The Bankers' Week… in Brief because It's Christmas!
24 December, 2011On Monday: the government adopted the Independent Commission on Banking recommendations (well mostly) a parliamentary committee recommended that parliamentary and government oversight of financial regulators including the BoE be strengthened and clarified Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg took another swipe at excessive bank bonuses. On Tuesday The BoE outlined what powers it thinks its new Financial Policy Committee should [...]
The Bankers' Week… The Army Steps In?
16 December, 2011In this week's war to save the Euro politicians have seen most of the action but now the army has broken cover. "The biggest strategic risk facing the UK is economic rather than military," intoned the UK's Chief of Defence Staff on Wednesday night. So it's official: things are really serious. After all as General Sir [...]
The Bankers' Week… Stop Press
8 December, 20112.00 pm Thursday, 8th December: The Bank of England resisted all pressures, on rates and quantitative easing today, maintaining its rate for borrowing at 0.5 per cent and leaving additional QE to the New Year, if at all. Meanwhile the European Central Bank had what its President Mario Draghi said “..was a lively discussion. Though [...]
The Bankers' Week… an Irregular Round-up of News
8 December, 2011After gaining prestige for his role earlier last week in action by central banks to increase liquidity in the worldwide banking system, BoE Governor Mervyn King turned very gloomy by the week's end. He warned banks that they must increase their capital reserves to face the coming Eurostorm. They should consider retaining some of the 'profits' they planned to dispense to their staff [...]
Who Owes $7 Trillion to Whom?
30 November, 2011While the media have been concerned with the worldwide spiralling liquidity debt crisis and the UK's own £30 billion black hole, another truly remarkable financial fact has slipped virtually unreported into the public domain. Last week the Bank of International Settlements (BIS)* released its latest six-monthly report on the worldwide over-the-counter derivatives market. It [...]
How the Dutch Treat their Banks
7 April, 2011On March 22nd Jan Hommen, the chief executive of Dutch bank ING, announced that on second thoughts he would forgo his bonus because he and fellow board members had underestimated the negative public reaction to its announcement some days before. The 'negative public reaction' had taken the form of furious outbursts by Dutch politicians and [...]
Dear Mr Osborne: This is a dose of the wrong remedy (and it’s too little and too late anyway)
11 February, 2011"The government says is to increase its levy on banks to £2.5bn this year which will raise an extra £800m for the treasury. With talk of £7billion bonus pots for the bankers, and an uncomfortable looking Mr. Diamond of Barclays pleading that its time we stopped bashing them, this move is going to please nobody. [...]
Independent Banking Commission offers Disappointing Half-Time Report
25 January, 2011John Vickers, Chairman of the Independent Banking Commission gave a half-time report on Saturday 22nd January. Overall it’s not very encouraging and looks as though the Commission is aiming for strengthened capital requirements as its main cure-all. Radical changes in banking practice are not on the bill. Due to present a final report to the [...]
No solutions on BBC2: Are Britain's banks too big to save?
20 January, 2011(Guest Post by Richard Boulton) "Are Britain's banks too big to save?" was the question Robert Peston set himself in his investigation last Tuesday (Britain's banks: Too big to save?, BBC2, 21.00, January 18th - you can see it on the BBC's iPlayer until the 25th). Strong on history, including a hilarious account of how [...]