CFI.co Blogger, Author at CFI.co Blog

LONDON, 7 January UK – Reed Smith today announced that Joe Kohler has joined the firm’s Financial Industry Group, marking another significant addition to its banking advisory and derivatives practice. Kohler joins Reed Smith from Deutsche Bank, where he served as Managing Director, Legal, Corporate & Investment Banking. In that role, he co-led the bank’s sales and trading legal function globally, with deep transactional experience across the entirety of the fixed income, currencies and commodities businesses.

Reed Smith appoints former Deutsche Bank Managing Director in London

Over the course of his 18-year career at Deutsche Bank, Kohler led the legal work on many of the largest and most important transactions the bank conducted. He managed Deutsche Bank’s legal department’s response to counterparty defaults, downgrades and worked on enforcement and asset recovery efforts during the credit crisis of 2008. He also worked on the building of the first OTC derivative clearing offerings, on the development of the related market infrastructure and contributed to trade association efforts to standardise the related documents. He then helped shape the bank’s response to new regulatory developments such as EMIR, MiFID II, the collateralisation of uncleared derivatives, Brexit and IBOR reform. Furthermore, he also has extensive experience of merger and acquisition activity in the financial sector, having led on the acquisition and disposal of many businesses and portfolios.

Kohler has led large teams on strategically critical projects within Deutsche Bank and brings to Reed Smith a deep understanding of the inner workings of the legal department within a global investment bank. Given his sophisticated knowledge of structured finance and products, expertise across industry asset classes, and litigation and regulatory enforcement experience, and in-house familiarity, Kohler is well placed to add to Reed Smith’s bench strength providing strategic advice to banking clients on these transactions.

“Joe’s arrival adds to the bench strength of the firm’s highly regarded banking advisory and derivatives practice,” said Ed Estrada, global chair of Reed Smith’s Financial Industry Group. “Joe is immensely respected and regarded within Deutsche Bank and throughout the investment bank community, and his reputation for providing steady and sound leadership on complex transaction and litigation matters as in-house counsel is an invaluable asset that our clients will certainly benefit from. We are excited to have him join our team.”

Kohler said, “As an in-house counsel, I wanted the law firms my team instructed to add something to secure a better solution than we could deliver on our own – perhaps insight, experience or capability. I was always reassured when we selected Reed Smith, because they always delivered what we had been looking for, and did so efficiently and with a profound understanding of the commercial context. I am really excited to be joining Reed Smith’s highly impressive team.”

About Reed Smith

Reed Smith is a dynamic international law firm dedicated to helping clients move their businesses forward. Our belief is that by delivering smarter and more creative legal services, we will not only enrich our clients’ experiences with us, but also support them in achieving their business goals.

Our long-standing relationships, international outlook, and collaborative structure make us the go-to partner for the speedy resolution of complex disputes, transactions, and regulatory matters.

For further information, please visit reedsmith.com.

Banking

UnionBank’s ‘Tech Up, Pilipinas’ drive resonates at Singapore Fintech Festival

ByCFI.co Blogger

Only Phl banking exhibitor since 2018 draws VIPs

*Visitors are drawn to the two-story UnionBank booth that highlighted revolutionary and socially relevant digital innovations.*

Still the lone Philippine banking institution participating at the annual Singapore Fintech Festival (SFF) held at the Singapore Expo last week, Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) again established a powerful presence on the world stage worthy of the visit of well-known dignitaries, the prime minister of Singapore included.

Replicating its success on its global debut at the SFF last year, UnionBank – thrice honored by Asiamoney as the Philippines’ Best Digital Bank since 2017 – bannered its suite of emerging technologies, along with those of its fintech and thrift subsidiaries UBX and CitySavings, consistent with its relentless drive to extend more affordable and accessible financial services to all Filipinos here and abroad.

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong chats with UnionBank chairman Justo Ortiz as he made a stop at the UnionBank exhibition – the first booth he visited at the SFF. With them are UnionBank president and CEO Edwin Bautista, UBX president and CEO John Januszczak, Platform Development head Ramon Duarte, Human Resource head Michelle Rubio, Transaction Banking head John Cary Ong and Fintech Business Group head Arvie de Vera.

