The good bank emerging from the ashes of Portugal's Banco Espirito Santo is currently being sold, with China's Fosun and Anbang Insurance two of the leading bidders. But, asks Brian Caplen, will either of these companies winning the bid work to anyone's advantage?

Central bankers have been battling with interest rates since the crisis, making the management of capital even more difficult for bankers. The answer, according to a recent report by Citi economists, could be to abolish currency, and use alternative stores of value.

With the Conservatives springing a surprise victory in the UK general election, eyes turn towards the coming EU in-out referendum in 2017, as well as renewed calls for Scottish independence.

The introduction of a bank levy in the UK is not only unfair it is also unlikely to achieve its intended purpose. 

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has already raised more than a few eyebrows in its short life. However, rather than criticise, Western politicians should make note of its focus – oft-ignored infrastructure requirements – and ask why existing such institutions, namely the IMF and World Bank, are deemed insufficient to cope with Asia's needs.

Regulators have spent the past few years ensuring that a repeat of the last crisis will not happen. However, as JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has highlighted in a letter to shareholders, these actions could only be serving to worsen the effects of the next crisis. And Brian Caplen thinks he may have a point...

The UK may have returned to growth, but with its budget deficit still dangerously high, the economy largely failing in its drive to develop non-banking sectors. Given the lack of political ambition to solve either of these problems, it is only a matter of time before it falls back into a recession. 

Spanish lender Sabadell intends to transfer newly acquired UK bank TSB onto its IT platform in a move that highlights the vital role that IT plays in banking strategy. 

The addition of a Russian seat on the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication's board of directors should not be interpreted as a political move by the organisation.

As the Bank of England is modernised, with clearer communications between central bank and the City of London at its core, Brian Caplen highlights the problems that a more formalised communications system may bring about.