Latest News

Dollar trending lower as politics, trade, and rates dominate

September, 2020

For quite some time it seems that Forex has been on the backburners with focus on Equities, Commodities and Treasuries being driven by the growing global economic devastation caused by the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown. 

The Mighty Dollar – Is it still so mighty?

August, 2020

When people talk about the mighty dollar, they are not normally talking about USD strength.

Covid-19 ‘net positive’ for crypto-currencies

August, 2020

The market cap of crypto is many times smaller than that of the stock market in terms of traded volume.

Can Bitcoin provide protection against Covid- 19 inflation?

July, 2020

Can Bitcoin provide protection against Covid- 19 inflation?

Hong Kong’s Changing Status and New Normal

July, 2020

As the world contemplates its new normal, HK is facing its own, and it has nothing to do with COVID19. It is hardly surprising that HK has found its way into the middle of US-China political tensions, and now appears to be taking the full brunt of US grievances. 

Enterprise-grade AI: Benefits and adoption in 2020

June, 2020

Continuing from the previous article where we introduced how AI will affect work within the enterprise and its associated challenges, this second installation shall explore some of the benefits and risks to AI adoption in the enterprise.  

Enterprise-grade AI and the associated challenges

June, 2020

Continuing from the previous article where we introduced how AI will affect work within the enterprise and its associated challenges, this second installation shall explore some of the benefits and risks to AI adoption in the enterprise.  

Bond Markets and the New Normal

May, 2020

Bonds are currently creating a confusing picture for investors globally. Economies are in a bind due to COVID19, stories of vaccines are elevating peoples hopes for a quick return to the ‘old normal’, and the FED is throwing stimulus and rescue packages at it all, including corporate bonds.

Evolving Learning Technologies

May, 2020

Education and technology both have a great impact on our prosperity today. They contribute to the knowledge and wealth of humanity. 

Language Barriers and Their Implications

May, 2020

Language barriers are a common struggle across industries and countries, and can have different meanings depending on where you are. Initially when we talk about a language barrier, we imagine the tourist situation. 

First Negative Yields – Now Negative Oil Prices

April, 2020

Oil took time to catch up with other asset classes in the recent sell off of assets, and it was caused mostly by the gloomy economic environment from the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 and Oil finally catch up to Equities

April, 2020

After resisting the rather obvious and impending effect of coronavirus, markets have finally been hit by a double tidal wave. Caused by fears over the spreading virus and oil price declines, it sparked a massive sell off in equities and Bond yields which tumbled. The US government benchmark dropping to a record low of 0.318% on Monday 9th March. 

Will IT Disruption be your #1 Operational Risk in 2020?

March, 2020

There are many risks to business operations, and we are currently deep in the fallout of Covid-19 geopolitical risk. The Covid-19 outbreak highlights just how quickly things can change. When surveys were conducted in January ranking the top operational risks for 2020, the outbreak drew scarcely a mention, with only some respondents based in the Asia-Pacific region flagging it as a minor concern.

Our New Reality

March, 2020

Extended Reality (XR) is an umbrella name given for the various forms of augmented or virtual reality (AR/VR). In our modern age of digital technology, most people are familiar with some form of XR. You may have seen the Pokémon Go effect of people mindlessly walking the streets looking for virtual Pokémon through their smart phones, making headlines for accidents caused by such use. While XR technology empowers these apps, there are lots of new use cases that are worthy of discussion.

Credit Risk is Complex

March, 2020

Credit Risk is Complex

Could a cyber attack trigger the next financial crisis?

February, 2020

Following our previous article on “Ransomware as a Service” it would appear the risks of organised cyber crime such as recent targeted & state sponsored attacks, are now being viewed as a potential source of systemic risk to the financial system.

US – Iran: Far from Finished

February, 2020

The relationship between the US and the Middle East has always been complex, and the most volatile has arguably been Iran.

The Evolution of Ransomware as a Service (RaaS)

February, 2020

Ransomware is a type of Malware (Malicious Software) that holds the victim to ransom. The origins of Ransomware date back to 1989, when 20,000 diskettes were distributed to attendees of the World Health Organisation International AIDS Conference.

Smart Cities-Brave new world or surveillance nightmare?

January, 2020

The purpose of a smart city is to make life easier & safer for its citizens. We live in a new age where over 50% of the global population now live in cities and this number is continuing grow. By 2045, it’s predicted that over 6 billion of people will live in cities.

How Blockchain prevents the private ownership of the moon - Innovative use of Blockchains which you never think of

January, 2020

How Blockchain prevents the private ownership of the moon-Innovative use of Blockchains which you never think of

Why Deep Fake- AI threats to Cyber security

December, 2019

DeepFake comes from “deep learning” and “fake”. Artificial Intelligence technology used to create fake videos and audio that look and sound real. With the recent advances in AI technology DeepFake are now virtually indistinguishable from originals.

