Transaction Banking

A community for discussing technology trends, views and perspective in global transaction banking

Retired Member 

Interest Tax Proposals Expose Financial Naivety

The economic situation we are in has amply demonstrated how Labour doesn't understand finance well enough to be left in charge of the economy. The worrying thing for me is that the Conservatives are showing a similar lack of basic understanding. What chance do we have of getting out of this mess if both parties cannot understand finance at a bas...

06 January 2009 /retail

Retired Member 

Corporate Debt - A Lender's Perspective

In the paper today was a truly staggering figure - £110 billion of corporate debt that will need to be refinanced in 2009. That is probably a conservative figure, focusing only on the larger companies. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Contrary to what FDs are probably thinking, if I were still a banker, I'd be offering eye-wateri...

04 January 2009 /retail

Retired Member 

1970's Revisited

The twenty-teenies look to me as if they'll be a replay of the 1970's, here in the UK. No, I don't mean loon pants, two-tones, bad hairdos, glam-rock and tank-tops (but you never know...). No, I mean Sterling crisis, IMF, rampant inflation and industrial strife. Think about it for a minute. First, just like the '70's, we have the imminent collap...

19 December 2008 /retail

Retired Member 

Credit Reports - A Tax By Another Name

I've never received a letter quite like the one I received, over the weekend, from one of my credit card providers. It started with the sentence "Please sign and return the attached application form today to be entitled to a copy of your personal Credit Report." No point in beating about the bush, I guess. None of the flowery rhubarb y...

16 December 2008 /regulation /retail

Retired Member 

A Strictly Important Lesson To Learn

UK residents couldn't have possibly missed the furore about "Strictly Come Dancing" on Saturday - either as viewers of the programme or as observers of the news media subsequently. The events that have played out, and are still playing through, are a great advert for what happens when you don't think things through properly. There were ...

15 December 2008 /retail

Retired Member 

Forcing Banks to Lend Part 3

If anyone needed convincing that interfering with 'proper' lending decisions by forcing banks to lend makes things worse, they need only look at the latest HBOS numbers. Huge increases in bad debts from dodgy loans and yet the authorities here want them to turn the taps on again...? At the moment, a lending banker must surely be asking searching ...

12 December 2008 /regulation /retail

Retired Member 

A Good Wedge Off The National Debt...?

Maybe Ally Dally and GB are cleverer than some people thought. I know it's early days, but it's possible that the recovery of bank share prices could ultimately save the country descending into bankruptcy. Would the public then pat the bankers on the back...? I thought not... Take RBS as an example. Buying £12 billion of shares at 65.5. and se...

09 December 2008 /retail

Retired Member 

Reaction To Interest Rate Cut

One hopes that the MPC has considered fully what will be the consequences of the rate cut. Presumably, they think that this cut will help get the economy moving by encouraging people to spend. I'm not so sure, however. Yes, it will help in terms of reducing interest costs for business (assuming the cut gets passed on. Remember that for some comp...

05 December 2008 /retail

Retired Member 

Hands Up Anybody Who is Not A Hard-Working Family

One of the phrases that bugs me at the moment is 'hard working families'. Gordon Brown uses the phrase often, usually to preface an announcement of what he's going to do to 'help them'. I think I'm right in thinking that I've heard other parties use the same phrase. This suggests to me that those who aren't 'hard working' aren't worthy of suppo...

04 December 2008 /retail

Retired Member 

Soviet Britain

Interesting to read in the papers today that at least 10 boroughs in the UK now have almost 50% of the working population employed by the state, rather than the private sector. This, with what is happening in the economy, and the continuing evolution of the tax and benefits system in the image of the Government, looks a bit like creeping Sovietis...

01 December 2008 /retail