Tagged: louise beaumont

Louise Beaumont Departs GLI for Open Bank Working Group

Louise Beaumont, the long-time Head of Public Affairs & Marketing of GLI Finance has departed the firm. According to her LinkedIn profile, Beaumont has taken a position as Vice-Chair of the Open Bank Working Group. Beaumont has been an outspoken advocate of alternative finance and the… Read More

FCA Call for Input on Crowdfunding Closes. Industry Awaits Final Report

The Financial Conduct Authority has closed the comment period regarding its request for feedback regarding post-implementation review of FCA crowdfunding rules. The initiative covers debt, equity and other securities. The forthcoming publication reviewing existing rules will incorporate the perspective of platforms, consumers and competitors to… Read More

Final Report by CMA on Retail Banking Requires Banks to Implement Open Banking by 2018

“CMA Sticks to its Guns” The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published its final report on the UK retail banking sector. The government initiative has concluded that highstreet banks do not compete enough for customers’ business. Simultaneously, challenger banks find it difficult to compete… Read More

Bank of England Cuts Rates: Alternative Finance Leaders Respond

  The Bank of England (BoE) has cut its benchmark rate by 0.25% – the first time in 7 years. The pound quickly moved lower reacting to the announcement. The move was telegraphed several weeks back in reaction to Brexit fallout. The interest rate cut… Read More

Bank of England Relaxes Capital Requirements, But Have Traditional Banks Fallen Short of Boosting SME Growth in the Past?

Yesterday the Financial Policy Committee (FCP) of the Bank of England relaxed bank capital requirements in a proactive move designed to stave off a looming, Brexit driven slowdown. Bank of England Governor Mark Carney stated; “The UK has entered a period of uncertainty and significant… Read More

UK Competition & Markets Authority Publishes Investigation into Retail Banking

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published its anticipated report on the retail banking sector. The document, entitled, “Retail Banking Market Investigation: Provisional Decision on Remedies,” is a 405 page document delivering a deep dive into the challenges of traditional banks. The CMA outlines… Read More

The Innovative Finance ISA is Available Today, Meanwhile Some Large P2P Platforms Wait for FCA Approval

The UK peer-to-peer (P2P) lending industry has been waiting for this day for quite some time. The Innovative Finance ISA (IF ISA) is now available to savers across the country representing a new investment option promoted as driving superior risk adjusted returns for investors.  With… Read More

Bank of England States Lending to SMEs Increases in February, GLI Says Not So Fast as Longer Term Problems are Concealed

The Bank of England has released the monthly statistics regarding lending and according to the BOE lending to non-financial SMEs grew by £0.7 billion compared to an average monthly increase of £0.2 billion over the previous 6 months. Certainly an improvement.  Louise Beaumont, an executive… Read More

 View from the UK: Why the Alternative Finance Industry Needs Greater Regulation

  The global alternative finance industry has undergone staggering growth in recent years. In 2015 combined market activity in the UK grew 84% from £1.74bn the year before to £3.2bn. Around 20,000 SMEs raised approximately £2.2bn in funding through online channels, representing a year-on-year growth… Read More

Funding Options Recommended for Bank Referral Scheme

Funding Options, a one-stop shop for SME finance, has been recommended for designation for the Bank Referral Scheme. Funding Options is a portfolio company of GLI Finance, an AIM listed company that controls multiple alternative finance platforms. In the Budget revealed earlier today, the Chancellor… Read More

GLI Finance Says More Needs to be Done to Support UK SMEs

Louise Beaumont, an executive at GLI finance and vocal advocate of small business, says more needs to be done to support UK small business.  Reflecting on the recent statement by the Bank of England and their credit numbers, Beaumont believes the slight increase in lending… Read More

Former FSA Chair Lord Adair Turner Warns About Peer to Peer Lending. Industry Leaders Disagree

In an interview today on BBC, Lord Adair Turner, former Chair of the FSA (predecessor to the FCA), shared his opinion on banking and the financial industry in general, including a discussion on the burgeoning peer to peer lending sector.  Lord Turner, it appears, is… Read More

Beaumont: Chancellor’s Plan for Northern Powerhouse May Be Headed for the Scrap Heap

The National Federation of Self-Employed & Small Businesses (FSB) has released a report that indicates a “growing gap in confidence” between businesses in the North and those in the Midlands and the South. The FSB states businesses in the North risk being left behind. This… Read More

UK Parliament Launches Inquiry into Access to Capital for Businesses

The Parliament committee on Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), has launched an inquiry regarding access to finance.  According to information posted on the UK Parliament site, members are seeking to better understand how access to finance has developed since the financial crisis and what exactly… Read More

Louise Beaumont of GLI Finance Comments on Autumn Statement

Alongside the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, there were several associated releases published by the Exchequer’s office.  Louise Beaumont, Head of Public Affairs at GLI Finance and a frequent commenter on policy issues regarding SME’s and the economy, has shared some thoughts regarding specific announcements presented by… Read More

Comment on BOE Credit Stats: UK SMEs are Being “Choked”

Vocal proponent of smaller enterprise, Louise Beaumont, believes UK SMEs continue to suffer under the realm of traditional banks.  Beaumont is Head of Public Affairs at GLI Finance, a firm that is in the innovative finance space providing new forms of finance. The Bank of… Read More

Is There a Peer-to-Peer Lending Bubble in the UK?

Fintech is super-hot these days.  Finance is having its newspaper moment where all aspects of the industry are moving online.  The disruptive shift is global too as change is taking place in the Americas, Asia and across Europe. The UK is in many ways the… Read More

Louise Beaumont Provides Perspective on TrustBuddy Collapse

Scandalous news hit the peer to peer lending world this week as TrustBuddy revealed allegations of serious misconduct.  The malfeasance was deemed so severe that Swedish authorities immediately shut down the direct lending operation and Swedish Police were contacted to investigate if criminal activity has… Read More

European Commission Publishes Action Plan on Capital Markets Union

As expected the European Commission has published its “action plan” on the Capital Markets Union (CMU) initiative.  The basis of the European Community has been economic integration. The reality has been far different as individual nations are loathe to submit to the vagaries of policy… Read More

Q&A: Louise Beaumont of GLI Finance Talks FinTech, Female Entrepreneurs

  One of the UK’s leading figures in FinTech, Louise Beaumont is the head of public affairs and marketing at GLI Finance, a prominent investor in the SME alternative finance sector. Her straightforward self-summary–“I grow companies–from initial spark, to operationalisation, results delivered, and value created”–is… Read More

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