 16 Nov 2007 07:20:54 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/bob-geldof-call.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/bob-geldof-call.html The third keynote at this year's BAI is Bob Geldof. I was a bit concerned about him being here as I know there's a six-figure speaker fee and thought: "has Bob sold out and gone onto the speaker circuit on... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General Globalisation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 15 Nov 2007 16:24:06 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/steve-forbes-ve.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/steve-forbes-ve.html So yesterday we had Alan Greenspan in the morning at the BAI Retail Delivery Show. Caesar's Palace if they were put in the ring together so I guess they don't like each other very much. Forbes, who is chairing Rudy... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:28:54 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/hacking-into-so.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/hacking-into-so.html Fascinating report in today's Forbes around social networks being easy fodder for hackers and therefore criminals. The firms at stake include everyone from Google through Facebook, and it is all due to the fact that the more open these communities... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs The Banking Channel Web/Tech Chris Skinner Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:53:03 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/greenspan-and-t.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/greenspan-and-t.html Two of the keynotes at this year's BAI Retail Delivery Show are Bob Geldof and Alan Greenspan. Bob Geldof, the liberating freedom fighter for justice for Africa, wiping out third world poverty and forcing politicians and bankers to give him... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Futures & Options General general interest regulation SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 14 Nov 2007 06:37:48 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/beware-the-e-bo.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/beware-the-e-bo.html As many know, I'm a great fan of science fiction and the future. So I get an email today from Forbes where Arthur C. Clarke has given his vision of 2500 A.D. It's an interesting story, not a new one... Chris Skinner Current Affairs General general interest trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:59:12 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/forget-branch-t.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/forget-branch-t.html So this week I'm in Las Vegas, land of Elvis Presley impersonators. Funnily enough, it's a line I use in many presentations. What line you ask? Well, it kinda goes: "Hi, I'm Chris Skinner. I'm not an analyst as analysts... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 12 Nov 2007 06:38:42 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/money-launderin.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/money-launderin.html In the last of a risk-focused week of blog entries, I thought it worth talking about virtual worlds. Now, we talk a lot about virtual worlds these days, after the hype cycle of Second Life and not forgetting the other... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments regulation The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Fri, 09 Nov 2007 09:21:07 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/risk-business-e.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/risk-business-e.html Another subject that regularly crops up in my blog is whether banks can be innovative when they are risk averse. My contention is that banks never lead, they only follow. As a result, they never innovate because they never create... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:06:27 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/lses-systems-st.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/lses-systems-st.html Share trading on the LSE apparently went wacky today with the wrong prices appearing and showing data higher on the day when today's session has been lower. Maybe it's related to the new systems, MiFID, algo's and hedge funds ...... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 07 Nov 2007 17:40:50 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/no-one-trusts-t.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/no-one-trusts-t.html Building on yesterday's theme around identity, banks have a major dilemma (as do all financial firms) and it�??s all to do with trust. Banks trade on trust and yet how far can we trust them and how far can they... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Wed, 07 Nov 2007 09:41:58 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/how-to-steal-yo.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/how-to-steal-yo.html I�??ve blogged a few times about identity theft and its issues, but it only came home to me how easy such theft can be last week. My challenge was related to my ageing in-laws who needed to close down a... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:46:38 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/risk-versus-rew.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/risk-versus-rew.html A while ago I wrote that Risk and Technology are the same thing with the theme that both need the bank�??s line of business leaders to be on board. Then, last week, I spent a few days at a risk... banking Chris Skinner financial markets FSA Futures & Options General general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 05 Nov 2007 12:20:02 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/the-bank-of-eng.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/the-bank-of-eng.html I live near to the Bank of England's printworks operated by De La Rue. This is the paper factory that produces all the bank notes for Britain. In fact, I quite often jog around their car park as it's nice... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 02 Nov 2007 07:14:15 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/viewing-the-mif.