Sunday, 12 August 2012
Sky News blunder - sex rather than six
Sky news mobile app shows 'sex and 11' rather than 'six and 11'
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Thursday, 15 September 2011
Rogue trading in UBS - US$2bn loss expected
Today marks a day in history within the banking sector when London Police arrested a 31 year old banker suspected of a $2bn fraud within the Swiss Banking giant UBS.
Not surprisingly, the bank is not giving out more details to the market until all the 'positions' are closed and the dust settles, however under the disclosure rules they have already given a statement to the market about a potential $2bn loss as a result of this unauthorised and rogue trading. There is also news in some editions that this hit could result in UBS going into the red for the quarter.
The banker arrested and identified as Kweku Adoboli used to work at the equities desk of the Bank popularly called as 'Delta One'. Potentially trading in Exchange Traded Futures (ETF). I will definitely do a separate article on ETFs in the near future so watch this space!
What strikes to mind immediately after hearing the news is that a loss as big as this is unlikely to involve a plain vanilla trade. It is likely to be more structured and complicated and potentially involving the use of derivatives too. As days progress we will obviously have more details but in the mean time the other obvious question is the role of risk management and the internal controls which operate within the bank.
Process brief
Generally, you would expect the trader to be entering into his deals from his desk either through phone or through his computer terminal. The deal would be in the recorded in the front office system and picked up by the back office team. This would be followed by the middle and back office taking appropriate steps to ensure functions such as sending and receiving of trade confirmations with the counterparty, front to back office reconciliations, cash/ nostro reconciliations, daily P&L calculations etc etc.
What if the trader enters into a deal but does not inform the back office?
A number of things can happen through which this could be identified. These could be (i) control operators listening to recorded telephones, (ii) identification through margin calls as one would expect counterparty to ask for margins in such big positions specially those that can generate such big losses, (iii) identification through nostro reconciliation if any payments have been made, (iv) independent confirmations process, (v) limits monitoring and so on.
In a nutshell, it would not have been easy to run such large open positions given the compliance and risk management policies that a lot of banks are investing in heavily. There will be a lot of questions to ask of the risk management team as to how this happened and why no one was able to detect it.
It also brings into question the role of regulators and internal auditors? What have they been doing if they did not identify in their periodic reviews of internal controls? The details are still very sketchy so it will be an interesting point to see what comes in the details.
Some even say that the future of investment banking in UBS hangs in a balance specially having to bear this rogue trading incident after all that they went through in the credit crisis! The traders immediate boss has already resigned and we wait to see what comes out in the days to come.
Follow for more updates to come!
Not surprisingly, the bank is not giving out more details to the market until all the 'positions' are closed and the dust settles, however under the disclosure rules they have already given a statement to the market about a potential $2bn loss as a result of this unauthorised and rogue trading. There is also news in some editions that this hit could result in UBS going into the red for the quarter.
The banker arrested and identified as Kweku Adoboli used to work at the equities desk of the Bank popularly called as 'Delta One'. Potentially trading in Exchange Traded Futures (ETF). I will definitely do a separate article on ETFs in the near future so watch this space!
What strikes to mind immediately after hearing the news is that a loss as big as this is unlikely to involve a plain vanilla trade. It is likely to be more structured and complicated and potentially involving the use of derivatives too. As days progress we will obviously have more details but in the mean time the other obvious question is the role of risk management and the internal controls which operate within the bank.
Process brief
Generally, you would expect the trader to be entering into his deals from his desk either through phone or through his computer terminal. The deal would be in the recorded in the front office system and picked up by the back office team. This would be followed by the middle and back office taking appropriate steps to ensure functions such as sending and receiving of trade confirmations with the counterparty, front to back office reconciliations, cash/ nostro reconciliations, daily P&L calculations etc etc.
What if the trader enters into a deal but does not inform the back office?
A number of things can happen through which this could be identified. These could be (i) control operators listening to recorded telephones, (ii) identification through margin calls as one would expect counterparty to ask for margins in such big positions specially those that can generate such big losses, (iii) identification through nostro reconciliation if any payments have been made, (iv) independent confirmations process, (v) limits monitoring and so on.
In a nutshell, it would not have been easy to run such large open positions given the compliance and risk management policies that a lot of banks are investing in heavily. There will be a lot of questions to ask of the risk management team as to how this happened and why no one was able to detect it.
It also brings into question the role of regulators and internal auditors? What have they been doing if they did not identify in their periodic reviews of internal controls? The details are still very sketchy so it will be an interesting point to see what comes in the details.
Some even say that the future of investment banking in UBS hangs in a balance specially having to bear this rogue trading incident after all that they went through in the credit crisis! The traders immediate boss has already resigned and we wait to see what comes out in the days to come.
Follow for more updates to come!
Monday, 12 September 2011
Ring-fencing the Retail Banks
The UK Government has announced plans to ringfence retail banks from their investment banking arms. The obvious first ones that come to mind and which would severely be impacted would be HSBC, Barclays and RBS. We should wait and see how the banks respond to these plans, however these do not have to be fully implemented by 2019. Long way to go!
