Podcasts about people's bank

Today’s Peoples Bank features John Benoit with the Simpson College Department of Music about live music alongside a silent film this Friday at Simpson College.

Höher, schneller, weiter geht es an den internationalen Finanzmärkten. Nach dem die Peoples Bank of China und die chinesische Regierung frische Liquidität in die chinesischen Finanzmärkte gepumpt hatten, schnellten die Aktienindizes in Richtung Kursnorden. Auch die Finanzmärkte in den USA und in der EWU profitierten von dieser positiven Stimmung. Die Aktien von SAP hingegen stand durch Vorwürfe des US-Justizministeriums bzgl. möglicher Preisabsprachen in den USA unter Verkaufsdruck. Eine sehr brisante Situation für den Walldorfer Konzern und mit möglichen Auswirkungen auch für die Aktionäre. Wie diese Situationen am besten zu greifen sind und was es noch zu beachten gab, erfahrt ihr in der neuen Podcast Folge von com.on mit Andreas Lipkow und Dirk Schwitzke.

Why This Topic? This past week, I flew into Wichita to present on “how to win the buyer” at the REALTOR association of South Central Kansas, thanks to my friends at Peoples Bank. As a ... Read More The post Ep.43: Nobody Told Me About This Part appeared first on The Solopreneur Movement.

Knoxville artist Amber Klootwyk discusses her RAGBRAI inspired art open house happening Wednesday night at Peoples Bank.

Today’s Peoples Bank let’s Talk Indianola features Superintendent Ted Ihns about the most recent Indianola School Board meeting.

Today’s Let’s Talk Indianola features Wes Rodgers with Peoples Bank in Indianola about ag lending.

#BeAGoodFriend and check out episode #90 of #FeeneyTalksWithFriends featuring Keith Griffin. It was great to talk with my good #friend, Keith Griffin. Keith is a writer, photographer and Deacon. We talked about: PTLI inspired Keith to become a Deacon (minute 1) Deacon Bob Hilliard (minute 3.20) Vestments worn by Deacons (minute 7) Podcasting on location at Keating Agency Insurance (minute 10) 3 Keys (sponsored by West Hartford Lock) to being a Deacon (minute 12.30) SpeakUP (minute 15.30) Homilies: First, Last, Best, Worst (minute 16.30) A blessing for the podcast (minute 20) The book of blessings (minute 24.30) Holy Water (minute 27) Award Winning Podcast, thanks to James Mark (minute 33) Becoming a Deacon (minute 34.30) Mashed potato pizza from Luna Pizza (minute 42) #BeAGoodFriend Pizza Special at Luna Pizza (minute 44) Nardwuar questions (minute 46) Paella (minute 50) Our newest podcast sponsor, Parkville Management (minute 52) Keith's two dogs (minute 56) Best thing to ever happen to Keith at a bowling Alley (minute 58) Keith's favorite movie, Babe (minute 1.00) Selfie with Anthony Anderson (minute 1.04) Keith gets a new car every week (minute 1.07) Lamborghini (minute 1.09) Ukraine 2 WeHa Fundraiser (minute 1.14) Another podcast sponsor, Peoples Bank (minute 1.16) What makes Manoli a good #friend? (minute 1.18) Uncle Neil (minute 1.21) Drink Mechanics (minute 1.23) Johnny from Effie's Place (minute 1.26) Crazy Questions sponsored by Donut Crazy (minute 1.29) Closing remarks (minute 1.40) Podcast Sponsors: Donut Crazy - www.donutcrazy.com The Fix IV - www.thefixivtherapy.com West Hartford Lock - www.westhartfordlock.com Keating Agency Insurance - www.keatingagency.com Goff Law Group - www.gofflawgroup.net Parkville Management - www.parkvillemanagement.com Luna Pizza - www.lunapizzawh.com/lunas-menu PeoplesBank - www.bankatpeoples.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/friendsoffeeney/support

Jeff began working in their family business 51 years ago. He is a fifth-generation family member in the company business and a descendant of Edward O'Keefe, Irish immigrant who came to America on the heels of the great potato famine in the mid 1800's. Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home will celebrate 160 years since the beginning of their origins in 2025. Jeff has served two Gubernatorial appoints and former Chairman on the Mississippi State Board of Funeral Service which licenses and regulates Funeral Homes, Crematories and the professions personnel. Jeff has been a board member of The Peoples Bank of Biloxi for 37 years and has served on the local Hospital Board of Merit Health Biloxi for 36 years.Jeff was a Co-Plaintiff with his father, Jeremiah Joseph O'Keefe and their companies against the Loewen Group International in 1995. He is CEO of Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home, Inc. which operates 7 funeral homes, 3 cemeteries and Mississippi's first Crematory. The O'keefe Family has been in bedded in the Biloxi Community for over 160 years and providing funeral services since the late 1800's. They have family run for politic offices and advocate for the best way of life in Mississippi since the American Civil War.

Today’s Peoples Bank Let’s Talk Indianola features Peoples Bank President and CEO Kevin Halterman about their 25th Year Anniversary

How do I get a mortgage? That is what Tiffany Clutter talks about with Denton Jones on this edition of Connecting Coffee County.

Tiffany Clutter talks with Rob Clutter about the upcoming Peoples Bank Cruise-In Car Show.

