There are a few friends in my network whose opinions I respect and Professor Michael Mainelli, Chairman of Z/Yen Group is one of those. He has kindly given me a really insightful paper into blockchain technologies and terminologies. For the uninitiated, it will enlighten and for the initiated, it will offer something new. Enjoy … Terminology…
There’s lots of discussions about financial markets and their different structures. Retail and commercial banking are likened to farms, whilst investment banking is a jungle. Retail and commercial banking have dull products likened to chickens. Look after them and they produce regular and predictable results. Investment banking is just full of testosterone fueled animals that…
I don’t normally blog about a particular start-up or specific company, but today’s an exception as there’s a company that’s caught my eye because it’s appearing everywhere. Literally every tech show I’m attending, they’re there and winning awards. This company won €30,000 in the BBVA Open Talent Competition last September, a Meffy award in October…
I just discovered Thomson Reuters predictions for 2016 with two related to Fintech that stand out: There is no Uber of Finance Most Fintech start-ups will partner with or be acquired by banks Interesting. I have blogged before that the Uber of Finance is the blockchain, so maybe don’t agree with that statement, but the…
I’ve been wondering how this year would start and so far the answer seems badly. What with David Bowie’s death on the same day as I catch man-flu, could it get any worse? Well yes. I wake up to the headline: Sell everything ahead of stock market crash, say RBS economists. NNNNOOOOOOO!!!!! Royal Bank of…
The world is still very confused about bitcoin. For example, some press are still writing the old stories about the phenomena as an investment: Man buys $27 of bitcoin, forgets about them, finds they’re now worth $886k. It makes for a good headline, but reinforces the view that bitcoin is just some basketcase currency, rather…
I’m often asked how quickly the changes I outline will take place, and my answer is between 10 and 20 years. The building of the real-time, almost free financial network on the internet using blockchain and mobile will take about a decade at least before it becomes mainstream. Oh, that’s a way off. Can we…
At the start of 2015, I was honoured to be invited to join a new group called the Whitechapel Think Tank. The group was initiated by Jeremy Wilson, Vice Chairman of Barclays Corporate Banking and John Edge, Managing Partner, RRVIG. The first meeting called together UK Government, Treasury and the Bank of England, Barclays thought…