Proposed by the independent commission on banks set by the UK treasury some of the salient features as I understand are as follows:
- all retail operations to be ring-fenced into a separate unit and quite possibly within separate subsidiaries
- the ring fencing would have the option to include big corporates
- trading in high risk products and financial instruments would be outside the ring fenced operations (that was going to be obvious!)
- the ring fenced operations of the retail side will have their own Boards and will have to maintain a minimum 10pc capital
- lending to the investment banking division would only be in a similar manner as to any other banks on an arms length basis and such that the capital resources do not fall below the 10pc level
- loss absorbing capacity for all big banks between 17 to 20pc of risk weighted assets (this could be a significant one!)
In my view whilst all banks would achieve the requird implementation level by 2019 the costs of achieving so would rise significantly impacting the profitability of these banks. Secondly the investment banking divisions would have less cash for their own operations and would therefore have to rely more on borrowed funding pushing the funding costs higher and thus impacting profitability.
More updates to follow!
Proposed by the independent commission on banks set by the UK treasury some of the salient features as I understand are as follows:
- all retail operations to be ring-fenced into a separate unit and quite possibly within separate subsidiaries
- the ring fencing would have the option to include big corporates
- trading in high risk products and financial instruments would be outside the ring fenced operations (that was going to be obvious!)
- the ring fenced operations of the retail side will have their own Boards and will have to maintain a minimum 10pc capital
- lending to the investment banking division would only be in a similar manner as to any other banks on an arms length basis and such that the capital resources do not fall below the 10pc level
- loss absorbing capacity for all big banks between 17 to 20pc of risk weighted assets (this could be a significant one!)
In my view whilst all banks would achieve the requird implementation level by 2019 the costs of achieving so would rise significantly impacting the profitability of these banks. Secondly the investment banking divisions would have less cash for their own operations and would therefore have to rely more on borrowed funding pushing the funding costs higher and thus impacting profitability.
More updates to follow!
Sunday, 4 September 2011
US Government suing British and other banks
The news was out late on Friday 2nd September 2011 that US Government (through its Federal Housing Agency) is to sue 17 banks which includes at least 3 British banks. No points for guessing which three banks those would be but nonetheless HSBC, Barclays and RBS are those 'lucky' ones!
The three British Banks are collectively being sued for a grand US$ 41.5bn.
Besides these banks, there are other European Banks such as Deutsche, Credit Suisse, SocGen and the remaining are mostly US Banks.
What are they being sued for
The Government Agency alleges that at the time when the housing market was at its peak and everyone was making money, these banks misrepresented to the US mortgage giants of that time mainly Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae for the mortgages that were sold to them. Effectively, the practice in those days was to package a bunch of mortgages which were used to issue notes and then effectively sell those notes on to the investors. These notes were picked up by the two 'FM' and hence they incurred huge losses when the housing market came to a collapse. The Agency view is that the Banks packaging these mortgages and selling them onwards failed to do appropriate due diligence and hence misrepresented the quality of the assets being sold.
Immediate impact
The immediate impact would be a severe market downfall as one would expect given the market may anticipate the compensation included within these lawsuits to impact the individual bank's profitability. The amounts being huge the impact is going to be material and therefore a huge risk that each of the banks will miss their profitability and return targets that they have so promised to their shareholders.
Medium/ Long term impact
In my view, the analysts would wait and see how the law suit and the outcomes turns out to be. It may be a big impact to these banks severely impacting some of them to an extent that potentially we may see another banking crisis looming up! Although I hope it doesn't happen again as those of you who would remember the previous crisis (that hasn't fully gone yet) had severe impacts on jobs, markets and the general economic indicators.
The other potential impact could also be on the rating agencies as these packaged mortgages went through the process of being rated and mostly being rated AAA were then sold on to the market. The banks may argue their point on this basis and again a possibility that the lawsuit may fall on these rating agencies.
Whatever the outcome may be, I do not think it is going to help the world revive from their economic woes in the short term. I think it may also result in senior Government level negotiations potentially to save yet another bigger crisis that may just be around the corner!
The three British Banks are collectively being sued for a grand US$ 41.5bn.
Besides these banks, there are other European Banks such as Deutsche, Credit Suisse, SocGen and the remaining are mostly US Banks.
What are they being sued for
The Government Agency alleges that at the time when the housing market was at its peak and everyone was making money, these banks misrepresented to the US mortgage giants of that time mainly Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae for the mortgages that were sold to them. Effectively, the practice in those days was to package a bunch of mortgages which were used to issue notes and then effectively sell those notes on to the investors. These notes were picked up by the two 'FM' and hence they incurred huge losses when the housing market came to a collapse. The Agency view is that the Banks packaging these mortgages and selling them onwards failed to do appropriate due diligence and hence misrepresented the quality of the assets being sold.
Immediate impact
The immediate impact would be a severe market downfall as one would expect given the market may anticipate the compensation included within these lawsuits to impact the individual bank's profitability. The amounts being huge the impact is going to be material and therefore a huge risk that each of the banks will miss their profitability and return targets that they have so promised to their shareholders.
Medium/ Long term impact
In my view, the analysts would wait and see how the law suit and the outcomes turns out to be. It may be a big impact to these banks severely impacting some of them to an extent that potentially we may see another banking crisis looming up! Although I hope it doesn't happen again as those of you who would remember the previous crisis (that hasn't fully gone yet) had severe impacts on jobs, markets and the general economic indicators.
