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Many years ago I had a boss who came into my office and wrote on the whiteboard “KISS”. I don’t think he had taken a shine to me, rather it was a reminder to Keep It Simple Stupid. I do not recall what I had done to excite his ire. It was probably after a tense meeting with Senior Management and one of my frequent bouts of  YeahButEry  and  WhatAboutEry .   LinkedIn Post #1 I was reminded of this when I saw a LinkedIn post last week extolling the virtues of simplicity[i], ref

A Key Financial Services Summit Earlier this month I went to a key Financial Services Summit in London[i] - focused on the topic that the regulators tell us is a critical risk at the root cause of nearly all crises, failures, scandals and conduct issues. Not only that – the subject has proven itself to be existential for some Banks, leading to institutional collapse, bailout or takeover[ii]. To add even more salience and urgency the topic is also central to performance, resil

Lean into your boots as it’s going to get bumpy.   ACT 1.0 – Back on top The first snows of the season have fallen silently over the mountains, jagged peaks turned to ghostly silhouette. Sounds muffled, air brittle. The intrepid strapped into their boots, clicked down on bindings, breath misting the early light. Pristine slopes awaiting. Anticipation heightened by an extended wait. Seventeen long years since they have been allowed to ski from this upper station[i]. But who ar

On the 14th November 2024 the UK Government issued a Call for Evidence on it’s Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy.   This coincided with the Mansion House speech of Rachel Reeves in which she noted that many of the regulatory changes introduced to eliminate risk after the financial crisis had “gone too far” and had led to unintended consequences.   Although she did not reveal a raft of de-regulatory measures, the speech seems to set the tone for how the go

Last week I visited Edinburgh. It brought back memories of 30 years ago, when I would stay in the old Scandic Crown on the Royal Mile, drink far too many pints of heavy[i] in the Grassmarket and regret it the following morning as the taxi rumbled over the cobbles on the way out to the Royal Bank of Scotland in the Gyle.   For some reason that recollection has triggered suppressed images of unexpected explosions.   On Wednesday afternoon I gave a presentation on the use of beh

I spent an excellent few days on the sun dappled streets of the Big Apple last week. In theory I was there for the New York Fed's Governance and Culture Reform Conference[i] and surrounding events. In reality it was (also) to catch up with friends and colleagues, and because I enjoy the craziness. My main take-aways were: Expensive Coffee   “I don’t need an inspirational quote – I need coffee”   Wow – it’s an expensive place[ii]. Using my own FlatWhiteCoffee Index© , you are

san ten ichi-ichi   Hong Kong – March 2011   At 1.50pm on Friday 11th March 2011 I was on the Hong Kong trading floor, lunch had just finished and my thoughts were already turning towards beers after work and the coming weekend.   Suddenly there was a commotion, as urgent messages started coming through on the squawk boxes and telephones. The Tokyo office was violently shaking in an earthquake. Whilst tremors were not unusual this one was sufficiently alarming for our Japan b

Pyramids I arrived in New York this May to the news that it was sinking into the sea[i]. Apparently the skyscrapers and other more prosaic buildings weigh the equivalent of 140 million elephants and this is pushing the Big Apple into the sauce at a rate of 1 to 2 mm a year[ii].   By the calculations provided to me by Microsoft Bing that is equal to the mass of 11.6 billion humans, being 1.4 times the current population of the world. So presumably if everybody went to live in

(Suppositions on the Sounds of Silence, Silvergate, Silicon Valley, Signature, and the Suisse[i])   “Hello darkness, my old friend, I've come to talk with you again   Because a vision softly creeping, Left it’s seeds while I was sleeping   And the vision that was planted in my brain   Still remains - within the sound of silence”[ii] [iii]   Stop what you are doing now, turn off Simon & Garfunkel on the radio and listen carefully to the ambient sound. Can you hear it?   Just b

I recently visited the Netherlands. A double Dutch pleasure in both being able to sit in an Amsterdam Café with oliebollen[i] or appeltaart, and because it is at the leading edge of applied behavioural science in Banking. Neither of these seems to rank highly in the Tripadvisor Top 10, nor on the itineraries of the 18 million annual visitors. They don’t know what they are missing.   As I walked out from my hotel on the first morning and narrowly missed being run over by a car

I have an (other) admission to make. My tendency to misbehaviour is now recorded on a Global Regulator’s website. That should be making me nervous, albeit I am not alone as a Banker whose waywardness has been well documented by the authorities. If it’s any consolation I did self-report.   As noted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York[i], when I go and watch my favourite rugby team I am mild mannered and sit amongst supporters from both sides. When we score the celebration

In the BC era (Before Covid) my fun daily commute involved a drive to the local station, followed by a train and tube journey into London, during which I would dial-in to pay the parking charges and register my car. Occasionally on the return train journey I would realise I had forgotten to pay and approach the car park with sweaty palms and trepidation. Then, with a sense of relief, I would see that no penalty notice was stuck to my windscreen and drive home, conveniently ov