Energy prices are leading a steep inflation climb not seen in the eurozone since pre-pandemic times. As the ECB has framed its monetary policy around boosting inflation, which sat at -0.3 percent at the end of 2020, will the bank implement a monetary-tightening policy now that it has achieved its target or wait to see if this trend lasts?
Gains in Europe’s annual inflation rates during the first month of 2021, raising the euro area’s rate to 0.9 percent and the European Union’s to 1.2 percent—due primarily to price increases for industrial goods and services, are encouraging and bring promise for further increases. However, not all EU countries experienced the same success, with Greece at the low end (-2.4 percent) and Poland at the high end (3.6 percent).
Investors are bombarded with stories regarding how investment opportunities will pan out, but not all are good; some are bad, and a few are fairy tales. How is an investor to recognize the good ones? Much depends on the quality of the source, often the investment manager—who needs to be a professional storyteller of stories worth telling. But how to achieve this ideal in a less than ideal world?
According to figures released on Friday, September 11, by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the United Kingdom’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 6.6 percent during July, as lockdown measures in the country continued to ease and the economy showed clearer signs of recovery.
Artificial intelligence, once the subject of science-fiction novels, is today regarded by financial institutions as a must-have. But the AI uptake can be challenging. How can banks turn this trendy buzz-term into a vital component of their day-to-day operations? The embarkation point is to begin the five steps toward making AI innovation a reality. From data to teams, the necessary resources are there to propel a bank into AI actualization.
According to a report commissioned by the UK’s Treasury, Britain’s financial services system is experiencing an existential skills crisis. Why? As digital start-ups have moved quickly to offer desirable working benefits such as flexible hours or learning and development opportunities, financial institutions have been comparably slow to react to new workplace demands.
Fear is among the most compelling human motivators, and sometimes it is appropriate. Often in investing, it is not. Fear of the next recession, underperforming, missing the boat, sustainability issues—the list of fear factors seems endless. Is fear the best investment advisor? How can investors counter fear and achieve their goals of investing in the right vehicles at the right time and accurately determining the right time to sell?
Sustainability is popular in so many ways today, including in investment. It’s not surprising that banks are going all out to link their brands with such a trendy concept. But Lundquist has dived beneath the surface to determine where European banks really stand on sustainability, how it is molding their corporate strategies and communications. The results prove that most banks still have a way to go to be fully credible.
Given the prevailing financial infrastructure that exists today, international transfers continue to remain costly, time-consuming and risky—and even more so when there is a need to exchange currency. Such transactions normally undergo a series of stages that invariably include the involvement of intermediary parties and the foreign-exchange market
Many bankers love blockchain for its potential to maximize efficiency and productivity while slashing costs and security risks. But the crypto-currencies, such as the (in)famous bitcoin, tied to it? Not so much—at least not across the board. While giving the thumbs up to distributed ledger technology for its advantages in areas such as trade finance, industry leaders are maintaining a wary eye on cryptos, due to disadvantages such as volatility.