Hunting shafts of light amid coronavirus’s economic gloom May 1, 2020 | City Talk The coronavirus pandemic will cause world GDP to shrink by about seven per cent during the first half of the year – roughly double the scale of contraction seen during the global financial crisis. That is the headline finding from Oxford Economics’ April/May 2020 ‘World Economic Prospects’ report. The number is shocking but unsurprising given [...]
Why RBS killed digital bank Bo only five months after launch May 1, 2020 The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has abandoned its challenger bank Bo just five months after launching it. In an already dire update on its first quarter performance today, RBS said it would “wind down Bo as a customer-facing brand” after launching it only in November. The Bo platform will instead be integrated with Mettle, [...]
Why does investing in UK SMEs matter? May 1, 2020 | City Talk The UK has seen an explosion of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) over the past 10 years, bringing with it a love for supporting brave entrepreneurs, innovative start-ups and high street boutiques. The UK currently boasts more than six million SMEs – businesses with fewer than 250 employees – which employ close to 16 million [...]
First-hand account: my observations on China’s return to work May 1, 2020 | City Talk Emerging markets analyst Shuyu Gao provides a personal account of virus containment measures on her return to China, and reviews the recovery in activity. Amid the global spread of Covid-19, with lockdowns necessitating working from home more broadly, I decided to return to China and work from my family home in Nanjing. At the time, [...]
The City View podcast, from City A.M., with Vivienne Artz May 1, 2020 In this episode Christian is joined by Vivienne Artz, President of Women in Banking and Finance, and Chief Privacy Officer at data giant Refinitiv. Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS Vivienne reflects on the way in which our attitudes to data have changed during the pandemic and the [...]
St James’s Place trims dividend as first-quarter AUM falls April 30, 2020 St James’s Place has withheld a third of its planned dividend after assets under management fell amid the sustained market volatility. The wealth manager said it was “not immune to how the unprecedented level of uncertainty may impact the operating environment”. Read more: St James’s Place posts five per cent profit fall as inflows slow [...]
A new economic era beckons after this crisis April 29, 2020 | City Talk Current events likely mark a turning point in economic policy and the end of a 40-year spell of free market capitalism. Nobody can know how long the Covid-19 crisis will last, but I think that regardless of this it will mark a profound long-term change in economic policy. It is likely a turning point in [...]
VCs shun new startups as coronavirus slowdown hits investors April 29, 2020 Venture capitalists are prioritising their portfolio companies over new startups as they anticipate a slowdown in investment during the coronavirus pandemic. According to new research by Plexal and Beauhurst, investment since lockdown began grew 34 per cent to reach £663m. However, the drop in the number of deals, down 39 per cent, indicates investor confidence [...]
R3 boss: Coronavirus is exposing cracks in banking tech April 28, 2020 As banking sectors across the globe grapple with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, a Wall Street veteran suggests the crisis may expose the need for new technology. David Rutter, who had a decade-long stint at interdealer Icap and now heads up financial tech firm R3, believes issues like the lending of coronavirus loans have [...]
Remote working: How to keep your team happy in lockdown April 28, 2020 The concept of trust in the workplace has been a topical issue for a few years. The tendency to quickly distrust information has continued to grow against the rise of fake news, making it increasingly difficult for some businesses to develop trust with their employees. Establishing workplace trust has arguably become even more challenging in [...]
