Malaysia plans to be the first Islamic financial superpower

Could a new upstart be about the join the likes of London, New York and Tokyo as a global financial superpower? The Malaysian government would like to think so, at least. Recently it announced bold plans to transform the country’s capital Kuala Lumpur into a major financial centre in a bid to raise its profile …

When is a current account too complicated?

When is a current account too complicated?   Regulators and Government have long expressed concern that many financial products, even very basic ones, are too complicated. But what actually makes products ‘too complicated’?   Complicated current accounts   You can’t get much more basic than a current account. However, packaged accounts now account for around one in …

Blog post on The Conversation about the re-emergence of TSB

THE CONVERSATION has today published my blog post on the re-emergence of the TSB brand on the High Street and what it means for customers and competition in the sector. View the post here:   https://theconversation.com/reborn-tsb-evokes-memories-of-another-banking-era-18076  

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney in Nottingham

Governor Carney has stressed the importance of all having confidence in the banking system and our work here at the Centre for Risk, Banking and Financial Services would echo the need for high levels of System Trust on the part of consumers. All of our research as available at http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/business/forum/publications.aspx. Our research shows that consumers generally …

We all have a duty to strengthen consumer trust

We all have a duty to strengthen consumer trust  By Shane Mullins, CEO, Fiscal Engineers   One of the key aims of the recommendations arising out of the Retail Distribution Review was to strengthen consumer confidence. If we take it as read that this has now been achieved we make a dangerous assumption. RDR is …

The Centre for Risk, Banking and Financial Services is launched

We are delighted to announce that the Financial Services Research Forum has merged with the Centre for Risk and Insurance Studies to create the Centre for Risk, Banking and Financial Services. The Centre for Risk, Banking and Financial Services (CRBFS) aim to be an inclusive, collaborative research centre based in the Business School at the …

Interest Rates Ceilings…..again!

Few topics in the area of consumer finance have received as much attention as interest rate ceilings on (in particular short term) consumer debt products. Entering the term “interest rates ceilings” into Google produces about 775,000 results. Among the contributions to the subject are a very large number of academic studies. Most of these studies …

Pensions: Time to Reconsider a Kite Mark?

Here at the Forum, we have been reflecting recent research concerned with attitudes, expectations and behaviour in pensions. A report by the National Association of Pension Funds, in conjunction with the Institute of Fiscal Studies, provides an excellent indication of how attitudes have to change and become more realistic if people are to enjoy a …

Corporate Social Irresponsibility in the time of Financial Crisis

Recently, the FSRF sponsored a detailed research project into how narratives of Corporate Social Responsibility/Irresponsibility may provide a useful lens through which to view the financial crisis. A detailed blog post on this topic can be found here: https://blogs.nottingham.ac.uk/betterbusiness/2012/08/22/no-more-business-as-usual/  

Remaking retail banking?

Over a long period of time the financial services industry has been celebrated as one of the UK’s few globally competitive industries.  During the 1990s it was embraced by the Labour government in a Faustian pact wherein the City would be allowed to run free, encouraged in its competition for financial centre pre-eminence with New …