I’ve just had Sunday lunch of “Ravioli, suedafrikanische Scampi und weisser Curry” at the Kronenhalle bar in Zurich, haunt of Swiss bankers celebrating deals. The conversation turned to bankers and grovelling. Read on ›

Over lunch at the “Weinstube zum Rothen Ochsen” (Red Bull) in Stein am Rhein I catch up on this week’s FT output. I discover the chairman of Channel 4, Luke Johnson, commenting:

“The overriding truth about bad publicity is that it is rarely as damaging as your worst fears. Even Bernard Matthews Farms is prospering again, in spite of taking a battering last year over bird flu. There is a lot of noise out there in the media jungle, and stories soon get forgotten: the bandwagon rolls on.” Read on ›

It’s Saturday morning. I’m sitting in the Movenpick drinking coffee. I’ve been shopping in the Bahnhofstrasse. Beneath my feet is one of the biggest hordes of gold bullion in the world. Out of the window I observe the quiet orderliness of Zurich’s Paradeplatz, the hub of Swiss banking. It takes the waiter to bring my attention inside. He’s charged me for a “Gipfeli” I didn’t order. He apologies. Why, it occurred to me then, have the world’s bankers not said sorry for the credit crunch and their part in creating the mess we’re in? Read on ›

The retail shareholders complaining about Barclays Bank’s deal with Middle East and other investors might well have a point. However it is not one that appeals to me. Read on ›

Today Barclays Bank raised £7.3 billion from Middle East-based investors. That makes Barclays one of the high street’s premier brands, not just in terms of perception, but in terms of reality, along with HSBC. Read on ›

I am no fan of Jonathan Ross. I’m even less inclined to like or admire Russell Brand. But the vilification of both of them has got out of hand. Read on ›

Yesterday in the midst of recession, Volkswagen briefly became the world’s most valuable company, worth £238 billion. Hedge funds were gambling, which is what they do for a living, that VW shares would fall. Read on ›

It is good to see Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and other interested parties working together to protect free speech online. Yesterday their Global Network Initiative introduced a code of conduct that boosts the credibility of self-regulation on the Web. Read on ›

So, George Osborne admitted on the BBC that he made a mistake meeting Oleg Deripaska on his yacht. It is refreshing and rare for a politician to admit such an error. He has also committed himself on the record to having nothing more to do with party fundraising. Read on ›

Yesterday’s Sunday Times investigated so-called Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska and found him to be shady. Today’s Guardian asks are we about to see the demise of Russian oligarchs. Read on ›