Brexit

There was an interesting article in The Independent last week about the big banks becoming bigger since the financial crisis hit.  The article notes that the big American banks control 70% of all US assets, and that this figure has increased 40% since 2008. In the lead up to 2008, parallel to increasing debt levels,…

I was reflecting on a friend of mine who runs a FinTech start-up.  Their company was on a funding round, and struggling.  They struggled so much that they ended up having to lay off a load of staff, cut budgets and defer income.  In fact, they reached the point where they would only survive another…

We had a fun session of the Financial Services Club this week, in light of the lack of clarity on Brexit from the UK Gov.  The discussion was our regular New Year kick-off meeting with special guest David Doyle, sage of all EU regulations affecting Financial Services.  David provided us with great insight into the…

So Theresa May made clear on Tuesday what the Brexit plan is … or did she?  Some say that her plan is Vague (in reference to her appearance on the cover of Vogue) whilst others gave it a big thumbs up. Mind you, he did write most of it.  The clear points that came out…

So we finished the Financial Services Club season with a discussion of the implications of Brexit on the City of London and Fintech London, with a panel debate amongst four stellar people: Sharon Bowles, former MEP and now Baroness Bowles of Berkhamsted; Lawrence Wintermeyer, CEO, Innovate Finance; Jeremy Light, Managing Director, Accenture Payment Services; and…

Just heard a really interesting point of view from Professor Tim Congdon, CEO of International Monetary Research.  He was putting a clearly positive spin from a City viewpoint on the outlook for Brexit.  He began by talking about Medieval times of doing business and stated that most financial activity took part outside the cities they…

Speaking of Walloons forcing a Byegium from the EU-Canada trade deal leads me to post this thoughtful email I received from Iain Bell, CEO of Quadrant Capital.  Iain gives a balanced alternative view to mine, and therefore it is worth a read… I have found your last couple of posts to be quite feisty in fact,…

In my travels over the past months, whether it’s Asia, America or around Europe, everyone asks me what I think about the Brexit vote.  What’s going to happen?  What does it mean? So I’m not going to write lots about Brexit, but every now and again it’s worth picking up the tone, especially as the…

After a month, the dust has settled somewhat on the Brexit vote.  We have a new Prime Minister, a new Government and a new outlook.  There were many knee-jerk reactions to the vote that were extreme in the immediate wake of the shock of the vote.  These ranged from the whole FinTech community upping sticks…