Future

I had a friend who bought a load of bitcoin for around $10 each and then sold them to buy a house. If he had kept them, he could have ten houses today. I have another friend who invested heavily in ETH, the coin of Ethereum. Today, they smile and sit pretty, whilst millions of…

I was really surprised to see the announcement by Zopa this week that they were pulling out of P2P (peer-to-peer) lending. As the company that started the FinTech P2P lending and FinTech buzz imho, how could they? I was angry and annoyed, and then remembered something: Following consultation, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is introducing…

Banking, like most industries, is being challenged by technology. I don’t say disrupted. Music, entertainment and other industries may have been disrupted. I think banking is challenged. But when I look out at the world, what does surprise and possibly amaze me is how some industries are adapting. We’ve seen banking adapt – who needs…

I grew up with a belief that life should be simple. You get an education; you play sport; you get a job for life; you get a partner; you get married; you buy a house; you have kids; you retire; and then you die. Or something like that. These were the key life events. It’s…

I was watching Match of the Day the other day and realised how much football moves and changes. Teams of yesteryear are now champions of Europe, whilst teams that were my shining lights growing up are now shadows of their former selves. I wonder if that’s what we’re seeing today in banking and finance? In…

I had a fascinating conversation the other day, and shouldn’t share it here but hey, it’s my blog. I was talking about my understanding of SWIFT and how Yawar Shah, Chair of the Association, is killing it. I must admit, it had not occurred to me re the politics of SWIFT, until that discussion, as…

Is it just me, or is the world a scary place at the moment? For most of my life, the world has been harmonising, working together to create global trade and destroy barriers. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the opening of China to world trade and the growth of the United Nations sustainability goals,…

Jim Marous at The Financial Brand just published a survey of what his readers think the future of banking holds. Before you read the results, here are mine: Retail banking focuses upon integrating everything digital Commercial banking focuses upon digital currencies for global trade Investment banking focuses upon the tokenization of equities and trading Simples! What…

Mark Carney stood up at COP26, alongside Larry Fink (CEO of BlackRock) and Jane Fraser (CEO of Citigroup). Together they announced that the financial industry has pledged $130 trillion of assets to solve climate challenges. Woo-hoo! Thanks. Trouble is that it’s a lie. Larry Fink and Jane Fraser run two companies leading the end of…

Just in case you didn’t catch it, yesterday was the Finance Day at COP26. Rishi Sunak, the UK Chancellor, made a speech commiting the UK to be the first with a net-zero financial centre. Watch the speech:  Or, if you prefer, here’s the transcript: Direct the world’s wealth to protect our planet Good morning…