#BeAGoodFriend and check out episode #83 of #FeeneyTalksWithFriends featuring “Be Real With Bella”! It was great to sit down, talk and catch up with my former student, Bella. Bella was and continues to be an amazing student, classmate and #friend. She is interested in starting her own podcast. We talked about: Podcast sponsors (minute 1) Bella's dad is a Sneakerhead (minute 4) 3 Keys to being a great podcaster (minute 9) Bella's favorite podcasts (minute 11) Inspired by Marsha McCurdy-Adell from WHFD (minute 13) SJC Electric, LLC (minute 15) What should Bella name her podcast: “Bella on the Mic” or “Be Real With Bella”? (minute 18) Bella's podcast questions (minute 20) Feeney's favorite podcasts: Swindled, JRE & Fantasy Footballers (minute 23) Feeney's podcast highlight was interviewing Kenny Mayne (minute 26) Feeney's idol is Mister Rogers (minute 30) Luna's meatballs vs Bella's Mom's meatballs (minute 35) Bella's favorite restaurant, Frida Mexican Cuisine (minute 39) Being the 2023 Clover Club Charity from Johnny's Jog (minute 42) Thanks to our newest podcast sponsor, Peoples Bank (minute 44) What makes Adama a good #friend? (minute 46) Bella's favorite teachers (minute 49) Friends of Nicholas event at the Hartford Yard Goats (minute 51) Erin from The Fix IV Therapy (minute 54) Crazy Questions sponsored by Donut Crazy (minute 57) Recommendations (minute 1.03) Thank you to The Exchange Club of West Hartford (minute 1.06) Trivia Game (minute 1.08) Closing Remarks (minute 1.11) Podcast Sponsors: Donut Crazy - www.donutcrazy.com The Fix IV - www.thefixivtherapy.com West Hartford Lock - www.westhartfordlock.com Keating Agency Insurance - www.keatingagency.com GastoPark - www.thegastropark.com Goff Law Group - www.gofflawgroup.net Luna Pizza - www.lunapizzawh.com/lunas-menu PeoplesBank - www.bankatpeoples.com --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/friendsoffeeney/support

Tom and Ryan take a deep dive into the U.S market this morning where traders are pensive as politicians navigate a debt ceiling stalemate. In a surprising move, the Peoples Bank of China has held the one year lending rate steady. A flat start to trade is expected in Australia with James Hardy's earnings in focus. Plus the team look at commodities and the AUD.  The content in this podcast is prepared, approved and distributed in Australia by Commonwealth Securities Limited ABN 60 067 254 399 AFSL 238814. The information does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Consider the appropriateness of the information before acting and if necessary, seek appropriate professional advice.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tom and Ryan look to the U.S where share markets have fallen slightly on Friday with weaker consumer confidence. Meanwhile the Peoples Bank of China is predicted to cut interest rates for the first time since 2022. Back in Australia shares are expected to open higher ahead of a big week of economic data. Plus the team look at energy prices as well as commodities and the AUD. The content in this podcast is prepared, approved and distributed in Australia by Commonwealth Securities Limited ABN 60 067 254 399 AFSL 238814. The information does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Consider the appropriateness of the information before acting and if necessary, seek appropriate professional advice.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You can learn more about Lisa Schermerhorn at www.lisaschermerhorncoaching.com You can learn more about bLU Talks at www.blutalks.com Lisa is passionate about helping others and has devoted most of her life doing so. She owned the Indigo Wellness Center in the greater Boston area, was Vice President of Business Development for MeditainmentVR, a virtual reality company that helps people de-stress, and lower pain levels without medication. Lisa was also was one of their lead developers, creating cutting edge guided meditations to help people enhance their lives. Having coached professionals and athletes for almost 20 years, she has the expertise to encourage you, point out your blind spots and give you tools to reach your goals. She loves to give back and has held many leadership positions wherever she has lived. Lisa was on the board of the Mad River Valley Wellness Alliance, Past President of the Woman's Club of Concord, graduate of Leadership Greater Concord, NH and Leadership Champlain, VT. As a professional speaker she has given keynotes for the Depression Bipolar Support Alliance of Boston at McLean Hospital, Peoples Bank, Dental Study Group of Concord, Plymouth State University, The Northfield Conference, Women Inspiring Women, Rotary and Lions Clubs, NH Council on Aging, Let's Have a Net Lunch, The NH Charitable Foundation, The American Association of Dowsers Conference. Lisa graduated from Simmons College with a B.A in Management. She is a Certified Master Practitioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), Certified Hypnotherapist, Emotional Release Method Practitioner and Certified in Bob Reese's Winners Mentality Program. Bob is a former head trainer for the NY Jets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How does a community bank whose bread and butter was mortgage lending make the business sustainable in a time when mortgages have increasingly moved to the nonbank sector? “We made a conscious decision,” says Benjamin Bochnowski, CEO of $2 billion-asset Peoples Bank in Munster, Indiana. “We had to modernize it and help it grow; it couldn't exit as a small mortgage operation that only originating $40 million a year in mortgages.” On the latest episode of the podcast — sponsored by Intrafi — Bochnowski, who is also president and CEO of Peoples' parent company Finward, talks about how Peoples Bank built a residential mortgage operation that accounts for a third of its real estate lending portfolio and that originated about $80 million in mortgages last year for portfolio (with more sold in the secondary market). He also talks about how the bank deployed new underwriting and servicing platforms to improve operational efficiency and enhance customer experience. Bochnowski also discusses how Peoples Bank seeks to embody its mutual heritage even after its stock conversion, the bank‘s organic growth strategy and opportunities for M&A deals, and his own career journey in community banking.

Banking solutions that have already been through vendor due diligence and other compliance assessments? Sign us up. That's what the ICBA ThinkTECH Accelerator has aimed to do for the past four years: collaborate with fintechs to develop plug-and-play solutions tailor-made for community banks. In late 2022, ICBA announced it was bringing the Accelerator and all innovation activities in house. In this episode, our guests reveal the reasons behind this move and give a glimpse of how the association will develop initiatives that help community banks flourish. Our guests today are: - Wayne Miller, ICBA's new senior vice president and director of innovation activities, who is the former executive director of The Venture Center in Little Rock, Ark., where the Accelerator got its start. - Jack Hartings, chairman of the Peoples Bank in Coldwater, Ohio, who has been involved with the Accelerator since the beginning and now sits on the cohort selection committee. Independent Banker: A Community Banking Podcast from ICBA is hosted by Charles Potts, ICBA's executive vice president and chief innovation officer. Head to icba.org/thinktech to learn more about ICBA's innovation activities or, if you're a fintech company looking to better understand the needs of community bankers, apply for the 2023 Accelerator.

