The past three decades have seen an unprecedented explosion of activity in a new sub-discipline of mathematics: financial mathematics. The emergence of this field has parallelled the expansion of the quantitative…
Ringing the changes on tax avoidance.
Philip Taylor
The revelation on the BBC and in the Guardian that British bank, HSBC, the second biggest in the world has allegedly helped UK residents sidestep taxes through a Swiss subsidiary should really come as…
In survey after survey bankers rank poorly on ethics and honesty. It’s not hard to find entire websites dedicated to bank hatred. And Bank of America consistently rates in the top 10 most hated companies…
Peer-to-peer lending, the online platforms which allow you and I to lend directly to people and businesses who want to borrow, has been hailed as disruptive technology. Cheered by savers who have been…
It came as no great surprise when David Thorburn announced this week that he was stepping down as chief executive of the troubled Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks. Having joined Clydesdale in the 1970s as…
Peep, peep: calling time on poor protections.
Steven Depolo
Think whistleblowing is a matter of telling the truth? Think again. “Successful” whistleblowing, where the protagonist actually manages to make themselves heard in the media and get the support of the…
Unlike America, Australia is overbanked.
Nicholas Eckhart/Flickr
A key component of the Financial System Inquiry handed to Treasurer Joe Hockey this week was that “the financial system should be subject and responsive to market forces, including competition”. But on…
The collapse of Lehman Brothers was a pivotal moment in the most recent financial crisis. The next crash may feature another bank failure.
Reuters
The subprime crisis and the subsequent failure of Lehman Brothers came as such a shock – and the repercussions were so severe that when the time came to mount a response, policy makers were as surprised…
Debenhams: one of several quoted companies on the private equity merry-go-round.
Karen Roe
There is an ongoing and very heated debate between the unconditional supporters of private equity and their opponents. It’s not hard to see why. On the surface, these investors can often buy fragile companies…
The UK has given up on challenging the European Court of Justice over its cap on banker bonuses. The cap that’s in place restricts bonuses to 100% of banker’s pay or 200% with shareholder approval. And…
Heads or tails this banker will cheat.
Nomad_soul via shutterstock
There is something in the culture of banking that lends itself toward making otherwise fairly good people do bad things. That’s the finding of a new study published in the journal, Nature. And it may simply…
Small beer? Bank fines and the culture they punish.
Steve James
The biggest open secret in the financial world has been confirmed. Regulators in the UK, the US and Switzerland have announced massive fines for some of the world’s largest banks for a manipulation of…
Any banking system reforms must target all institutions.
AAP
Banks borrow short and lend long. So if all of a bank’s depositors suddenly want their money, the bank would be unable to pay them. A bank may have made great loans but it can only unwind these loans slowly…
Saudi Arabia’s largest lender, National Commercial Bank (NCB) has attracted 215.8 billion riyals (US$58 billion) of bids from about 1.2m investors following its initial public offering. Despite attracting…
China’s decision to establish an Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) may prove to be one of the most important regional initiatives in recent history. At the very least it is yet another revealing…
The world’s oldest bank, Banca Monte dei Paschi di in Siena, is now battling to survive, after failing the ECB’s stress tests.
EPA/Carlo Ferraro
The results of the long-awaited European Banking Association (EBA) “stress tests” show that 25 banks were found wanting. Altogether, the banks were about €25 billion short of the capital required to be…
Marijuana is legal in some states, but that doesn’t mean that banks can deal with the proceeds.
Rick Wilking/Reuters
In nearly half of US states, marijuana business is booming. Although marijuana is illegal under federal law, 23 states have legalized some marijuana use. Colorado and Washington even allow recreational…
Failing to communicate change.
Facundo Arrizabalaga/PA Wire
There are mixed messages from the International Monetary Fund. The UK gets a pat on the back for its recovery, but the fund warns of darker clouds ahead in its latest World Economic Outlook. Overall, the…
Dave and Jean-Claude struggle to see eye to eye.
Olivier Hoslet/EPA
In announcing his team of commissioners, European Commission president-elect Jean-Claude Juncker appears to have taken to heart Machiavelli’s oft-repeated dictum: “keep your friends close and your enemies…
Why is the City keeping its suffering under wraps?
Robin Hawkes
Roger McCormick, London School of Economics and Political Science and Chris Stears, School of Advanced Study, University of London
The major international banks are being lumbered with more and higher fines as the fallout from the financial crisis continues. Our research as part of the Conduct Costs Project at the CCP Research Foundation…