An Introduction(and Survival Guide) to Wholesale Global Banking, Trading Desks and The Capital Markets
This is the book that predicted the banking crash (see the book's Postscript page below). Finished in March 2007 its conclusion argued that a combination of excess credit creation, adverse movements in commodity prices, structural weakness in bank regulation, the unhindered growth in credit default swaps, the risks from globalisation and trade imbalances with China would lead to a difficult time for global banks. It did not predict just how bad times would become.
This site intends to give potential buyers of the book a feel for its scope and who might benefit from it. This is covered more fully under the other pages but, briefly, it is for :
anyone studying the capital markets, stockbroking orinternational banking
anyone in a fringe profession, such as IT, Human Resources or Consultancy, that wants to break-through the jargon and break-into the highly-paid financial world
anyone in banking that wants to understand other areas of their bank or how IT structures change
anyone wanting a reference manual for products and procedures in the capital markets. The book contains several Glossaries for quickly looking-up a subject.
It is a book about the products each bank division creates, buys and sells but it is also about the techniques and the people that make global banks work. It is not a book of heavy mathematics and is aimed at readers who are intelligent, interested in the subject but likely to be totally new to the area.
I have spent all of my working life in and around the capital markets, particularly trading desks, in senior management positions ( although not so senior as to be detached from what is really happening). I hope I bring to the book the 'feel', the tension and the humour of the participants taking the book beyond the raw technical mechanics of the market.
