Could fintech be opening the door to more financial crime? December 8, 2017 Fintech startups aim to disrupt current practices and to do it fast. The emerging business model requires product managers find a buyer need, put out a minimum viable product, and iterate change in response to customer use. However, all this innovation—especially with entrepreneurs who have more tech savvy than experience in financial services—opens opportunities [...]
Bitcoin steals gold’s shine as new investing in bullion drops by a fifth December 5, 2017 Bitcoin is stealing the spotlight from gold as trading among first-time buyers slid to the lowest point since the metal’s price sank in 2015, new data suggests. Gold trading among existing private investors rebounded as bullion prices steadied in November, but falling interest among new investors caused BullionVault’s gold investor index to dip to 53.9 [...]
A stroke of genius: How to get a loan by securing against art November 30, 2017 The world was stunned earlier this month when a 500-year-old Leonardo da Vinci painting smashed the world record by fetching $450m at auction. This figure might sound absurd, but understanding the multitude of factors that determine the value of art will remain a mystery to many of us. “Art is very personal,” says Freya [...]
London’s house price to salary ratio has hit a record high November 28, 2017 The house price to salary ratio has hit a record high in London, piling even more pressure on the capital's strained property market. The average house price in London reached £496,000 in October, and average earnings were £34,200, representing house price ratio of 14.5 times Londoners' salaries. The ratios were also steep in Cambridge and [...]
Can you compare tulips to Bitcoins? Central banks think so November 28, 2017 “Bitcoin is a sort of tulip”. So said European Central Bank (ECB) Vice President Vitor Constancio in September. For many that might sound like an odd statement to make, but those that know their history – and specifically the history of the stock market – will instantly know what Mr Constancio is talking about. For [...]
As the first residents move into Television Centre, a new era is beginning for the BBC’s former home in west London November 28, 2017 When BBC Television Centre in White City, west London, was opened by the Queen in 1961, it was described by then director general Gerald Butler as “the largest, best equipped and most carefully planned factory of its kind.” Rather than goods, this building would manufacture culture and, at the time, it was the most ambitious [...]
Let’s get serious about leading the fourth industrial revolution November 27, 2017 The abolition of stamp duty for most first-time buyers dominated the headlines after last week’s Budget. But an equally important national priority was delivered too: positioning Britain to lead the fourth industrial revolution. As the chancellor said, this wave of technological change is already transforming the way we live and work, raising living standards, delivering [...]
Holiday Homes: A historic, resort in Switzerland has got some of its mojo back after finding a Qatari buyer November 24, 2017 If anywhere epitomised the glamour of Hollywood in its halcyon days, it was Switzerland’s Bürgenstock Resort, nestling 500 metres above Lake Lucerne. Opening the first hotel in 1873, its reputation peaked in the 1950s and 1960s, when luminaries from across the globe were drawn to this secluded mountain retreat. Back then it wouldn’t elicit so [...]
Opinion: The stamp duty cut for first time buyers will make a difference to individuals, but not to the housing market at large November 24, 2017 The chancellor made a bold move to remove Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) for most first-time buyers in the Budget on Wednesday. Raising the threshold to £300,000, immediately and indefinitely, will lift 80 per cent of them out of the tax. To account for higher prices in some parts of the country, all first-time buyers [...]
Brexit lurks behind Britain’s cautious Budget November 24, 2017 British Chancellors are used to facing intense scrutiny on Budget Day. Yet Philip Hammond spent weeks in the spotlight in the run-up to his November Budget. Brexiteers within the ruling Conservative Party want Theresa May to sack him because of his apparent lack of commitment to the Brexit cause, and for not being upbeat enough [...]