The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has brought charges against nine individuals in relation to an unauthorised foreign exchange trading scheme promoted on social media. Emmanuel Nwanze has been charged with running an unauthorised investment scheme and issuing unauthorised financial promotions. The FCA alleges that, between 19 May 2018 and 13 April 2021, Mr Nwanze and Holly Thompson used an Instagram account (@holly_fxtrends) to provide advice on buying and selling contracts for difference (CFDs) when they were not authorised to do so. CFDs are a high-risk investment product used to bet on the price of an asset, in this case the price of foreign currencies. The FCA also alleges that Mr Nwanze paid Biggs Chris, Jamie Clayton, Lauren Goodger, Rebecca Gormley, Yazmin Oukhellou, Scott Timlin and Eva Zapico to promote the @holly_fxtrends Instagram account to their millions of Instagram followers. Ms Thompson, Mr Chris, Mr Clayton, Ms Goodger, Ms Gormley, Ms Oukhellou, Mr Timlin and Ms Zapico each face one count of issuing unauthorised communications of financial promotions. Continue reading…

New research from regulatory compliance expert, Ideagen, reveals that almost half (48%) of food and beverage businesses now cite one or more ecological issues as a risk to their operations. This puts a combined group of planetary woes in fourth place among a ranking of all risks facing the sector. In analysis of the challenges businesses mention in their Risks and Uncertainties statements, weather is mentioned by 18%, climate change by 14%, environmental risk by 11% and sustainability by 5%. Added together, these become the single biggest risk other than financial worries for the first time. Continue reading…

New research from Armis, the asset intelligence cybersecurity company, shows over half (52%) of UK IT leaders believe the government can’t defend its citizens and enterprises against an act of cyberwarfare. This lack of faith in the government is higher than anywhere else surveyed in Europe, including Germany (40%) and France (42%). This is a significant change in sentiment compared to a year ago, when 77% of UK IT leaders had confidence in the UK government. Continue reading…

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) Regional Consultative Group (RCG) for Europe met recently in Dublin. The group discussed global and regional macroeconomic developments and their implications for financial stability. The macro-financial environment continues to be shaped by the adjustment of the global economy to high interest rates, while geopolitical factors are weighing on the outlook. Despite tight financing conditions and subdued confidence, growth in the region is projected to gradually pick up, amid a recovery in real incomes. In global financial markets, certain asset valuations remain stretched and vulnerable to adjustment in the face of adverse shocks. Continue reading…

Eastnets, a global provider of compliance and payment solutions for the financial services sector, has appointed four expert, Independent Board Directors to deepen industry impact and expand global reach. Together with the existing team, the enhanced Board will strengthen Eastnets’ company leadership, further its commitment to high standards of corporate governance, and bring new perspectives to decision-making. Continue reading…

Over 220 central bankers and banking supervisors representing more than 90 jurisdictions met on 24–25 April in Basel for the 23rd International Conference of Banking Supervisors (ICBS). The ICBS included a programme to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. Delegates took the opportunity to reflect on the Committee’s achievements over the past half century, the outlook for banks and supervisors, and the implications for the Committee’s future work. Continue reading…

by Fabio Accardi and Emiliano Di Carlo

The debate on corporate finalism, i.e. the purpose of existence of organisations, has always involved scholars, managers and, in general, a plurality of actors who are interested in economics and management issues. The reasons for this interest are deep and can be traced back to the crisis that the capitalist system is going through and which has made obsolete the theories focused on the sole ability of companies to create an economic surplus value in terms of margins between the resources used as raw materials/utilities, labor force and outputs in terms of products/services. The constant greater use and saturation of resources in environmental (raw materials/utilities) and social (workforce) terms and the progressive participation in consumption of larger segments of the population make the only parameter of the profitability of the individual production organisation unsustainable at the global community level. Continue reading…

by Thomas J. Jordan

It is a great pleasure to give you some insights into this pilot project of the Swiss National Bank. The pilot represents the world’s first issuance of a wholesale CBDC on a regulated third-party platform to settle commercial transactions with tokenised assets. Helvetia III is a good example of how learnings from BIS Innovation Hub projects can be leveraged for real world use. We started this work together with the Hub’s Swiss Centre and the private sector more than four years ago. In Helvetia I and II, we jointly expanded our understanding of wholesale CBDC and shared the findings with the central bank community. We took advantage of this groundwork to launch Helvetia III in December 2023, bringing Swiss franc wholesale CBDC from a test setting to real use. Continue reading…

by Simon Yeoman

Social media for business. Crucial asset or Trojan Horse for cybersecurity threats? For a growing business, it’s both. From increasing brand awareness and targeting advertisements to boosting website traffic and conversion, an online presence can reap significant rewards for a brand. However, below the surface, all is not as it seems. Weak passwords, overshared personal details and even simple usernames can expose businesses to data breaches and leaks. And the rise of sophisticated deepfakes further increases this risk, enabling impersonation attacks that can have devastating effects. Continue reading…

by Klaas Knot

What was on our minds when we last met in December 2022? At that time, we had just seen the sharpest tightening of financial conditions since the 2008 global financial crisis. We had concerns about elevated debt levels and interconnectedness between banks and non-bank financial intermediaries amid high inflation and a deteriorating growth outlook. In this context, I emphasized that financial stability could not be taken for granted. So where are we today? Well, these concerns have not vanished; they continue to shape large parts of the FSB’s work. While inflation has somewhat eased, there is still some uncertainty about the persistence of inflation. What’s more, market valuations remain elevated. The tight spreads and low volatility in corporate bond markets are hard to square with rising defaults and upcoming higher refinancing costs. Similarly, equity valuations appear stretched.
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