Macaskill on Markets

A US climate bill filled with green credits will create business for banks and provide relief from the backlash against ESG products.

West Virginia state treasurer Riley Moore has opened another front in a campaign by Republican officials in the US against banks that promote ESG policies.

HSBC Asset Management’s head of responsible investing has had it up to here with consultants and regulators lecturing him on climate change risk.

As technology spending escalates, financiers now face a temptation to reframe costs as an investment in future growth, safe in the knowledge that it is extremely difficult to check their assertions.

Citigroup president Jamie Forese and his Morgan Stanley counterpart, Colm Kelleher, are bowing out after contrasting quarters for their investment banks.

Bank of America is reportedly excited about the potential of a tool it calls the Predictive Intelligence Analytics Machine, or Priam.

Germany may conduct a strange experiment in state-sponsored investment banking if a merger between Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank proceeds.

The news that Garth Ritchie, head of investment banking at Deutsche Bank, is being paid €250,000 a month for extra responsibility 'in connection with the implications of Brexit' has been condemned in Germany, where politicians and union leaders are preparing to oppose a potential merger with Commerzbank and associated job cuts.

The rationale to accelerate cuts in its US investment bank is obvious, but an orderly withdrawal will be hard to execute.

JPMorgan is trying to advance its master plan for global fintech domination with a discipline that is often lacking in a sector better known for wildly over-promising than actually delivering practical solutions.

Bank shares have bounced back from recent lows in early 2019, but investors tempted to bet on a sustained rally risk yet another year of disappointment.

President Donald Trump has pulled off the almost impossible task of making America’s banks look good, if not exactly great, again.

The successor to Mario Draghi as president of the European Central Bank (ECB) may provide more support than expected to corporate credit markets if borrowing conditions deteriorate.

As Mario Draghi begins his victory lap before stepping down as president of the ECB in October 2019 and his colleagues get down to the serious business of competing for the succession, they will no doubt give thanks that they do not face trial by Twitter in the same way as Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell.

Jon ‘Mystic Mac’ Macaskill looks ahead at possible highlights for markets in 2019.

Saudi Arabia’s central bank governor recently gave international banks a clear signal that they will not be punished by a loss of fees for avoiding an investment conference in Riyadh due to public outrage over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Ken Moelis lived up to his nickname ‘Ken of Arabia’ when he showed up at the Saudi Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh in late October in his brave pursuit of future fee income despite the risk of international opprobrium.

Wall Street is turning into a self-driving market, long before automation transforms the physical experience of transportation.