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/11/viewing-the-mif.html Welcome to MiFID day. Congratulations. I'm sure this day will be remembered for a long time as the day that Heather Mills, the ex-Mrs. Paul McCartney, went insane. To be honest, it's all a bit quiet today. Maybe everyone is... banking Chris Skinner financial markets FSA MiFID regulation The Banking Channel John Wiley Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:15:08 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/spooky-weird-te.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/spooky-weird-te.html Try this out and see if you can figure out how it works ... a special for Halloween. Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:19:00 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/hallow-mifids-e.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/hallow-mifids-e.html �??Twas the nightmare before Christmas and Halloween Jack realised that MiFID was upon us and he had not budgeted nearly enough to make it happen. So he stole $35 million and plugged the regulatory hole through one massive computer upgrade... banking Chris Skinner financial markets FSA MiFID regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:34:35 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/mifid-week-is-f.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/mifid-week-is-f.html There�??s lots being written on MiFID this week as it�??s MiFID implementation week �?? hurrah! �?? so I thought I�??d try to summarise some of the key things being reported during the week. Today, I thought it worth a very... banking Chris Skinner financial markets FSA MiFID regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 30 Oct 2007 10:17:11 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/the-credit-crun.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/the-credit-crun.html For those of you with ten minutes to spare and access to YouTube, if you want a good laugh or cry, then here's the Bird & Fortune* guide to the credit crunch. Brilliant! * for our overseas colleagues, John Bird... Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:46:20 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/chinese-bank-bu.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/chinese-bank-bu.html As someone involved in predicting the future, it amuses me how often we get things wrong. You've heard all the quotes: "a worldwide market of five", Thomas Watson of IBM's prediction for the global computer market back in 1953, or... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest Globalisation The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Mon, 29 Oct 2007 10:25:06 +0000 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/a-bankers-favou.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/a-bankers-favou.html Interesting supplement in today�??s Times newspaper on careers with an 8-page supplement on careers in Banking. A few choice quotes: �??Confidence in the world�??s financial markets is shaky�?? �??Lehman Brothers, UBS, Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse have all announced redundancies�??... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:24:20 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/should-turquois.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/should-turquois.html After the disappointing outcome over Plus Markets, various factions are coming out and poking fun at Turquoise. Unlike BOAT, Turquoise has little to show for its efforts so far, and are still looking for a Chief Executive. What happened? The... banking Chris Skinner MiFID regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 24 Oct 2007 10:43:21 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/mobile-banking-.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/mobile-banking-.html I am struck by the sheer number of announcements over the past 12 months related to mobile payments and mobile banking. Nothing wrong with this, but times change fast and I'm already wondering how long mobile will be in vogue.... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets general interest payments The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Wed, 24 Oct 2007 09:32:23 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/do-banks-really.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/do-banks-really.html I recently organised two debates at the Financial Services Club entitled "This House Believes We Really Know Our Customers". Both debates focused upon fraud and money laundering (AML) and the vote at the end of both debates resulted in a... banking Chris Skinner financial markets general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 22 Oct 2007 09:28:55 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/the-future-of-t.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/the-future-of-t.html I recently chaired a breakfast meeting on the future of trading with three key figures from the industry: John Serocold, Director, London Investment Banking Association; Wolfgang Eholzer, Head of Trading Systems Design, Eurex; and Eli Lederman, Managing Director, Electronic and... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Futures & Options MiFID The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 19 Oct 2007 19:20:09 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/stirring-boats-.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/stirring-boats-.html I am regularly hearing half-truths and inaccuracies to cause confusion and issue, and this is particularly true as the battle grows between the old and new exchanges, and the old and new players in the investment markets. One example is... banking Chris Skinner financial markets FSA MiFID regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 18 Oct 2007 06:54:58 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/the-alien-world.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/the-alien-world.html Yesterday was interesting. I was invited to speak at a conference for Exchanges and the expected players were there: Deutsche Bourse, Reuters and the London Stock Exchange (LSE); and then there were the newer markets with the Prague, Warsaw and... banking Chris Skinner financial markets FSA JWG-IT MiFID regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 17 Oct 2007 09:52:22 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/banks-caught-la.