September 19, 2012
Market data was the subject of last week’s post. This week, we take a took at transaction information; the stuff that is associated with every trade that a bank books. Trade lifecycle. That expression will be familiar to those who work in financial services. It starts with book trade and ends with settle trade. Along […]
September 10, 2012
Last week, we took a look at stuff you pay for and your clients don’t use. This week, a subtle variation. Paying for stuff that you don’t use properly. When you negotiate to buy something, you will be starting from the notion that you need whatever good or service you are looking at. There is […]
September 5, 2012
Banks need to cut their costs. This is actually always true, however in late Summer 2012 the need is acute as bankers fight with low interest rates, low volumes and low revenues. Banks are though not really efficient at the best of times and in the worst of times, that really hurts. Banks send their […]
August 27, 2012
Banks are pretty low in the publics estimation. Of late, Sod’s law has applied in spades. What can go wrong has gone wrong; Nasdaq and the Facebook problem, RBS and their domestic banking problems. On top of that, banks have made a big mess of many basic things they should be getting right; rigging LIBOR, […]
August 14, 2012
After all the fun of London 2012, we are now in what in journalism is often referred to as “silly season”. The holiday month of August, where real news is in short supply. A light hearted look at some banking stories seems appropriate. It is often said that there are three types of money: getting […]
August 8, 2012
Standard Chartered. They are the whipping boy du jour suffering at what I term “long hand of American imperialism”. This week they stand accused of all sorts of wrongdoing connected to Iran. Before them Credit Suisse, Lloyds, ABN and Barclays have been pressured in to handing over fistfuls of green backs to Uncle Sam for […]