The other potential impact could also be on the rating agencies as these packaged mortgages went through the process of being rated and mostly being rated AAA were then sold on to the market. The banks may argue their point on this basis and again a possibility that the lawsuit may fall on these rating agencies.
Whatever the outcome may be, I do not think it is going to help the world revive from their economic woes in the short term. I think it may also result in senior Government level negotiations potentially to save yet another bigger crisis that may just be around the corner!
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Earthquake in Japan
All of you must have heard about the horrific earthquake in Japan last Friday (11th March 2011) - It was a routine normal day for most of us but not really for the thousands of people who live in the coastal areas in the North of Japan where the tsunami resulting from this massive earthquake occurred. Whilst I am no champion of these sort of events, I have personally viewed quite a few websites, news-clips etc and have noted some really horrific scenes - mostly of the tsunami that occurred as a result of the earthquake.
It was a 8.9 magnitude quake which struck off near the coastal areas of Japan. What I have done below is compiled a few videos which are really horrific and give us an idea of the scale of disaster. I have tried and quoted the source of the video where available.
Watch them and pray for the wellbeing of those affected!
It was a 8.9 magnitude quake which struck off near the coastal areas of Japan. What I have done below is compiled a few videos which are really horrific and give us an idea of the scale of disaster. I have tried and quoted the source of the video where available.
Watch them and pray for the wellbeing of those affected!
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Football crazy!
It was about 5 years ago when I landed at the Heathrow Airport in London. Not knowing what life has in store for me I was neither very happy nor very sad. Just a little bit nervous. Life had its ups and down during this time but there is one thing that had me changed significantly.
I was a big cricket follower and occasionally played other sports, mostly being table tennis and very rarely used to watch a bit of football but mostly world cups and big tournaments. I had never heard of club football!
During my work, socializing with friends, newspaper stories all talked about football but had no clue how it all worked. I gradually picked up a team Chelsea for that matter and started following it. During those days the top 4 teams were Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. Gradually got into it and started reading about the key players, how it all works. Speaking to friends and work mates how the English Premier League (EPL) works and it was a matter of time only when I had a full hang on to how EPL works and was so into football that I did not want to miss any key football matches whether Chelsea played or not and even got a full Sky Sports HD package installed at home!
Since then, I am starting to forget Cricket and following club football more closely. Mainly the way it is marketed, the way transfer window works and the millions that exchange hands during those days. Above all, its just a 90 minute game and creates a lot of excitement as it is. Its not just the English Premier League but also Spanish leagues, Champions trophy, FA Cup, Carling Cup you name it and I am a keen follower of those. I tend to read all football news in the Metro and Evening Standard daily, I tend to wait for football matches during the day and look out for the fixtures and results section in the Metro each day to find out which clubs are playing.
After all these years, I now know more footballers than I know cricketers. What a sporting change a few years in England has brought to me!
I was a big cricket follower and occasionally played other sports, mostly being table tennis and very rarely used to watch a bit of football but mostly world cups and big tournaments. I had never heard of club football!
During my work, socializing with friends, newspaper stories all talked about football but had no clue how it all worked. I gradually picked up a team Chelsea for that matter and started following it. During those days the top 4 teams were Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. Gradually got into it and started reading about the key players, how it all works. Speaking to friends and work mates how the English Premier League (EPL) works and it was a matter of time only when I had a full hang on to how EPL works and was so into football that I did not want to miss any key football matches whether Chelsea played or not and even got a full Sky Sports HD package installed at home!
Since then, I am starting to forget Cricket and following club football more closely. Mainly the way it is marketed, the way transfer window works and the millions that exchange hands during those days. Above all, its just a 90 minute game and creates a lot of excitement as it is. Its not just the English Premier League but also Spanish leagues, Champions trophy, FA Cup, Carling Cup you name it and I am a keen follower of those. I tend to read all football news in the Metro and Evening Standard daily, I tend to wait for football matches during the day and look out for the fixtures and results section in the Metro each day to find out which clubs are playing.
After all these years, I now know more footballers than I know cricketers. What a sporting change a few years in England has brought to me!
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Rankmeme
I have been out for a while. Have been holidaying during the New Year period and tied up a bit with work as usual. During these last two weeks came across a very interesting website developed by someone with an entrepreneurial mind. Exchanged a few emails with him, sounded like a great idea and promised to do an article on it!
With the ever increasing trend of marketing on the social media, a product of this type was inevitable. The question was timing. This has now come through and must say the site architecture, the designing, the connectivity and interaction with twitter and facebook is great. What I am talking about (as some of you might have guessed!) is www.rankmeme.com.
What is rankmeme?
It is a twitter based product ranking system that allows you to rank the product you like and help others make decisions. It tells you what the trends are and which product seems to be hitting the top ranks. It is currently in its initial stages but as for any start up I think it will take some time and gradually get more publicised. It also helps tell you in real time what the market suggests in terms of the product likeness. Higher the ranking, more likely it is that public like it as compared to the others on the list.