In this episode, we discuss strategic steps for Equipment Leasing and Finance companies as they grow and evolve. The leadership of some of these businesses may decide to remain a certain size and complexity and be “ lifestyle businesses”, providing healthy cash flow to the owner(s) while they continue to run the business. However, other options exist, and exiting the business for a favorable multiple to a bank or other buyer can be an excellent strategy, the dream plan for many entrepreneurs.  In this interview, we interview Bob Rinaldi and discuss the potential to grow and leverage a business to realize a win-win exit strategy.  This episode is a great follow-up to our previous show, Start Early & Exit Right, as we dive deep into many of the concepts of M&A rationale. What's unique about this episode is that it is geared toward a specific target audience, our friends in the Equipment Leasing and Finance (ELF) industry. In this episode we cover: How partners such as Rinaldi Advisory Services (RAS) and Colonnade work with Equipment Leasing & Finance (ELF) companies to prepare for a successful sale (1:00) What are the biggest challenges for the independents as they look to be “bank ready” for an acquisition? (4:00)  What are some of the biggest challenges for banks pursuing an acquisition of an equipment leasing company? (9:30) What determines the level of a premium in the sale price that an ELF company can expect? (20:00) What has M&A activity looked like in recent years and what are the prospects? (23:00) What about Private Equity buyers in this space? (26:30) How partners such as Rinaldi Advisory Services (RAS) and Colonnade work with Equipment Leasing & Finance (ELF) companies to prepare for a successful sale (1:00) Bob: My practice has evolved around three target audiences in the equipment leasing space. About 60% of my clients are independent leasing (ELF) companies that I work with through the Confidential CEO Resource℠ model. This is multi-year exit strategy planning. Whether the company exits or not is not important. The idea is to get them from point A to point B so they're prepared if that time comes. The second part of my practice is working with banks, predominantly community banks who are looking to get into the ELF space. Third, I work with a handful of service providers in the industry, as well. Rinaldi Advisory Services (RAS) offers the Confidential CEO Resource℠ (CCR) as a robust, full-scope advisory service that provides clients with a broad base of support for long-term strategic management. RAS works with CEOs and Principals to provide meaningful analysis and actionable insights. The aim is to help ELF senior management arrive at strategic and tactical decisions geared toward managing growth as well as operational and financial efficiencies. Colonnade has deep experience in the ELF industry. Colonnade is a leading investment banking firm that has completed over $9 billion in M&A transactions for clients in the business and financial services industries. Colonnade has advised many companies in the EFL sector on strategic transactions. Please see our Quarterly Updates on the ELF industry here. What are the biggest challenges for the independents as they look to be “bank ready” for an acquisition? (4:00) Bob: The biggest challenge is predominantly that these founders/owners are very much entrepreneurs. They started the business. They're very much involved in the everyday transactional nature of their business. They don't have the time to gain the perspective to look at their company objectively and determine what needs to happen to be a better company from a non-transactional standpoint or to be a better company for the purpose of acquisition. Jeff:  Let's drill down a little bit on some of the biggest challenges for the independents. There's size and scale, where are you today and where are you going? Banks are the natural resting home for specialty finance companies, and ELF companies are such a great asset class for banks in particular. Obviously, they're a number of large independents, but from the bank's perspective, what are the other things you see where companies need to focus? Is it finance and accounting? Is it operations? Is it servicing? Bob: Yes. Yes. And yes. It's really all those things. But even before you get to that, let's look at the business and find components within the business that definitely will never, ever fit in a bank. I'm able to identify those things. You then have to decide what to do with those things. Do I jettison those things completely? Do I sell those off? Do I break it outside of the company and put it in a separate entity so that what is left is sellable and simple to understand? Compare that to a buyer looking at the company and thinking, “I like this, I like this. I hate that. Therefore, I'm not doing it [the acquisition].” For example, say that there is a heavy services component of the (ELF) business; services component being something that has morphed, be it operational leases or servicing equipment that is leased. A bank can't be in that business. If that is an absolute key critical component to your leasing business, then a bank buyer is probably never going to be the buyer, which is going to leave you looking at non-financial institutional-type buyers, and they're fairly limited, so that's a problem. That is when you look at it and go: “If that's what we're always going to do, then this maybe is just going to be a lifestyle business. Let's just find ways to improve the income generation, the profitability, and keep it as a lifestyle business.” What are some of the biggest challenges for banks pursuing an acquisition of an equipment leasing company? (9:30) 1) The banks must use experienced advisors who understand the appropriate valuation models. Bob: If the bank has not been in the business before and their only experience with acquisitions has predominantly been buying other smaller banks, the first challenge is the valuation models. Banks are used to paying a multiple of book value. Leasing companies are not valued that way; their valuation is based on a multiple of earnings or pretax adjusted net income. In a typical leasing company, most of the leases are on a fixed term, fully amortizing type of a structure; therefore they just generate income. But the assets don't stay on the balance sheet that long, they continually roll-off at a rapid rate, so you've got to keep putting on more. It's really not an asset play as much as it is a net income play. Jeff: When we talk to banks as acquirers of these businesses, from either the buy-side or the sell-side, you're absolutely right. It's all about the income-generating opportunity. Yes, there are assets associated with it, but much more importantly, it's “What's the potential earning stream for this business within the bank?” (See: Discover the Rationale for a Synergistic Business Merger). Bob: That really comes down to the financial institution's advisor, a buy-side advisor. If they've not had much experience in the equipment leasing space, especially current experience like Colonnade has, they're already at a very big disadvantage because now you've got two entities that are blind and stating the same thing and focused on book value, so they're getting bad advice along with their own preconceived ideas. That's like a double whammy right out the gate. It's common when you find that a bank or their board, for whatever reason, have just got very comfortable with a buy-side advisor, who has never had that much experience at it but they've just gotten very comfortable with them and they wouldn't even conceive of going outside. A lot of this gets really back down to, “Is the bank nimble? Is the bank flexible? Does the bank have a CEO that has cut a bigger vision?” The same thing with the board, the death of any kind of an institution is just getting so stuck in your way that you just can't get out of it. 2) The CEO of the bank must have a visionary leadership style that allows the acquired company to thrive. Bob: It all still goes back to the CEO of the bank and how progressive they are, how aggressive they are. And aggressive does not mean they're careless. Jeff: The folks that we generally work with on the banking side have made that decision. They said, “Okay, we're going to get into specialty finance. We want to do it in X, Y or Z asset class, and we have the headset to bid accordingly, and that these businesses are valued differently than bank deals. The multiples are different, the metrics are different. We're committed, we've got board approval, we've got senior leadership approval and we're going to go ahead with it.” Bob: You and I know one of the smartest, most aggressive community bankers: Chuck Sulerzyski ​of Peoples Bank of Marietta, Ohio. Peoples Bank is located in the Southeast corner of Ohio, squarely in Appalachia country. How does a bank that size, originally ~$1 billion in assets when he took it over and roughly $7 billion today, make such successful leasing company acquisitions? One located in Vermont and one located in Minnesota? If you take a look at the numbers, the ROA and ROE of the bank have improved dramatically. Their yields and spreads have increased dramatically. Their asset growth has increased significantly in the commercial real estate (CRE) and in the commercial and industrial (C&I) sectors. His shareholders are being rewarded handsomely and will continue to be. Jeff: Chuck sets a great example. He has been aggressive in good ways. Peoples Bank also acquired an insurance premium finance company, and they're diversifying.  Chuck has the right headset in that he looks to acquire businesses to expand and diversify their geographical footprint. That's a real success story, in my view.  Bob: If you're going to acquire a leasing company that's growing, that's used to growing assets, the last thing you want to do is turn them into a bank. That's the whole premise for why you're going to buy a leasing company – is to expand the scope of the bank, not to contract it. It requires an introspective look of the CEO and his team: can they make an acquisition and not micromanage it and end up turning it into a bank? 3) Banks must be able to create objectives around diversification of geography and asset classes.  Bob: Equipment leasing is not a geographic-specific industry unlike, let's call it, commercial real estate. Banks are very familiar with commercial real estate. Real estate is always local. Commercial real estate is local, you've got to know the geography that you're in very well so that you understand the commercial real estate in that market. Banks must understand what they're trying to achieve in three to five years in terms of what percentage of their (Commercial and Insurance) C&I assets they want in various sectors.  How much do they want to get to in ELF? What do they want it to look like in three years, four years? Depending upon how big that number is, that determines the modality of the type of equipment leasing business you could get into. There are multiple facets to the equipment leasing industry: 1) small ticket, (transactions less than $250,000), middle-market/mid ticket (up to $5 million per transaction size), and large ticket (above $5 million per transaction). Jeff. Take Wintrust. They're not really “a bank”. More than 40% of their loan portfolio is insurance premium finance. They've got a big equipment finance business on top of that. There's probably 50% to 60% of loans that are non-traditional banking assets. As a result, the ROA on that bank is considerably higher than its peers; and as a result, the stock trades higher.  And Peoples, as we've discussed, has the right headset that they need to acquire or look to acquire national platforms outside of Marietta, Ohio. Obviously, they've done some bank acquisitions too in footprint, but expanding to get national business is part of the CEO's strategy.  What determines the level of a premium in the sale price that an ELF company can expect? (20:00) Bob: It falls under the quality of earnings, platform, and quality of human resources. Quality of earnings: I think about the repeatability of the earnings, as opposed to having a trend line of earnings that is a sawtooth (up and down, up and down). Quality of earnings should be fluid and show continued ramped-up growth over a period of time. Platform: The ability to scale. What's their technological capability? What's the platform built off of, is it homegrown? Is it well protected? Is it SOC compliant? If you had more capital, can you scale it? Quality of human resources: What does the management team look like? What's the average age of the team? What are their qualifications? What does the core management team look like behind them? If you cover all three of those pretty darn well, you're going to get the higher end of the premium scale for sure. What has M&A activity looked like in recent years and what are the prospects? (23:00) Bob: Activity's been strong for the past few years. Part of the activity was exacerbated when everybody thought that in 2021 there was going to be a new tax act and capital gains were going to go up.  The biggest reason over the past four to five years is because you've got an aging-out (in the midst of the Great Resignation) of the Principals of these companies. It's just a normal progression, and it happens every five years or so. You get a number of individuals who have had their own leasing companies who started them 20 odd years ago. If they started 20 years ago, here we are 20 years later, they're in their mid-60s to late 60s. If they don't get out now, when are they going to exit? Because typically there's going to be an earn out. If you wait till the age of 70 to get out, you may be working on an earn out between the ages of 70 and 73. On top of that, there's the aspect of an ELF company having a capital constraint. At some point, their capital is not going to hold them to keep borrowing on their line of credit because the debt-equity ratios will get too high and they'll have a hard time borrowing. It's really at about that time when they have to start thinking about what's next. Do we bring in another equity partner? Do we bring in some sub-debt? All that does is kick the can down the road. And I always tell them at that point: “You're already selling part of the company. Just sell the whole thing.” Listen to this podcast episode/read through the shownotes to see the Four Reasons Company Owners Consider a Transaction (15:25) What about Private Equity buyers in this space? (26:30) Jeff: We regularly get calls from folks looking to find platforms to acquire and build upon. There are some opportunities there: To remain independent, nimble, and flexible outside of the bank model, and take in additional capital to grow and potentially enhance the financing capabilities through securitizations and others. Bob: The equipment leasing industry is a fairly mature industry. It's fairly sophisticated. For an independent leasing company to bring in private equity, I see that as only a solution if you don't believe you're able to sell the whole company right now. The PE firm is investing to get double-digit returns, so that means they're going to come in and put you (as the owner/operator) on a huge ramped-up treadmill. You are going to have to keep up or they're going to lose interest. And you've sold part of the company. Now, granted, you've got a smaller piece but now have a bigger pie.  Jeff: That makes sense. There are some examples of successful private-equity-backed equipment finance companies, but as we have found – the universe of financially oriented sponsors that really want to put a lot of capital into the business and are willing to wait a long time to get their return – is quite limited. Most folks attack it from the financing standpoint. It can be a good option if you have an aging founder that wants an opportunity to take some chips off the table and let the next generation continue to run it. But you're right, it is a different exercise being put on that treadmill. Bob: It's a much different exercise. On the other hand, where it does work really well, is when a PE firm is backing a very experienced individual or a team who is going to start up a new entity. They could start this new entity and scale quickly with the help of private equity. They'd have a chance to really leverage that with some serious growth. Then it makes complete sense.

