Honorary Furniture Maker
Today was one of the most delightful days for me. The Furniture Makers made me, as their Alderman, an Honorary Liveryman. It was a lovely ceremony done both in good taste and a speed just below haste and well above boring.…
Category Life As We Live It
CISI Annual Integrity Debate 2014: Do UK Savers & Investors Get A Fair Deal?
One of the more difficult tasks can be substituting at the last moment in a debating team. It happens more than you wish. You haven’t worked on creating the question and always wish it was different. The person for whom you’re…
The Disunited Kingdom Tour
The observant among you may have noticed that the Mainelli’s spent two weeks of August in Scotland, followed by Wales, and sailing in England. We left in early August when polls for the Scottish Referendum predicted a 22 point “No”…
Piering Ahead
One of the joys of restoring a Thames Sailing Barge, our beloved S B Lady Daphne, is racing her. Racing her? Indeed. Thames Sailing Barge racing is the oldest continuous boat racing in the world and, despite the size, slow turns,…
Never Never Land
For over two decades my great sailing buddy Axel has gone on and on about Helgoland, sometimes rendered in English as Heligoland. The wonderful sail, the interesting tides, the fantastic island, the duty free. But for those two decades and…
Banking About In Boats
Kathleen Tyson-Quah is a generous friend letting us bounce around the Regents Canal with her several times on her assortment of river craft. Literally bouncing off the banks on a few occasions. We had just had some fun at the 2014…
Not So Foolish April
April turned out to be a whirlwind month rather than a showery one. The month opened with a not-April-fool article in Banking Technology, co-written with my friend Bob McDowall and published promptly courtesy of my friend, editor David Bannister. This…
Safer Cities – open data, cyber insurance, new currencies
Safer Cities – People, Security, Technology Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli CityForum – Monday, 10 March 2014 One Whitehall Place, London SW1 As a student of international economics, I’ve been asked to provide some comments today on Safer Cities. In…
‘Open Commerce’ Talk To Worshipful Company Of Information Technologists
Worshipful Company of Information Technologists, 83rd Business Luncheon “Open Commerce Drives Out Closed Commerce” Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli FCCA FCSI FBCS Tallow Chandlers’ Hall, 4 Dowgate Hill, London EC4R 2SH, 12 February 2014 Master, Deputy Master, Wardens, Alderman, Liverymen, distinguished…
Burnsing Down The House
One of my favourite definitions of a gentleman is someone who knows how to play the bagpipes but doesn’t. I hope that explains why few people are aware of my fondness for piping and speaking at Burns Nights, otherwise I’ll…