Blockchain could soon be settling gold transactions June 22, 2016 Gold trading in London could soon be settled using blockchain technology in a new initiative between Euroclear and itBit. The settlement house is working with the New York startup to introduce its private distributed ledger Bankchain to the London gold market in a bid to make it more efficient. Read more: London startup claims first working blockchain platform launch "Precious metals [...]
City PM Unregulated podcast: Failing well – or how we learned to stop worrying and love failure June 22, 2016 This week we're talking about when it all goes wrong: how to embrace failure, or at least learn from your mistakes. Emma and Zak are joined by Black Box Thinking author Matthew Syed and Luciana Lixandru from Accel to learn about failing gracefully – and what James Dyson and David Beckham have in common. You [...]
Sir James Dyson on EU referendum: “To remain would be an act of self-harm” – as Tate & Lyle boss Gerald Mason backs Leave June 22, 2016 Hours before the polls open, Sir James Dyson has renewed his support for a Brexit, saying remaining in the EU would be an "act of self-harm". In a column for The Times, Dyson – who has already been a vocal supporter of the Leave camp – said tomorrow's vote was "about control of our future". "As the [...]
The one hire which has secured Lego’s business legacy June 22, 2016 What does it take for a company to be resilient? Not merely able to endure a setback, but bounce back stronger? Having suffered a severe shock to its global reputation through the emissions rigging scandal, VW reported its market share is at a five-year low. Investors will be assessing whether the damage is permanent, and looking [...]
Five of the best: Ethical banks to stash your savings June 22, 2016 Banks have been mired in scandal over the last decade. The 2008 financial crisis has been followed by countless investigations and fines. Big banks have variously been caught out for mis-selling products, violating sanctions and manipulating prices of gold, silver, currencies, and libor interest rates. Not surprisingly, headlines have been filled with ire over banks’ unseemly [...]
Recruitment plans could be thrown into turmoil if UK votes for Brexit on Thursday, the Recruitment & Employment Confederation warns June 22, 2016 A Brexit vote on Thursday could spell turmoil for employers already squeezed to capacity, the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) has today warned. Commenting on REC's most recent JobsOutlook survey, REC chief executive Kevin Green said: "A vote to remain in the EU could release pent up demand, with a mini hiring boom over the second half of [...]
Half of workers think better tech skills could land them a better job June 22, 2016 The majority of UK workers think that they could boost their job prospects simply by learning some IT skills, research out today has found. However, while the study by Monster discovered that 54 per cent of UK employees thought they could land a better job if they were better with tech, just 15 per cent [...]
UK’s pension black hole grows by £120bn in the space of six weeks, as equities fluctuate ahead of EU referendum June 21, 2016 The combined black hole in the UK's pension schemes expanded by more than £100bn in the space of just six weeks, research out today has found. The analysis by Hymans Robertson revealed that the total deficit of the UK's defined benefit (DB) pension schemes rocketed by £120bn, or roughly the equivalent of five per cent of GDP, over [...]
These are the seven fintech startups being backed by Mastercard June 21, 2016 Mastercard is backing seven fintech startups hoping to change the way we use money and disrupt the finance world. London startups Revolut and Everledger are among the tech firms chosen for Mastercard's six month Start Path programme from among more than 500 applications from 60 countries. The startups, from as far afield as Israel and Argentina and announced at London [...]
Eleven million people would boost their retirement savings if only they knew more about this particular pensions rule change June 21, 2016 As many as 11.4m people could be encouraged to boost their pensions savings if they had more information about a rule change that came in last year, research out today has found. The study by Aegon found that a third (33 per cent) of the 4,000 people surveyed were clueless about the pension freedoms, which came into [...]