You serve two important groups as a leader: your team and your clients. How do you navigate these as well as yourself for positive and successful leadership? Today's guest, Dwight Utz, serves as the Board Vice Chair for his alma mater, Central Penn College. He has an amazing background in leading organizations to their full potential as former President/CEO/Director of Peoples Bank in York, PA, and East Carolina Bank in Engelhard, NC. Join his chat with Dr. Tracey Jones as he expounds on the importance of staying in alignment with your team when it comes to strategy. Dwight also highlights the client experience as another key factor, along with staying informed and educated about what's going on in your industry. His mantra for leadership includes the three E's: energy, enthusiasm, and excitement. Hear more of Dwight's distilled wisdom on leadership by tuning in to this episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. equity indexes opened deep in the red and traded lower through the day, as investors price in “risk off” signals emerging everywhere from China to Germany and anticipate a big week of news from the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole Economic Symposium. As Weston Nakamura notes, today's price action was foretold last Friday, when the Peoples Bank of China stepped in to defend the Chinese yuan. Prices of risk assets everywhere – including Bitcoin – began to retreat. Now we have more signs the European energy crisis is deepening, with natural gas prices surging on a new round of “maintenance” on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that runs from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea. Weston joins Andreas Steno Larsen to talk about the seemingly rapid shift to a “risk off” tone, signals from the forex market, this energy crisis, and how to trade this kind of action. We also hear from Santiago Capital CEO Brent Johnson about the relationship between pegged and un-pegged currencies. Watch the full video featuring Francis "The Market Sniper" Hunt and Brent Johnson here: https://rvtv.io/3AeYC3F. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Megan Engels' (VP of IT Support for Peoples Bank) answer to "What keeps you coming back to work every week?" fires up a much-needed talk about the people on the service desk. How to approach them, how to motivate them, what soft skills are essential, and how to know if this is the job for you. A key episode for managers and agents alike. Megan Engels is the IT Support Manager for Peoples Bank. She's an experienced IT leader concerned about making IT accessible for everyone. She's got over 20 years of experience at Peoples Bank and almost 15 in IT.

