What to expect in 2023


2023 catalogue – FT “This cycle is different” — Goldman Sachs (here are the rest) “A bad year for the economy, a better year for markets” — JPMorgan “Applying the lessons of a turbulent year to 2023” — Morgan Stanley “Inflation peaks, growth slows” — Morgan Stanley “Back to the (new) future” — Bank of America “It’s all about valuations” — Schroders “A new investment playbook” — BlackRock “Sequencing several pivots” — Société Générale “Keep calm and carry on” — Allianz “Looking for the silver lining” — HSBC “Next year will be a long, hard slog” — Barclays “The investment … Continue reading What to expect in 2023

Why is Twitter applying for money transmitter licenses?


I was prompted to research Twitter big idea after listening to Cathy Wood of Ark Invest. She believes Musk strategy in working toward a Super App (Think WeChat) is through Twitter. Forbes reports originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. Answer by Brad Oberwager, CEO, Director of Tilia, on Quora: Reuters recently reported that Twitter is applying for money transmitter licenses (MTLs) in every required U.S. state. While I have no insider knowledge of Twitter, my company lives and breathes MTLs every day, and I … Continue reading Why is Twitter applying for money transmitter licenses?

Meta singled out by UK financial lobby group over digital scams


https://on.ft.com/46D1lU0 FT Reports … Push payment fraud escalated during the pandemic at a time when many people were relying on digital services like Meta’s Facebook © Dado Ruvic/Reuters The UK’s banking and finance lobby group is claiming that the social media sites of Facebook owner Meta are carrying more than half of digital payment scams suffered in Britain. UK Finance, which represents more than 300 financial companies, has written to Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, with data on the sources of payments fraud in Britain broken down by value and volume, according to two people familiar with the situation. The letter … Continue reading Meta singled out by UK financial lobby group over digital scams

CISA orders federal civilian agencies to restrict access to Internet


The U.S. government agency in charge of improving the nation’s cybersecurity posture is ordering all federal agencies to take new measures to restrict access to Internet-exposed networking equipment. The directive comes amid a surge in attacks targeting previously unknown vulnerabilities in widely used security and networking appliances. CISA Order Highlights Persistent Risk at Network Edge – Krebs on Security Under a new order from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), federal agencies will have 14 days to respond to any reports from CISA about misconfigured or Internet-exposed networking equipment. The directive applies to any networking devices — such as … Continue reading CISA orders federal civilian agencies to restrict access to Internet

Cohere announces $270-million USD Series C


Cohere announces $270-million USD Series C from Inovia, Nvidia, Oracle, Salesforce (Betakit) Globe and Mail reported earlier Cohere raising up to $250-million in Inovia-led deal valuing OpenAI rival at $2-billion Artificial-intelligence company Cohere Inc. is in advanced talks to raise up to US$250-million from investors in a financing that could value the Toronto-based startup at just over US$2-billion. Cohere, which develops language-processing technology, has been in discussions with chip maker Nvidia Corp. and investment firms about securing funds, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The round is being led by Inovia Capital, with partner Steven Woods, a former … Continue reading Cohere announces $270-million USD Series C

Surging stockmarkets are powered by investment in AI


The Economist pose the valid question on the breadth and staying power of corporate investment in AI and the resultant productivity gains. LinkEconomist Yet it is not just tech firms that are thriving. The ai boom has coincided with a broader recovery in stockmarkets, which were battered last year by a combination of high inflation and rising rates. The s&p 500 is up by 8% since Chatgpt was launched, and has risen almost 20% from its October low. This prompts a question. Just how much of the rally is explained by ai enthusiasm? Summary During the firm’s earnings call representatives … Continue reading Surging stockmarkets are powered by investment in AI

book-Sabotage: The Business of Finance


Authors: Ronen Palan and Anastasia Nesvetailova 2023-06-09 Podcast: The future of – Owen Bennet-Jones How common is financial malpractice in big, well known financial companies? Is it so common that it should really be seen as a business model more than an occasional aberration by rogue traders? These are questions posed by Ronen Palan and Anastasia Nesvetailova in their book Sabotage: The Business of Finance (PublicAffairs, 2020). Listen to Owen Bennett-Jones discuss the future of big finance with Anastasia Nesvetailova. Owen Bennett-Jones is a freelance journalist and writer. A former BBC correspondent and presenter he has been a resident foreign correspondent in Bucharest, Geneva, Islamabad, Hanoi and Beirut. He … Continue reading book-Sabotage: The Business of Finance

Staff data stolen from BA, BBC and Boots by ‘hack and leak’ cyber gang


Financial Times Brit­ish Air­ways, Boots and the BBC were among the com­pan­ies to warn employ­ees yes­ter­day they had been affected by the breach that hit soft­ware used by Zel­lis, the UK payroll pro­vider that serves nearly half of the FTSE 100. The BBC, which has about 20,000 work­ers, and Boots, the phar­macy retailer that employs more than 50,000, aler­ted staff to the poten­tial breach, which affected their names, dates of birth and National Insur­ance num­bers. Brit­ish Air­ways, which in 2020 was fined £20mn for leak­ing cus­tomer data, said it would “provide sup­port and advice” to rel­ev­ant staff. The hack exploited … Continue reading Staff data stolen from BA, BBC and Boots by ‘hack and leak’ cyber gang

AI Is Sweeping Across Wall Street


Link Bloomberg Deutsche Bank is using artificial intelligence to scan wealthy client portfolios. ING Group is screening for potential defaulters. JPMorgan is advertising for more AI roles than rivals. Morgan Stanley bankers are, well, “experimenting.” Unsurprisingly, the AI revolution is unfolding rapidly on Wall Street as wider interest grows in the evolving technology and its likely impact on business. Given the fears of mass unemployment (if not extinction) at the robot hands of this new tech, it may be surprising to some that the nascent industry is actually creating jobs—for now anyway. At the most enthusiastic banks, about 40% of all open roles are for AI-related … Continue reading AI Is Sweeping Across Wall Street

UK to host first global summit on Artificial Intelligence


Press release GOV.UK As the world grapples with the challenges and opportunities presented by the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence, the UK will host the first major global summit on AI safety. From:Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street and The Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP Published 7 June 2023 As the world grapples with the challenges and opportunities presented by the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence, the UK will host the first major global summit on AI safety, the Prime Minister has announced today (Wednesday 7 June). Breakthroughs from AI continue to improve our lives – from enabling paralysed people … Continue reading UK to host first global summit on Artificial Intelligence