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/banks-caught-la.html After yesterday's news that Lloyds TSB and the Bank of Cyprus are accused of having "knowingly assisted" a money launderer, I do wonder whose job it is to police the financial markets for villains. Obviously, the banks will monitor fraudulent... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets FSA regulation SEC The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 16 Oct 2007 08:59:40 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/the-new-science.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/the-new-science.html Although Biology is a well-known science, there is a lesser known but of growing importance science that is also, by coincidence, called Buyology. Buyology has been used in other context (google the word and you get just over 500 returns,... banking cards Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Futures & Options General general interest Globalisation payments Science The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Mon, 15 Oct 2007 08:21:00 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/rbs-host-a-care.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/rbs-host-a-care.html After successfully bidding for and winning the ABN AMRO game, with the consortia gaining 86% support on Monday, as mentioned here last Thursday before Barclays withdrew last Friday (confused already?) ... Royal Bank of Scotland are now following BNP Paribas'... banking Chris Skinner general interest Globalisation The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Wed, 10 Oct 2007 05:38:22 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/how-my-bank-tri.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/how-my-bank-tri.html Coincidentally, at the same time as a bank rejected my PayPal transactions, another one sent me the solution to my online identity issues. It arrived in a very nice box, and had a note that said: "We're looking after you... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 09 Oct 2007 08:05:52 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/how-my-bank-for.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/how-my-bank-for.html One thing banks are concerned about with PayPal is if users place more funds on account, as this means you could operate a revolving debit account within PayPal with no funds ever flowing through the banking system. For example, I... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 08 Oct 2007 03:03:24 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/abn-amro-and-rb.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/abn-amro-and-rb.html As the bidding process comes to an end tomorrow, ABN AMRO should be announcing soon after the successful bid by Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis and Santander to acquire them. I said that would make the last day of SIBOS... banking Chris Skinner The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 04 Oct 2007 17:57:21 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/baby-spice-has-.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/baby-spice-has-.html I wondered how I could get Baby Spice into the blog, and finally the moment came this morning. Arriving early to hear Mr. Negroponte I bring my suitcase with me, because I'm flying out of here tonight (and missing the... Chris Skinner Chris Skinner Wed, 03 Oct 2007 17:10:37 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/negropontes-vis.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/negropontes-vis.html Some of you know that I'm not a big fan of my new Vista PC and it turns out neither is Nicholas Negroponte, although he actually had a stab at all tech firms in his keynote speech over breakfast. Not... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:19:24 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/global-banking-.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/global-banking-.html So the afternoon progresses and I'm now bouncing around like a ping-pong ball between SEPA, corporates, Asia, FpML, Fedwire ... you name it. It must be to do with this idea that yours truly can assimilate the global banking trends... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 03 Oct 2007 10:48:34 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/more-spice-girl.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/more-spice-girl.html I'm sure you can see there's a theme to this week's blogging kicked off by Posh and Becks in my first posting. Yes, it's got to be a Spice Girls week. Not sure how I'll get through Ginger, Sporty, Baby... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 03 Oct 2007 10:46:54 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/have-you-been-f.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/have-you-been-f.html As you'd expect, there are copious amounts of liquid refreshment available during SIBOS. Many of the booths have champagne and wine, and then at around 5ish the general masses enjoy cocktails across the exhibition floor. This then leads into the... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 03 Oct 2007 10:43:39 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/to-kill-or-not-.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/to-kill-or-not-.html After a few cups of tea in the harbour ... or I threw mine in there as American tea is never quite English breakfast ... I wandered back to the BECC (Becks: there he is again, ah no he isn't,... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 02 Oct 2007 00:55:53 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/the-start-of-th.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/the-start-of-th.html Having attended the funds management session, I can now see why I got out of insurance twenty years ago. I mean, it may be interesting for the guys involved but watching this session was a little bit slow. The main... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:43:20 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/posh-and-becks-.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/posh-and-becks-.html I take the last flight out of Heathrow to Si-Boston last night and am amazed to find myself being brushed aside at the security gates by some hulking brute of a figure. As I turn to raise myself up to... banking Chris Skinner payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:20:55 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/my-friends-atta.