“He’s a man with all the answers. Unfortunately he doesn’t know what the right questions are”
A top executive at a leading European bank questions the credibility of the firm’s new leadership
“We basically blagged our way through the financial crisis”
A senior banker reflects on why his institution is facing up to a harsher reality today, rather than five or more years ago
“Iran is literally the biggest unexploited elephant”
A fund manager tries to convey the Iran opportunity
“We should take a lead from Formula One. The authorities change the rules every year, the teams complain bitterly about it, but they build a new car. We only manage the bitter complaint part”
Finance’s favourite sport could be a useful example for the banks themselves, according to this bank director
“My honest view is that the regulators asked the investment community how they would be prepared to finance banks’ capital needs, a handful of hedge funds said unsurprisingly they would like debt with big coupons, so they came up with AT1s”
The former CFO of a leading global bank has never been a fan of the AT1 bank capital asset class
“He’s got an important client meeting in Australia. He’s setting off tomorrow”
A UK-based banker gently goads an investment banking colleague who does not like flying