MiCA: A ‘beta version’ of crypto-assets regulation in the EU June 8, 2021 | City Talk Alexander Prognimak, CFA from the CFA UK Future of Money Working Group, looks at European Union plans for crypto-assets. Gone are the days when London’s famous red buses would be carrying adverts promoting the dream of a shiny post-Brexit future for the NHS. As one ad (that has attracted the advertising regulator’s attention) read: ‘If [...]
BlackRock takes over £21bn of BA pension scheme assets June 2, 2021 British Airways has handed the management of £21bn worth of pension assets to Blackrock in a bespoke deal between the airline and the asset manager. The agreement encompasses the assets directly under management for BA’s Airways Pension Scheme (APS) and New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS), which serve 85,000 members and until now have been managed [...]
Artificial Intelligence, Social Media, and the Future of Investing June 1, 2021 | City Talk Witnessing the recent GameStop event, it was clear that for better or worse, the little guy, or many, many little guys, had briefly beaten Wall Street at its own game. While GameStop was fuelled primarily by the collective action of many, the voice of only one person, echoed by others, can have similar influence. For [...]
Pound retreats after hitting three-year high amid variant concerns June 1, 2021 The pound retreated this morning after reaching a fresh three-year high versus the dollar amid economic recovery hopes. Well into the London session after the bank holiday weekend, sterling reversed its course to fall 0.2 per cent to $1.4183. The pound edged lower as concerns over a new coronavirus strain outweighed increasing investor optimism on [...]
A light touch interventionist strategy for freeports May 27, 2021 | Sponsored Richard Ballantyne, CEO of British Ports Association explains why the private sector, with a light touch from local and regional government, would improve the effectiveness of the freeport to generate economic growth.
It all adds up to a Queen’s Award for accountancy software company Inflo May 26, 2021 | Sponsored Inflo is one of 48 organisations nationally to be recognised in 2021 with a celebrated Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Innovation, acknowledging the unique position the company has achieved within the accounting industry with its software. Founded in 2016, Inflo has built a global reputation for award winning audit software. The platform now supports over [...]
Investment professionals must beware of the cyber risks in portfolios May 25, 2021 | City Talk Internet security blog posts are usually more at home on the inside pages of IT trade publications than on the front pages of international newspapers. The one published by Microsoft Corporate Vice President Tom Burt on 2 March, about the emergence of “state-sponsored threat actor” Hafnium, was a notable exception. A new threat had emerged, [...]
Cash clueless: Nearly half of Brits don’t know what an overdraft or mortgage is May 24, 2021 A new study has found that more than one in four people in the UK don’t feel confident when it comes to handling their personal finances. The research, carried out by debt management company Lowell and shared with City A.M. this evening, found that just a third of people claim to feel “very confident” when handling [...]
Robinhood to allow users to buy into IPOs May 20, 2021 Trading platform Robinhood has said it plans to roll out a platform to allow its users to buy into initial public offerings (IPOs) in a move aimed at democratizing finance. To date users of the commission-free app, as well as other amateur traders, cannot not buy into stock of a newly listed company until its [...]
UK CPI: Inflation rate surges to 1.5 per cent in April May 19, 2021 UK inflation more than doubled to 1.5 per cent in April, up from 0.7 per cent in March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said this morning. Economists had forecast a rise of 1.4 per cent, as a jump in electricity and gas bills pushed inflation higher. Core inflation, which excludes energy prices and other [...]