Data is the foundation for today's business decisions. Yet, communicating that data inpresentations can overwhelm your audience. Reena Kansal of Leadership Story Lab explainshow to use the art of storytelling to make your message more engaging – and memorable.Show Notes:Do you need to communicate data and other complex ideas to your audience? Businessstorytelling is all about how you persuade your audience to take action. Join Reena Kansal ofLeadership Story Lab explains how to use the art of storytelling to engage your audience andhelp them remember what is most important.Skip ahead to these highlights:1:33 About Leadership Story Lab3:43 Make your audience remember you7:12 Difference between proving and persuading9:50 Let the Story Do the Work11:20 Create meaning for your audience12:30 The forgetting curve – what do you want your audience to remember?18:00 Executive summary vs executive story18:50 Recommendations for becoming a better storyteller20:00 Become a story collector21:46 Story helps you be known on a deeper level25:20 Example of a well-crafted storyGet more information at LeadershipStoryLab.com

Your data-driven presentation is not just about data. At least 50% of your presentation is abouthow you package and present the data, says Dr. Bill Franks. He leads the Center for Statisticsand Analytical Research at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, and is author of Winning theRoom -- Creating and Delivering an Effective Data Driven Presentation. Listen to this episode toget practical tips for making your next presentation more effective.Jump ahead to these topics:1:17 – About Dr. Bill Franks2:36 – It's not just about the facts and figures4:40 – Match your content to your audience6:50 – It's not about you, it's about what your audience needs9:20 – Analogies are effective for nontechnical people11:30 – Use the fewest numbers possible, at the lowest level of precision13:30 – How effective are diagrams?17:30 – Position your results as positively as possible19:18 – Engaging your Zoom audienceLearn more about Dr. Bill Franks at bill-franks.com. And look for his book, Winning the Room,on Amazon.

Will inflation return to normal in 2024, and will a recession occur? Value stocks outperformed growth stocks in April. M&T Bank (MTB) stock price is up almost 5% year-to-date. "M&T Bank recently acquired Peoples Bank. Will the company raise expectations following the merger? MTB reported above-consensus results," says James Locke. Also, the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) stock price is up over 13% this past year. "The pharmaceutical and healthcare products company trades at 14.6X 2022 EPS and pays a 5.3% dividend rate. The company expects mid-single-digit sales growth and high single to low double-digit EPS growth going forward," Locke adds.

In this engaging session of #AduAndTheGuru, the hosts discussed a historical perspective on the origin of The Peoples Bank of Nigeria and how it turned out to be as they hosted a guest, Prof. Joseph Abugu, who is a teacher and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. Adu & The Guru also discussed some of the stories making rounds in the news, from "Why i deserve to be Nigeria's President" - Oshiomole, to EFCC intentions to monitor sources of Presidential candidates ticket funds, and more. Prof. Joseph gave his views of the coming 2023 elections, expressing his views on the current situation of ASUU extending their strike and the back and forth with the federal government.

