Gillian Tett at the FT makes a profound point.  The US government and people have not seen nor sensed the international shock from the economic crisis that is plainly evident in Europe and in particular UK.  Osborne, Cameron and Clegg are on to something that is certainly months but probably years of the US situation with a lame duck government. The American government are very caught up in politics or infighting.  This is not a good sign. Drama needed to jolt Americans into tackling debt | ft.com The US has hitherto faced extraordinarily little market pressure for fiscal reform. Instead, … Continue reading UK is ahead of US in tackling debt

The purchase of Marshall & Ilsley by BMO provides some instructive and fascinating insight into what is bad about the US Banking crisis during 2007 – 2009. Highlights for the period 2006 – 2009: Capital is relatively unchanged Loans and mortgages grew $4 BN Brokered deposits grew $4BN Conclusion for M&I – recipe for disaster.  The management team should be fired and I would assume that is part of the purchase arrangement.  They had $1Bn + in TARP assistance and the above is a classic example of why. That aside, this is a bank with a lot of history and … Continue reading BMO purchase of Marshall & Ilsley comes down to adequacy of price

The issue of delayed foreclosures in the US as a result of flawed documentation is coming to a head as the Congressional enquiry gets close to end of job.  You will recall this was a result of loss of collateral interest in mortgages where the chain of legal rights had been lost due to the complexity of the securitisation process.  Clearly there are some background interests trying to stymie the inquiry and further investigation.  Careers, reputations and legal recriminations are all on the line.  January will be interesting. FCIC Delays Report Despite Republican Opposition, Citing ‘Very Powerful Interests’ Seeking To … Continue reading The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (US) is getting heated and close to a (heated) finish

A consultation has been launched with a view to increased simple and understandable products to be made available to the mass market consumer.  There are two papers on this site, one introducing the consultation and requesting responses and the other detailing lessons from prior ‘simple product initiatives.  The main lessons seem to be that enforced government ‘simplicity’ can increase provider costs, and that pricing caps hinder the development of more expensive simple products.  This is interesting because it infers the result might be simple and expensive products?  Anyhow, here are the details. Simple financial products consultation | HM Treasury The … Continue reading Simple products consultation launched by HM Treasury in UK

The latest OECD Composite Leading Indicator shows the economic growth patterns for the member countries.  It is quite a mixed bag with China up after being down, India down, Canada down, and many just stable. OECD Composite Leading Indicator Continue reading OECD composite leading indicators point to stable pace of expansion

Ron Shevlin, it is terrific how you simply capture my beliefs and this post went over the top by capturing two of them! The 2010 Marketing Tea Party Awards Twitter won’t ever succeed as an advertising channel. Bottom line is that Groupon was crazy for declining a $6 billion offer. Relevance to Bankwatch: Ron is dead on with both observations and they are connected.  Social media is just that, social.  Business whether it be banking or fish mongering is not social – it is business.  Business introduces other aspects that go beyond personal, and involve budgets, brand consciousness, peer pressure … Continue reading The value of social is nowhere to be seen so far