No less than the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, together with Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) managing director Ravi Menon, graced the booth frequented by curious visitors intently asking about the bank’s cutting-edge digital products and platforms and how it benefits the common man. UnionBank has partnerships with OCBC Bank Singapore to pioneer remittance services from the city-state to the Philippines through blockchain-based platforms, and with the MAS for its SME marketplace Business Sans Borders (BSB) that is seen to empower local SMEs to explore and expand internationally.

UnionBank president and CEO Edwin Bautista and chairman Justo Ortiz explained how, through the bank’s comprehensive strategy called “Tech Up, Pilipinas,” it is utilizing technology to promote financial inclusion for sustainable prosperity, particularly of the unbanked and the underserved, who compose around half of the Philippines’ 108 million population. Financial inclusion is a vital component for the realization of the Philippines’ vision to become a G20 country by 2050.

Other dignitaries who visited the UnionBank booth were Philippine Ambassador to Singapore Joseph Del Mar Yap and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Govenor Benjamin Diokno, who looked visibly proud of the Filipino ingenuity as he was toured inside the booth by Bautista. The central bank chief thanked UnionBank for raising the Philippine flag at what is dubbed as the biggest fintech summit gathering global innovation and business leaders. Bautista, in turn, said UnionBank’s remarkable showing at the SFF is a testament to its commitment to remain agile and a frontrunner in this digital revolution.

Politics

EIT scales up support for innovators across Europe in 2020

ByCFI.co Blogger

In 2020, the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) will invest EUR 500 million in its Knowledge and Innovation Communities across Europe – the EIT Governing Board decided. This investment will drive European innovation in the areas of climate (EIT Climate-KIC), digitisation (EIT Digital), food (EIT Food), health (EIT Health), sustainable energy (EIT InnoEnergy), advanced and sustainable materials (EIT RawMaterials), manufacturing (EIT Manufacturing) and urban mobility (EIT Urban Mobility).

The EIT’s eight Knowledge and Innovation Communities competed for EUR 500 million and were evaluated against their strategies and business plans for 2020, as well as their performance to date. Based on this, the EIT Governing Board decided to allocate the following grants (in order of their selection in 2009, 2014, 2016, and 2018*):

EIT Climate-KIC: EUR 78.4 million

EIT Digital: EUR 66.2 million

EIT InnoEnergy: EUR 77.8 million

EIT Health: EUR 85.1 million

EIT Raw Materials: EUR 81.7 million

EIT Food: EUR 55.1 million

EIT Manufacturing: EUR 26.8 million

EIT Urban Mobility: EUR 28.8 million

In addition, the EIT Governing Board also decided to allocate EUR 30 million to the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (EIT RIS) – the programme that helps modest and moderate regions (according to the European Innovation Scoreboard) to fully realise their innovation potential through the sharing of good practice and experience from across the EIT Community. The EIT RIS fund will be available to all EIT Innovation Communities that include EIT RIS eligible activities in their 2020 Business Plans. The EIT Governing Board also decided to allocate EUR 12.5 million for joint activities between Knowledge and Innovation Communities, as for example in the areas of artificial intelligence and Skills 4 Future.

In addition, the EIT Governing Board put in place a Task Force on enhancing innovation and entrepreneurship in higher education institutions, in preparation for the EIT’s role in Horizon Europe. The Task Force will be chaired by Patrick Prendergast, Member of the EIT Governing Board, and will include representatives of the European Commission (DG EAC).

Dirk Jan van den Berg, Chairman of the EIT Governing Board, said: ‘I am very pleased to see the progress in the past year, which is strongly based on the focused stewardship of the EIT’s Governing Board. It is crucial that the opportunities the EIT community offers innovators are scaled-up across the whole of Europe. Why? This investment is not just to create another product, or power another start-up; it’s to bring about the urgent need for more innovative European solutions at a much larger scale to tackle pressing societal challenges.’