Twitter feature
The interesting part of the website is its interface with twitter. As soon as you rank a product and click on it, it takes you to a twitter login and tweets your product to all your followers. That's a multi marketing mechanism whereby the more you rank, the more it gets tweeted and more people see it.
Adding a product
What rankmeme also does is to allow companies to add their products on to it. If I want my product to be listed and want people to rank it on rankmeme then I can request through a user friendly form to add it. The service is absolutely free and helps me get an update of other people think of my product set.
It is also worth noting that its just not individual products but also categories such as Premier League, World Cup etc are included and through which you can tweet your favourite team and make sure it ranks on the top.
So logon to it once at least and make sure your views are listened to, before you buy anything see what the trends are, what people like the most and consider making your decisions based on real time data. Also dont forget to rank Chelsea as your Number 1 team in the premier league section ;).
Monday, 6 December 2010
Top 10 Free Blackberry applications
Its a world of technology! Everyday brings us with news on new products and more recently 'apps' the short form for applications that comes with various equipment such as iphone, blackberry, android, ipad etc etc. The. list goes on and on and increases day by day. Very recently we have seen Ipads kicking in and turning out to be a huge success. I thought it was a good idea to suggest the best free applications that are currently on blackberry and review each one of them. Each of these applications have been discussed below with the first one being the best:
Blackberry Messenger
Most popularly known as BBM is one of the coolest application any company has come up with. all you need is a PIN which comes with a service you register with your blackberry and you can get started immediately. Ensure that you have an unlimited internet connection. The only drawback I can see is that it is only limited to blackberry users. It is based on a push chat mechanism just like email works and therefore you can chat for hours, share photos, videos with people anywhere in the world as long as they have a blackberry with an internet connection.
Bloomberg
This is again a free application and for those who love to stay in the financial markets, want to know what shares have gone up and down and what markets are doing better, this is the one. You can create your own share portfolio, track your gains/ losses and check for movement on those volatile foreign currency rates. It comes with a few minutes delay but enough to help you track the markets. What I would not recommend is reading the news on bloomberg. There is another application described below which is a good news reader.
Viigo
An excellent newsreader application and one of my personal favorites. It keeps me updated on what is going on all around the world. As many channels as you want, as many articles and as frequent updates you want. It has the ability to have RSS feeds and updates as and when you require. Whether it be sports, current affairs, politics, weather or social networking always keeps you updated. It does not use a lot of battery and neither does it use a lot of network resources. All in all a great application.
Sky
If you are in the UK and subscribe to sky TV then this is the right application for you. You can record your favourite TV programs whilst on the move. Ensure your login has been created and simply select the channel and the program you wish to record and send it through your mobile. It can't get any better!
Cricinfo
If you are a cricket fan and you want to stay on top of the scores and the latest updates on cricket then this is the right application. It is slightly slow but gives you an update and obviously depends on your network speed. Surprisingly it does not appear on the blackberry's appsworld but if you google it you should be able to find cricinfo mobile application that allows you to get ball by ball updates on latest cricket matches. It covers all forms of cricket whether it be a test match, one day or T20. It covers all international matches. I have not used this for first class cricket and not sure if it has the capability to get those scores. A wonderful application for a cricket enthusiast.
Twitter for Blackberry
Another one for socialites. Those who tweet will love this app. Its a blackberry twitter application that let's you keep in control of your timeline. For those of you who don't know what twitter is please don't bother to install unless you have done a bit of research on the internet as to what it is. There is one downside with this application. It doesn't allow to retweet the original tweet which most other applications do. Whether you want to tweet a picture or a video this application has all the capabilities.
Facebook
Facebook comes next. Who hasn't heard of facebook? For all those social junkies its a good application to socialise. Not a very ideal one as it does miss some features that you see on a computer but nonetheless one of the finest ones to have installed on your blackberry. It allows you to update statuses, retrieve messages, view pictures, like and write on walls. It has been a long time since a new updated version came but until that comes out this one is surely there to keep you busy.
MSN
Another chat software! You might be thinking I am a chatting freak. I used to be but other priorities prevail now. Those who were fond of MSN messenger should download windows live messenger and start chatting. Obviously it doesn't work on a push chat system so if you go in an underground tunnel or the network is unavailable you are signed out and cannot send messages unless you are back on the network.
Ebay
If you are a frequent ebayer then this is the right application for you. You can watch the items you intend to bid for, read detailed description, place bids and has almost all functionality of a normal ebay page. A great one to have on your blackberry. It is important to ensure that you have a good connection speed on your blackberry else there is always a chance you may miss out on the last few important seconds to bid on an item you want desperately.
Whatsapp Messenger
This is quite similar to BBM as mentioned above. Unlike BBM it is not restricted to any phone brand and instead is a cross phone push chat application. A great one to have on your phone and you don't need to have the hassle of PIN numbers or email addresses. As long as you have your contact in the telephone directory and uses whatsapp messenger you will be connected. Again if you have an unlimited data plan you can easily chat with contacts all over the world.
Blackberry Messenger
Most popularly known as BBM is one of the coolest application any company has come up with. all you need is a PIN which comes with a service you register with your blackberry and you can get started immediately. Ensure that you have an unlimited internet connection. The only drawback I can see is that it is only limited to blackberry users. It is based on a push chat mechanism just like email works and therefore you can chat for hours, share photos, videos with people anywhere in the world as long as they have a blackberry with an internet connection.
