Author: News Editor

The first day of Nigeria Fintech Week 2023 was packed with innovative minds from across the financial sector, with eye opening insights to help push the nation’s economy forward. The first day of Nigeria Fintech Week 2023 was packed with innovative minds from across the financial sector, with eye opening insights to help push the nation’s economy forward. Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank, gave a compelling keynote address. His insights shed light on the programme’s theme “Fintech: Resilience, Innovation, & Diversification” in the fintech industry, not only in Nigeria but across the entire African continent…

London-based fintech Freemarket secures a payment institution licence from the Central Bank of Ireland, paving the way for its expansion into the European Economic Area. London-based FX fintech Freemarket has been granted a payment institution licence from the Central Bank of Ireland enabling the company’s expansion to Europe. The B2B cross-border payments and currency exchange company now has market access to the entire European Economic Area (EEA). With an estimated 24.4 million SMBs across the EU, the B2B cross-border payment market is set to grow globally by 43 percent by 2030 giving Freemarket plenty of expansion opportunities. Founded in 2010,…

UAE banks’ gross assets jumped by 10.7% to more than AED3.9 trillion ($1.062 trillion) at the end of August 2023, compared to the previous year, the Central Bank of the UAE revealed. The gross assets, which also include bankers’ acceptances, posted a 0.5% increase compared to AED3.8 trillion recorded at the end of July 2023. The lenders’ total reserves at the Central Bank increased by 34.5% year-on-year to AED486.3 billion at the end of August, while gross credit went up by 5.5% to more than AED1.9 trillion. Bank deposits reached around AED2.4 trillion in August, up by 10.9% year-on-year and…

Emirates Islamic Bank’s third quarter 2023 returns were particularly impressive. Record highs are what UAE’s leading banks are reporting with their nine-month results for 2023, with Dubai-headquartered EIB seeing a 56 per cent growth in profit to Dh1.65 billion. It was put together by higher ‘funded and non-funded income’ and which in turn reflected ‘improved business sentiment’. In the July to September period alone, the Emirates Islamic Bank income grew 46 per cent from a year ago period to Dh1.2 billion. On the expenses side, they were up 35 per cent at the end of the nine months, given the…

Frankfurt was ready to celebrate. Only a year after the 2016 Brexit referendum, the vast majority of US banks had set up their EU hubs in the German city. International school places were being block-booked ahead of relocations from the UK and property prices were rocketing. But the French government had other ideas. Emmanuel Macron, victorious after defeating far‑right candidate Marine Le Pen in France’s presidential elections, started courting the world’s biggest investment banks. “Their people were texting our people photos of magnificent, historic buildings we could open trading floors in, saying they had amazing food and great infrastructure,” said…

Britain on Tuesday scrapped a decade-old cap on banker bonuses inherited from the European Union, signalling a clear divergence in post-Brexit financial rules from the 27-country bloc it left in 2020. Britain was outvoted in the EU when the cap was introduced in 2014 to try to prevent the kind of behaviour that led to the global financial crisis of 2008 and its accompanying taxpayer bailouts of lenders. The move to ditch the cap drew criticism from trade unions and campaigners on Tuesday, who dubbed it inappropriate at a time when many households were struggling in a cost of living…

World fintech and banking industry stakeholders will converge in London, United Kingdom (UK) for this year’s edition of the Global Reputation Forum (GRF)/Reputable Banks and Fintech Awards & Conferences (RBFA), bringing together experts from both the financial and technology sectors 8-9 December, 2023. The quintessentially British London Marriott County Hall will be venue to the annual event which provides a platform for fintech startups and established banking institutions to showcase their latest innovations. Participating institutions and personalities get to witness firsthand how technology is transforming traditional banking services, from digital payments and lending to robo-advisors and blockchain-based solutions. Besides its…

Big banks in Britain are preparing for any future escalation of Western sanctions on China and have shared their “scenario planning” with the British and U.S. governments, a senior banking official has told Reuters. The project involves sharing lessons learned from other sanctions frameworks, including those on Russia, and discussions about the effect any measures imposed on China might have, Neil Whiley, director of sanctions at lobby group UK Finance, said. After many companies were wrongfooted by the speed and breadth of prohibitions on Russia, banks are drawing up contingency plans in case geopolitical tensions between the West and China…