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/10/my-friends-atta.html Well, I was as surprised as most to read the Computer Weekly article last week, and the idea that Gartner were dismissing MiFID as no big deal. Therefore, I was not surprised when Gartner got in touch to say that... banking Chris Skinner financial markets FSA Futures & Options MiFID regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:25:43 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/europes-annual-.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/europes-annual-.html Europe's greatest export to promote the art of strong drinking opens next week in one of America's oldest cities, Boston. SIBOS, an acronym for Standing In Buckets Of Slop, was created by the Belgians as a way to promote wine... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 28 Sep 2007 08:38:19 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/fx-trading-brea.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/fx-trading-brea.html In a no turn-up for the books there then announcement, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) released figures this week that show that the world is trading over $3 trillion a day in foreign exchange (FX) instruments in 2007. These... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Futures & Options General general interest Globalisation payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:54:46 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/my-friends-atta.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/my-friends-atta.html Some of you know that I've spent a while looking at MiFID. In fact, I'm so sad that I even produced a book about it ... there you go. So some might think I'd know a little about the subject,... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets FSA Futures & Options MiFID regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 26 Sep 2007 09:36:11 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/chip-and-pin-fi.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/chip-and-pin-fi.html So I finally sussed out a way to make my long-term vision of sticking chips inside people for payments a reality through a medium-term transition away from my short-term loathing for Chip & PIN. This will be achieved as we... banking cards Chris Skinner general interest payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 25 Sep 2007 09:44:12 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/a-new-currency-.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/a-new-currency-.html The US Dollar rules the global markets, even whilst it is being bombarded during the credit crunch. After all, nearly all countries across Latin America and the Middle East are tied to the dollar. That is why the dollar is... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Globalisation payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:15:55 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/bankers-are-fro.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/bankers-are-fro.html What goes around comes around ... Some things never change ... Same old, same old ... Y'know you're getting old when you are tired of hearing a debate about something fundamental but just continual. And so if men are from... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel trends Web/Tech Chris Skinner Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:17:31 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/help-just-give-.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/help-just-give-.html Hello. Sorry for emailing you out of the blue, but my name is Ishamal Nicker, and my brother was killed in the Iraq war before he could move his money back to Lebanon. He had $20,000,000 in a Switzerland bank... banking cards Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:04:40 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/is-life-getting.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/is-life-getting.html The conference I presented at last week in Barcelona focused upon future banking, and we had an audience of international bank managers from around the world. The conference organiser gave me the opportunity to ask some questions of the audience.... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 18 Sep 2007 10:48:54 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/21st-century-bo.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/21st-century-bo.html I spent a day in Barcelona last week �?� put your hands up for Barcelona, a lovely city. For those in the know they�??ll get this and, for those who aren't in the know, I�??m speaking in a foreign language.... banking cards Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets general interest Globalisation payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Mon, 17 Sep 2007 08:18:32 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/the-less-so-ble.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/the-less-so-ble.html After yesterday's blog about the state of the markets and the concluding line: "When you see a way of making money with no risks, you see the fool�??s gold", I guess the obvious question is: Why didn�??t the banks see... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets Futures & Options general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:16:29 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/department-of-t.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/department-of-t.html Some totally obvious comments are coming out in the media today. Take the UK�??s new Chancellor of the Exchequer (the old one got promoted to Prime Minister) Alistair Darling who is headlined today as saying that banks �??need to know... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets general interest Hank Paulsen The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Thu, 13 Sep 2007 11:02:21 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/the-sun-newspap.