Martin Kern, EIT Director, added: ‘The EIT is now Europe’s proven innovation engine and 2020 will see strong impact from our eight Knowledge and Innovation Communities, based on their submitted plans. Our results clearly show that the EIT’s investment delivers and turns ground-breaking ideas into products and services for a greener, healthier, more sustainable Europe. We particularly look forward to scaling up our support for innovators and entrepreneurs in countries where EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities have a limited presence. I would like to thank the EIT Governing Board Members for their strong strategic steering of the EIT community.‘

Investing in what works

The 2020 funding will step up activities for entrepreneurs, innovators, and students, including business creation and acceleration services, entrepreneurial educational programmes and innovation-driven research projects. These activities have been shown to work, delivering tangible impact for Europe. In 2020, the EIT Community plans to power 1000 start-ups and scale-ups and launch more than 360 new products and services to contribute to Europe’s efforts of tackling global challenges. More than 900 students are expected to graduate from EIT labelled master and doctoral programmes, strengthening the pool of talented and entrepreneurially-minded change agents eager to transform their best ideas into solutions for Europe. It is foreseen that in 2020 alone, ventures supported by the EIT-Community will raise over EUR 400 million in external capital.

Since the EIT was set up in 2008, it has created Europe’s largest innovation community, with more than 1 000 partners and 50 innovation hubs. This has delivered support to more than 2 000 start-ups and scale-ups, created more than 6 100 jobs and more than 900 new products and services. More than 2200 students have graduated from EIT-labelled master and doctoral programmes. To date, EIT-supported ventures have raised more than EUR 1.5 billion in external capital.

EIT BACKGROUND: Europe’s future is connected to its power to innovate!

What is the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)? The EIT was created in 2008 to strengthen Europe’s ability to innovate and is an integral part of Horizon2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. The EIT is a unique EU initiative, the only one to fully integrate business, education and research. The Institute supports the development of dynamic pan-European partnerships among leading universities, research labs and companies. (EIT in a nutshell Infographic)

What has the EIT Community achieved? EIT Community Success Stories

What is the EIT Governing Board? The Governing Board is the EIT’s principal governing body, entrusted with the strategic leadership and overall direction of the operational activities implemented by the EIT Headquarters in Budapest. The Governing Board brings together 12 leading Members from across Europe, balancing prominent expertise in business, education, innovation and research fields.

What challenges do the EIT’s Knowledge and Innovation Communities focus on? EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities work in the area of:

Climate: accelerating the transition to a zero-carbon economy, EIT Climate-KIC,

Digitisation: driving Europe’s digital transformation, EIT Digital,

Energy: achieving a sustainable energy future for Europe, EIT InnoEnergy,

Health: giving EU citizens greater opportunities to enjoy a healthy life, EIT Health,

RawMaterials: developing advanced & sustainable materials for Europe, EIT RawMaterials,

Food: leading the global revolution in food innovation and production, EIT Food,

Urban mobility: solving mobility challenges of our cities, EIT Urban Mobility, and

Manufacturing: strengthen the competitiveness of the EU’s manufacturing industry, EIT Manufacturing.

They offer a wide range of innovation and entrepreneurship activities. This includes education courses that combine technical skills with entrepreneurial ones, business creation and acceleration services, and innovation-driven research projects.

*The Knowledge and Innovation Communities have a lifespan of 7-15 years. During this time EIT funding is in principle gradually increasing until year seven and starts to decrease thereafter.

More information on EIT Community activities.

The EIT – Making Innovation Happen! For more information visit eit.europa.eu & follow @EITeu on Twitter

Finance

Snow Software Acquires Embotics

ByCFI.co Blogger

Snow fortifies its ability to deliver complete technology intelligence with Embotics’ award-winning hybrid cloud management platform

UK – Dec. 4, 2019 – Snow Software, the global leader in technology intelligence solutions, today announced it has acquired Embotics, a hybrid cloud management company. This acquisition brings together two market leaders, enabling CIOs to understand and manage their full technology stack from software and hardware to infrastructure and applications, regardless of whether they live on-premises, in the cloud or in a hybrid environment.

Embotics offers a platform-neutral cloud management solution with one of the quickest time-to-value in the industry. It provides a fast and easy way to automate provisioning, reduce costs and ensure governance across private, public, hybrid and multicloud environments. Leading enterprises such as Nordstrom, NASA and HBO, and service providers like LG CNS and NTT Data, use Embotics to drive their digital transformation.

“The rapid adoption of hybrid cloud by the enterprise has created new challenges for technology and business leaders who must maximise the efficacy and efficiency of technology without sacrificing innovation, productivity or security,”said Vishal Rao, President and CEO of Snow. “Technology intelligence is the future of asset and cloud management, moving beyond the silos created by point tools to provide the insight and manageability organisations need to gain a competitive edge. Embotics is a highly strategic addition to Snow’s portfolio. We are thrilled to welcome the team to Snow and deliver even greater value to our customers and partners.”

