In a past life she worked for banks; now she just writes about them, and about finance and economics generally.

Frances is an alumna of Cass Business School, where she did an MBA with a specialism in finance and risk management. She spent 17 years working for various banks, from large to small, retail and investment banks, and even a charity (yes, there is a charity that is a bank!).

Frances is also a singer and musician, having studied originally at the Royal College of Music where she completed a London B.Mus degree in music and an ARCM in singing performance. Ten years ago, Frances left banking to concentrate on singing and teaching. But in the last three years she’s found herself talking and writing about the industry she thought she had left behind.

Much of her work with banks was concerned with IT systems, which are of critical importance in banking. Among other things, Frances designed risk management systems for Nat West and financial & regulatory reporting systems for Midland Bank (now HSBC) and RBS Group. She admits to being moderately proud of the fact that RBS used her system to report their appalling results.

In addition to writing her own blog Coppola Comment, which is widely read in the finance community, she is associate editor of the online magazine Pieria, and a Forbes contributor. She also makes frequent appearances on radio and television.