Greening The Grid Is Sustainability Step One – But How? The decarbonization of the power grid is a core step in building a sustainable, climate-friendly economy. Indeed, US president Joe Biden has put having an emissions-free electricity sector by 2035 at the heart of his climate agenda. Emissions-free power is the foundation of
Banking In A Post-Pandemic World – What To Expect Banks had an unprecedented year in 2020. In a matter of months, they transformed into almost fully digital operations with remote workers delivering services from their homes. To support them, regulators eased capital requirements and provided liquidity, and banks were able to play a
Tough New Sustainability Rules Are Here – Is Your Company Ready? On March 10, 2021, the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) came into force. The SFDR – which forms part of the broader EU action plan for sustainable finance – is aimed at promoting disclosures related to sustainability issues. The overall goal is
Burned by GameStop: Lessons for Low-Cost Trading Platforms From “GameStonk” The rise and fall of GameStop dominated headlines in late January – an apparent David-and-Goliath story of small retail investors taking on hedge fund titans. As regulators and traders survey the fallout from the GameStop spike, however, a different story is emerging, with
Just What Is Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) Anyway? Around the world, rich economies are facing a historically unprecedented set of problems, including aging populations, slow growth, low or negative interest rates, and deflation. This novel set of economic issues, which has emerged in country after country over the last few decades, demands novel
The EU’s Record-Breaking Social Bonds Issue & The Labeled Bond Market The European Union’s inaugural social bonds issue set a global demand record in October – the multi-billion-euro, two-part offer was nearly 14 times oversubscribed. Some observers hailed this success as a testament to the strength of the sustainable finance market, while others
Neobanks & PayTech Firms Struggle With Compliance & Service As Times Get Tough Digital challenger banks and PayTech firms have had a difficult year. The Wirecard accounting scandal and bankruptcy damaged investor appetite for this previously popular corner of FinTech and, as the pandemic-led recession has ravaged economies, customer complaints and compliance issues
Big Four Accounting Firms Enter The ESG Reporting Fray Companies’ attempts to transition to a more socially responsible, sustainable model have long been plagued by the challenge of measuring progress. With no universal reporting formats, businesses have struggled to monitor their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance. There have been various attempts at
As Payments Competition Heats Up, Big Tech Firms Run Into Regulatory Roadblocks Despite the efforts of some activists, the technology industry remains largely unregulated – able to do more or less what it likes with user data, and largely free from content restrictions. Recently, however, the world’s Big Tech firms have begun to
From Crisis To Opportunity: Central Banks Seize The COVID-19 Moment To Embrace Change Central banks worldwide are embracing extraordinary policies in a bid to stave off the worst economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The US Federal Reserve has announced a dramatic shift in its monetary policy approach, for example, and the European