In episode #2, Jonathan Baird, CFO of Peoples Bank in Magnolia Arkansas, joins Vin and Zach on a range of hot topics. They discuss core deposit generation solutions for community banks, the role of fintech in banking, continued disintermediation in financial  products / services, the role of blockchain, and Bitcoin as a “monetary system.” Please join us for a conversation that marries traditional banking topics with emerging technologies and their influence on community financial institutions. 

Are cryptocurrencies going mainstream? And what should you know before you accept cryptocurrency as payment? Rachel Cannon, partner at Steptoe and Johnson LLP, reveals the truths of cryptocurrency and what you need to know now.Skip ahead to these topics::49 – About Rachel Cannon1:20 – How Rachel got interested in cryptocurrency3:00 – What is cryptocurrency and how did it start?5:30 – Who is engaging with cryptocurrency and why?7:00 – What should people consider before accepting cryptocurrency?9:33 – They myths surrounding cryptocurrency12:45 – Example of Russian community that leveraged cryptocurrency to bypass their local banking system15:25 – The merits of blockchain and cryptocurrency18:50 – The volatility of cryptocurrency22:00 – What are NFT's?26:25 – Why brands are using NFT's27:00 – Why artists love the blockchain28:10 – What does cryptocurrency regulation look like?33:30 – What is the future of cryptocurrency?35:05 – Sources to learn more about cryptocurrencyConnect with Rachel at rcannon@steptoe.comTo learn more about Data Dialogues: https://www.equifax.com/business/trends-insights/data-dialogues-podcast/

As we kick off 2022, we're seeing the convergence of economic headlines and the energy market. How are inflation and other economic trends in the energy market impacting the consumer and commercial sectors? Mark Zoff, manager of market analytics at AEP Energy explains.Jump ahead to these topics::50 - About Mark Zoff and AEP Energy2:00 - Inflation now and what is transitory inflation?4:50 - Economic trends in the energy market and implications for 20229:00 - The 1970's economy as historical precedent 13:30 - Other historical precedents16:45 - Mark's thoughts on the PPP protection and its impact on small business19:00 - PPP demonstrates importance of small business sector20:30 - Which data points Mark and the Fed are reserve is focusing on right nowConnect with Mark: mszoff@aepenergy.comTo learn more about Data Dialogues: https://www.equifax.com/business/trends-insights/data-dialogues-podcast/

Das Jahr hat an den Börsen furchterregend begonnen. Das teilweise vielleicht viel zu viele Geld, dass die Kurse der Weltaktien im Vorjahr um 30 Prozent in die Höhe katapultierte, musste einfach mit Gewinnmitnahmen, Inflationsängsten und dem Bauchgefühl, dass es so am Börsenparkett wohl nicht weitergehen wird wieder raus. Die großen Sausen an den Börsen sind vielleicht vorbei, aber Sekt und Wein gibt´s immer noch, vor allem in den Emerging Markets, wo sich die institutionellen schon wieder fleißig umschauen und die haben normalerweise den besseren Riecher als die Privatanleger. In den Schwellenstaaten drückten die Kursverluste in den letzten zwölf Monaten die Kurs-Gewinnverhältnisse auf ein attraktives Verhältnis von 12. Und es wurde oder konnte auch nicht eine so exzessive Geldpolitik gefahren werden wie in den Industriestaaten. So hat etwa die Peoples Bank of China jetzt sogar noch Munition die Zinsen zu senken und so die Konjunktur anzukurbeln. Die Emerging Markets sind auch nicht nur China. Im Gegenteil, so Luke Barrs, Analyst bei Goldman Sachs. Bei Goldman Sachs ist man auch längst von ihrem prominenten, in die Jahre gekommenen BRIC-Investmentansatz abgekommen. Also nur in die vier am schnellsten wachsenden Schwellenstaaten Brasilien, Russland Indien und China zu investieren. Man ist von einer Top-Down zu einer Bottom-Up-Strategie übergegangen. Also bei der Aktienauswahl stärker nach Unternehmen, und nicht nach Volkswirtschaften zu selektieren. Luke sieht vor allem viel Potenzial für die indische Börse und für chinesische Biotech, IT- und Umwelttechnologieaktien. Mehr zur neuen Goldman Sachs-Schwellenstaaten-Strategie in der am Sonntag neu erscheinenden Podcast-Folge der GELDMEISTERIN. Und falls ihr meine Podcasts BÖRSENMINUTE oder GELDMEISTERIN tatkräftig unterstützen wollt, dann votet doch bitte noch bis 6. Februar für mich beim aktuellen Ö3-Podcastaward: https://oe3.orf.at/podcastaward/stories/3011720/ Vielen herzlichen Dank sagt Podcast-Host Julia Kistner Rechtlicher Hinweis: Für Verluste, die aufgrund von getroffenen Aussagen entstehen, übernehmen die Autorin, Julia Kistner keine Haftung. Musik und Sound Rechte: https://www.geldmeisterin.com/index.php/bm-sound-musik-rechte/ #Vermögen #ETF #Vorsorge #Portfolio #20er #Langfristportfolio #Finanzen #Geldanlage #veranlagen #Aktien #Exchange_Traded_Funds #Langfristanlage #MSCIWorld #Podcast #GELDMEISTERIN #Investments #Zinsen #Risikostreuung #Diversifikation #Reichtum #Börse #Zinsen #Schwankungen #Kurse #Zinsanstiege #Gewinne #Kapitalmärkte #Millionär #Neid #Zinseszinseffekt #Ö3Podcastaward #Börsenminute #Schwellenstaaten #EmergingMarkets #BRIC #GoldmanSachs #Schwellenstaaten #China #Russland #Brasilien #Indien #LukeBarrs

