Barclays
The dark side of Black Friday
How is it possible that we’re still reading headlines about the £4 billion fundraising from the Gulf that saved Barclays…
The tragic misfortune of Mike Lynch
Twice I met the tech tycoon Mike Lynch (missing, feared dead, as we went to press), once a decade or…
The case for keeping business taxes low, simple and competitive
Why should business pay tax at all? That’s a provocative but forlorn question to ask in Budget week. Business pays…
The SFO as a deterrent? Not in the Barclays-Qatar case
Hit-and-miss, heavy-handed, but a necessary use of justice to deter repetition. That was my summing-up, last year, of the Serious…
Bet like Buffett: the virus scareis a chance to buy cheaper
If anything, stock markets have been slow to respond to the spreading coronavirus outbreak. Stories of Chinese supply interruptions, from…
Facebook’s new currency is not to be trusted
Friends of former Barclays chief executive John Varley — I don’t mean ‘people who speak to the media on his…
We need an inquiry into the Elizabeth Line farce
If you know my personal history with Barclays, you may be wondering whether I’m for or against Edward Bramson. To…
History will judge UK ministers harshly for the Irish backstop
We may or may not hear news soon of a settlement of the Irish border issue that will allow Brexit…
So farewell Toys ‘R’ Us, the predator that became the prey
I remember the arrival of Toys ‘R’ Us in Britain, because as a young banker in 1984 I was tasked…
Running a bank’s tough. That’s no reason to start handing capital back
A mixed bag of annual results from the big banks. RBS, still 73 per cent owned by the taxpayer, recorded…
Investors were right to sell Carillion shares when they spotted trouble ahead
The fallout from Carillion’s bankruptcy spreads in slow motion — just as the outsourcing and construction giant’s finances gradually stretched…
Portrait of the Week: Oxfam faces losing funding as crisis grows over abuse claims
Home The Charity Commission said it would hold a statutory inquiry into a scandal in which Oxfam staff paid for…
Could the Serious Fraud Office put an end to Barclays as we know it?
The Serious Fraud Office has upped the stakes in the case of the controversial $3 billion Qatari financing that saved…
The truth about Brexit? One professor’s guess is no better than another’s
Removing all trade and tariff barriers as part of a hard Brexit would generate ‘a £135 billion annual boost to…
The death of investment banking will lead to the rebirth of something better
Oh woe. Investment bank profits are evaporating after a disastrous contraction of trading revenues reflecting zero-to-negative interest rates, weak commodity…
The Spectator’s notes
I don’t think there is a Royal College of Public Relations, but if there were, it should teach a course…
Portrait of the week
Home An official analysis by the Cabinet Office said that if Britain left the EU it would lead to a…
Better that the Americans take over the London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is no longer the red-hot crucible it once was, given the multifarious ways by which shares,…
I told you so: the UK electricity gap looms wider than ever
Amid all the turmoil in global energy markets, we should not lose sight of the UK power programme that we’re…
After the Black Friday flop, shops can get back to what they do best
The high street flopperoo that was ‘Black Friday’ may have something to do with terrorism fears, or even the downturn…
The spectre haunting George Osborne
Rather more attention was paid last week to the strange position of George Osborne’s feet than to the dark shape…
A deal for the good of the world, but in Vienna rather than Brussels
As an occasional lecturer on the abstruse topic of the efficacy of sanctions in conflict resolution, I find myself much…
Which behaved worse: callous Thomas Cook or cynical Barclays?
Which is worse, morally and reputationally — to be Thomas Cook, shamed by its refusal to show proper human concern,…
Advice to StanChart’s new chief: reputation is even tougher to manage than financial risk
One day you’re an elder statesman, chairing top committees and pontificating on Question Time, and the next you’re out in…
Botín’s not-so-dark secret of banking success: simple rules, smart technology and team spirit
Four years ago, I wrote that I knew no dark rumours about Santander, the rising force in UK high street…