Bloomberg
This is again a free application and for those who love to stay in the financial markets, want to know what shares have gone up and down and what markets are doing better, this is the one. You can create your own share portfolio, track your gains/ losses and check for movement on those volatile foreign currency rates. It comes with a few minutes delay but enough to help you track the markets. What I would not recommend is reading the news on bloomberg. There is another application described below which is a good news reader.
Viigo
An excellent newsreader application and one of my personal favorites. It keeps me updated on what is going on all around the world. As many channels as you want, as many articles and as frequent updates you want. It has the ability to have RSS feeds and updates as and when you require. Whether it be sports, current affairs, politics, weather or social networking always keeps you updated. It does not use a lot of battery and neither does it use a lot of network resources. All in all a great application.
Sky
If you are in the UK and subscribe to sky TV then this is the right application for you. You can record your favourite TV programs whilst on the move. Ensure your login has been created and simply select the channel and the program you wish to record and send it through your mobile. It can't get any better!
Cricinfo
If you are a cricket fan and you want to stay on top of the scores and the latest updates on cricket then this is the right application. It is slightly slow but gives you an update and obviously depends on your network speed. Surprisingly it does not appear on the blackberry's appsworld but if you google it you should be able to find cricinfo mobile application that allows you to get ball by ball updates on latest cricket matches. It covers all forms of cricket whether it be a test match, one day or T20. It covers all international matches. I have not used this for first class cricket and not sure if it has the capability to get those scores. A wonderful application for a cricket enthusiast.
Twitter for Blackberry
Another one for socialites. Those who tweet will love this app. Its a blackberry twitter application that let's you keep in control of your timeline. For those of you who don't know what twitter is please don't bother to install unless you have done a bit of research on the internet as to what it is. There is one downside with this application. It doesn't allow to retweet the original tweet which most other applications do. Whether you want to tweet a picture or a video this application has all the capabilities.
Facebook comes next. Who hasn't heard of facebook? For all those social junkies its a good application to socialise. Not a very ideal one as it does miss some features that you see on a computer but nonetheless one of the finest ones to have installed on your blackberry. It allows you to update statuses, retrieve messages, view pictures, like and write on walls. It has been a long time since a new updated version came but until that comes out this one is surely there to keep you busy.
MSN
Another chat software! You might be thinking I am a chatting freak. I used to be but other priorities prevail now. Those who were fond of MSN messenger should download windows live messenger and start chatting. Obviously it doesn't work on a push chat system so if you go in an underground tunnel or the network is unavailable you are signed out and cannot send messages unless you are back on the network.
Ebay
If you are a frequent ebayer then this is the right application for you. You can watch the items you intend to bid for, read detailed description, place bids and has almost all functionality of a normal ebay page. A great one to have on your blackberry. It is important to ensure that you have a good connection speed on your blackberry else there is always a chance you may miss out on the last few important seconds to bid on an item you want desperately.
Whatsapp Messenger
This is quite similar to BBM as mentioned above. Unlike BBM it is not restricted to any phone brand and instead is a cross phone push chat application. A great one to have on your phone and you don't need to have the hassle of PIN numbers or email addresses. As long as you have your contact in the telephone directory and uses whatsapp messenger you will be connected. Again if you have an unlimited data plan you can easily chat with contacts all over the world.
Sunday, 5 December 2010
Russia and Qatar to host future world cups
It is now official. Russia is going to hold 2018 and Qatar the 2022 world cup football. FIFA has very dramatically ditched the so called football loving nations and have voted Russia and Qatar ahead of England, USA, Spain/ Portugal and so on.
What was surprising was the fact that England supported by their 'Three Lions' namely David Cameroon, Prince William and the so called football legend David Beckham got only 2 votes and were eliminated in the first round. They had the best technical bid but they still lost and lost very badly.
Sporting events such as the world cup football are supposed to give huge economic boost by way of increased tourism which results in use of local facilities and helps showcase the world what the country is capable of doing. South Africa was a great example where the last world cup was held. No one had expected that a country like South Africa can host such a sporting event. Not only did they host it but it was a very successful one and each and every person who has something to do with football not only enjoyed watching it but also praised the efforts of this great African nation.
Taking South Africa as an example, do we really think England, Portugal/ Spain or any of the other European nations really deserved to hold the world cup? Specially given the 2012 olympics are going to be held in England already. They have their own issues be it economic or political. Euro countries are being bailed out in the wake of an economic crisis, rumours in the media about corruption, already hosting a major event in 2012 and has held a world cup in the past in 1966. I guess the more deserving after Russia would probably be Portugal/Spain and still not England.
Having the world cup in Russia has its disadvantages but those disadvantages would actually be advantages for a number of people out there based in Central Asia. So why think one sided? Why not step into other's shoes and think big. Having a world cup in Russia would open them to a large number of foreigners. 'Ready to inspire' was their bid motto and let's hope we all get inspired when we see the world cup in 2018. Beware that the country is expensive though!