“We built Embotics to provide enterprises and service providers with an easier, faster, platform-neutral and fully integrated solution for managing the hybrid cloud and beyond”said Jay Litkey, Founder and President of Embotics. “Today, these organisations are strategically blending on-premises, private, public and multicloud architectures, and that requires a flexible and multi-faceted approach to gain agility through automation while controlling costs and risks. By joining forces with Snow, Embotics will continue to address these issues and answer the next generation of challenges with integrated capabilities at a global scale. Both organisations have a customer-centric DNA and commitment to innovation that will help us achieve our shared vision of technology intelligence.”

Together, Snow and Embotics will offer the first platform that delivers CIOs an integrated perspective across their entire technology stack, empowering them to tackle use cases that require insight into both on-premises and cloud services, such as cloud migration planning, Bring-Your-Own-License (BYOL) optimisation and hybrid cloud cost management. The process of integrating Embotics into the Snow platform will begin immediately, and the companies will have a single go-to-market strategy starting in 2020. The combined business will be optimally positioned for strong growth with an expanded market presence as well as the field and operational resources needed to deliver cloud management at a global scale.

“As IT organisations work to balance transformation initiatives with day-to-day operations, hybrid and multicloud strategies are essential for today’s enterprise,” said William Fellows, Founder and Research Vice President at 451 Research. “Workloads now span public cloud, private cloud and legacy on-premises environments, and that mix is constantly changing to address the needs of the business. With Snow’s acquisition of Embotics, the market will benefit from the combination of their respective strengths on-prem and in the cloud, most notably when it comes to solving the unique challenges of hybrid environments.”

For more information on the acquisition and Snow’s platform, visit www.snowsoftware.com.

About Snow Software

Snow Software is the global leader in technology intelligence solutions, ensuring the trillions spent on all forms of technology is optimized to drive maximum value. More than 4,000 organizations around the world rely on Snow’s platform to provide complete visibility, optimize usage and spend and minimize regulatory risk. Headquartered in Stockholm, Snow has more local offices and regional support centers than any other software asset and cloud management provider, delivering unparalleled results to our customers and partners. To find out more about Snow Software, visit http://www.snowsoftware.com/ and follow Snow on Twitter @snowsoftware.

Banking

NDB Board of Directors meets in Shanghai, approves three projects with loans aggregating to USD 937 million

ByCFI.co Blogger

On December 2, 2019, the 22^nd Meeting of the Board of Directors of the New Development Bank (NDB) was held in Shanghai, China.

The Board approved three projects with loans aggregating to approximately USD 937 million, bringing the NDB’s portfolio to 49 projects with loans aggregating to USD 13.7 billion.

Hubei Huangshi Modern Tram Project

The NDB will provide a loan of RMB 2.76 billion (approx. USD 400 million) to the People’s Republic of China for Huangshi Modern Tram Project. It will address urban transport connectivity problems in Huangshi, a municipality in the southeastern part of Hubei Province, through the construction of a modern tram network with a total length of 27.33 km. The components of the Project include: i) laying of tracks, construction of stations and installation of associated facilities for the tram network; ii) procurement of rolling stock; and (iii) consultancy support for commissioning, preparation of operations and maintenance plan, capacity building and project management.

Manipur Water Supply Project

The NDB will provide a loan of USD 312 million to the Republic of India for Manipur Water Supply Project. It will address serious challenges in clean drinking water supply in Manipur, a small mountainous state in the northeastern region of India, through construction and upgrade of drinking water supply infrastructure. The components of the Project include construction and upgrade of drinking water supply systems in: i) Imphal Planning Area, the capital city of Manipur; ii) additional 25 towns; and iii) 1,731 rural habitations.

Indore Metro Rail Project

The NDB will provide a loan of USD 225 million to the Republic of India for Indore Metro Rail Project. The Project is to implement a metro line of approximately 31 km in the city of Indore. The Project will provide mass rapid transit capacity for the city’s major mobility corridors, thereby contributing to local economic development and an improved urban environment by reducing traffic congestion and pollution.

The Board also approved technical assistance totaling to USD 0.7 million for two projects from India and Russia.