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/the-sun-newspap.html The headline that caught my attention this morning is the launch of a Prepaid MasterCard by the Sun. For those who are unfamiliar with the UK newspaper, it is the most widely circulated with over three million copies distributed to... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 11 Sep 2007 21:38:31 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/hsbcs-knight-in.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/hsbcs-knight-in.html During the weekend, there were lots of reports on the attack by Eric Knight on HSBC's governance and strategy. Eric Knight, who is CEO of Knight Vinke Asset Management, is airing his concerns in public, he claims, as a result... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets FSA General general interest The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Mon, 10 Sep 2007 08:44:45 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/banking-is-a-ma.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/banking-is-a-ma.html This is not a new news story, but it is a news story. Banking is a man's world. Sounds a bit sexist doesn't it, but many of us would say that there is still active discrimination in some business sectors... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 07 Sep 2007 13:07:39 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/firms-liable-fo.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/firms-liable-fo.html Article 13(5) of MiFID states: "An investment firm shall ensure, when relying on a third party for the performance of operational functions which are critical for the provision of continuous and satisfactory service to clients and the performance of investment... banking Chris Skinner financial markets FSA Futures & Options MiFID regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 06 Sep 2007 17:37:12 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/california-bloc.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/09/california-bloc.html Just after Finextra publish my thought piece on the future method of authentication being RFID style chip implants inside humans, which I've blogged about before btw as I do truly believe it will happen, the Los Angeles Times broke the... banking cards Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest payments regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 05 Sep 2007 10:28:20 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/its-sibos-so-le.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/its-sibos-so-le.html We talk about pandemics as a result of bird flu and other concerns. Luckily, we haven't had one yet but, you never know. After all, looking around the fellow inhabitants of the world's subway systems, H G Wells had it... banking Chris Skinner financial markets FSA payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 31 Aug 2007 10:48:39 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/indian-outsourc.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/indian-outsourc.html The knock-on effect of the American sub-prime crisis goes on and on. According to reports from Data Monitor, it now hits the Indian outsourcing sector. This is because firms such as First Magnus closing their doors to business and filing... banking Chris Skinner Current Affairs financial markets General general interest Globalisation The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Wed, 29 Aug 2007 08:26:57 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/numbers-part-ei.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/numbers-part-ei.html I popped into the British Banker's Association (BBA) last week and found that they publish a nice long list of statistics about our industry so, in yet another in the numbers series, here's the low-down on the UK banking sector.... banking Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest Chris Skinner Tue, 28 Aug 2007 09:16:27 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/did-anyone-noti.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/did-anyone-noti.html I was intrigued to see the lack of headlines about American Express this month, especially as they were fined $65 million by the US Department of Justice the other day. I only caught the news hidden in a US notice... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets general interest payments regulation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Fri, 24 Aug 2007 12:46:14 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/banks-successes.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/banks-successes.html I noticed that the Canadian Bank TD had opened a Facebook group called TD Money Lounge. Seems to be a pure advert for their products to me, but it's pretty popular with Canadians with over 3,500 members in this Group... banking Chris Skinner financial markets general interest The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 23 Aug 2007 09:02:55 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/bank-innovation.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/bank-innovation.html I've often said that the phrase 'Bank Innovation' is an oxymoron, a bit like military intelligence and honest politicians. This is because innovation means taking risks and banks don't take risks, although I qualify these statements to say that they... banking Chris Skinner financial markets general interest The Banking Channel trends Chris Skinner Wed, 22 Aug 2007 14:14:01 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/barclays-may-be.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/barclays-may-be.html I noted with interest this morning that Barclays Bank is rethinking its' symbolic Eagle insignia in light of the bid to become more mainland European. The symbol for the Bank is a spread eagle, and has been with the bank... banking Chris Skinner financial markets general interest Globalisation The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:17:03 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/will-the-boat-f.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/will-the-boat-f.html Intriguing news about our anticipated new trade reporting services, with one of my City friends asking if Project Boat will float whilst another tells me Yellow Submarine is already sunk. Project Boat is the trade reporting service being launched by... banking Chris Skinner financial markets FSA Futures & Options MiFID regulation Chris Skinner Mon, 20 Aug 2007 10:06:10 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/iraq-gets-its-f.