Global

December 5, 2025 @ 8:19 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The UK economy is set to slow to around 1.0% in the coming year, down a bit from 1.4% in 2025, as a combination of a “softening labour market and subdued consumer confidence” constrain household spending, according to KPMG UK’s Economic Outlook. As noted in… Read More

December 5, 2025 @ 8:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

SIX announces its intention to integrate SIX x-clear and BME Clearing into one multi-asset CCP with global presence as well as interoperable links in the cash equity segment. Presently being subject to required regulatory approvals, SIX will aim to “create a single multi-asset clearing house.”… Read More

December 5, 2025 @ 12:20 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The British Business Bank announced that in the two years since its launch the £70million Investment Fund for Northern Ireland has directly invested £30million into local firms. Additionally, these new investments into smaller businesses on differing stages of their growth journey have “crowded in co-investment… Read More

December 4, 2025 @ 11:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Analysis of Bank of Ireland customer behavior during the third quarter (Q3) of 2025 shows that contactless payments rose again while ATM usage continues on a downward trend, compared to the same period in 2024. In Q3 2025, eCommerce contactless card transactions (digital wallets, Apple… Read More

December 4, 2025 @ 10:21 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Ransomware is now said to be growing beyond more traditional hotspots and in emerging economies, including Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, other regions, according to CyberCube’s research. The report, titled “Applying Analytics and Threat Intelligence to Grow in a Soft Market”, states these trends… Read More

December 4, 2025 @ 9:35 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Experian released its latest Data Breach Industry Forecast, offering a look at the cyber threat ecosystem. The predictions address how the coming year could bring another new wave of more sophisticated attacks driven by artificial intelligence along with various other threats as well as significant… Read More

December 4, 2025 @ 9:18 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The Basel Committee recently released its assessment reports that are focused on the implementation of its global standards in the United Kingdom. According to an update shared by BIS, assessments find the UK regulations largely compliant with the Basel Committee’s Net Stable Funding Ratio standard… Read More

December 4, 2025 @ 3:43 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Digital assets trading and investing platform Kraken announced that have agreed to acquire Backed Finance AG, the company driving the issuance of xStocks, the leading industry standard for tokenized equities. The acquisition will accelerate the global adoption of xStocks; unifying issuance, trading and settlement to… Read More

December 4, 2025 @ 3:29 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

CME Group, the world’s derivatives marketplace, announced that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the registration of a new securities clearing house, CME Securities Clearing Inc. With launch expected in Q2 2026, CME Group will operate CME Securities Clearing to help market… Read More

December 4, 2025 @ 2:16 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Fusaka, the 17th major upgrade to Ethereum now comes around seven months after the Pectra update broadly transformed the decentralized cryptocurrency and smart contract enabled protocol. The recent deployment of Fusaka brings the now 10+ year-old Ethereum project into a so-called new “era of maturity,”… Read More

December 4, 2025 @ 8:19 am By Omar Faridi  |  

UK venture capital market continues to perform reasonably well as UK funds launched after 2020 reportedly outperform US funds, and earlier vintages performed in line or consistent with the Rest of Europe. Research from the British Business Bank, UK Venture Capital Financial Returns 2025, indicates… Read More

December 4, 2025 @ 8:17 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Kaspersky’s detection systems have reportedly discovered an average of 500,000 malicious files per day in 2025, marking a significant 7% increase when compared to the previous year. Certain types of threats saw growth globally – there was a “59% surge in password stealer detections, a… Read More

December 4, 2025 @ 8:16 am By Omar Faridi  |  

A CB Insights report has examined the top 25 Italy venture investors. The team at CB Insights said that to prepare the report, they have extensively used their so-called predictive signals in order to identify Italy’s major venture firms and then ranked them based primarily… Read More

December 4, 2025 @ 8:14 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Aberdeen, which claims to be the provider of the UK’s second largest adviser platform by assets, announces the launch of a new Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) and Junior SIPP. The SIPP and Junior SIPP brings flexibility, “intergenerational financial planning and enhanced user experience.” Clients are reportedly… Read More

December 4, 2025 @ 8:12 am By Omar Faridi  |  

UK Finance has recently released its latest Household Finance Review for Q3 2025, which explores trends in overall household spending, savings as well as borrowing. Mortgage lending activity returned to growth in Q3, after a quieter second quarter caused by many transactions having been brought… Read More

December 4, 2025 @ 8:08 am By Omar Faridi  |  

The crypto ETF ecosystem has grown considerably in size and scope during this past year. VanEck has also added to this activity this last month when it launched the VanEck Solana ETF (VSOL), which is now reportedly the third SOL ETF in the United States… Read More

December 4, 2025 @ 8:04 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Lloyds Banking Group has recently extended its fraud prevention scheme, reinforcing a commitment to protecting unsuspecting consumers from the perils / harms of fraud. The latest update revealed by Lloyds Bank in the UK initiative, launched back in 2021, will have seen £15 million of… Read More

December 4, 2025 @ 8:01 am By Omar Faridi  |  

MRI Software, a global enabler of real estate solutions and services, has partnered with bank payment company GoCardless in order to launch MRI Payment Connector in the UK residential property market. The integration will enable property professionals and finance teams “to offer flexible payment options… Read More

December 3, 2025 @ 4:03 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) released survey data, revealing AI’s influence and overall impact in commerce / shopping and spending, a generational shift in consumer spending behavior, and emerging payments trends this festive season. Bruce Cundiff, vice president, Consumer Insights at Visa said: “The data tells… Read More

December 3, 2025 @ 12:30 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Feedzai, the AI-native RiskOps platform for financial crime prevention, released “The AI Advantage: Fraud Fighters’ New Career Guide,” a new research report showing that financial services employees who embrace AI are outperforming their peers “across every measure of career success — from compensation to promotions… Read More