Mizoram Tuirini Small Hydro Project

The NDB will provide technical assistance of USD 300,000 to the Republic of India for Mizoram Tuirini Small Hydro Project. The NDB’s technical assistance will provide consulting services aimed at preparing the Mizoram Tuirini Small Hydro Project. The project envisages construction of a small hydropower plant with an installed capacity of 24 MW in the state of Mizoram, to increase installed power generation capacity of Mizoram.

Krasnodar Cable Car Project

The Bank will provide technical assistance of USD 400,000 to the Russian Federation for Krasnodar Cable Car Project. The NDB’s technical assistance will provide consulting services aimed at preparing the Krasnodar Cable Car Project up to the stage when it can be considered by external financiers to seek approval for its financing. The project envisages the construction of a cable car network to be used as an alternative public transportation modality in Krasnodar city, Russia to relieve traffic congestion.

It is the first time that the NDB Board of Directors approved the provision of technical assistance through the Bank’s Project Preparation Fund (PPF), a multi-donor fund open to contributions by all the Bank’s members. The PPF’s objective is to support preparation of bankable projects to facilitate borrowing member countries to raise funds for such projects from the NDB or other multilateral development banks.

During the Meeting, an update on the NDB project pipeline and status of approved projects was provided to the Board. The Board also discussed matters pertaining to equity investments, funding programme, treasury related matters, membership expansion, review of NDB’s General Strategy: 2017-2021 and development impact of the Bank’s operations.

On December 2, 2019, the 13^th Meeting of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee (ARC) of the New Development Bank was held in Shanghai. The ARC reviewed Quarterly Audited Financial Statements for the New Development Bank and the Project Preparation Fund of the NDB for the period ended September 30, 2019. The ARC also discussed matters pertaining to risk, internal audit and compliance.

The 8^th Meeting of the Budget, Human Resources and Compensation Committee (BHRC) of the New Development Bank was held on December 2, 2019. The Committee considered the Budget Utilisation Report for CY2019 and the Proposed budget for CY2020 as well as the three Year Budget for 2020-2022. The Committee also discussed matter pertaining to recruitment and diversity.

Background Information

The NDB was established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries, complementing the existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth and development. To fulfill its purpose, the NDB will support public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments. According to the NDB’s General Strategy, sustainable infrastructure development is at the core of the Bank’s operational strategy for 2017-2021. The NDB received AA+ long-term issuer credit ratings from S&P and Fitch and AAA foreign currency long-term issuer rating from Japan Credit Rating Agency (JCR).

Finance

High net worth millennials need professional advice. Here’s what those in finance need to know

ByCFI.co Blogger

Deloitte currently estimates that by 2020, millennials’ total net worth worldwide will be more than double what it was in 2015. There are several reasons that account for this trend, some of which include rising wages and the improving quality of life in developing countries.

However, there is another driving force: one of the largest intergenerational transfers of wealth in history.

Baby boomers, the children of the late 40s, 50s and early 60s, were able to buy property at a low-cost relative to income. Their homes, over the ensuing decades, have hugely increased in value; in the UK the average price of a house has doubled since 1996––even after accounting for inflation.

For millennials, this has had two implications. Firstly, many are reliant on their parents if they want to purchase a house. Secondly, they could be set to collectively inherit a huge amount of wealth. Research from EY suggests that those born between 1981 and 1996 in the US will receive $30 trillion from their parents in the next 20 years[1].

Consider the fact that the global economy is valued at $80 trillion, and the scale of this wealth transfer begins to become apparent. For those who already have property, along with high net worth (HNW) and ultra-HNW individuals, investing their new wealth in stocks and shares will be the order of the day, resulting in a changing client base for financial advisers.

Some things will be consistent with what has come before, according to research from Deloitte[2]; 82% of millennials still want to discuss their financial situation face-to-face with an adviser, meaning a wholesale switch to digital communication is unlikely. Furthermore, the ultimate aim for millennial investors will still be healthy and sustainable returns.

What could change is the kind of assets new investors are interested in. The growth of “impact investing”, also known as environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing, is particularly popular among millennials––EY predicts that almost a fifth of investments now under management worldwide are in sustainable financial products[3]. What’s more, two thirds of young people feel “obliged” to change the world for the better, meaning this is likely to inform their future investment decisions[4].

