Transaction Banking

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

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

Retired Member 

Cracking Nuts With Sledgehammers at UK FI

Last week saw the start of ramping up staff numbers at UK Financial Investments, the 'arms length' company the Government is setting up to manage the investments in RBS and the merged Lloyds group. It seems to me that the numbers involved amount to overkill - unless there are objectives to achieve that HMG are not saying... According to the Treas...

29 November 2008 /retail

Retired Member 

Forcing The Banks To Lend Part 2

Yesterday saw the ante being well and truly upped on this issue, with the Bank of England Governor weighing in and the Chancellor speaking forth too, issuing veiled threats aplenty. This smacks at a spot of scapegoating that does nothing much to help the real issues. For starters, why would it be a good idea to expand mortgage lending still furth...

26 November 2008 /retail

Retired Member 

The 'Yes Buts' Are Ignored Again At Our Peril

Why is the the contrary view so devalued these days? In years gone past, savvy managers would ask people (the 'yes buts', or Devil's Advocates) to think about the downsides of any proposed course of action, not necessarily to stop an initiative in its tracks but to tease out the wrinkles, analyse them and improve the initiative before launching. ...

25 November 2008 /retail

Retired Member 

Size Matters

There are a couple of reasons why the rumoured reduction in VAT is more likely to fail than succeed. One is the fact that much of peoples' basic spending is not subject to VAT and the other is one of relative size. This change in 'price' highlights a problem that all large institutions face, and a converse benefit in some instances, in that the p...

24 November 2008 /retail

Retired Member 

How Do You Force A Bank To Lend?

Notwithstanding the complete ar*e the banks have made, at the macro level, of the world's finances, most bankers at branch level can probably still be relied upon to make sensible decisions about lending to viable businesses. Whilst of course they can be subject to diktats from senior management at the centre as to pricing policy, generally speak...

21 November 2008 /regulation /retail