US

FDIC aggregate bank losses masked by trading gains Q1 – 2009

Colin Henderson

The latest FDIC QBP is out and contains some sobering information on the impact of the recession on bank results. FDIC Quarterly Banking Performance – 31st March 2009 INSURED INSTITUTION PERFORMANCE Net Income of $7.6 Billion Is Less than Half Year-Earlier Level (61% less than previous period) Noninterest Income Registers Strong Rebound at Large Banks Aggressive Reserve Building Trails Growth in Troubled Loans Industry Assets Contract by $302 Billion Total Equity Capital Increases by $82.1 Billion Looking behind the apparently positive net income of $7.6Bn we see that first quarter earnings were $11.7 billion (60.8 percent) lower than in the … Continue reading FDIC aggregate bank losses masked by trading gains Q1 – 2009

Payments

Mizuho Bank & NTT DoCoMo plan to launch a financial services and remittance service

Colin Henderson

Mobile payments continues to grow worldwide, yet limited in North America so far. Mizuho and NTT DoCoMo launch mobile payments service Mizuho Bank, in partnership with NTT DoCoMo plans to launch a financial services and remittance services via mobile phone ＮＴＴドコモがみずほ銀行と提携し、携帯電話を使った送金サービスなどの金融業務に乗り出す方針であることが２６日、わかった。 Researched by Nobuyo Henderson Continue reading Mizuho Bank & NTT DoCoMo plan to launch a financial services and remittance service

Innovation

Wesabe introduces a redesigned site with enhanced features

Colin Henderson

Wesabe have introduced a redesigned site.  It appears to be more than a surface change with nice use of interactive ‘hover’ features with personalised information inside the hover.  The menu is simplified, yet takes you to everything required, including ‘Connections’ that includes iphone and twitter connections. Its clean, bright, and worth checking out. wesabe Wesabe Site Redesign If you haven’t logged in to Wesabe lately, you’re in for quite a surprise. We’ve redesigned every single page of the site and have been getting some rave reviews about our new look! Continue reading Wesabe introduces a redesigned site with enhanced features

Security2 Comments

Should the Fed be the 14th payment network, and how would that solve the problems?

Colin Henderson

President Kohn of the Kansas City Fed speaks at the ECB/De Nederlandsche Bank Conference conference in Frankfurt.  He argues for greater control by the Fed over the payments system.  While his outline of problems makes sense, they also describe the failure of the current system, and the lack of foresight from the existing controls, and its unclear that the proposed solution from them will have any impact other than exacerbating those problems.  The problems he describes are real and more importantly consumer facing.  They are also imho problems that large banks could address given their scale and the opportunity for … Continue reading Should the Fed be the 14th payment network, and how would that solve the problems?

Business Models2 Comments

“Instead of extracting value, they create it” | Haque

Colin Henderson

Umair continually presses us to think about new types of corporations that are creating genuine value.  The definition is evolving, and you can check back with his earlier posts about the companies mentioned, but the final sentence in this paragraph is a great objective. An Open Letter to 20th Century Business | Umair Haque Who are some of those innovators? We’ve discussed lots of them – Apple, Google, Tata, Threadless. What makes them different is simple. They are more profitable and valuable than rivals because, well, they do stuff that counts. Instead of extracting value, they create it. Continue reading “Instead of extracting value, they create it” | Haque

Japan

Bank of Japan announces improvement in Japanese economy

Colin Henderson

In a surprising statement Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa announces improvements in the Japanese economy.  It is surprising following several years of slow economy even before the economic crisis we are now in.  Click through for that, and a review of several economies including Canada. Japan raises outlook | Reuters WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Japan raised its economic outlook for the first time in three years on Monday, and an important measure of German business sentiment rose in May, in further signs the worst of the global recession may be over. Research and guest comments by Nobuyo Henderson: I look … Continue reading Bank of Japan announces improvement in Japanese economy

Uncategorized

Real-time search – fact and fiction, and why?

Colin Henderson

One of the latest trends in ‘the valley’ is the notion of real time search.  This has been brought to highlight by twitter search.  While I understand the idea of real-time, the idea of applying the concept to the entire internet seems like a big job, and so it is with some scepticism that I hear people believe Twitter have solved that riddle. An example elsewhere in the text was of banks – their information is not real time.  Consider ATM deposits that appear on the next days date, or payroll electronic funds transfer which are deposited in batch mode … Continue reading Real-time search – fact and fiction, and why?

Canada, Economy

Canadian banks will require more capital to remain within targets

Colin Henderson

The IMF have released their working papers following their analysis of Canadian Banks.  Notwithstanding the positive comments about Canadian banks financial position entering the crisis, there remains potential for a requirement for increased capital as negatives in Canada could decrease bank capital by 2.5% – 3.5% over next year or two. The IMF employed the American stress test approach to Canadian banks in this exercise. Here is the current position: There are two ratios being watched – Tier 1 and Total Capital.  In a nutshell and worst case scenario, IMF are saying if 2.5% or 3.5% is taken off either … Continue reading Canadian banks will require more capital to remain within targets

Economy, Innovation

The Aftermath of Financial Crises | study

Colin Henderson

A short and useful paper offerring some points that help to frame the next few years for strategic planning purposes.  This to be read of course in the context of politicians preaching ‘road to recovery’ which leaves the uninformed with the view that we will get over this blip and back to normal. I prefer to think of this as a shift that will profoundly change things for the next few years, with some good and some not so good elements in that shift.  It may be good that the banking industry will be shaken up, and out of that … Continue reading The Aftermath of Financial Crises | study