There are many examples of ESG investments providing good returns. The Cordes Foundation, headed by 29-year-old Steph Stephenson, has 100% of its $230 million in impact investments––and achieved an average yearly return of 8%[5].

The rise of millennial HNW individuals has one major implication for financial advisers: they need to be entirely up to speed with ESG financial products and the options available to millennial investors. With the importance of ESG products to the financial sector only likely to increase in markets around the globe, this is an important task that must be prioritised.

Alpa Bhakta is the CEO of Butterfield Mortgages Limited. Part of the Butterfield Group and a subsidiary of The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited. Butterfield Mortgages Limited is a London-based prime property mortgage provider with a particular focus on the needs of UK and international HNW individuals.

[1] EY (2017), Sustainable Investing: The millennial investor

[2] Deloitte (2015), Millennials and wealth management

[3] EY (2017), Sustainable Investing: The millennial investor

[4] Deloitte (2015), Millennials and wealth management

[5] Sarah Murray (2019), Rich millennials push to put family wealth into impact investments

Lifestyle

Novice rower swaps big data for big waves to row the Atlantic – cheered on by Coldplay

ByCFI.co Blogger

Crown Records Management account manager takes on the world’s most gruelling rowing race

Novice rower swaps big data for big waves to row the Atlantic – cheered on by Coldplay

A records management professional who is swapping big data for big waves is set to row the Atlantic – cheered on by rock band Coldplay.

Claire Allinson of Crown Records Management normally spends her time as an account manager in Enfield, London, but will soon be part of a three-strong team attempting to row from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua in the gruelling Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

Claire, who had never rowed in her life before starting training two years ago, was inspired to raise money following the death of her dad from cancer.

And she has since pulled off an incredible coup – by not only persuading her employers to sponsor the boat but also coaxing Coldplay to support her too.

The legendary band, fronted by Exeter-born Chris Martin, have made a big donation to support the team who are raising money for Blood Bikes, a charity dedicated to providing an ‘out of hours’ service delivering essential items to NHS hospitals and hospices.

She said: “It’s a special charity to me because thanks to their fast action dad was around for precious extra time and even able to walk me down the aisle at my wedding.

“We all have very personal reasons for taking up the challenge and we are just ordinary women who want to achieve the extraordinary.

“To get support from Coldplay has been amazing. It all started when I bumped into Chris Martin’s dad Anthony and it has snowballed from there. We are so grateful for their backing.

“It’s not just the donation, they have also been Tweeting out support on social media. I’m a huge fan, so it means a lot.”

Claire has also received backing from Crown Records Management, which has sponsored the team’s Rannoch ocean rowing boat and allowed her to take three months off.

“The journey could take us 65 days, so it’s a long period off work,” she said. “My bosses have been really supportive, and my workmates have rallied round and agreed to do extra work to cover for me as well.”

As a Cross Fit fan, Claire has always had incredible stamina. But her practice routine involved getting up at 4am, training twice a day and then rowing for 36 hours every weekend for 24 months to prepare for the challenge.

She is joined in the boat by Bird Watts from Mevagissey and her 60-year-old mother Mo O’Brien from Penzance (who is severely hearing impaired).

The trio are also supported by a fourth member of the Oarsome Foursome, Linda Whittaker, who will be land crew support for the trip.

Linda completed two years of training but then developed such severe sea sickness that she was sadly forced to pull out.

Once on their way, the team could face 40ft waves and will row in six-hour shifts – two hours with 100 per cent effort, two hours with 50 per cent and then 2 hours of rest. But they must also keep a constant lookout for sharks.

“It’s a bit different to records management, that’s for sure,” said Claire.

You can keep up to date with the adventures of the Oarsome Foursome by visiting https://www.oarsomefoursome.co.uk/ or following @OarsomeFour on Twitter.

A full interview with Claire is available at: https://www.crownworldwide.com/en-us/article/interview-with-claire-allinson–one-of-the-oarsome-foursome

The rowers are also raising money for Exmouth and Lympstone Hospice Centre and Carefreespace, which helps support unpaid carers.

RACE FACTS:

The rowers will row between 3,000-3500 miles to reach their destination.
Forty teams are taking part and two safety yachts with access to satellite phones will accompany the teams.
The Atlantic Ocean is 5.28 miles deep.
Waves can reach 40ft high.
Together the team will row 1.5m strokes during the race.
Each rower needs to drink 10 litres of water and eat 60 calories per kg of bodyweight a day to keep them alive.
The rowers will burn 5000 calories a day and lose 12kg in weight during the race.
They will also battle blisters, sea sickness, severe exhaustion and even hallucinations.
More people have climbed Everest than have completed the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge.