Digital Awareness- Are you ready for AI revolution?

November, 2019

AI is fast developing into a vast field of computer science with many facets, Super Intelligence, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Image Recognition & Robotic Process Automation, so on and so forth. The intention of this article is not to delve into the science of AI but explain how AI is disrupting many areas of our daily lives. In its various formats, it’s now creeping its way into our systems and processes, and for good reason. 

Why are companies failing to reduce organizational cyber risk?

October, 2019

Almost every industry is being disrupted by the 4.0 effect, there will possibly be implications of this rapid transformation that we cannot foresee. The ever-increasing drive to digitize the way we do business is completely changing business models. Long gone are the days of traditional bricks & mortar establishments and paper. Today’s modern disruptors are more akin to I.T. service providers.

Australian Bond Market – the foundation on which its Capital Market is built

October, 2019

One of the primary foundation pillars of any developed and fully functioning capital market is easy and complete access to debt capital. Australia would certainly fit this description in capital market and is well-trusted and respected globally.

Misfortune for oldest name in travel business, sigh of relief for others - Derivatives & it’s protective benefits

October, 2019

One of the oldest names in the travel business has collapsed due to bad business decisions, inability to adapt and integrate to new technology for competing in this burgeoning digital world of travel business.

A Trade War on Equities-Equity investors & traders on red alert

September, 2019

When Trump started a trade war with China, he put all equity investors and traders on red alert. Equity markets are affected dramatically by global trade. The initial knee jerk reaction was to sell China stocks as they face the initial brunt of the trade war, but after that the negative effect seeps out into China’s biggest trading partners and Asia in particular.

Currency Manipulation or Plain Politics?

September, 2019

America claims China is manipulating its currency and will engage with the IMF to eliminate unfair competition. This follows the USDCNY breach of the psychological 7 level. This is more a symbolic move than a substantive one, but it dials up the pressure in a trade war that has rapidly escalated into a currency war, harming businesses, consumers and others that depend on steady relations between the world’s two largest economies.

The Fallout from 1MDB

August, 2019

Anyone thinking that 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal was done and dusted, think again.

Equity Markets

August, 2019

Equity markets are the heartbeat of a country’s economy. In many ways, you need to look no further than levels of a nations, primary stock index to get a sense of how the country’s economics are.

Financial Management and its importance in financial services industry

July, 2019

Financial Management is a vital activity in any organization. It is the process of planning, organizing, controlling and monitoring financial resources with a view to achieve organizational goals and objectives. Without it, banks or corporates may overstretch and fail for the wrong non-business reasons or miss out on great opportunities for growth. The three main types of financial management decisions are capital budgeting, capital structure, and working capital management. A business transaction that would include capital budgeting affects if a company or bank consider branches expansion.

Swaps - nothing is more powerful or relevant for client’s hedging

July, 2019

Swaps - nothing is more powerful or relevant for client’s hedging

Basel III is coming

June, 2019

Basel 3 is arriving, there is no doubt on that, but is it a perfect fit for all? Is it a simple plug and play for all banks, for all countries? And how are banks shaping up to meet the new demands on them?

Oil is at a crossroads – what’s next from here- 40 or 100, it’s a pretty even bet?

June, 2019

 Oil is at a crossroads – what’s next from here- 40 or 100, it’s a pretty even bet? 

DLT – is already in heavy use in banks for FX transactions

May, 2019

 DLT – is already in heavy use in banks for FX transactions 

The slow death of LIBOR and its multiple consequences

May, 2019

The slow death of LIBOR and its multiple consequences

Bonds are all the rage again-or are they?

May, 2019

Bonds are all the rage again-or are they?

Acquiring Private Banking clients and how to manage their relationships once you snag them

April, 2019

Acquiring Private Banking clients and how to manage their relationships once you snag them

Leadership and values make a difference to the bottom line

April, 2019

Recent years in the banking, and financial industry as a whole, have reinforced the sad fact that sometimes people (previously good or bad) do bad things. Fixing abuses, miss-selling, fraud, operational errors. If there is a will there is a way, as they say, and human beings seem to find a way when really, we don’t want them too as it leads often to maximum financial and reputational damage for the employers.

Crypto Currency enters mainstream trading

March, 2019

At a time when crypto’s are under fire from a performance perspective the move towards mainstream acceptance is continuing at its own pace. CME launched BTC futures back in Dec 2017 and the nascent BTC derivatives market remains tiny in comparison to Fiat currency pairs volumes. But in the race to establish the main BTC future contract, CME is clearly leading the way in BTC volumes (see chart below).

Asset Management – whether passive or active management, assets under management are growing but they are also getting more concentrated

March, 2019

The big continue to get bigger with the top 500 fund managers in the world growing assets by 15.6 percent last year - the most significant increase since 2009 with the top 20 firms managing a large portion (43%). This is a continuing trend with the market growing and becoming more concentrated.

