research bulletins

In addition to longer research reports, I also write shorter bulletins on topical issues in banking. Some some of the bulletins summarise or introduce the longer research reports. Others are issued on a stand-alone basis. The bulletins are available for download without charge.

The bulletins currently available are:

With the benefit of hindsight
Ahead of the financial crisis, banks appeared to be in good financial health. They were reporting strong returns on equity, high capital ratios and low loan loss ratios. Yet these widely used indicators gave little warning of what was to come. This briefing, prepared in December 2009, takes Northern Rock as a case study. It examines what other KPIs (key performance indicators) might have provided greater insight into banks' financial health: download

Recovery on the cards?
Issued in November 2009. Earlier bulletins in this series (see below) used quarterly data for Ireland, Spain and the UK to explore the impact of the financial crisis on payment card use. Following the intensification of the crisis during the second half of last year, the bulletins showed how the growth in card use fell sharply, and in some cases turned negative. This bulletin updates the picture. It examines whether data now available for the second quarter, and in the case of Ireland, third quarter of 2009, shows any signs of an upturn. The bulletin can be downloaded from the PCM website

Basel and the illusion of capital strength
Issued in November 2009, it suggests that the risk-weighting of bank assets under Basel from a ceiling rather than a mid-point disconnected Basel asset valuations and capital ratios from unweighted balance sheet-based valuations and leverage ratios. This contributed to the illusion that banks were srongly capitalised ahead of the financial crisis: download

Crisis on the cards - the Irish story
Issued in August 2009 in partnership with PCM Research, it adds Ireland to the countries profiled in the first Crisis on the cards bulletin. The impact of the financial crisis on card use has been even greater in Ireland than in Spain and the UK. The bulletin can be downloaded from the PCM website

Crisis on the cards
Issued in June 2009 in partnership with PCM Research, it examines the impact of the financial crisis on payment card use. Quarterly data for Spain and the UK shows that for the first time in living memory, the payment card industry is having to cope with negligible and even negative growth. The bulletin can be downloaded from the PCM website

Clouds on the horizon - an update
Issued in March 2009, and updating an article written a decade earlier, it examines the UK's particular vulnerability to the financial crisis given its high level of accumulated mortgage and unsecured consumer borrowing: download

E-commerce struggles to secure the checkout
Issued in February 2009, and based on an earlier Capco Institute Bulletin, it examines the challenges posed by the rapid rise in payment card fraud online: download

Reaching their credit limit?
Issued in September 2008, it analyses the rapid growth in consumer credit in Central and Eastern Europe, where borrowing relative to GDP has reached levels comparable to the Eurozone: download

Banking proves hard sell for supermarkets
Issued in September 2007, it introduces the research report on retailers offering financial services: download

Downhill from here?
Issued in April 2007, it introduces the research report on the UK credit card market: download

Are brands central to banking?
Issued in November 2006, it examines the role brands play in retail banking: download

Missed opportunity for UK banks?
Issued in October 2006, it examines the internationalisation of the consumer finance market in Europe: download

League tables
Originally written as an article in June 2004, it examines the difficulties of comparing the size of banks: download

Benchmarking the benchmarks
Originally written as an article in February 2003, it examines the various measures of profitability used by banks: download


Return to start of page