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/iraq-gets-its-f.html Some of you probably read that headline and thought it may be more useful if Iraq could build a few hedges around their gardens first as, in this war-torn region, it's hard to imagine a hedge fund being of much... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Futures & Options general interest Globalisation Chris Skinner Fri, 17 Aug 2007 09:42:43 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/2-out-of-5-face.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/2-out-of-5-face.html New research finds that 41% of Facebook users are happy to reveal all to potential identity thieves. The researchers found this out by creating a fabricated Facebook profile before sending out friend requests to people chosen at random from around... banking Chris Skinner financial markets general interest payments trends Web/Tech Weblogs Chris Skinner Thu, 16 Aug 2007 09:53:13 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/goldmans-system.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/goldmans-system.html In April 2006, I made commentary about the opportunities and risks of algo trading with the view that "there are huge dangers and successful execution demands deep technological know-how. However, the only way in which markets can operate is to... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Futures & Options Chris Skinner Wed, 15 Aug 2007 07:51:16 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/working-class-m.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/working-class-m.html You know most of us struggle to get by or so it seems. We work long hours, spend probably a couple of hours a day commuting, maybe get two weeks off in August if we're lucky to get away to... banking Chris Skinner financial markets general interest trends Chris Skinner Tue, 14 Aug 2007 08:57:12 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/claims-that-fix.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/claims-that-fix.html At the Black Hat Conference in Las Vegas at the beginning of August - Black Hat focuses upon all things to do with security of systems - Jeremy Rauch and David Goldsmith from Matasano Security stood on the podium and... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Futures & Options Chris Skinner Mon, 13 Aug 2007 08:59:15 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/banking-on-the-.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/banking-on-the-.html It's summer, it's Friday and yes, it's beach party time. In this latest news on beach trends, folks "will wear wristbands that automatically debit their bank accounts or credit cards to pay for beach access, food and parking". Yes, it's... banking Chris Skinner general interest Chris Skinner Fri, 10 Aug 2007 09:57:34 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/uk-banks-hit-ha.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/uk-banks-hit-ha.html Interesting research that was blasted across the UK press yesterday. The research came from the recently IPO'd website moneysupermarket.com, which reckons that we could be paying an average of £300 a year in current account charges if the UK's free... banking Chris Skinner financial markets FSA payments Chris Skinner Thu, 09 Aug 2007 10:27:27 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/still-no-plans-.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/still-no-plans-.html The International Monetary Fund has just issued their analysis of what's going on in European financial markets (64 page pdf), with a particular focus on MiFID. Here's a summary of the key headline impacts of MiFID in their view: the... banking Chris Skinner MiFID regulation Chris Skinner Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:27:53 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/a-perfect-storm.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/a-perfect-storm.html There appears to be a perfect storm brewing in the private equity and hedge fund markets. Similarly you cannot avoid the bad news about Bear Stearns right now with Warren Spector, co-President and co-COO, resigning over the weekend amid major... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Futures & Options Chris Skinner Tue, 07 Aug 2007 10:13:18 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/first-paypal-th.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/first-paypal-th.html We all know how successful PayPal is but, just in case you missed it, then checkout the story I wrote about them in March. Speaking of Checkout, there is a potential competitor to PayPal emerging in the form of Google's... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets payments Chris Skinner Mon, 06 Aug 2007 15:49:02 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/prepaid-to-top-.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/08/prepaid-to-top-.html 500 billion what's you ask? Well dollars of course. The reason this crops up today is that fellow financial blogger - that's blogger, no 'u' in there in case you misread - Dave Birch of Consult Hyperion has given airing... banking cards Chris Skinner payments Chris Skinner Fri, 03 Aug 2007 12:18:12 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/fund-managers-w.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/fund-managers-w.html After three years of anticipation, we're now just 93 days away from 1st November and the implementation of MiFID. Now you would think that after 1,217 days of thinking about MiFID's implications and implementation, that most folks would be ready... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Futures & Options MiFID regulation Chris Skinner Tue, 31 Jul 2007 11:20:22 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/how-the-media-c.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/how-the-media-c.html In an eight-page document to the Chief Executives of UK Banks released on Friday, the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) accused the UK Banking industry of being "unfair". The document concludes an investigation into unauthorised overdraft charging complaints procedures. In... