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The Bank of England has developed a risk-based methodology to support its oversight of payment systems. The methodology provides more precise estimates of risks in payment systems than previously available. Because it is consistent and systematic in its application, the methodology assists the Bank in focusing its attention and resources -- the intensity of oversight -- where the level of risk is estimated to be greatest. This paper provides an overview of the framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an update on various legislative measures addressed by the European Parliament. The Exchanges and Clearing Houses Bill will give the Financial Services Authority powers to block regulatory changes from being made by exchange and clearing houses. The Enterprise Act of 2002 restricts the disclosure of information which relates to the affairs of a person or any business or an undertaking.

Many commentators have contended that British banking lacked competition for much of the twentieth century. This article examines a range of evidence relating to English clearing banks in the middle decades of the century, when the banking ‘cartel’ was believed to be at its strongest. Data on interest rates charged and paid, rate spreads, profitability and expenses ratios, including new evidence from archival sources, are considered. Some propositions about cartels are supported, others contradicted, and some left unresolved. We conclude that the banking ‘cartel’ can be described as ‘soft’, rather than ‘hard’ – that is, one which agreed strict output quotas and profits shares among its members. Beaucoup de commentateurs ont soutenu que les opérations bancaires britanniques manquaient de concurrence durant la majeure partie du vingtième siècle. Nous examinons une gamme de preuves concernant les banques anglaises de compensation dans les décades du milieu du siècle, lorsque le ‘cartel’ bancaire était sensé être à son plus fort. Nous considérons des données sur les taux d''intérêt pris et payés, sur la progression des impôts, sur les proportions entre rentabilité et dépenses, y compris de nouvelles preuves provenant de sources d''archives. Quelques propositions sur les cartels sont supportées, d''autres contredites, et certaines non résolues. Nous concluons que le ‘cartel’ bancaire peut être décrit comme un cartel ‘doux’, plutôt qu''un cartel ‘dur’ – c''est à dire un cartel dont les membres se sont mis d''accord sur des quotas stricts de rendement et de partage des profits. Viele Kommentatoren behaupten, daß es der britischen Bankwirtschaft während des 20. Jahrhunderts an Konkurrenz mangelte. Wir untersuchen eine Fülle von Beweisen in Verbindung mit englischen Ausgleichsbanken, die während der Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts bestanden, als das Bankenkartell angeblich am stärksten ausgeprägt war. In Betracht gezogen wurden Daten über Zinssätze, den Zinsumfang, die Rentabilität und das Ausgabenverhältnis, sowie neues Beweismaterial aus Archiven. Einige Feststellungen über Kartelle werden bestätigt, anderen werden widersprochen und einige bleiben ungelöst. Wir schlußfolgern, daß das Bankenkartell eher ‘weich’ als ‘hart’ war, das heißt, es war ein Kartell, welches strikte Ausgabenquoten und Gewinnanteile mit seinen Mitgliedern teilte. Muchos comentaristas han mantenido que la banca británica estuvo falta de competición durante la mayor parte del siglo veinte. Examinaremos una variedad de pruebas relacionadas con bancos de compensación ingleses en las décadas de mediados de siglo, cuando se creía que el ‘cartel’ bancario era más fuerte. Se consideran dato sobre los porcentajes de interés pagados y cobrados, la proliferación de los porcentajes, las proporciones de rentabilidad y de gastos, incluyendo nuevas pruebas de fuentes de archivo. Algunas proposiciones sobre carteles reciben apoyo, otras se contradicen, y algunas no se resuelven. Concluimos que el ‘cartel’ bancario puede describirse como ‘suave’, más que ‘duro’ – con ello queremos decir, uno que acordó cuotas de rendimiento estrictas y acciones de beneficios entre sus miembros. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasingly competitive financial service environment has recently forced organizations to consider the role that their employees might play in the attainment of a genuinely sustainable source of competitive advantage. The role of internal communication has thus acquired particular significance as organizations strive to communicate customer needs, organizational values etc. to staff working at every level and, moreover, to encourage staff to maintain a two-way dialogue with management It is the purpose of this article to model this communications process, examining the nature of the process, the outcomes thereof and those variables that have the capacity to moderate outcomes, in the context of two UK Clearing Banks. A qualitative approach based on grounded theory has been adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