Business

SMEs in cashflow black hole as they wait for £24bn in late payments

ByCFI.co Blogger

Late payments up more than £10bn in a year

15% of British freelancers spend 4 hours and above a week chasing invoices

CEO of ETZ Payments, Nick Woodward, provides commentary on how late and inconsistent payments are hurting businesses and freelancers alike

Today, new research showed that Small and medium-sized companies are waiting to receive £23.4billion, up from £13billion in 2018. More than half of businesses are chasing money owed, with the bill for trying to collect it hitting £4.4billion, says retail payment authority Pay UK. This comes as ETZ Payments reveals startling national representative research that shows that nearly a sixth of freelance and contract workers spend over 10% of their working week chasing invoices and payments. The new research from PayUK showed that the average amount owed to each firm had risen from £17,000 last year to £25,000 today. This demonstrates that across the board, self-employed contractors, freelancers, and small businesses are under strain. As we near the general election and with almost guaranteed further Brexit uncertainty, SMEs and workers are going through one of the most turbulent periods of their existence.

Nick Woodward, CEO of ETZ Payments, a back-office solution provider for the recruitment sector, offers the following commentary:

“This year and next year will undoubtedly be a turbulent period for small businesses and workers alike with myriad political and economic issues and an increasing amount of late payments. This issue is seriously harming cash flow, investment and growth across the UK economy. There are over 2 million freelancers and 5.7 million SMEs today, and with financial constraints such as chasing invoices, this will harm productivity and profit, and more needs to be done by the next government to ensure that these entrepreneurs, business owners, managers and workers, are paid justly and on time to keep the economy moving.”

Banking

Cardstream Works With Banking Circle To Create Unique Lending Service

ByCFI.co Blogger

Joint white label solution allows Cardstream’s Partners to offer their merchants flexible and affordable business loans

www.bankingcircle.com

London, November 2019 – Independent payment solutions provider, Cardstream, has partnered with Banking Circle to pioneer a unique joint white label lending solution. Each of Cardstream’s more than 200 Partners provides payment services to many hundreds of SME merchants. Now, with the launch of this new initiative, they can offer these merchants access to affordable, flexible business loans which could make the difference between their success or failure.

To help smaller businesses access essential business financing more easily, Banking Circle entered the SME lending sector in 2018, launching Banking Circle Lending and Banking Circle Instant Settlement. These revolutionary new solutions were built in response to an SME study involving more than 500 businesses, which revealed the impact of high interest rates, high arrangement fees and inflexible repayment options when accessing funding through traditional lenders.

Cardstream identified that the Banking Circle Lending solutions would provide an important added-value for its Partners as CEO Adam Sharpe explained:

“Cardstream’s Partners enjoy strong and trusted relationships with the merchants to whom they provide our white labelled payment gateway service under their own trusted brand. Now, with this new service developed with Banking Circle, they can offer loans to any of their merchant customer businesses based on their online payments revenue.

“The loans are risk free to the Partner, who is able to retain a share of the revenue generated if this falls within its business model and merchant agreement. We believe it’s a win-win for both sides. The Partner enhances its merchant relationships and the merchants have quick access to valuable funding, whether to fill a cashflow gap or to support business growth.”

Anders la Cour, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Banking Circle added: “Banking Circle is committed to providing market infrastructure as a real alternative to traditional banking solutions, with the aim of increasing financial inclusion. As part of this, we wanted to deliver a more accessible lending solution for businesses in need of a financial boost.

“Now, through our partnership with Cardstream, more than 200 payment providers have access to our unique lending solution, meaning tens of thousands of small businesses can access the cash they need to expand, restock or simply survive a quiet period. In the past, these SMEs would have been unable to borrow the vital funds, which could have meant letting employees go or even business failure.”

About Banking Circle

Banking Circle is a next-generation provider of mission-critical financial services infrastructure leading the rise of a super-correspondent banking network. Banking Circle empowers banks and financial tech businesses to support customers’ trading ambitions – domestic and global – whilst reducing risk and the operational cost of transactions. Banking Circle solutions are increasing financial inclusion by helping thousands of businesses transact across borders in a way that was previously not possible.

