November 12th, 2014 This is brilliant off-the-cuff reporting by Paul Mason, economics editor of Channel 4 News. It’s all very well for the Royal Bank of Scotland’s chief executive Ross McEwan to claim to be angry that some of his bank’s traders rigged the FX markets in order to rip off the bank’s clients and counterparties. But I […]
November 12th, 2014 Guest Post by Rowan Bosworth-Davies One of the major unexplained elements in the foreign exchange (forex) rigging case is the level of knowledge of manipulative activity possessed by the Bank of England. If it, as a leading market participant and a regulator, had prior knowledge that the forex markets were being manipulated, or […]
By Ian Fraser Published: The Daily Telegraph Date: 6 November 2014 SMEs are calling on the government to take a more enlightened approach to immigration policy, warning the current approach is blocking access to talent, hobbling growth prospects and jeopardising the recovery. In a 2010 pre-election announcement, the then opposition leader David Cameron set a target of reducing […]
By Ian Fraser Published: Business Quarter (BQ) Date: 13 October 2014 At a dinner to mark the departure of chief executive Stephen Hester in September 2013, the Royal Bank of Scotland’s finance director Bruce van Saun gave Hester’s anointed heir, Ross McEwan, an unusual present. Hester, a keen horseman, had been the bank’s chief executive […]
By Ian Fraser Published: Sunday Herald Date: 12 October 2014 Several hundred businesses that claim to have suffered at the hands of Royal Bank of Scotland’s “turnaround” division have appointed US law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan to represent them in a planned case against the bank. The RBS GRG Business Action Group members […]
By Ian Fraser Published: The Daily Telegraph Date: 3 October 2014 The outcome of the referendum has brought certainty to Scotland’s economy, but what are the long-term consequences of the ‘No’ vote? Most Scottish businesses breathed a sigh relief when it became clear the Scottish electorate had rejected independence by 55 per cent to 45 per […]
October 2nd, 2014 This is easily the best Danny MacAskill video ever. I particularly like the bit where the fearless stunt cyclist is perched on top of the Inaccessible Pinnacle, adjacent to the summit of Sgurr Dearg. The seeming nonchalance with which MacAskill climbs the “In Pin”, as it’s called, with his bike on his shoulder, and the […]
By Ian Fraser Published: The Times Date: 29 September 2014 Small businesses, MPs and campaigners are calling for an inquiry into the Financial Conduct Authority’s handling of banks’ mis-selling of complex financial products to small businesses. Guto Bebb, a Conservative MP and chairman of an all-party parliamentary group on the issue, said: “There is no […]
September 16th, 2014 In an interview broadcast on BBC1 earlier this evening, David Dimbleby asked Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond, for his views on possible currency and financial market turmoil in the event of a “Yes” vote in the Scottish independence referendum. Dimbleby was implying that, in the event of a “Yes” vote this Thursday, markets will […]
September 16th, 2014 (last line edited September 17th, 2014) Martin Wolf repeats a number of fallacies about Scottish independence that have long since been disproved in the debate he has missed, writes Professor David Simpson The only positive message to be taken from Martin Wolf’s article, published in last Saturday’s Weelend FT, (“What happens after a yes […]