Tagged: united kingdom

Bank of England Strikes Balanced Tone with Recent Rate Cuts According to Industry Professional

KPMG has shared comments on the latest Bank of England monetary policy committee decision. Yael Selfin, Chief Economist at KPMG UK said that the Bank of England strikes a “balanced tone with [the recent] cut to the bank rate.” Selfin added that after a pause in… Read More

Beechbrook Capital Announces Close on UK SME Credit IV and Completes Final Investments in Predecessor Fund

Beechbrook, the specialist lower mid-market private debt manager, has announced the first close of its fourth UK SME Credit Fund, UK SME Credit IV LP, with commitments totalling £151 million (including separately managed accounts). A total of £40 million has been committed to the fund… Read More

Fenchurch Legal and Altify to Broaden Access to Litigation Finance Investing

Fenchurch Legal, a specialist in litigation funding for small and medium-sized UK law firms, has partnered with Altify, an alternative investment platform connecting investors with tokenized private market assets. This collab will now aim to offer investors access to Fenchurch Legal’s litigation funding investments via… Read More

Biggest Scams in the UK Reportedly Include Fraudulent Activities via AI Voice Cloning, Social Media Marketplace

NatWest has shared an update on the fastest growing scams of 2024. The update from UK’s NatWest noted that an increase in fake parcel delivery texts, social media marketplace scams and AI voice cloning “during the last 12 months.” This, according to the analysis from… Read More

British Business Bank Selects New CIO

The British Business Bank has appointed Leandros Kalisperas as its first Chief Investment Officer, according to a statement issued by the Bank. Ian Connatty, who has been appointed Managing Partner of BBB Patient Capital Advisory Services, is currently the Deputy Chief Investment Officer of the… Read More

US Open Banking Set for Significant Acceleration But Political Uncertainty Might Impact Momentum – Report

According to some insiders, U.S. open banking is poised for significant acceleration, but political uncertainty could hamper momentum. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized its Personal Financial Data Rights Rule under Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act two weeks ago. The rule mandates that banks and other… Read More

Embedded Lending Solution Groov Raises £1.5 Million Seed Round

Embedded lending platform Groov has raised £1.5 million in seed funding, according to a note from the firm. The Fintech says the money will drive the next generation of embedded lending, offering more options, better terms, and higher approval rates via a simple API. Fuel… Read More

Bank of England Cuts Rates by 25 Basis Points

The Bank of England has cut benchmark rates by 0.25 basis points (bps) to 4.75%. The move was largely expected by markets. The Bank shared that its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted 8–1 to reduce the rates, with one member voting to hold the rate… Read More

UK VC Report: Performance Declined in 2023-2024, Matching Europe, US

The British Business Bank has published a report on venture capital activity in the UK. The research states that the performance of UK VC funds declined slightly during the 2023/24 period, matching the US and the rest of Europe. While conditions are said to be… Read More

Higher Capital Gains Taxes Compel Calculus to Launch Another Knowledge Intensive EIS Fund

The Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is moving higher in the UK, and firms and individuals are adjusting their behaviour. One way to mitigate CGT is to invest in companies that qualify under the EIS/SEIS/VCT programs, as there are potentially no capital gains taxes paid at… Read More

BNPL: Affirm Launches in UK

Affirm has launched its pay-over-time options in the United Kingdom. While nearly one-quarter of buy now, pay later users in the UK were charged late fees in 2023, Affirm does not have any late fees or hidden charges. Affirm underwrites every individual transaction before making… Read More

Republic Europe Highlights Labour Government Capital Gains Tax Increase and How SEIS/EIS Tax Exemptions May Help Mitigate the Tax

Last week, the Labour government outlined its budget for the forthcoming year. The Autumn Budget, delivered by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, sought to address a “black hole” of insufficient funds to fund the government’s programs. One path to generate more funds was an… Read More

UK Small Businesses Await Impact of Interest Rate Cuts as Revenue Growth Remains Modest – Report

UK small business sales growth continued to slow over the last quarter (July to September), not helped by rising late payments times, according to the  Xero Small Business Insights (XSBI) data from Xero, the small business platform. As noted in the research report, this quarter,… Read More

Open Banking in U.S. Analyzed in Report

According to a global survey of Open Banking, 90% of companies are considering U.S. expansion following the finalization of new regulations this week. That is among the findings in The Transatlantic Index USA, a report released by Open Banking Excellence (OBE). The publication features insights… Read More

New Rules for Public Offer Platforms to Improve Access to Capital, Boost Crowdfunding Providers in the UK

Earlier this year, CI reported on a consultation in the UK on Public Offer platforms [POP]. This is part of an initiative to improve the capital-raising environment for firms in the UK. Currently, in the UK, issuers typically are capped at pursuing online securities offering… Read More

UK Fintechs Reflect on Tax Increases, More, as Revealed in Chancellor’s Autumn Budget

Yesterday, the UK government revealed its new budget and the changes being made to cover a deficit while attempting to fuel economic growth. While the punditry will be digesting the statement from the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, for days, CI has received a… Read More

Revolut and Upvest to Streamline Digital Investment Process

Upvest is working with Revolut so that the digital banking platform can expand its wealth and trading product offering by introducing ETFs and fractional European stocks for the first time. In the 6 months since integrating Upvest’s Investment API, Revolut has launched investment products with… Read More

Autumn Budget: CGT Rises as Anticipated, Other Policies Changed in Attempt to Fill the “Black Hole,” £40 Billion Expected to be Raised

In the Autumn Statement delivered by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves today, the UK government delivered on an expectation for an increase in taxes. The Chancellor is the first female to deliver a budget in the UK’s history. In total, the government anticipates about… Read More

Aurum Solutions, Quant CEOs Differ on Autumn Statement Outcome, Capital Gains Taxes

An increase in capital gains taxes (CGT) is anticipated to be announced at this week’s Autumn Statement. This will impact investments in firms and may undermine support of early-stage ventures. This much is clear. Today, we have two more executives adding their voices to the… Read More

BCB Group Now Offers “Stablecoin Payments on Steroids”

BCB Group has announced a “multi-currency solution leveraging stablecoins” designed to consolidate payments from different cryptocurrencies along with fiat into a single account. The new offering is being described as “stablecoin payments on steroids.” BCB is a payments provider that offers a digital wallet along… Read More

Send this to a friend