Vince Cable’s comments calling for a ‘City Ban’ to be placed on former HBOS executives Dennis Stevenson, James Crosby and Andy Hornby has been dismissed by some as a vent of frustration. Insights examines the report from the Parliamentary Commission of Banking Standards and asks what measures can be taken against the HBOS trio

By Owen Sweeney

The emphasis on ethical culture within capitalism and banking, though it would appear a new fashion, has a venerable historic tradition.  Ben Graham, mostly now remembered for being Warren Buffett’s mentor, and writing two investment books, wrote on this subject more than half a century ago.  In a speech made by Ben Graham in 1956, titled The Ethics of American Capitalism, the investment guru pointed out that pre-1929 culture had several characteristics

By Bruce Packard

In 1990, an American programme took the world by storm and created what essentially became the world’s first cult television show. The drama, Twin Peaks, focused on the happenings of a fictional town of the same name set in the mountains of Washington and the subsequent FBI investigation that followed a murder of one of the town’s residents

By Owen Sweeney

If, through some fit of amnesia, you had somehow forgotten just what a rotten year 2012 was for banks around the world, here’s a pointed reminder

By Dave Madden

Regulation is a hot topic in banking. There are lessons from history, particularly history of power regulation that are worth understanding for retail bankers

By Bruce Packard, analyst at stockbroker Seymour Pierce in London

In this prime example of the benefits of the community banking model, we look at Handlesbanken in Sweden, a bank that gives branches total control and has been the most trusted brand in the country for the last quarter of a century

By Steve Daley