Qatar on the other hand lost to USA in the final round with Qatar getting 14 votes and USA only managed to secure 8 votes. Again keeping in view the example of England and Russia, USA by no means deserved to hold the world cup in 2022. It is still a long way to go but I think Qatar truly has the potential and the ability to hold such a large sporting event. At the same time, it will give all the more benefits to Qatar which is currently thriving on its oil and gas reserves and turning out to be a big middle eastern giant. It doesn't have any issues as its neighbouring gulf countries, it is a true investor friendly and above all is the first Muslim state who will hold this major sporting event. If anyone deserved it was Qatar!
Obama slammed football officials claiming FIFA made the wrong decision to award Qatar with the 2022 world cup. They should have thought about this even before they decided on bidding. What were they thinking? Why on earth would the USA get to host the world cup 2022? Does it really need it? The answers to all this is that USA is one of the super powers in the world, doesn't match with the FIFA objectives and is not one of the emerging countries. It already has its fair share of economy, tourisms (if they give visas!) and football. If you have any doubts on Qatar look at this website http://www.qatar2022bid.com/ which gives all the more details on their bid.
Don't forget to click on the 'stadiums' link and look at the beautiful stadiums that either Qatar has or will build by the time of this event. What that means is jobs, eradication of poverty and economic uplift in this truly great country that has worked hard to overcome any economic recession and is a legend on its own.
Disclaimer: These are authors' own comments and opinions.
What was surprising was the fact that England supported by their 'Three Lions' namely David Cameroon, Prince William and the so called football legend David Beckham got only 2 votes and were eliminated in the first round. They had the best technical bid but they still lost and lost very badly.
Sporting events such as the world cup football are supposed to give huge economic boost by way of increased tourism which results in use of local facilities and helps showcase the world what the country is capable of doing. South Africa was a great example where the last world cup was held. No one had expected that a country like South Africa can host such a sporting event. Not only did they host it but it was a very successful one and each and every person who has something to do with football not only enjoyed watching it but also praised the efforts of this great African nation.
Taking South Africa as an example, do we really think England, Portugal/ Spain or any of the other European nations really deserved to hold the world cup? Specially given the 2012 olympics are going to be held in England already. They have their own issues be it economic or political. Euro countries are being bailed out in the wake of an economic crisis, rumours in the media about corruption, already hosting a major event in 2012 and has held a world cup in the past in 1966. I guess the more deserving after Russia would probably be Portugal/Spain and still not England.
Having the world cup in Russia has its disadvantages but those disadvantages would actually be advantages for a number of people out there based in Central Asia. So why think one sided? Why not step into other's shoes and think big. Having a world cup in Russia would open them to a large number of foreigners. 'Ready to inspire' was their bid motto and let's hope we all get inspired when we see the world cup in 2018. Beware that the country is expensive though!
Qatar on the other hand lost to USA in the final round with Qatar getting 14 votes and USA only managed to secure 8 votes. Again keeping in view the example of England and Russia, USA by no means deserved to hold the world cup in 2022. It is still a long way to go but I think Qatar truly has the potential and the ability to hold such a large sporting event. At the same time, it will give all the more benefits to Qatar which is currently thriving on its oil and gas reserves and turning out to be a big middle eastern giant. It doesn't have any issues as its neighbouring gulf countries, it is a true investor friendly and above all is the first Muslim state who will hold this major sporting event. If anyone deserved it was Qatar!
Obama slammed football officials claiming FIFA made the wrong decision to award Qatar with the 2022 world cup. They should have thought about this even before they decided on bidding. What were they thinking? Why on earth would the USA get to host the world cup 2022? Does it really need it? The answers to all this is that USA is one of the super powers in the world, doesn't match with the FIFA objectives and is not one of the emerging countries. It already has its fair share of economy, tourisms (if they give visas!) and football. If you have any doubts on Qatar look at this website http://www.qatar2022bid.com/ which gives all the more details on their bid.
Don't forget to click on the 'stadiums' link and look at the beautiful stadiums that either Qatar has or will build by the time of this event. What that means is jobs, eradication of poverty and economic uplift in this truly great country that has worked hard to overcome any economic recession and is a legend on its own.
Disclaimer: These are authors' own comments and opinions.
Saturday, 27 November 2010
Cargo plane crashes in Karachi
The latest news is that there was a cargo plane crash in Karachi near Dalmiah which is also quite near to the Naval area. It crashed on an under construction building.
There were 8 people on board and it was bound for Sudan. Apparently cause of the crash not known as yet. The plane was also carrying oil which is why the fire can be seen as big balls of fire as the oil burns.
All hospitals have been put on emergency. News channels are reporting that because of huge public presence around the area, rescue services are being hampered. People are busy taking photographs on their mobile phones and there is a big rush. Very unfortunate that the people are not understanding and are flooding the area.
More updates to follow!
Job hunting tips in the UK
I have been thinking about writing on this topic for quite some time now. When I did come up with the idea, the world was engulfed in what is popularly called 'the credit crunch' and there were not many jobs in the market. Infact people were being laid off and unemployment was on the rise. Whilst there is still a large unemployed population (as compared to the good old days pre credit crunch) the markets have picked up and they are relatively better than before and people are finding jobs quickly.
Even though my focus is on accounting related jobs today, some parts of the write up would be relevant for any individual wishing to get a job in London.
