Today is the final day of the prediction season for 2021. The prognostications we’ve seen are pretty standard. We agree with most of them – although of course the majority never really achieves much more than a mediocre consensus: There will be more digitisation of financial services. Mainstream banks are already following the lead of […]
First, we wish or lenders borrower and readers a very happy festive period – if festive it is – and a prosperous 2021. We’ll be blogging our predictions for that year here shortly. Meanwhile, we bring an early snippet of news for next year (see below). The resurgent Bitcoin is having its own second wave. […]
It’s going to be an interesting year ahead. In a darkly uncertain world, our friends at AltFi offer a small light of certainty: “Without a shadow of a doubt, the battle for Open Banking supremacy is going to be one of the defining fintech stories of 2021,” they report. This nascent industry has roared into […]
Two snap shots of today’s FinTech sector. The first is superficial, but f they’ve nothing better to do…? What’s in a name? AltFi reports: Industry body the Digital Finance Forum (DFF) has given itself a fresh lick of paint, rebranding as Fintech Founders. DFF was launched back in 2016, with the aim of creating stronger […]
The financial world is in a state of flux. For once, the Pandemic is neither an effect and only arguably a cause. Digital currencies – cryptos – are on the march again. The simple fact remains that with the resurgence of Bitcoin – now approaching its highs of December 2107 – traditional monetary systems are […]
Build it, and they will come. Further proof were it needed, that the FinTech sector is a giant experiment in, amongst other things supply-side development, comes with the latest announcement from the top financial watch dog, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Our friends at Finextra report: The Financial Conduct Authority and the City of London […]
As we pursue a niche-lending policy (property, music rights, litigation), it has gone rather quiet on the lending front. However, new loans are due on site when the business streams open up – so we thought it opportune to provide one of our regular refreshers on how to lend to our carefully vetted borrowing companies. […]
The wait-and-see period continues. As we deal with the second Covid-19 wave and wait for vaccine rollout there’s much belt-tightening and general preparation for the battle to come in a world that reverts to the new version of “normal”. In FinTech, we’re seeing plenty of jockeying for position. AltFi reports the latest: London-based Zilch has today become […]
The seething mass of mutually contradictory signs ahead of Brexit offers, as you’d expect, no clarity – just confusion. Is the story below a sign of enthusiasm, or desperation? Time will tell. Our friends at AltFi report: Industry body Tech Nation has today revealed that applications for the Global Talent visa have jumped by 48 […]
What a hectic year it’s been. The Covid-19 crisis, and its politicisation, have led to remarkable structural uncertainties playing havoc with the mainstream investment markets. Although quoted US equities have largely recovered from the Covid crash of this Spring, the UK markets are still no more than halfway to recouping their losses. In the shadow […]