When you answer a question, don’t stick to the script May 4, 2017 BBC: "Do you know what a mugwump is?" PM: "What I recognise is that what we need in this country is strong and stable leadership." How I wish that Jeremy Paxman had handled this interview, which was broadcast by BBC Radio Derby last week. Would Paxman have launched a full offensive and asked May the [...]
Why do people pursue careers in finance? May 3, 2017 | City Talk Committing to an occupation that will consume 40 or more hours each week for decades is a fairly big decision. LinkedIn research shows that millennials will change jobs four times on average before they reach age 32, job-hopping twice as often as Gen Xers and much more than earlier generations. Each job decision has an [...]
Autonomous and connected vehicles: a view from Europe April 28, 2017 | City Talk I attended the first ever European Commission European Conference on Connected & Automated Driving (CAD) in early April. Next generation transportation and vehicle connectivity was the theme. The European Commission expect to see fully autonomous vehicles by 2040. This means Driverless vehicles. In October 2016 the Declaration of Amsterdam was signed by all 29 countries [...]
Fintech: what will bring the most change? April 28, 2017 | City Talk Fintech has increasingly captured the attention of the financial services industry over the past several years. Since I started writing on the topic about a year ago, the discussion has evolved from simply defining fintech to more involved narratives about its potential drawbacks. In that time, our focus on the subject has never wavered. Why? [...]
How to avoid the financial hit of a ransomware infection April 26, 2017 | City Talk It's one of the fastest-growing forms of cybercrime – and one of the most visible. Ransomware locks victims out of their valuable files and demands payment to release them, unlike other forms of malicious software that stay hidden and stole data. Ransomware has quickly grown to become one of the biggest cybercrime threats for businesses [...]
How can we build a culture of better decisions? April 20, 2017 | City Talk We could all make better decisions. Whether it involves buying or selling an investment, hiring an employee, or considering an important life choice, making better decisions produces non-linear returns. Repeated bad choices, on the other hand, lead to a long road of frustration. As anyone who’s read Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow or Michael [...]
Here’s a hub for global cybersecurity expertise – and it’s not where you think April 18, 2017 | City Talk An unexpected location is making a serious case as a worldwide centre of excellence in cybersecurity: Ireland. Cybersecurity activity in Ireland covers a thriving ecosystem, from multinationals at the cutting edge of cloud and mobile security, to indigenous companies working in a range of industries and with a variety of technologies, to academic research and [...]
What’s wrong with MiFID II? April 13, 2017 | City Talk Years in planning and one year late, the European Union’s wide-ranging new Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) regulation will still catch out much of the industry. While the aim — to fully and transparently align the industry with the end client — is worthy, the challenge is in implementation. Some areas remain [...]
United Airlines: An abject lesson in how not to behave in a crisis April 12, 2017 Unless you were taking a break from the internet for the past two days, you would have come across a video of an elderly man – apparently 69, apparently a doctor – with his shirt rolled above his stomach, glasses slid down his face, blood dripping from his mouth, dragged down the aisle of the [...]
Why cybersecurity needs more attention from business leaders April 10, 2017 | City Talk As businesses have become more dependent on technology, their exposure to cybersecurity threats increases – driving a need for boards and senior management to understand the risks. Cybercrime has grown so much that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) recently began including it in official figures. In 2016, a report from the National Crime Agency [...]