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Chris Skinner Mon, 30 Jul 2007 12:06:02 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/mobile-banking-.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/mobile-banking-.html CNBC in the USA ran a report at the end of June on mobile banking. The report is interesting as 2007 is definitely the year of the mobile phone, or cellphone if you're American, with Bank of America, Citibank, Wachovia,... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets payments The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Wed, 25 Jul 2007 10:35:07 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/sepa-moves-to-c.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/sepa-moves-to-c.html Y'know I was going to write an indepth analysis of the ECB's 5th report on SEPA titled: "SEPA: from Concept to Reality" (31 page pdf download) only to find my Dutch friend Donald at the excellent blogspot Linkdump on Payments... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets Globalisation payments Chris Skinner Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:45:48 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/jwg-it-mifid-te.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/jwg-it-mifid-te.html from PJ Di Giammarino of JWG-IT: The Financial Serivces industry think-tank Industry has the potential to save EUR millions through a new approach London �?? July 2007. JWG-IT Group Limited, the think-tank for EU-driven IT change in financial services, is... Chris Skinner MiFID PJ Di Giammorino regulation John Wiley Tue, 24 Jul 2007 12:26:13 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/hsbcs-view-from.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/hsbcs-view-from.html I recently went to a conference in the HSBC tower at Canary Wharf. On entering the building, there's a few things that strike me. First, the lovely pair of lions as you walk up to the building. The lions are... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Chris Skinner Fri, 20 Jul 2007 10:21:43 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/bankers-battle-.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/bankers-battle-.html I recently encountered an interesting conversation between two CIOs of two major European banks. I won't say anything more than one was a major French bank and the other a major Dutch bank who both share the same building. The... banking Chris Skinner financial markets Chris Skinner Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:07:02 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/government-sc-1.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/government-sc-1.html The government intends to scrap the controversial national identity card program. Instead, the Home Office is working with NATO and the US Department of Homeland Security to create a globally recognised standard for identity management using the latest chip designs... banking cards Chris Skinner financial markets General general interest payments trends Chris Skinner Mon, 16 Jul 2007 09:36:15 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/can-fix-fix-it.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/can-fix-fix-it.html Click here, here and especially here to find out ... banking Chris Skinner financial markets The Banking Channel Chris Skinner Thu, 12 Jul 2007 19:08:46 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/banks-losing-fi.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/banks-losing-fi.html It must be that time of year, e.g. it�??s quiet in the summer so let�??s release our research and get the headlines. After IBM�??s report yesterday, I then got KPMG�??s report on Anti-Money Laundering (AML) today. This report proves interesting... banking Chris Skinner financial markets payments Chris Skinner Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:37:27 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/get-global-get-.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/07/get-global-get-.html IBM sent me a report this morning called �??Get global. Get specialized. Or get out. Unexpected lessons in global financial markets.�?? The report's theme is that the financial markets will enjoy dramatic growth except that financial firms do not have... Chris Skinner financial markets Globalisation John Wiley Mon, 09 Jul 2007 10:17:26 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/06/welcome-to-the-.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/06/welcome-to-the-.html Welcome to The FinanSer, the portal to the knowledge base of the financial services community. Here, we have gathered some of the leading thinkers in the industry in both Europe and America to blog, podcast and share ideas around the... Chris Skinner General John Wiley Fri, 29 Jun 2007 15:11:00 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/06/community_curre.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/06/community_curre.html Many years ago, I read a book by Bernard Lietaer on the Future of Money, which expounded the ideas of community currencies. These are currencies where you exchange time and other measures of value that are relevant to communities, rather... banking Chris Skinner John Wiley Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:30:00 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/06/technology_and_.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/06/technology_and_.html Yesterday was a fascinating day full of presentations on risk in the morning from a bunch of old CRO's (Chief Risk Officers) followed by a lunch with a crock of CIO's (Chief Information Officers). In fact, there was even one... Chris Skinner general interest trends John Wiley Wed, 27 Jun 2007 12:12:00 +0100 http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/06/prepaids_demogr.html http://wiley.typepad.com/the_finanser/2007/06/prepaids_demogr.html We run regular meetings at the Financial Services Club, and launched in Ireland last year. The forthcoming event in Dublin on 14th June is talking about various things from mobile to prepaid and it prompted Kieron Guilfoyle, CEO of 3V,... cards Chris Skinner payments John Wiley Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:12:00 +0100