As readers know I think British banking at basic level is so bad it is essentially risible. For instance, my younger daughter had had a personal account with HSBC for twenty years. It had been a model account. She elected to open a company account for aspects of her affairs. It took five weeks to get the thickos at HSBC to see that this was a perfectly reasonable request.
Along the same lines, an Italian friend of me and my wife of many years standing and a bigwig in the world of fashion was turned down by his bank Lloyds for a company account. So we introduced him to HSBC where we ourselves have banked for twenty+ years. My wife went over to the bank to vouch for the Italian. He then took over. Yesterday evening, he telephoned as requested to give further details and, finding HSBC’s clerk’s response unclear asked for his name. The clerk replied “Michael”. “Michael who?”. “We are not allowed to give out our surname” and the line went dead. How HSBC think that this is how to run a bank God alone knows.
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I see that Kwasi Kwarteng is set upon disqualifying Carillion’s directors. Quite so, only ten years after the same proceedings should have commenced.
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Everyone knew that Autonomy was a spoof. Quite how HP proceeded without learning this first, I have no idea. Nor I suspect does HP.
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Seventeen years ago, I met Vassilios Carellas when he was CEO of Kryso, now China Nonferrous Gold. I liked him immediately and have watched his subsequent career. He is now a bigwig in ARC Minerals (LON:ARCM). It looks as if ARC is to do a deal with Anglo. There has been a rise in the ARC price as a result. But I would look at it in, say, four weeks’ time.
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N.Brown (LON:BWNG) are going alright – as is very clear from today’s statement. For some reason the share price is down. So I have helped myself to £150,000 worth.
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Finally, the French are destroying the Scottish shellfish trade. Just why and with what retaliation on the part of Britain I do not know.