The investment landscape has, for the past year, been characterised by uncertainty. It does not take a degree in economics to recognise that global pandemics, and their associated social restrictions, do not cultivate a desire for reckless speculation or needless risk-taking. It is doubtless for this reason that, according to a recent report from the
On Wednesday, mining stocks dropped after China announced it would release metal reserves to restrain commodity prices. China is the world’s largest consumer of raw materials. It fears that an increase in metal prices, and with it the extra costs that would be passed onto its consumers, could pose a serious threat to its economic
Both Great Britain and the EU have agreed to begin discussions via an informal forum on financial services, but the talks are yet to begin. This had led to Britain’s finance ministry calling for the EU to expedite financial services talks, after the London Stock Exchange urged the bloc to avoid protectionism. Read More
2021 is expected to be a year of change, with businesses around the world optimistic that the months ahead will be brighter than what 2020 dealt us. Many of the micro trends that companies thought would be temporary measures throughout the pandemic have become macro trends that are here to stay. These are a few
Last week, the podcast hosted Matthew Covi, co-founder and CEO of Signal Intent. A Best of Show winner in its Finovate debut this spring, Signal Intent builds financial calculators for banks, credit unions, and other financial services companies. These solutions, designed for the digital age, help companies enhance the customer experience they offer with what
Members of trade bodies, academia, and NGOs will make up the task force, known as the Green Technical Advisory Group (GTAG). The GTAF will be responsible for overseeing the government’s delivery of a “Green Taxonomy”. This common framework will offer comprehensible standards that lay out when a financial product or investment can be classed as
A statement made on Thursday announced that the Swiss National Bank and the Banque De France will look into the feasibility of a cross-national arrangement of two wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on blockchain. The SNB has enlisted a private sector consortium (including R3, UBS, and Credit Suisse) which will be led by Accenture.
Index annuities are sometimes called hybrid annuities. They combine the potentially greater returns of variable annuities but don’t come with the same risk of losses, even if it means you get nothing that year because the stock market is down. However, there are several index annuity types. Know the ways to save your hard-earned money
After a supermajority vote, in which Bitcoin Law received 62 out of 84 of the legislature’s vote, the digital currency will become legal tender in El Salvador. The Republic of El Salvador is the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, with the price of bitcoin up by 5% soon after
Long criticised for the small percentages they pay in tax, big companies such as Google, Microsoft, and Apple will be pushed to pay more following a historic move by the G7 group of wealthy nations. The deal states that large multinational enterprises would pay a global minimum corporation tax of 15%. For the largest global
You may have a situation where all you need is a small amount of money for a short period and you don’t want the hassle of too much paperwork, credit checks and having to provide collateral. In some situations, this simply isn’t practical, such as when you need to unexpectedly make car repairs or have
The market for transactional risk insurance (Warranty and Indemnity or W&I)) has been steadily growing over the last 20 years. What had always been seen as a slightly ‘luxury’ product has now become mainstream. The growth of the marketplace came when risk appetite waned and deal teams and their lenders looked for a more ‘belts