Cyber Crime and Money Laundering – a dangerous marriage for all in finance

February, 2019

All Banks are acutely aware of the importance of Cyber Security and of AML defenses. Increasingly though the two are often combined by criminals aiming to benefit illegally at the cost of financial institutions. It is becoming a huge issue in not just money stolen or transferred illegally, but in cost to the global economies. A McAfee report last year estimated a $600 billion global cost.

Cybersecurity front and center!

February, 2019

Anyone working in financial institutions should be aware of how important cyber security is to any organization.

Is the pendulum swinging back to WM products in China?

January, 2019

Shiny yellow metal and its place in a portfolio

January, 2019

When constructing a balanced portfolio, you would normally have a percentage in precious metals, usually Gold.

2019 is approaching and Equities don’t know which way to turn

December, 2018

 2019 is approaching and Equities don’t know which way to turn 

Blockchain and Crypto’s finding their way into mainstream exchange traded products

November, 2018

Blockchain and Crypto’s finding their way into mainstream exchange traded products

Brexit Woes – will they ultimately mean rich pickings for other Derivative centres?

November, 2018

Brexit Woes – will they ultimately mean rich pickings for other Derivative centres?

Understanding causes and effects in markets

October, 2018

Understanding causes and effects in markets

Treasury and Liquidity Management – the unsung hero

October, 2018

Treasury and Liquidity Management – the unsung hero

You never know the value of a good Operational Risk policy until the lack of one bites you, and Europe is in the middle of a swathe of bites.

October, 2018

You never know the value of a good Operational Risk policy until the lack of one bites you, and Europe is in the middle of a swathe of bites.

Regulatory demands touch everybody in Financial Institutions, and they touch them everywhere!

October, 2018

Regulatory demands touch everybody in Financial Institutions, and they touch them everywhere!

It’s all Greek to me

October, 2018

It’s all Greek to me

Agile thinking and Finance – can they work together?

September, 2018

Agile is not a new technique for managing teams and projects, it first surfaced in 2001. But it has become a hot and trendy methodology in recent years. But do projects in finance fit with using an agile methodology.

BPO Services in demand, and skill sets required are moving up the curve

September, 2018

BPO Services in demand, and skill sets required are moving up the curve

Equity Bull Run – it’s been 9 years of merriment

September, 2018

Equity Bull Run – it’s been 9 years of merriment 

Sexual harassment takes many forms and is still a problem in financial institutions – What to do about it?

September, 2018

Sexual harassment takes many forms and is still a problem in financial 

Socially responsible investing and Green bonds are growing in importance

September, 2018

Socially responsible investing and Green bonds are growing in importance

Islamic Finance is spreading

August, 2018

Islamic Finance is spreading

The Return of MBS

August, 2018

The Return of MBS

Cyber Security – Good News and Bad News

August, 2018

Cyber Security – Good News and Bad News

Herd mentality in danger of trampling on the bulls

August, 2018

Herd mentality in danger of trampling on the bulls

Option Hedging in the Oil Market Will the U.S. Yield Curve Invert?

July, 2018

Option Hedging in the Oil Market

Will the U.S. Yield Curve Invert?

Here we go again… Currency wars anybody?

July, 2018

Here we go again… Currency wars anybody?

Corporate Actions, order out of the chaos is a must

July, 2018

Corporate Actions, order out of the chaos is a must

Fintech is Not Coming – It is Here

July, 2018

Fintech is Not Coming – It is Here

Big or Small, Bank or Staff – Anti-Money Laundering Protection is Critical

July, 2018

Big or Small, Bank or Staff – Anti-Money Laundering Protection is Critical

Asian Equities. You are not alone

June, 2018

Asian Equities. You are not alone

HSBC claims first trade-finance deal with blockchain

June, 2018

HSBC claims first trade-finance deal with blockchain

A rising dollar and the risks it poses Commodities volatility: a bumpy ride in prospect M&A: 2018 deals promise record year

May, 2018

A rising dollar and the risks it poses

Commodities volatility: a bumpy ride in prospect

M&A: 2018 deals promise record year

February’s inflation surprise and surge in equity volatility Big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning The LIBOR-OIS spread is widening. Any concerns?

March, 2018

February’s inflation surprise and surge in equity volatility

Big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning

The LIBOR-OIS spread is widening. Any concerns?

What lies ahead for the financial markets in 2018 Equity markets – Will they rise or fall in 2018? Bubbles in markets? We wouldn’t be that foolish this time!

January, 2018

What lies ahead for the financial markets in 2018

Equity markets – Will they rise or fall in 2018?

Bubbles in markets? We wouldn’t be that foolish this time!

Digital Learning Market Analysis Fosway 9-GridTM

January, 2018

Digital Learning Market Analysis

Fosway 9-Grid^TM