Funding Circle: Global expansion almost doubles losses at fintech unicorn and peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle September 25, 2016 Losses have almost doubled at fintech unicorn and lending platform Funding Circle, City A.M. understands. The peer-to-peer lending group is set to post a full-year loss of £36m when it publishes its accounts on Tuesday, after expanding into Europe and the US ate into profits. However, revenues at the firm, which was founded in 2010 [...]
Return on equity for the top global investment banks is falling. Here’s how they’re dealing with it September 23, 2016 Delegates from firms making their way to Geneva next week for the 2016 financial services Sibos conference will undoubtedly have a lot on their minds. Over the past few years the industry has been facing challenges on many fronts: continued and increasing structural costs, fast-changing regulatory reform, conduct issues and capital requirements, to name but [...]
More staff than ever are working on fintech at the City regulator September 22, 2016 The City regulator's team of staff working with fintech startups has grown tenfold in the last two years, it's been revealed, as it increasingly looks at the implications of technology on finance. The Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) Project Innovate scheme, which kicked off in 2014, now has more than 20 staff focused on the crossover [...]
This consulting firm has created an “editable” blockchain and people are puzzled September 20, 2016 Blockchain, heralded in part for keeping an immutable record of transactions, could soon become editable. Accenture has patented a prototype for making changes to it in "exceptional circumstances" to take into account errors recorded such as so-called fat finger moments, or, human error. “As we focus on new uses for blockchain technology beyond the realm of cryptocurrency, absolute immutability will become both [...]
Bank of England’s Andrew Hauser: Don’t expect blockchain to revolutionise finance any time soon September 20, 2016 Much heralded blockchain technology will not create a revolutionary shake up in the financial sector anytime soon, a top Bank of England official has declared. The distributed ledger technology has a way to go to become to be as revolutionary as some are predicting, according to Andrew Hauser, the executive director of banking, payments and financial resilience [...]
As Neil Woodford criticises its attitude to funding startups, is the UK capable of producing the first trillion-dollar company? September 20, 2016 Luke Hakes, investment director at Octopus Ventures, says Yes. You have to believe the UK is capable of building the world’s first trillion-dollar company. Historically, the UK ecosystem lacked the weight of capital required to take startups to the next level, especially when compared to Silicon Valley. But that’s been changing and the UK has made [...]
Blockchain startup Ripple raises $55m from Standard Chartered and Accenture September 15, 2016 Blockchain startup Ripple, one of several groups working with banks to create standards for the distributed ledger technology, has landed millions more in funding, with Standard Chartered and Accenture among new investors jumping on board the blockchain bandwagon. The venture arm of Siam Commercial Bank, SCB Digital Ventures, and Japan's SBI Holdings also participated in the $55m [...]
It’s time for long-term fintech to break into pensions and mortgages September 14, 2016 Certain areas of fintech have experienced an entrepreneurial frenzy over recent years. Sectors once dominated by traditional providers have become hotbeds of startup activity, with most of the action occurring in payments, foreign exchange, short-term lending and, more recently, current accounts. As is often the case, where entrepreneurs have led, money has followed. This has [...]
The Co-op is exploring blockchain technology September 7, 2016 The Co-Operative Group is exploring how blockchain technology can be used to prove the authenticity of its food in a pilot of a "fairtrade for the digital age" project. The supermarket is working with early stage blockchain startup Provenance to investigate how its technology can be used to track that its produce comes from sustainable sources [...]
London is still number one for fintech – and now we’re going global September 6, 2016 Ten weeks on from Brexit, the City is back to business following the summer, and the fintech community is as busy as ever working through its plans for an ever-changing world. While the uncertainty of Brexit may loom for some time, London is still the number one fintech hub on the planet. We have created [...]