Jon Snow
Alexis Stenfors, a 39-year-old trader who lost Merrill Lynch millions and then tried to cover his tracks, is an every day story of the complete Alice-in-Wonderland world in which the 2008 crash was engineered, writes Jon Snow.
Today’s inflation number may contain a clue as to the next populist backlash initiated by desperate politicians. Speculators must surely be next in line for the pre-election chopping block. Oil traders in particular can surely not be spared from growing public anger over petrol prices. There is, I’m told, a glut of oil and petrol…
Size does matter to the G20 finance ministers. We know this in relation to the extent of the recovery. Some feel recovery has bedded down sufficiently to allow talk of ‘exit strategies’ from the extraordinary stimulus seen around the world. Others, including the chancellor, fear that “the biggest single risk to recovery is that people…
Jon Snow
So today we get a squint at the new regulations that MAY be brought in to guard against the greed, ignorance and arrogance that brought about the banking melt down and consequent financial crisis last year. Sir David Walker’s interim report lands on the chancellor’s desk today. It is said to reveal the unbelievable lack…
‘Hockney-esque’ is how the City minister, Lord Myners last week described today’s government effort to reboot Britain’s banking system. It’s a high-brow reference to the fact that today’s government proposals will be a mix of white and green paper. Many of the more radical decisions will be delayed for more consultation. Some angry taxpayers could…
Jon Snow
I am at the apparent end of a tussle with the Financial Services Authority (FSA). Or I think I am. Last month it was revealed that 51 individuals had effectively failed to pass muster as “competent” to hold key positions in Britain’s financial services industry. Or to put it more politely, these individuals had “withdrawn”…
Jon Snow
How can it be that this far into Britain’s financial crisis, yet another building society is in trouble? Tonight the West Bromwich Building Society’s future hangs in the balance as it fights to find extra financial resources to keep going.