Grid

We talk a lot about AI these days or, as some call it, A1 or Al (yes, Betty, when you call me, you can call me Al) and we have now moved on to other terms including Generative AI, Agentic AI and AGI which stands for Artificial General Intelligence. The thing is that these terms…

Like the United States, Europe is trying to create a united region of cross-border trade that works. In America, this is 50 member states who work in a federated structure. My impression after the recent meeting on CRD VI (Capital Requirements Directive) is that Europe’s long-term aim is to achieve the same and, today, there…

This week’s main blog discussions include … The regulation versus innovation debate continues I just attended two events – one fintech and one regulatory. The contrast could not have been more different. The fintech event was buzzing with activity and youth; the regulatory event was very serious and full of suits. It reminded me of…

Having been back in the regulatory space again recently, it reminded me of a comment made by one European Commissioner when discussing MiFID back in the day. Over drinks, we were debating the wording and detail and he said: “the point is not to get all member states to comply … the point is to…

It is notable that a few challenger neobanks are expanding footprint into telecoms, namely Revolut and N26. N26 joins Revolut in disrupting the telecommunications market The interesting thing here is that there have been many telco’s trying to move into banking – think Orange – and vice versa, but it rarely works. Orange checks out…

I just attended two events – one fintech and one regulatory. The contrast could not have been more different. The fintech event was buzzing with activity and youth; the regulatory event was very serious and full of suits. It reminded me of my old days dodging between Money2020 and Sibos. The thing about the regulatory…

As with all stages of constant change, there comes a moment of crisis. Many say that crisis means threat and opportunity based upon a Chinese legend. That legend is that crisis in China is a proverb which states that “crisis is an opportunity riding a dangerous wind”. It’s very true. Riding the dangerous wind (骑着危险的狂风)…

For no particular reason, I was reflecting on being a boomer the other day. Probably it was to do with the speed of change. After all, when I was a lad, there was no tech at home. I played with Batman and James Bond Corgi toys – which I still do – and that was…

This week’s main blog discussions include … How China’s banks and fintechs are using AI to leapfrog the world For quite a while, I have been amazed by China’s innovations in fintech from Ant to WeBank. My first visit to a Chinese bank in the 1990s, they were using Abacuses to calculate transactions; now they…

Having blogged yesterday about China leapfrogging the world of finance through AI, there are alternative views, particularly in the Big Tech world. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says AI generates ‘fantastic’ Python code, and that it now creates ‘maybe 20 – 30% of the code … in some of our projects’ In a fireside chat with…