Beyond Borders? - Issue #462 April 3rd, 2024

The United Kingdom's flagship international communications program, the GREAT Britain and Northern Ireland Campaign (GREAT), has unveiled The Ever-Changing Statue in New York City. This innovative 3D-hologram installation, on display at Rise, created by Barclays through April 4, 2024, showcases the U.K. as a major tech investment hub and home to over 160 unicorn companies with valuations up to $18 billion. Featuring leading unicorn and futurecorn founders and CEOs, the installation emphasizes the U.K.'s dynamic and thriving tech landscape.

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Seeking dynamic speakers spanning fintech, banking, science, and tech? Craving to broaden your network across the fintech ecosystem? Look no further than Berlin's premier fintech festival, FIBE, https://www.fibe-berlin.com/, your ultimate destination this spring!

FinTech World Forum 2024 is based in London UK Europe as one of leading fintech events 2023 for global financial services, finance and banking technology industry. Its focuses on Mobile Payments, Lending, Insurance, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Investment, Money, Crypto, Cryptocurrency, Digital, Innovation, Wallet, Pensions, Funds, Payment, Tech, Financial Services, Technology, Bank, Wealth Management, Insurtech, Regtech and Wealthtech. For more info visit: https://fintechconferences.com/

Join us for RE•WORK's highly anticipated AI in Finance Summit New York 2024, happening on April 18-19, 2024, at etc.venues 360 Madison, in New York, NY. Get the latest cutting-edge use cases from people leading AI initiatives from the most innovative companies in BFSI. Learn how companies from other sectors are: - Using the most effective ML Models to combat fraud - Advancing conversational AI for chatbots with NLP - Embracing ethical and transparent AI practices to protect the privacy of their customers - ... And much more!

To register, visit: https://ny-ai-finance.re-work.co/register Use discount code: FINTECHWEEKLY for 30% discount

Impact Investing Conference 2024 in London is the Impact Investing World Forum (IIWF) 2024 as one of leading social impact investment events for ESG Funds, UN SDGs, Investor and sustainable investing in UK Europe Oxford University. The event brings together hedge funds, wealth management, private equity, venture capital, foundations, endowments, bonds and ESG investing professionals. More info: https://impactinvestingconferences.

Ross, the chief investment strategist at Cascend Securities, predicts a significant boost in the smartphone and PC market in the second half of 2024, driven by advancements in artificial intelligence. He discusses the potential impact of AI on the chip sector, suggesting a positive outlook for technology investments and market growth.

Brigit is looking for a Backend Software Engineer to help us scale our next-gen consumer finance platform to millions of users in the next year

As a Director of Product Management, you will be part of the product leadership team driving Ramp to the next level. You will own our entire financial platform suite which includes payments, risk management, authentication, collections, and treasury. These services power every product for our growing customer base and move billions of dollars every year.

We’re seeking an Observability Systems Engineer focused on creating, implementing, and managing monitoring, alerting, and remediation tools and processes to join the Q2 Observability & Automation Tools team.

Launched in 2022, Geyser, a pioneering crowdfunding platform that leverages Bitcoin's Lightning Network for donations, has rapidly gained momentum. In just two years, it has attracted over 50,000 contributors and supported 1,000 projects, channeling donations totaling 30 BTC (approximately $2,125,000), with the bulk of this activity occurring in the last year.

In a pivotal moment for the U.S. crypto industry, District Court Judge Katherine Polk Failla delivered a ruling on the motion for judgment in the SEC v. Coinbase case. The court's decision, which carries significant implications for U.S. crypto policy, touched on critical issues such as the potential overreach of the SEC's authority under the Major Questions Doctrine, the due process rights of Coinbase, and the application of the SEC v. Howey test to crypto-assets, contrasting with its use in traditional securities.

Rakuten Group is set to merge its fintech divisions into a single unit to enhance collaboration and customer acquisition, spanning online banking, credit cards, and more, effective this October. Despite the integration, Rakuten Bank will remain listed on the Tokyo exchange. This move follows Rakuten's financial struggles, notably after its 2020 mobile carrier launch led to persistent operating losses. To stabilize its finances, Rakuten has sold assets, including a partial stake in Rakuten Securities to Mizuho Financial Group, and may reconsider its plan to list Rakuten Securities following the restructuring.

As artificial intelligence (AI) shapes the future, the government is exploring its potential by experimenting with AI applications across various departments. A specialized team of experts is conducting case studies to identify AI use cases as part of the AI mission. This initiative aims to streamline processes, enhance user-friendliness, and reduce workload, according to government and industry sources.

The artificial intelligence (AI) landscape is constantly advancing, particularly in the realm of Virtual Assistants (VAs). These digital helpers, integral to daily tasks, face limitations due to their dependency on specific language models. A groundbreaking development, the "World-English" Neural Network Language Model (NNLM), is set to revolutionize on-device AI. This innovative approach could significantly enhance the FinTech sector by creating virtual assistants that are more inclusive, adaptive, and efficient, serving a global audience with unmatched precision and sophistication.

Synctera, a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) startup, has undergone restructuring, leading to a workforce reduction, the company confirmed to TechCrunch. Although the exact number of affected employees wasn't disclosed by Synctera, Fintech Business Weekly reports that approximately 17 people, or 15% of the workforce, were laid off. This reduction suggests that Synctera had around 113 employees before the cuts, reducing to about 96 afterward. Synctera, known for developing a platform that connects fintech companies with sponsor banks, recently secured an $18.6 million extension to its Series A funding, initially $15 million, announced in March 2023. The company also welcomed Leigh Gross as the new Chief Revenue Officer and announced BTG Pactual and Flutterwave as its customers.