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2011 March
Treasury course
March 24th, 2011
If you have been working in or around treasury for the last two or three decades you will have seen some remarkable changes. One that is striking is how and where you come across complexity. At first complexity arose with products. It’s why derivatives became controversial. Making things opaque helped disguise how much was made […]
Why are interest rates so low?
March 16th, 2011
In the UK, Bank rate is 0.50% this is the lowest it has ever been since records began over 300 years ago. According to many economists this is the worst economic period since the 1930s. Wages haven’t kept up with prices and real incomes have declined. Policy makers explain their fear of a “double dip” […]
Regulatory volatility – what happens if the tide turns?
March 9th, 2011
When I see board risk packs there is more on liquidity, market and credit risk than ever before. That’s a good thing, it promotes discussion. One of the key ingredients is the ability to look forwards rather than backwards. Indeed the question “what will the balance sheet look like over five years” is routinely asked […]
Hiring graduates
March 7th, 2011
Two banks I visited this week had contrasting views on the need for graduates in their financial markets division. Both banks were large Europeans and it makes the comparison interesting. The first bank had hired very few graduates in the last four years. It preferred to take on seasoned professionals. They could hit the ground […]
Building society sourcebook – remedial action
March 1st, 2011
Last year the FSA published the new sourcebook for building societies. There were 5 treasury approaches and 3 credit risk approaches. You compared what you did with what was expected and then waited. Now we are getting the response. In some cases I understand the FSA isn’t too happy. That means remedial work. One key […]