Dear readers: it’s time to hear all about your Christmas excesses December 21, 2015 Bankers are having their biggest year on record for global mergers and acquisitions, but instead of celebrating in the usual fashion with an over-the-top staff Christmas party, some are avoiding going out altogether so as not to draw attention to themselves. Earlier this month we reported that the Square Mile’s marketers were letting loose. While [...]
From Ed Miliband to Martin Winterkorn: These are 2015’s biggest people moves December 18, 2015 From politicos to business nerds, it's been a busy year for people-watchers of all ilks, as the mighty fell. Whether you were more interested in the surprise departure of Barclays chief executive Antony Jenkins, or the many u-turns of Ukip leader Nigel Farage, here are the biggest people moves this year. 1. Mack the Knife's reign [...]
R3 blockchain consortium : 12 new banks including Santander and Danske Bank join JPMorgan, Barclays and HSBC in blockchain experimentation December 17, 2015 Another 12 banks have joined the rapidly expanding blockchain consortium R3, including Santander and Danske Bank. The blockchain consortium was launched with nine members in September, but has grown explosively in the months that followed. With the new members, the total number of banks affiliated with the consortium has soared to 42. The idea is [...]
The City remain top dog for charitable activity December 17, 2015 Lord Mountevans, Lord Mayor of the City of London, on the City’s charitable highlights The year is drawing to a close and for the City, it has been a fantastic year for charitable outreach. In addition to promoting the City as a global centre for financial and professional services, I will be picking up the baton from my [...]
Barclays sells index assets to Bloomberg December 16, 2015 Barclays has offloaded some of its analytics and index assets to financial data firm Bloomberg for £520m, as part of plans to focus on its core business. Barclays Chief Executive Jes Staley said the deal was further evidence of the work the bank is doing to manage down its noncore assets. The deal includes benchmark [...]
Fintech challengers like Square, ApplePay and Funding Circle could undermine banks’ credit ratings in 2016 according to Standard & Poor’s December 16, 2015 The rise of fintech is challenging traditional banks, and could even undermine their credit rating, according to Standard & Poor's. The ratings agency expects global investment in 'non bank' financial service to be worth $24bn (£16bn) this year, double the figure in 2014. Traditional banks are still trying to adapt to the low interest rate, and [...]
City Moves for 16 December 2015 | Who’s switching jobs December 15, 2015 DOLLAR UK Steve Dukes has been appointed by consumer finance company Dollar UK as its new chief product development officer, reporting directly to chief executive Stuart Howard. Steve joins from Wonga where he was vice president of customer proposition. GFT UK GFT, a provider of business, design and technology consulting to the investment banking community, [...]
Former Barclays chairman Sir David Walker joins London blockchain startup SETL December 15, 2015 A former Barclays chairman and City veteran has joined a London-based fintech startup underpinned by the blockchain in another major signal that the technology is gaining traction in the banking world. Sir David Walker, who chaired Barclay between 2012 until earlier this year, will chair SETL, a blockchain-based payment processor and settlement company. Walker is a veteran of the banking world [...]
Blockchain and mobile payments are sending banks’ spend on payment tech soaring in 2016 December 15, 2015 Blockchain and mobile payments are sending payment tech spend soaring next year, new research has found. Globally, some 61 per cent of banks expect to increase their payment technology expenditure next year, according to a report from tech firm Ovum. This is a significant rise on 2015, when 52 per cent hiked their spending in [...]
From Mario Draghi on markets to Yanis Varoufakis on creditors: This is 2015 in quotes December 14, 2015 It’s been an action packed year – for better or worse. We’ve had a General Election, watched Greece come close to exiting the Eurozone, witnessed a Chinese economic slowdown and near financial crash- and the year isn’t even over. Here's what the world's good and great had to say while 2015 was happening… Sean Rad [...]