Dr. Nikhil Paradkar, assistant professor in finance at the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia, discusses his research on using data and machine learning to better understand how financial changes due to regulation, technological advancements or crises can impact the availability of credit for households. He also tells our host, Jeff Dugger, Principal Data Scientist and University Research Director at Equifax, about some very interesting research on corporate buzzwords, innovation and company earnings calls.Jump ahead to these topics::58 - Paradkar provides an overview of his work at UGA1:35 - Paradkar explains the research he presented to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on bank funding shocks3:35 - If a consumer's credit limit is reduced, how does it impact their credit score?5:00 - Can consumers who are more exposed to their bank's liquidity shocks have an impact on a financial recovery?6:40 - The CFPB's reaction to Paradkar's research9:10 - What machine learning has revealed about consumer finance and Fintechs12:25 - Paradkar explains his machine learning technique used in his research13:38 - Can lenders use Paradkar's research to improve their lending?15:02 - Is there a latent unobservable variable that causes FinTech borrowers to be more likely to default?16:41 - How Paradkar uses machine learning to study corporate buzzwords, innovations and quarterly earnings callsLearn more about our guest, Nikhil Paradkar: https://www.terry.uga.edu/directory/finance/nikhil-paradkar.html

Twitter: @1PercentContentDakota is a loan officer at Peoples Bank in Sheridan Arkansas. He joins OPC to discuss banking, investing, and other topics.Dakota's Email: dhedden@peoplesbankar.comTopics:Being a loan officerThe 5 C's of CreditHaving a relationship with your bankerInvestments and starting a rentalMy Financial SnapshotLink:PayPay's Venmo Inks Partnership with AmazonMy Financial Snapshot

The auto industry has been front and center as supply chain issues make headlines. But the other story is rapid change. Evolving consumer preferences, shifting demographics and digital retailing have all upended the market since COVID. Have these factors changed the industry for good? Equifax's Rissa Reddan gets a market assessment from Tyson Jominy, vice president of data and analytics at JD Power.Jump ahead to these highlights::50 - Tyson's role at JD Power1:45 - What data is revealing about the auto industry right now2:53 - Challenges facing the industry and Covid's role in current environment4:24 - Covid's impact on individual transit: types of leases, purchases and specific behavioral change5:45 - Electric vehicle market is heating up7:00 - Are we at the tipping point for EV's?8:10 - Convergence of solar power and EV's9:00 - How is data driving the digital retail revolution?10:42 - What are we learning about consumers through digital retailing? What does the data reveal?12:15 - New generational trends that are emerging14:12 - How can the auto industry use data to drive recovery? What benefits are we seeing?16:15 - What are cars telling us -- and are they watching their drivers?18:12 - Car data can be a risk assessment19:11 - How this is a time of transition for the auto market and what the future looks like

Today’s Let’s Talk Indianola features Peoples Bank President Kevin Halterman about the ribbon cutting for their new administration and training facility building.

David Ferber, SVP of Analytical Capabilities & Solutions at Equifax, and Sri Ambati, Founder and CEO of H2O.ai, discuss the democratization of AI and how companies need to bring together multi-faceted teams to get the most out of their data. Skip ahead to these topics:1:40 - About H2O4:30 - Data is at the heart of all machine learning7:25 - Trying to make decision-making cheaper, faster, easier9:22 - H2O customer stories12:11 - How H2O has recruited brilliant minds from around the world16:45 - Examples of AI for good20:40 - H2O wins award for its good works in India during COVID-19 pandemic22:30 - Looking to our younger generation for inspiration25:00 - The horizon for innovation has shifted since COVID-19

This episode focuses on how companies can collaborate with universities to solve business problems and strengthen their own data science programs. Jeff Dugger, Principal Data Scientist at Equifax & University Research Director, interviews Jennifer Priestley, Professor of Statistics and Data Science at Kennesaw State University, about how university's structure their data science programs -- and how they rely on the private sector to stay relevant.Skip ahead to these highlights:1:00 - About Kennesaw State University's School of Data Science and Analytics3:25 - The challenges Jennifer faced when launching one of the first university data science programs6:00 - How to bring different backgrounds together for an effective data science program11:00 - How data science programs differ from so-called “spoke” programs17:05 - It's all about adding value to the organization18:20 - Understanding model results21:03 - The real-time feedback loop with the private sector26:33 - The need for communications skills - how do you tell the story of your data?28:30 - Top 3 takeaways for companies to build and strengthen their data science programs

We interview Mark Miller, director of insights at Comperemedia, about what's driving the popularity of challenger banks. Also known as neobanks, challenger banks are upstart banks that usually operate solely online, offer innovative features and tend to target specific groups of tech-savvy customers. Join us as we discuss what's behind this innovative banking trend, how it's impacting traditional banks and what the future holds for challenger banks.Jump ahead to these highlights:1:15 - About Comperemedia1:35 - Background on challenger banks and what's driving their success2:23 - How challenger banks are differentiating themselves and the impact on traditional banks3:35 - Who is attracted to challenger banks4:37 - Customer expectations of challenger banks6:48 - Challenger banks find riches in niches6:33 - Challenger banks' use of alternative data7:44 - Regulatory landscape for challenger banks8:26 - How challenger banks market to customers9:07 - Consumer concerns about challenger banksRESOURCES:For more insights, check out the Comperemedia blog and Mintel blog. For more information about our podcast, visit https://www.equifax.com/business/data-dialogues-podcast/

Inverviews: Anderson County Administrator Rusty Burns Anderson University President Evan Whitaker Sullivan's Metropolitan Grill Owner Bill Nickas Anderson County Councilman Ray Graham and some of the royalty from Skin's Hot Dogs

In this episode of Data Dialogues, we interview Hany Fam, founder and CEO of Markaaz, about the top three things small businesses should do right now -- and which digital solutions can help them be successful.Jump ahead to these highlights:0:54 - About Hany Fam, founder of Markaaz2:17 - What is the Markaaz marketplace?3:55 - What are point-to-point solutions?4:45 - How data savvy are small businesses?8:33 - The small business data experience9:01 - How small businesses leverage data to power their business11:07 - How to take a data-driven approach13:30 - Growth of e-commerce15:33 - Benefits of digitization for small businesses18:10 - Educating on small business20:27 - Cash flow22:47 - 3 things business owners should do in 202123:47  - Buy now, pay later

