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As a result, the numbers tell of a war being lost. The “Global Threat Assessment”, a report by John Cusack, an ex-chair of the Wolfsberg Group, an association of banks that helps develop AML standards, estimates that $5.8trn-worth of financial crime was perpetrated in 2018—equivalent to 6.7% of global GDP. Statistics on how much is intercepted by authorities are patchy. A decade-old estimate by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime put it at just 0.2% of the total. In 2016 Europol estimated the confiscation rate in Europe to be a higher but still paltry 1.1%

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use of fintech is likely to rise with the launch of the sovereign digital currency, since individuals without a bank account will be able to access the digital currency and therefore be poised to use other fintech products.

From How Will China’s Sovereign Digital Currency Affect Fintech? – The Diplomat:

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Successfully implementation and scaling up the DCEP (within China and eventually beyond its borders) would empower China to potentially rewrite international norms, values, and ethics in financial technology.

From China’s Digital Currency: Implications for the US – The Diplomat:

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The Prudential Control and Resolution Authority (ACPR), which operates under the Banque de France, issued a statement on 6 April. It stated that “the term ‘neobank’ must necessarily qualify a credit institution”.

From France’s central bank warns fintech industry of rules using term “neobank”:

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The company’s Chapter 11 filing attributes Cred’s decline to former Chief Capital Officer James Alexander and his decision to on-board an asset manager who was later alleged to have committed fraud. The firm also singles out Alexander’s alleged “misappropriation” of customers’ digital assets, which, the filing claims, limited the company’s ability to hedge against fluctuating crypto prices.

From Bad Loans, Bad Blood: How Crypto Lender Cred Really Went Bankrupt- CoinDesk:

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On March 8, an examiner looking into the failure of Cred – Alexander’s most recent company – claimed that Alexander had escaped from a UK prison in 2008 while serving time for fraud. His oversight of Cred’s assets is currently under scrutiny, and the company’s creditors have asked a court to issue a warrant for his arrest.

From Fugitive to Fintech? Examiner Says Cred Exec Hid a Criminal Past:

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The only detainee listed as having escaped on October 15, 2008 is James Demorges. The examiner also cited a name-change document filed in Minnesota; Minnesota state court records show that one James Alexander changed his name in 1994 to James Alexander De Morges, court spokesman Kyle Christopherson told Insider.

From Fugitive to Fintech? Examiner Says Cred Exec Hid a Criminal Past:

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The contactless change also impacting employee pay for the better: servers are no longer reliant on tips

From Some restaurants thriving after going fully contactless:

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Matt Harris, an Orum investor and partner at Bain Capital, says the “most aggressive” implementation of a digital dollar would be where every American has a bank account at the Federal Reserve and could move his money instantly.

From Orum Raises $21 Million To Speed Up Bank Payments From Five Days To One:

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A proposal to force Australians to present 100 points of identification in order to get a social media account faces opposition as academics say it won’t halt online abuse as intended and could even strengthen the hand of Facebook and Twitter.

From Push to require ID to use social media meets resistance as experts say it won’t halt online abuse:

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When Did Growth Begin?
New Estimates of Productivity Growth in England from 1250 to 1870

 

Productivity growth began in 1600—almost a century before the Glorious
Revolution. Post-1600 productivity growth had two phases: an initial phase of modest growth
of 4% per decade between 1600 and 1810, followed by a rapid acceleration at the time of the
Industrial Revolution to 18% per decade. Our evidence helps distinguish between theories of
why growth began. In particular, our findings support the idea that broad-based economic
change preceded the bourgeois institutional reforms of 17th century England and may have
contributed to causing them.

From Add to Buffer:

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An important debate regarding the onset of growth is whether economic change drove political
and institutional change as Marx famously argued or whether political and institutional change
kick-started economic growth (e.g., North and Thomas, 1973). Reality is likely more complex than
either polar view. However, our result that productivity growth began almost a century before the
Glorious Revolution and well before the English Civil War supports the Marxist view—articulated
for example by Hill (1940, 1961)—that economic change contributed importantly to 17th century
institutional change in England.

Alan W. Brown is Professor in Digital Economy at the University of Exeter Business School

Dave Birch. By taking a narrower focus, Dave places a spotlight on digital transformation in finance and banking. He writes extensively on digital identity, digital currencies, and transformation of digital finance in his frequent opinion pieces for Forbes and additional essays that form the basis for his books. For business and society to be sustainable it requires us to be able to transact and interact in meaningful ways. The attraction of his work is the ease with which he ties together the technology, business, and societal viewpoints. Dave demystifies this often-complex world. I ensure that I follow his work to stay on top of this core topic for digital transformation, and to be entertained by his perceptive personal viewpoint and wonderful anecdotes.

From Digital Economy Dispatch #031 | Alan W. Brown:

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The attraction of his work is the ease with which he ties together the technology, business, and societal viewpoints. Dave demystifies this often-complex world.

Alan W. Brown, Professor in Digital Economy, University of Exeter Business School (2021).