In 2013 Saxo Bank formed a new entity, Saxo Payments A/S, with the purpose of using Saxo Bank’s core capabilities within the non-cash payments market. In October 2015 the company launched the Banking Circle – its ground-breaking product for payments and FX to the Financial Tech industry. In October 2017, the company launched its new identity for Banking Circle, to reflect its position as a financial utility, servicing Financial Tech businesses and banks. In September 2018, Banking Circle was acquired by EQT VIII and EQT Ventures, in partnership with Banking Circle’s founders.

Domiciled in the European Union, Banking Circle specialises in providing global banking services including accounts, payments, lending and foreign exchange services to financial institutions, including FinTechs, banks, acquirers, payment service providers, FX brokers, money transfer businesses, e-wallets, and alternative payment providers.

About Cardstream

FinTech success Cardstream is the UK’s largest independent provider of white label payment software and services. Its mission is to become the global standard for white label payment provision. Everything the company does is designed to give its partners the freedom, flexibility and control to deliver the unhindered achievement of their business objectives.

Cardstream’s breadth of relationships, advanced portfolio of features and acquirer independence ensures that its partners can build a payment proposition they control and that delivers the maximum financial return.

For further information and inteviews please contcat the Cardstream Press Office:

Leon Lee – Commercial Director

T: 0345 0099575

E: leon.lee@cardstream.com

Economics

The Link: The world’s biggest taboo we dare not discuss

ByCFI.co Blogger

Although it should be a relationship we are all most concerned about, it remains under wraps. “The Link”, as we call it, is the critical connection between equal opportunities for women, overpopulation and the problem of climate change.

Let us start with demographics. The world is heavily overpopulated, and according to some estimates by as much as 300%. This not only has an impact upon things like housing availability and the level urbanization, but also – more fundamentally – on consumption of the world’s finite and barely renewable resources and its vulnerability to famine. Overcrowding on a wide scale is strongly correlated with poverty, social unrest, crime, pandemics, large scale economic migrations and, in turn, to pollution and climate change.

But what makes this subject a political “hot potato” is the fact that women, given true equal rights, will self-limit population growth and the coexistence of rapid population growth in some regions and fears of depopulation in others. Germany, Italy and China, for instance, face the prospect of reducing indigenous populations as women marry later (or not at all), have smaller families or do not have any children at all. Even though this should be an advantage to a country in the face of growing automation, it is a political crisis because governments see population numbers as correlating with their country’s status in the world.

Companies also want population growth, because more population equals more consumers and available labour. However, the biggest driving force in population growth is the cultural norm of “the family”. In many countries the pressure exists from within the extended family to conform through marriage by a certain age and the production of children. This right is also sacrosanct and even discussing it can be a tricky process. Moreover, even in the developing world it is increasingly being supported through statutory family friendly employment policies.

Back at the turn of the century books were even being published such as “The Baby Boon: How Family-Friendly America Cheats the Childless” by Elinor Burkett. There was then even the vestiges of a movement to assert the rights of single, childless (never called “child free”) workers and claim parity with those who received often generous employee benefits. But nothing truly came of it. Yet, it remains the big issue because it not only costs the employer and taxpayer a large slice of GDP to support those expanding their families, but there is also a direct link between every birth, the drain on finite global resources and other social/environmental problems.

Robin Chater, Secretary-General of the Federation of International Employers (FedEE), has addressed this issue at conferences several times, knowing that invariably the message will be seen as an attack on the family. However, because the issue is sensitive does not mean that it should be ignored. Robin reflects: “I can recall standing up at an international conference organised by ‘The Economist’ in Athens a few years ago. I produced lots of evidence to illustrate how much the world was overpopulated, then linked it directly to climate change – on many fronts, as well as more people equals more CO2 – and finally demonstrated that population growth was strongly linked to women’s rights. The more equal the society the more well balanced a society’s population will be. At the end of my talk the audience of around 200 people was momentarily silent and then up stood the vast majority of the women in the room and clapped. Not the men present, just the women.“

What is FedEE?

The Federation of International Employers (FedEE) is a leading corporate membership organisation for multinational companies. It was founded in 1998, with financial assistance from the European Commission. Today it is an independent body with corporate members all around the globe.