General News

April 15, 2024 @ 1:56 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Abrigo, a provider of financial crime prevention and risk management solutions for U.S. financial institutions, announced new survey results revealing how Americans and small businesses are struggling with check fraud, along with misperceptions about the growing problem. More than one thousand adults in the U.S.,… Read More

April 15, 2024 @ 7:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

European megafunds raised record amounts of capital in 2023, according to an update from PitchBook. Most notably, the top five funds contributed “to a record concentration of over half the year’s fundraising figure in Europe, with CVC Capital Partners raising a global record €26 billion… Read More

April 14, 2024 @ 11:41 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

With summer fast approaching, Lloyds Bank is warning hopeful holidaymakers they could fall victim to a scam when booking a trip. These scams have reportedly “risen 7% over the past year, with people losing £765 on average, with those aged 35 to 44 – often… Read More

April 14, 2024 @ 10:40 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Cyberattacks have more than doubled since the pandemic, according to a recent update shared by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). While companies have historically suffered relatively modest direct losses from cyberattacks, some have “experienced a much heavier toll,” the IMF report notes. US credit reporting… Read More

April 14, 2024 @ 2:12 pm By Michael Wong  |  

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced that Bulgarian economist Kristalina Georgieva has been selected to serve a second five-year term as its managing director, beginning October 1. The IMF’s executive board praised Georgieva for her “strong and agile leadership,” which has steered the institution through… Read More

April 14, 2024 @ 11:07 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Pactio, the digital infrastructure for private markets, has raised $14 million (£11 million) in a Series A round led by EQT Ventures. Private equity industry insiders and tech angels also participated in the oversubscribed round, “including former Stripe Europe CEO Matt Henderson and Volt founder… Read More

April 13, 2024 @ 8:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The CMA has outlined 3 key risks to effective competition on AI Foundation Models and has set out plans for further action in the market. The move from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) follows its initial report on AI Foundation Models (FMs) last year…. Read More

April 12, 2024 @ 11:24 am By JD Alois  |  

The UK economy barely posted a positive figure in February, according to the Office for National Statistics.  Monthly GDP is said to have grown by 0.1% in February 2024, following growth of 0.3% in January 2024. The consecutive growth indicates that the UK has exited… Read More

April 12, 2024 @ 9:15 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Scotiabank announced an expanded partnership with Google Cloud, naming it the enterprise cloud platform of choice for the next phase of the Bank’s cloud acceleration journey. The bank will leverage Google Cloud technology “to enhance client and employee experience, strengthen Bank security, and adopt new… Read More

April 12, 2024 @ 8:59 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Half of consumers say they have cut non-essential spend in the first quarter of the year and consumers are four times more likely to save than spend, according to new research from KPMG UK. KPMG UK’s Consumer Pulse survey tracks the quarterly confidence and spending… Read More

April 12, 2024 @ 8:46 am By Omar Faridi  |  

According to new data from Experian, mortgage applications in the first two months of 2024 showed positive signs that consumers are returning to the market, with numbers increasing 20% against the same period last year. The data shows that the market is still some way… Read More

April 12, 2024 @ 4:38 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Xero, the global small business platform, released a Xero Small Business Insights (XSBI) report which shows New Zealand small business labor productivity remains below pre-pandemic levels, putting additional pressure on small businesses. The report, Small business productivity: Trends, implications and strategies, is based on anonymized… Read More

April 11, 2024 @ 10:51 am By JD Alois  |  

The most respected bank executive in the world, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), posted his annual shareholders letter today. The letter covered a wide range of topics, including politics and policy. Dimon’s opinion is widely followed in the financial services world, as… Read More

April 11, 2024 @ 9:11 am By JD Alois  |  

Performance Finance Limited has received a £15 million facility from the British Business Bank.  Performance Finance will use the funds to support to smaller businesses to accelerate their growth. Performance Finance provides financing for professionals like opticians, dentists, solicitors, vets, and surgeons. This includes business loans,… Read More

April 11, 2024 @ 8:31 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Adyen (AMS: ADYEN), the global financial technology platform for businesses, has published new research revealing the billions the global retail sector loses to fraudulent activity annually. Working alongside the Centre for Economic Business and Research (Cebr), Adyen found that the retail sector “lost $429 billion to… Read More

April 10, 2024 @ 11:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a report on consumer debt. The FCA states that 7.4 million people are struggling to pay bills and credit card debt (January 2024).  While this is lower than the 10.9 million in January 2023 who were encountering… Read More

April 9, 2024 @ 10:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The private credit market, in which specialized non-bank financial institutions such as investment funds lend to corporate borrowers, “topped $2.1 trillion globally last year in assets and committed capital,” according to an update shared by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). About three-quarters of this was… Read More

April 9, 2024 @ 9:11 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The latest Royal Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs survey, compiled by S&P Global signalled a sustained deterioration in permanent staff placements “across Scotland during March. Although the rate of decline eased from the month before, the number of people placed into permanent roles fell… Read More

April 9, 2024 @ 9:10 am By Omar Faridi  |  

After 29 years, including more than three as Chief of the IRS-CI, Jim Lee says his last day of government service was March 31. Former IRS-CI Chief Jim Lee notes in a blog post that he’s pleased to share that he has joined Chainalysis where… Read More

April 9, 2024 @ 6:22 am By JD Alois  |  

Advocacy group CryptoUK has added a new member – Mercuryo, a payments provider. Mercury enables payments by supporting businesses with both fiat and crypto solutions via a single API integration. Mercuryo has partnered with digital asset firms like Ledger, MetaMask and Trust Wallet. CryptoUK says Mercuryo… Read More