Banks should watch out – the fintech era has barely begun November 20, 2018 The fintech sector makes a lot of noise in London. There’s an endless stream of news about open banking and challenger banks, while the traditional finance sector watches on with a mixture of admiration and suspicion. Banks have come under attack, not only from the hype-machine, but more meaningfully from startups. Traditional finance providers that assumed [...]
Google appoints former Oracle executive Thomas Kurian as new chief of its cloud business November 17, 2018 Google is set to appoint former Oracle executive Thomas Kurian as the new chief executive officer of Google Cloud. Kurian will join the company on November 26 and take over Google's cloud business in January, when current CEO Diane Greene is due to depart. Greene announced on Friday that she would be leaving the role after [...]
Apple loses $50bn in market valuation as fears grow of slowing iPhone sales November 12, 2018 Apple's shares fell five percent tonight after a major supplier cut its financial outlook, leading to fears demand for the iPhone has plateaued. The fall slashed $50bn (£38.9bn) from Apple’s market valuation with shares falling $20.30 to $194.17. The losses mean Apple’s market capitalisation has fallen $190bn since October, more than the entire market value [...]
EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager signals decision on Google Adsense investigation November 7, 2018 European competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager has said regulators are close to releasing findings against Google, which could see the tech giant hit with another record-breaking fine. The investigation is the third of its kind into Google and its parent firm Alphabet by the antitrust watchdog in recent years, after the firm was fined €4.3bn (£3.8bn) earlier this year over market [...]
Hammond’s digital tax is an illogical game of whack-a-mole November 7, 2018 The introduction of a new digital services tax was the most depressingly inevitable part of Philip Hammond’s Budget speech last week. Years of pressure from a pincer movement of corporate tax moralists and traditional retailers have paid off. Starting in April 2020, profitable digital businesses with £500m in global revenues would face a two per cent [...]
Crypto A.M. shines its spotlight on Coinweb November 6, 2018 2018, an evolutionary year for blockchain technology, has seen the growth of next generation blockchain projects all trying to solve issues of mass adoption surrounding usability, scalability and security. Projects focussed on mass adoption and ease of use are high on the agenda of developers and investors alike. Coinweb, founded in 2017, is building for [...]
Google’s #MeToo moment: Staff stage mass-walkout over treatment of women November 1, 2018 Google employees staged an unprecedented global walkout today after allegations of sexual harassment were reported by the New York Times last week. Google chief executive Sundar Pichai expressed support for the protest and said he was "deeply sorry" in an email to staff. "I understand the anger and disappointment that many of you feel. "I feel [...]
FAANGs come out to play in Halloween shares surge October 31, 2018 Technology's biggest players, lumped together as the so-called FAANG stocks, have ended their October losing streak which had left investors spooked with just one day to go. Netflix's share price saw the biggest gains out of the FAANGs grouping, rising almost seven per cent this afternoon off the back of better-than-expected results for Facebook last night. The social [...]
Hammond’s digital services tax puts UK competitiveness at risk October 31, 2018 The government has long been scratching its head for ways to address the current tax treatment of global tech platforms. Our tax code – all 10m words of it – has been struggling to keep up and adapt to a new economy that is being driven by technology, innovation, and digitalisation. On Monday, Philip Hammond [...]
Philip Hammond chooses to splash the cash in his Budget rather than pay down the deficit October 29, 2018 Chancellor Philip Hammond declared “austerity is coming to an end” as he unveiled a raft of spending increases and tax cuts on Monday. Hammond used better-than-expected tax revenues of £12bn to pour extra cash into the NHS and bring forward by a year an increase in the 40p tax threshold to £50,000. The new level will [...]