FinTech News Issue #24 July 16th, 2015

Finerd promises to be efficient, as costs have been significantly reduced by automating key processes, removing layers of intermediaries, avoiding conflicts of interest and investing in a selection of passive, low-fee, tax-aware instruments.

With Britain’s productivity currently lagging behind that of Italy, France, Germany and our American cousins, something has got to be done. Our productivity, has slumped to around the same level that it was in 2007, pre-financial crisis.

Falling technology costs and layoffs during the financial crisis created a boom in financial startups after 2008, and increasingly investment bank workers are leaving top firms to join the world of financial technology, or fintech.

Prominent Chicago entrepreneurs and investors announced Friday the launch of the Chicago Bitcoin Center. Located at 1871, Chicago’s digital startup hub, the Chicago Bitcoin Center is dedicated to education, innovation, and development of blockchain-based technologies.

Why on earth would Greece want to replace the euro, a currency it already thinks too restrictive, with another which would be even more constraining and give Greeks even less control over monetary affairs?

Hundreds of millions of people are becoming peer lenders and bankers – now everyone can invest, even with small amounts. Banks will continue to play a role, but only the good ones. For the rest, it’s already too late.”

Citigroup Inc. is set to report second-quarter results on Thursday before the market opens. It’s almost certain to be calmer than the year-ago announcement, when the bank simultaneously announced a $7 billion mortgage-securities settlement with the Justice Department.

Whilst the bitcoin price may have stolen some headlines during the Greece negotiations it is the underlying technology, blockchain, that is really making waves across the financial world.

The Fintech has shown impressive growth all over the world. The internet is changing finance, just as it has changed all other sectors, faster and easier than before. By developing and using new technology, start-ups can use their lower costs to undercut banks and established industry players with a cheaper and faster service.

The SWIFT Institute is offering research teams €15,000 to investigate how bitcoin's underlying distributed ledger technology could impact the global securities ecosystem.