Right to stay
In the current market and the situation which the UK economy is in it is fair to say that only very few lucky ones could possibly get a work permit issued by their potential employer. It becomes all the more difficult if you want to secure a work permit but have never worked in London before (there is however an exception to this point below.) You will have a higher chance of securing a job if you have an HSMP visa. It stands for Highly Skilled Migration Programme. You can also have a Tier-1 visa which allows you to stay and work in the United Kingdom.
It is important to distinguish between people who are currently working with professional practice firms specially those in the big 4 vs those who are currently working for in other industries such as manufacturing, oil and gas, banking etc.
Even though my focus is on accounting related jobs today, some parts of the write up would be relevant for any individual wishing to get a job in London.
Right to stay
In the current market and the situation which the UK economy is in it is fair to say that only very few lucky ones could possibly get a work permit issued by their potential employer. It becomes all the more difficult if you want to secure a work permit but have never worked in London before (there is however an exception to this point below.) You will have a higher chance of securing a job if you have an HSMP visa. It stands for Highly Skilled Migration Programme. You can also have a Tier-1 visa which allows you to stay and work in the United Kingdom.
It is important to distinguish between people who are currently working with professional practice firms specially those in the big 4 vs those who are currently working for in other industries such as manufacturing, oil and gas, banking etc.
Employees of professional audit firms
For those who are currently working with one of the big4 firms in the Asian region and wish to come to the UK, the best possible option for them is to secure a secondment with their overseas office. This is very common these days and should not be a problem if you are performing well in your local firm, well spoken, organized and can work well in pressure. Make sure you can impress them with your technical knowledge and have good examples to quote in case of an interview. Normally for such secondments, the overseas offices secure a short term work permit and that allows you to show your skills whilst working abroad. It gives all the more chances for overseas offices to offer you a job or even a long term secondment if you meet their expectations and are willing to work those long and crazy hours (at times!).
Those currently not in the UK and working for other industries
For those individuals who are working for industries other than audit firms but have presence in London or anywhere in the UK should try and follow the same approach as above. i.e. try and secure an overseas secondment, impress your bosses and secure a job. It obviously depends on organization to organization and each individual. Some also have clauses in their agreement which prohibits them from working full time in their overseas office. Honestly speaking it is easier for employees of multinational companies (MNCs) than non MNCs.
For individuals currently working within the non MNCs sector and also do not fall in any of the other criteria, it is a harsh reality that it is extremely difficult. Assuming you have a right to stay in the UK it is preferable to have some sort of UK experience else you might get a job but it may not be upto your standards.
If you have the means to visit the UK first it is always a good idea as I would not recommend resigning from your existing job and coming to the UK in search of work. You may not like the weather, the system, the people and what not and you may end up going back to your old job. It can take people upto six months to secure a reasonable job provided you have played all your cards well.
If you need some good recruitment consultant contacts feel free to email me or post here and i will try and send the links.
Those already in the UK
For those who are already in the UK and want to find a job or change from their existing jobs, I dont think there is much to say except use your contacts and all the recruitment consultants you can come across. I am assuming you already have the right to stay in the UK. I would not recommend flooding your CV in the market as that sometimes gives a bad impression. Don't appear to be too desperate and make sure before any interviews you have thought of the logical reasons for your move. And no, money is not a logical reason although most of us want to move because we feel we are underpaid and overworked. Make sure you have good examples from your routine working life of all the key competencies such as leadership, planning and organizing, teamwork, technical knowledge etc etc.
Contract market pays well, however it is short term and has its disadvantages. You dont get paid for your holidays, no sick leave and you dont get a bonus and neither do you get any pension or any other allowances. It usually comes with a very short notice period.
Disclaimer: The above is based on how the current market is doing and in the current economic climate. Economic conditions and rules may change in future and therefore some of the things may not be applicable.
Saturday, 20 November 2010
Royal wedding and the economy
So there is a Royal Wedding that will take place after God knows how many years! There have been much noise within the electronic and print media, chit chatting inside and outside office blocks (specially whilst smoking!), on train journeys and a number of such places.
Prince William has proposed Kate Middleton and the couple have now decided to get married. Betting firms have become active and punters are deciding on odds in terms of location and I am sure this will go a step further with bets being placed on month, date, dress color, first child, sex of the baby etc etc.
The big question is does anyone really care? Except of course their immediate family and friends. Every household I have known in Britain have their own issues. Some have financial issues, others may have relationship issues and some might have problems concerning health. As a financial analyst if I look at the royal wedding myself my immediate concern is its impact on economy. If there is a favourable impact then we shouldn't have any issues. Infact we should go an extra mile to fully support the royal wedding. There was news the other day that sales of wedding souvenirs would increase and distribution of a number of other such products will increase.
It will be interesting to see how and what amount of costs are met by the tax payers. We would be talking of big numbers here as it involves inviting state guests from all over the world, wedding functions, food and accommodation for all, dresses and not to mention the highest level of security that will be required. During these times of recession where a common man is finding it difficult to make ends meet, it will be interesting to see how the Royal family reacts to all this and how simple the wedding is kept.