British clearing banks are important employers of female labour Previous research, however, has demonstrated that women have not had access to the same career opportunities as men. The aim of the article is to consider whether there has been an equalisation of opportunities available to women in the banking industry during the 1980s and 1990s. A case study of a major British clearing bank is used to evaluate whether the 'gender order' in the industry has been transformed by analysing practices associated with recruitment, training and promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 1980, the UK Clearing Banks have faced growing criticism over the quality of their financial services. Advantages may exist in using internal marketing to ensure closer integration of multiple functions across all departments. Although adoption of an internal marketing philosophy may improve the quality of services delivered to both internal and external customers, it appears that there are few paradigms available which can be used by bankers seeking to introduce the concept into their organisation. By applying a quasi-ethnographic approach, a qualitative internal customer management model was developed based on the Peters and Waterman 7S framework to describe the factors influencing internal customer relationships which exist between branches and other departments within a bank. To determine if the model could be used to evaluate branch-level perceptions of internal customer management practices, a survey was undertaken using a modified version of the Parasuraman SERVQUAL model. The responses suggest that possible actions to establish a stronger internal customer orientation may include altering prevailing management styles, restructuring, redirecting operational strategies away from excessive emphasis on technical efficiency and improving understanding of internal customer needs. Although the study indicates that the SERVQUAL tool can be used to examine internal customer service processes within the financial services sector, there is still only anecdotal evidence that stronger internal customer chains will enhance organisational performance. Further research is needed to validate claims that there are favourable cost/benefit outcomes to be exploited by strengthening internal customer management practices. For bankers who are convinced that changing internal organisational processes may enhance the quality of services delivered to external customers, then a process flow model is presented of a possible approach for evaluating and implementing changes necessary to create a stronger internal customer orientation within their organisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK clearing banks, having significantly improved their customer service reputation in the UK SME (Small and Medium Size Enterprise) sector, may be revising their market position during the current recession. A survey of people starting a new business and bankers reveals that both owner/managers and bankers feel the quality of the customer-bank relationship may have deteriorated. This situation has implications for both the availability of funds for new small business and the future strategies of the UK banks when servicing SME sector clients. A customer management model is proposed as a mechanism for classifying variation in owner/manager needs for financial service. The model is used to assess the nature of customer service which a bank may wish to provide to their different types of small business client. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of a pilot survey which examines the quality of service given to customers at pre-selected branches of a major UK clearing bank. A number of discernable inconsistencies or gaps are identified between what bank staff said on being interviewed and what was observed. Directions for future research are indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper seeks to assess the effects pf changes in Great Britain bank regulation on the risk, performance and efficiency of the "Big Four" clearing banks over the period May 1965 to August 1975. Prior to the introduction of the competition and credit control reforms of 1971, the Great Britain primary or clearing bank sector was characterized by a general absence of competition, both in the rates charged for borrowing and lending and in the provision of bank services. This structure was the outcome of a number of informal agreements developed between the Bank of England, the clearing banks and the discount houses, which were primarily designed to buttress the monetary authorities' objective of controlling the price and quantity of credit. In the mid-1960s despite their number and variety, the Bank of England seemed to find these agreements inadequate in achieving the desired level of credit restraint. Consequently the Bank began to place more reliance on general requests to the clearing banks to reduce their lending to the private sector. In May 1965, the first quantitative ceilings on bank lending were imposed, confirming a shift in the authorities' regulatory policy away from the more informal requests of the past towards a dependence on publicly announced lending targets.

The article explains the asset choice behavior of clearing banks. It distinguishes two different lines of approach to bank asset choice behavior. The results of an examination of the usefulness of interpreting Commercial Bank behavior in Great Britain, over the period 1953 to 1967 are presented. Four models of bank asset choice behaviors are described. The article details the items included in the balance sheet of clearing banks. A restatement of the conventional approach of asset choice under conditions of uncertainty as adapted to cater for situations in which the choice set does not comprise all assets and liabilities in the portfolio of the decision-taking unit is presented.

This article discusses various issues related to financial reporting by four main clearing banks of Great Britain. These banks are: Barclays Bank PLC, Lloyds Bank PLC, Midland Bank PLC and National Westminster Bank PLC. The article author converts the published accruals based accounting information of the banks to a cash flow exit price based format, while keeping two objectives in his mind. The first one is to see whether a combined system can provide insights into the operations of the banks during the 1980s, a period of considerable change. the banks were subject in 1981 to a levy by central government on "windfall profits" and by the end of the decade, amid fears of a recession, the banks were beginning to provide substantially not only against Less Developed Countries debt but also against domestic debt, particularly debt secured on property. The second objective is to compare the information content of a conventional profit measure with adjusted accounting measures based on cash flows and exit prices. A significant and negative relationship was found between contemporaneous share returns and cash flow from operations, also between contemporaneous share returns and cash flow from operations plus adjustment for exit price changes.

