The Finrestra podcast: Recent Episodes
Jan Musschoot
Jan talks about finance, with a focus on Europe.
Expect analyses of banks, sustainability, the ECB, and interviews with interesting people who shape the industry.
The first episode of the month starts with a short recap of the news.
"Exotic" banks add to the local flavor of your holiday destination.
In this summer episode, Jan talks about the banks and financial centers in Europe's most visited tourist destinations:
- Greece
- Austria
- Germany
- The United Kingdom
- Italy
- Spain
- France
Do you know why a small town like Frankfurt is Germany's financial center? What country has most large banks? Where can you see the oldest bank in the world? And why is the HBO series Industry based in London?
Impress your family or colleagues with your knowledge :)
Banks mentioned include BNP Paribas, Santander, JP Morgan, Caixabank, UniCredit...
Check out the Finrestra YouTube channel for profiles of European banks!
Second part of the interview with Nik de Boer on the secondary mandate of the European Central Bank (ECB).
Nik de Boer talks about his report The ECB's neglected secondary mandate: an inter-institutional solution (co-authored with Jens van't Klooster).
In the first 10 minutes, Nik explains how he - as a legal scholar - became interested in the European Central Bank by studying the German Constitutional Court.
In the rest of the interview, Nik explains that the ECB's secondary mandate is:
1) legally binding
2) vague
3) supportive
We also discuss how the secondary mandate has been mostly neglected by central bankers, who talk far more about the ECB's primary mandate of price stability.
Nik is an assistant professor at the University of Amsterdam.
You should follow him on Twitter @nikdeboer
His co-author Jens is on Twitter @jvtklooster
Quick recap of the financial news of January 2022.
Euro area inflation was 5.1% in January.
The ECB says that this inflation is beyond its control, because it's driven by international energy markets and bottlenecks in supply chains.
In this episode, I do three proposals for the European Central Bank to get a grip on energy-driven inflation.
1) Buy shares of oil and gas companies. As a major shareholder, the ECB could force them to lower prices. See also this tweet from 2020: https://twitter.com/JanMusschoot/status/1322177512554856454
2) Fund a European Green Infrastructure Company. This will increase the supply of cheap, renewable energy. Details here: https://blog.janmusschoot.be/2017/11/15/green-infrastructure-bonds-with-macro-strings-attached-how-the-ecb-could-fulfill-its-mandate-by-fighting-climate-change/
3) Lower the interest rate for energy-efficiency investments. Meanwhile, the ECB can hike rates on other loans. This will stimulate a shift of resources in the real economy towards renewable energy and efficiency. In the long run, this will speed up the transition to a net-zero emission economy and reduce the effect of fossil fuel prices on inflation.
Thanks for listening!
If you have questions or suggestions, you can mail me at jan.musschoot@finrestra.com
In March 2021, the ECB projected that inflation would be 2% at the end of the year. In reality, inflation was 5%.
I'm stunned that there isn't more backlash against this colossal failure. Especially because the ECB has been arguing that climate change falls within its mandate, because CC has an impact on inflation.
Now we have massive inflation, and the same central bankers say they can't do anything. Funny how that works.
After a rant, I make three suggestions on how the ECB can do better:
1) Set low interest rates on loans for projects that make the euro area less reliant on imported energy (e.g. building renovations, renewable energy...)
2) Incentivize the creation of good models of inflation with a prize.
3) Make the PSPP (public sector purchase programme, the ECB's sovereign bond buying program) conditional on how much governments reduce the dependence on imported energy.
Also a reminder that you can win 250 euro, if you share this Linkedin post and tag a friend :)
www.linkedin.com%2Fposts%2Fjan-musschoot-b9a4b327_our-2022-courses-activity-6881187659373412352-pw6n
Our New Year's letter to ECB President Lagarde. Now that inflation is out of control, we wish her a career change or a firm hand.
Plus a quick recap of the financial news of December 2021.
Plus Finrestra's plans for 2022.
This is the video with our two courses: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbZi077mE2g
Listen to the entire episode to learn how you can win 250 euros!
BNP Paribas sells its US subsidiary Bank of the West to Canadian BMO.
This fits into the 'Go big or go home' pattern (listen to episode 3 of the Finrestra podcast): banks leave non-core markets if they cannot reach a critical scale.
BNP Paribas gets about 14 billion euro from the sale. What can the French giant do with this cash? Jan speculates about an acquisition of Societe Generale or UniCredit. This would generate economies of scale in France and Italy, BNPP's core markets.
Because 14 billion only buys half of these banks, BNP Paribas could sell part of their activities. For example, sell SocGen's Rosbank or UniCredit's German retail activities.
What do you think? Let me know on Twitter (@janmusschoot) or mail (jan.musschoot@finrestra.com) :)
P.S.: Our short profile of BNP Paribas mentioned in the podcast is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zi-5sRW_guI
A quick recap of the financial news of November 2021.
+
European bankers (CEOs) should be ashamed!
Banks have been horrible investments.
Large European banks are stitched together like Frankenstein's monsters. Their divisions have no synergies. They are active in way too many countries. These giants don't deliver the results clients and investors want.
However, a handful of banks do trade above their book value. Their secret? Listen and learn :)
Greenwashing is a way of presenting your business so that it looks greener than it really is.
Based on bank's own publications and NGO reports, I identified nine ways in which banks are greenwashing their climate efforts.
Do you know about other greenwashing tricks of banks?
Please tell me on Twitter: @janmusschoot
or mail me at jan.musschoot@finrestra.com
Quick recap of the European financial news of October 2021.
Deep dive into the Net-Zero Banking Alliance and the actions of banks against climate change.
Rik Coeckelbergs is the founder of The Banking Scene. In this wide-ranging interview, Rik talks about the art of banking, banking for good, and why banks are still attractive for young people who want a meaningful career.
Follow Rik on Linkedin and Twitter!
Koen Vingerhoets is a blockchain expert who has delivered projects in finance and other industries. He tells Jan why he got interested in Bitcoin while working in a bank. We also talk about the Gartner hype cycle, public permissionless versus private permissioned blockchains, the need for collaboration when setting up an enterprise blockchain, and much more.
Follow Koen on Linkedin and Twitter: @IthronKoen
Many banks are exiting foreign markets. But some choose to stick around and grow their market share.
Quick recap of the financial news of September (euro area inflation, Universal Music Group IPO, Evergrande debt, US debt ceiling).
Background story: the US debt ceiling and how the Treasury can mint a trillion dollar coin to escape from the impossible trinity imposed by Congress.
You can follow Jan on Twitter: @JanMusschoot
Uuree Batsaikhan of Positive Money Europe talks about the ECB strategy review. Uuree and Jan also discuss climate change, helicopter money, green TLTROs, and the outlook for the next strategy review.
Follow Uuree on Twitter @UureeB