Prince William has proposed Kate Middleton and the couple have now decided to get married. Betting firms have become active and punters are deciding on odds in terms of location and I am sure this will go a step further with bets being placed on month, date, dress color, first child, sex of the baby etc etc.
The big question is does anyone really care? Except of course their immediate family and friends. Every household I have known in Britain have their own issues. Some have financial issues, others may have relationship issues and some might have problems concerning health. As a financial analyst if I look at the royal wedding myself my immediate concern is its impact on economy. If there is a favourable impact then we shouldn't have any issues. Infact we should go an extra mile to fully support the royal wedding. There was news the other day that sales of wedding souvenirs would increase and distribution of a number of other such products will increase.
It will be interesting to see how and what amount of costs are met by the tax payers. We would be talking of big numbers here as it involves inviting state guests from all over the world, wedding functions, food and accommodation for all, dresses and not to mention the highest level of security that will be required. During these times of recession where a common man is finding it difficult to make ends meet, it will be interesting to see how the Royal family reacts to all this and how simple the wedding is kept.
Thursday, 18 November 2010
Typical working day in London
A lot of people dream of having a job in London and then living their life here is one of their prime motives in life.
What they don't understand is the negativity that comes with it. There are times when there are happy moments but equally there are times when its highly frustrating, things don't go the way you want them to go and therefore creates a state of depression.
In a typical November month when the temperature is around the freezing mark, wake up at 6am in the morning and keep snoozing for the next half an hour. Naturally, one doesn't feel like coming out of bed but you have to give up your sleep as there is no other choice. The most difficult part then is the daily shave routine! It has to be quick and clean and leave for work by 7:30am after having a very quick breakfast.
So literally one hour from the time you wake up you are on your way to work! Not ideal but that's how it is. A lot of people think its a 9 to 5 job environment whereas it is not! Office is another hectic story.
Everyone in the office is looking to outdo the other. Everyone wants to look as if they are very busy and tapping on the keyboard goes on and on. Some genuinely have a lot of work and are really busy. Back to back meetings, conference calls, emails, people management and the list goes on and on. There is always a lot of pressure. Things like how am I performing, what is the other person thinking about me, what rating will I get and again the list goes on and on. The mind never settles and remains under pressure!
Lunch time is not a one hour break but only a ten minute to get something back to your desk. Most of the time its just a sandwich and a packet of crisps or soup and bread. You often end up working whilst having your lunch or occasionally visit a few adhoc websites you may be interested in.
The work routine starts again after a brief sandwich gap and goes on until 6pm at which time you realise you haven't responded to any of the emails and therefore you have to stay back another hour or so. You end up leaving for home at about 8ish and depending on the trains and where you live get home by 9ish. On a door to door basis its a total of 14 hours in a normal day that you allocate to work. If you have kids then you are unlikely to see them properly until at the weekend.
All the time and even after work hours your mind is constantly at work specially (admittedly) if you are a workaholic and take things very religiously which most of them do. By the time you come and have dinner you are flat out tired and dread for the next morning. Each day goes like this and the only light (and a brief one!) you see at the end of the tunnel is a Friday night to welcome the start of the weekend.
Disclaimer: the above is the authors count of his typical day and it may differ from individual to individual.
What they don't understand is the negativity that comes with it. There are times when there are happy moments but equally there are times when its highly frustrating, things don't go the way you want them to go and therefore creates a state of depression.
In a typical November month when the temperature is around the freezing mark, wake up at 6am in the morning and keep snoozing for the next half an hour. Naturally, one doesn't feel like coming out of bed but you have to give up your sleep as there is no other choice. The most difficult part then is the daily shave routine! It has to be quick and clean and leave for work by 7:30am after having a very quick breakfast.
So literally one hour from the time you wake up you are on your way to work! Not ideal but that's how it is. A lot of people think its a 9 to 5 job environment whereas it is not! Office is another hectic story.
Everyone in the office is looking to outdo the other. Everyone wants to look as if they are very busy and tapping on the keyboard goes on and on. Some genuinely have a lot of work and are really busy. Back to back meetings, conference calls, emails, people management and the list goes on and on. There is always a lot of pressure. Things like how am I performing, what is the other person thinking about me, what rating will I get and again the list goes on and on. The mind never settles and remains under pressure!
Lunch time is not a one hour break but only a ten minute to get something back to your desk. Most of the time its just a sandwich and a packet of crisps or soup and bread. You often end up working whilst having your lunch or occasionally visit a few adhoc websites you may be interested in.
The work routine starts again after a brief sandwich gap and goes on until 6pm at which time you realise you haven't responded to any of the emails and therefore you have to stay back another hour or so. You end up leaving for home at about 8ish and depending on the trains and where you live get home by 9ish. On a door to door basis its a total of 14 hours in a normal day that you allocate to work. If you have kids then you are unlikely to see them properly until at the weekend.
All the time and even after work hours your mind is constantly at work specially (admittedly) if you are a workaholic and take things very religiously which most of them do. By the time you come and have dinner you are flat out tired and dread for the next morning. Each day goes like this and the only light (and a brief one!) you see at the end of the tunnel is a Friday night to welcome the start of the weekend.
Disclaimer: the above is the authors count of his typical day and it may differ from individual to individual.
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