My Life on this planet.

A new banking scandal and this time HSBC is involved as well as (again) the rich who were advised by the Swiss branch of the bank on how to avoid paying taxes in their own country. These are the people who warn for instance the Greeks not to avoid paying taxes in order to be able to repay the banks. The bosses of HSBC were forced to explain at a parliamentary hearing what went wrong. They explained it was a difficult branch because its managers and employees hid their actions behind the Swiss banking legislation that actively stimulates corruption by promoting its banking secrecy. However, his explanation is difficult to follow as he too avoided paying taxes although it seems to avoid jealousy amongst his colleagues.   Still, indeed the Swiss banking secrecy makes it difficult to check banks. Nevertheless, ordinary people who work at companies will not be able to hide any activities for their bosses or face redundancy or even the involvement of the criminal justice system. ...

Here a very interesting article about the City of London with people who know the place, one of the main, if not the main financial centre on our planet where, if it rains there, it also rains in many other areas of the (Western) world, certainly because it has many connections to those other main financial regions. However, be worn, the article is even longer than the stuff I sometimes write. As mentioned in the article, things in the financial centres are now even moving faster than during the first part of the financial crisis as computers are even faster and speed is considered money ('time is money' whereby now 'time' is interpreted as 'fast' and 'speed' while maybe the person who first used this phrase used it as the time that is given should be used to good advantage) while computers are taking even more decisions than before. And thus, if things will go wrong again as some of the people who are interviewed indicate, then there will be even ...

Here a very interesting article that writes about a man who predicts the implosion of our financial system and thus our whole society, just as I discussed before . Of course, 'real' economists are trying to find out where he is wrong so they can continue claiming they can continue taking as much as they are still taking now. Indeed, he too says the inequality between the majority who, although they earn more than their parents earned at their age, become poorer because the wealthy are becoming so rich they force prices upwards so that in real terms people become worse off. When people have too much money, they start earning money not by working but by for instance buying many houses to let to others who can't earn enough any more to buy something for themselves. Or these people sell at a higher price, therefore further increasing prices. Because, those who bought want a return to their investment and thus increase rent prices or sell at a higher price, therefore furthe...

The third largest bank of the UK, Barclays, is going to make redundant (equals "is going to get rid of") up to 12,000 employees (this is about 9% of the employees) because the bank has to lower its costs while it will do everything to try to avoid the European cap on bonuses so the bank can pay even higher bonuses than before to its top people (thus effectively increasing its costs). But also other banks are doing their best to find ways of avoiding the cap so they can pay themselves more. That is what I described before as bad leaders : firing between 10,000 and 12,000 people to be able to pay yourself even more than the previous year by trying to find ways to avoid breaking laws, even when they are European and thus disliked in the UK. Good employers will be happy their business grow and thus need to employ more employees while companies that are not doing very well need to cut the numbers of employees and this will sadden good leaders who may even sacrifise some of t...

On 15/03/2013, the London Mayor Boris Johnson defended on a French radio station the City bankers’ bonuses, claiming Europe’s attack on bankers was a distraction from the real problem (i.e. loss of confidence in the euro), claiming the cap on bonuses would “pick on London” and could inflame British feelings against the EU. I do not agree and claim the opposite as I will argue below, although for a short time he may be right. London, my beloved one London, what do I love you, with your mix of people : black, white, Asian, gay, straight, asexuals, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Atheists and whatever other believes. People can go out all over the city having fun every hour of the day and night and whatever fun they like while nuisances are quite limited as it is well organised where and when things can happen (e.g. closing hour in areas where people live, and people accept them). Londoners can go shopping day and night. The mix of people is amazing and people can wear whatever the...

It seems Mr Kweku Adoboli, originally from Ghana, was crying in October while he was giving evidence in an English court. In November, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for fraud tied to a $2.3 billion loss, the largest from unauthorised trading in U.K. history. The bank was later fined 29.7 million pounds ($47.6 million) by a U.K. regulator for weaknesses in management systems and internal controls that allowed Mr Adoboli to make risky trades. A few of his direct colleagues and manager also left or were fired by USB because of their incompetence as they didn't see what was going on. I read Mr Adoboli and his fellow trader, Mr Hughes, aged respectively 27 and 24 years, were in charge of a $50bn portfolio by the bank UBS. And this without previous experience. In comparison, I was allowed to spend a few thousands of pounds in a previous job, or I had to ask permission from my boss because maybe money was needed for something more urgently, and this forced us to think about...

Today I read in the Flemish newspaper "De Standaard" about an article published a few days ago by the news agency Bloomberg that BNP Paribas is in need of money because it has a shortish in money because of problems in Spain and Italy. So they want to use the money from Belgian and Swiss banks and their savers to pay for their debts in Spain and Italy. Bloomberg's article quote that "BNP’s Belgian consumer-banking network had deposits exceeding loans by 15.5 billion euros at the end of March" and thus the bank wants to use some of the money. BNP Paribas is a French bank and as most of the wealth in Belgium is in Flanders, the Flemish will become much poorer. And it is unbelievable that so few politicians, the financial control agency as well as the shareholders protest against these plans. Although I do not understand all of it, I do understand it is not a good plan. People saved many years for this money and thought it would be safe and useful when needed. N...