Banking
The man who could sell the British public on fracking
Iain Conn, who will succeed Sam Laidlaw as chief executive of Centrica, would have been a dead cert for the…
I know how ineffective sanctions are – but these ones just might work
‘Sanctions,’ said Kofi Annan, ‘are a necessary middle ground between war and words.’ Neither the EU nor the US will…
Even Switzerland is turning lefty. Am I going to have to move to Wyoming?
Gstaad I am looking out of my window at the green landscape and forested mountains rising beyond, as peaceful a…
Forecasting is a mug’s game – but I was right about the economic revival
‘Perhaps I should shift my prediction to 23 July 2014,’ I wrote in April 2012. ‘That’s the opening of the…
‘Dark pools’ are just another conspiracy of bankers against the public
It was at the Mansion House dinner last year that a City gent two seats away announced himself to be…
George Osborne’s cynical grab for northern votes (and why I’m for it)
When John Prescott used to wax garrulous about a ‘superhighway’ from Hull to Liverpool, everyone assumed it was a wheeze…
The return of oil price anxiety is a timely reminder to get fracking
‘Iraq turmoil sends crude oil prices to nine-month high’ is the sort of headline that used to send shivers down…
How ancient Athens beat tax avoidance
The taxman will soon be ordering those planning dodgy tax avoidance schemes to declare them beforehand and pay the full…
Are we killing investment banking? And if we are, should we care?
Do we really mean to kill investment banking, or are we trampling it by accident in a fit of righteous…
Why the bankers’ bonus debate is not going away
A bouquet to Alison Kennedy, ‘governance and stewardship director’ at the Edinburgh-based pensions provider Standard Life, for leading the rebellion…
Any other business: The friends of Putin taking home gold from the Sochi Olympics
Imagine if the BBC’s excitable commentators had been asked to cover the building of Sochi’s facilities, rather than the Winter…
Where I’m looking for the next great banking blow-up
A reader likens me to Dr Pangloss, the quack philosopher in Voltaire’s Candide who insisted that ‘all is for the…
Any other business: The £1 bet that built a 1,000-strong company
At a charity lunch in Manchester, I meet a cheerful ‘engagement manager’ from AO.com, formerly Appliances Online, a fast-growing internet…
Any other business: How François Hollande let France miss the global recovery train
I’ve always respected stationmasters, but that sentiment is not universally shared. A distinguished friend of mine across the Channel described…
Any other business: Oh dear... perhaps Standard Chartered isn't as dull as it looks
The cautionary tale of the Co-operative Bank, its black hole and its naughty chairman has recently taught us that if…
Martin Vander Weyer: The Reverend is just a funny sideshow — here's who to blame for the Co-op mess
The naughty Reverend Flowers will be a comic footnote in the history of the financial crisis — but no more…
Ireland's back, and luck had nothing to do with it
My man in Dublin calls with joy in his voice to tell me ‘the Troika’ — the combined powers of…
There's a revolution — in banking
The financial crisis is the catalyst for a belated revolution
Martin Vander Weyer: Bad news for pawnbrokers. Is that good news for the rest of us?
While attention has focused on the sudden ubiquity and alleged iniquity of payday lenders, boom and impending bust has infected…
This isn’t a property bubble – it’s a reason to improve London’s transport
Everyone —including me, if I’m honest — has been talking about a new property bubble. But is it for real?…
Bet on Royal Mail, not Twitter
Royal Mail delivers to 29 million UK addresses; last year it generated £9 billion of revenues, of which £324 million…
Welcome back, TSB: your founder’s spirit is alive and well and living in Airdrie
A big hello to the revived Trustee Savings Bank — the spin-off of 631 Lloyds branches that were going to…
Unpaid internships turned me into a banker – but I still think they’re a good thing
My thanks to ‘AndyB’, the only reader who posted an online comment on my column last week. It was ‘Don’t…
Whisper it, but the big banks are finally getting their houses in order
By and large it was a good week for the big banks — underpinned by encouraging news from the wider…
Dear Justin Welby – here’s how you can really take on Wonga
I’ve been in the pulpit again, this time to salute the centenary of the death of Charles Norris Gray, a…
