banks

The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) has today withdrawn charges against Citigroup Global Markets Australia Pty Limited (Citigroup), Deutsche Bank AG and four senior banking executives.

A statement from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development says that a meeting of the heads of the leading multilateral development banks (MDBs) meeting at the 2018 Global Infrastructure Forum (GI Forum) today reaffirmed their commitment to work together to deliver inclusive, resilient, and sustainable technology-driven infrastructure. "

There's a lot of blah-blah-buzzword-blah and then comes a sentence that should pique the interest of all in the financial and aid sectors.

There is something off here: you can use your credit card to buy pornography of the most awful and depraved kinds ,you can use your credit card to place illegal wagers or take part in illegal gambling, you can use your credit card to buy drugs, legal and illegal from illegal or at least dubious sources or to put money at risk in pump and dump schemes and the banks and credit card companies are adamant that they cannot identify and prevent such transactions. And yet, when their own business models are under threat, suddenly they are able to identify and prevent the purchase of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, Ethereum and Ripple plus many, many more.

At 17:58 this evening, we received a warning about a fake website for Hang Seng Bank (see story. At 18:58, a second warning arrived, this time about Wing Lung Bank. Here are the details

It's very clear that, when Britain is outside the EU, there will be changes to the legal and regulatory framework applicable to, amongst other industries, its financial services sector. It is therefore obvious that UK banks must have representation in Frankfurt where the ECB is based. Not only is this not new, it's not even a tiny little threat to the UK financial sector, no matter what the media says.

I hate buzzwords. I hate management-speak. And I really, really hate trends that appear to be one thing when really they are another. And more than all of those combined, I hate marketing-hype bubbles where everyone talks in breathless terms about the means instead of the ends or, even, the process.

So it follows, even though I've been fascinated by technology for decades, I'm irritated by the growth of so-called "fintech."

And I'm watching all the signs of a bubble.

The UK Treasury has issued a notice bringing into effect additional requirements. Under the notice issued 6 May 2016, by 31 May credit and financial institutions must terminate all financial dealings with the government of North Korea, with the ruling Party - and essentially freeze the whole of North Korea out of the UK banking system by, amongst other things, closing branches and accounts.

If the UK leaves the European Union, it will have a choice as to whether to revoke, modify or retain laws that are imposed by reason of EU Directives. The Financial Sector is one of the areas most affected by EU-imposed laws. Here are three examples of relevant laws and the likely effect on the UK financial sector if the UK left the EU.

The Jakarta Post reports that it has seen a copy of a draft banking Bill which has been "specifically developed to target foreign banks operating here," it says.

A former director of Australian company Streetwise has been jailed for 8 1/2 years by a Sydney court for making fraudulent representations in support of applications for loans to his companies and fraudulently obtaining investments.