Grid

Five years ago, on 31 January 2020, the UK left the European Union. Not everyone is happy about this. The number of Britons saying the UK was right to vote to leave the EU has hit its lowest level since the referendum, ahead of the fifth anniversary of Brexit on Friday Right to vote to…

As a long-term and dedicated user of facebook and twitter since the 2000s, it is weird to find that, today, they are no longer useful tools. The feeds are now stacked with Mark Zuckerberg updates, Musk propaganda and worse. The only tool that’s still useful is LinkedIn, although there are issues there too. So it…

Being an optimist, I always think the future is bright – is it orange or yellow and blue? – yet, when looking back into the past, almost every year has something happening somewhere that moves the world’s axis. It’s like my favourite quote from Vladimir Ilyich Lenin who, after the Russian Revolution in 1918, said…

Marc Andreessen announced that their office in London, opened only two years ago, would shut down and its got everyone talking. Is London finished? Is the UK’s claim of being a great tech economy over? Will it bring down the government? Well, there are differing views. Many believe it is due to the new Trump…

Thirty years ago, I predicted the end of the intermediary. It’s the one prediction I got wrong as the intermediary – the middleman – is the key to good business. This is one thing I’ve learned after all these years. It’s not what you know. It’s who you know. The broker who can link the…

This week’s main blog discussions include … Digital Trust: How do you know you are you? For many years now, we have been talking about digital identity. The core is how to prove you are you. You have to be identified, verified, authenticated and approved. You would think with so many layers of monitoring access…

For many years now, we have been talking about digital identity. The core is how to prove you are you. You have to be identified, verified, authenticated and approved. You would think with so many layers of monitoring access that everyone online in the financial system could be trusted. So, how come there are criminals,…

I had a nice conversation the other day with a research group about the future of cash. Here’s a quick summary of the conversation. The conversation explores the future of cash and digital currencies, highlighting different demographic preferences and the challenges in transitioning to a cashless society. Demographic Tiers: There are three main demographic groups: tech-savvy…

It’s funny how things go around and come around again. For years, I’ve been bemused why banks cannot merge and be successful across borders. There have been almost zero European bank mergers of any size that are cross-border and the few that exist – Santander, Unicredit, Nordea to name a few – have all found…

Since I started in finance, there’s been an interesting debate around whether firms can grow through organic growth or acquisitive growth. Most banks have consolidated over time to become the behemoths they are today. By way of example, just look at the history of JPMorgan Chase: Source: The Brand Hopper Or, as it surprises many…