The article focuses on the professional rivalry and changing management control approaches in British clearing banks. British clearing banks have been subject to dramatic changes in their regulatory and competitive environments in the last two decades. Progressive deregulation beginning with the introduction of the Competition and Credit policy in 1971 has led to new competition from overseas banks and building societies in the banks' traditional markets. The advent of a more competitive and less paternalistic business environment has generated new challenges for the banks' management control systems. Yet, although there is a normative literature on strategic management and marketing of banks, there has been relatively little theoretical analysis of bank control systems from an organizational/sociological perspective. In contrast with the normative banking literature, this paper examines the banks' response to their changing environment in terms of a model of professional competition, arguing that banking strategies have been influenced by competing bodies of expert knowledge promoted by the banks' own senior management and outside professions at the expense of the banks' own profession, the Chartered Institute of Bankers.

Examines data on North Sea financing with respect to the provision of funds for oil firms' offshore exploration and development efforts. Role of clearing banks in Great Britain and changes induced in their lending techniques and habits by the oil industry's demands; Pace of oil development and the participation of the British banking industry.

Recommends the revision of the British money clearing services and transmission system. Role of the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS) in assuring the smooth running of banking systems in the country; Clearing banks that compose the operating subsidiaries of APACS; Weaknesses of the existing money clearing and transmission systems in the country.

The article focuses on the conflict between Ukrainian law and English law in the treatment of insolvency under the International Payment System. Topics include the impact of the 2008-2009 global financial crisis on the Ukrainian banking sector, the use of clearing systems in Ukraine, and the rights of the operator under English and Ukrainian law.

The article focuses on the British court case Tidal Energy Ltd. v. Bank of Scotland PLC, which dealt with recourse for the payment errors in the Clearing House Automated Payment System (CHAPS). Topics include fraudulent misrepresentation, the intention of the payee, and if lost funds can be recovered by the payee.

The article focuses on the amended regulatory regime of the British Financial Services Authority (FSA), which will take effect on April 1, 2013. Topics include the establishment of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA), the Bank of England's regulation of recognized clearing houses, and the Financial Policy Committee (FPC).

Despite concerted efforts to thwart fraud in recent years, new figures released by APACS, the UK payments association, show that card fraud losses totalled £609.9 million in 2008, up 14% on 2007. Industry commentators said the disappointing figures were ‘unsurprising’, but could be partially addressed by considering new initiatives and technology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Following a two year decline in card fraud losses in the UK, figures just released by payments association APACS show a severe turnaround, with 2007 experiencing a 25% rise in fraud. The increase takes fraud levels up to £535.2 million in 2007, well beyond the total in 2004 (£504.8 million), which is when Chip and PIN cards began to take effect. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As APACS predicts that more than five million EMV contactless cards will be issued this year, it is clear that contactless payments have arrived in the UK. The adoption of this technology has been driven by the London trial of an integrated travel and payment contactless card, Barclaycard''s OnePulse, as well as RBS building on its successful contactless payment trials. While the benefits for consumers and retailers alike are widely recognised, less attention has been given to the challenges of wide-scale contactless adoption and the major decisions that have yet to be made for a successful full-scale roll-out. Will contactless cards also provide an impetus for the widespread adoption of NFC phones for use at point of sale for example? Richard Sanders, business consultant at ACI Worldwide, follows the contactless trail, drawing on his previous experience of the implementation of EMV and looking ahead to the possible challenges and unanswered questions that surround a country-wide contactless roll-out. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses the Great Britain Court of Appeal's determination in the 2014 case Tidal Energy Ltd. v. Bank of Scotland PLC that a customer who uses a clearing house automated payments system (CHAPS) is bound by contract on the bases of the banking practice that governs CHAPS transactions.

Fraud committed on UK plastic cards has fallen for the first time in eight years, according to the 2003 figures released by the Association for Payment Clearing Services (APACS). APACS said there was a decrease of around 5% from £424.6 million (US$782 million) in 2002 to £402.4 million (US$740 million) in 2003. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]