As environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues receive more mainstream attention, banks are continuing to find themselves in the crosshairs. From NGOs and investors to regulators and customers – banks are continuously being pressured to do a better job on ESG.
Financial-technology and financial-services firms are transitioning from competitors to partners, exploiting the advantages and resources that each offers—with fintechs bringing technological proficiency and agility and banks providing large and loyal customer bases. Four recent partnerships confirm just how rewarding these unions can be.
If you feel as if your every move is being tracked, you may be right. Investment firms and other businesses are paying a premium for alternative data, including geolocation data, hoping it will give them a competitive edge in their quest to maximise investment returns by lending them greater insight into consumer patterns and preferences.
Kieran Donoghue, the Irish Development Authority’s Global Head of Strategy, Public Policy and International Financial Services examines the continuing uncertainty around Brexit and role that Ireland can play as a strategic partner to the United Kingdom’s (UK) financial services industry.
The investment world is never free of a popular new kid on the block; special purpose acquisition companies are attracting significant investor interest as they help companies transition from private to public. Will these shell companies go down in investment history as another short-term craze, or will they become a permanent part of the IPO process? The jury is undecided, but the SPAC is an avenue that investors should consider.
Until recently, stock trading was the exclusive domain of high-flying, wealthy Goliaths. With the arrival of avenues such as digital platforms, every-day Davids are entering the arena and, by coordinating their efforts, significantly influencing the prices of targeted stocks. Such was the case of GameStop, with its share price recently experiencing a wild ride after attracting investor interest from different corners, including a band of Davids in Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made 2020 a truly singular year. With a deep global recession resulting from strict lockdown measures being implemented throughout much of the world, there has been little for investors to cheer. But with signs that the worst may be mostly behind us, an increasing number of opportunities will undoubtedly present themselves as we move into 2021.
As COVID-19 continues to transform our daily lives in significant ways, traditional banking models have come under intense pressure. Technology is facilitating a rapidly evolving landscape for financial services, with the execution of financial transactions no longer solely under the stewardship of conventional financial institutions.
In December 2018, Andrés Manuel López Obrador swept to power, having promised to reduce Mexico’s longstanding problem of gang violence, which had climbed to record levels, and to bolster economic growth, which at that time had slowed considerably.
On December 15, US bank Goldman Sachs announced what many believe to be the strongest restrictions on fossil-fuel activity by any major bank in the United States. Most notably, the bank has become the first big American lender to restrict financing on any part of the oil-and-gas sector, with a particular focus on protecting the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.