We are all currently living in a very different time facing a pandemic and I’m sure leaders around the world each have their own strategy to cope. But, did you ever wonder how post-pandemic leadership would look like? In this episode, we talk just about that with guest David O’Brien.   David A. O'Brien is President of WorkChoice Solutions, LLC, a nationally recognized provider of leadership and team effectiveness consulting services. Prior to launching WorkChoice Solutions in 2000, David was a Senior Vice President and General Manager with a global provider of workforce management services. His corporate consulting career spans over twenty years and includes key leadership roles within a variety of industries including Aerospace, Healthcare, and Financial Services. His clients include such market leaders as Aetna, Day Pitney, ESPN, KPMG, Mass Mutual, Otis Elevator, Peoples Bank, The Hartford, U.S. Airways, and United Technologies. He also works with many small and emerging market leaders to bring about lasting organizational and leadership transformation.   Listen and learn more about the evolution of leadership through the decades and what does leadership looks like in a post-pandemic world. We also talked about the concept of ‘our time’ which you should definitely check out! Tune in!   Episode Highlights:   Evolution of Leadership Through the Decades [2:18] Effective Ways to Develop Better Emotional Intelligence [6:05] Leadership in the Post-Pandemic World [8:40] Reaching Our Fullest Potential [20:05] Compass Calibration Technique [22:25] Book Recommendations [26:57]   Resources Mentioned In This Episode: I believe anyone can be a leader in today’s world that’s why I’ve created a short, user-friendly book called Redefining the Top 1 Percent. Get your FREE copy by joining our Facebook Group here. Not only are you getting a free copy of my book, but you’ll also get lots of FREE training and resources on a weekly basis. Visit workchoicesolutions.com to find out more about David’s leadership services, books, webinars, and more. A ton of resources can be found on his website including some leadership articles and assessments. Grab your copy of David’s best-selling books, The Navigator’s Handbook and The Navigator’s Compass by visiting davidonamazon.com In Case You Missed It: We’ve had Dr. Tasha Eurich on the show where we talked about Bankable Leadership and self-awareness. Check it out here.   Connect with David: Email LinkedIn Facebook Twitter YouTube   Book Recommendations: Start With Why by Simon Sinek Insight by Tasha Eurich Leadership Is an Art by Max De Pree The Go-Giver by Bob Burg True North by Bill George The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale The Greatest Salesman In the World by Og Mandino The Choice by Og Mandino The Return of the Ragpicker by Og Mandino     Quotes: “It’s that self-awareness. It starts with that acceptance that we don’t have to figure it all out in one day, in one meeting, or in one class.” “This is a journey. It’s not about perfection. It’s about the progress.” “Leadership is not a Monday to Friday gig. It’s a 24/7 gig.” “Leadership is a choice.” “The older I get, the more I know the little I know.”     Ways to Subscribe to Redefining The Top One Percent:   Apple Podcast Stitcher PlayerFM Spotify

In this episode of Data Dialogues, Equifax Marketing VP, Elizabeth Fairman, interviews Equifax Chief Privacy Officer, Nick Oldham, about how society is transitioning from the explosion of data collection to the responsible stewardship of that data. Oldham explains that we have to move away from transactional compliance requirements and focus more on doing the right thing. Jump ahead to these highlights::47 - Oldham's professional background2:40 - How data privacy has evolved over time6:15 - Data privacy regulation trends around the globe9:05 - What data ethics means as a consumer and as a business12:30 - How businesses should approach data privacy15:30 - Implications of data tracking software18:25 - What are the security issues around data usage: access vs. usage21:10 - Moving to a model of “doing the right thing” and education around data usage22:40 - Equifax focused on data privacy ethics

In this episode of Data Dialogues, we interview Carol Kruse, a Valvoline board member and former marketing executive at Cambia Health Solutions, ESPN and Coca-Cola. She weighs in on which data to focus on -- and how to sell your findings to others in your organization.Jump ahead to these highlights:1:00 - Carol Kruse's career path4:30 - How Carol turns to data to tell her stories7:30 - Is it better to dig deeper into the data or let the data tell the story?11:25 - How do you best tell someone to trust the data?12:20 - The marriage of art and science14:38 - Overcoming objections to data17:30 - Which data to focus on21:30 - The end user24:55 - Focus groups25:50 - Example of combining creative with actionable data

Husain Habhab joins us on this episode to talk about his experience with his mental health, growing up in Lebanon & having a moment of distress where he attempted suicide. We are so thankful that Husain came on this episode to tell his story & promote mental health & awareness! This episode is sponsored by Peoples Bank! #suicide​ #lebanon​ #mentalhealth

In this episode of Data Dialogues, we explain how smart data can help organizations combat the growing digital threat of identity fraud. Aparna Sheth, product leader for Equifax's Identity and Fraud Solutions Group, interviews Cori Shen, who leads a data science team responsible for data and machine learning and AI-driven product innovations to solve identity and fraud challenges. Jump ahead to these highlights:0:40 - Cori's role and team responsibilities0:54 - Consumers shift from digital-first to digital-only business environment1:37 - Fraud has multiplied2:18 - New fraud opportunities emerge during unprecedented economic conditions3:36 - How to use data and analytics to solve fraud4:41 - How smart data works8:40 - Role of digital signals and bureau data10:00 - Explaining graph networks10:58 - How to make the insights actionable and examples14:38 - Our smart data approachPodcast TranscriptionAparna:Welcome to Data Dialogues.  Today, we are discussing how smart data can help organizations fight the evolving challenges of identity fraud. My name is Aparna Sheth. I'm a product leader here at Equifax in our identity and fraud solutions group. And I'm so happy to have Cori Shen here with me, who leads our data science team. Hi, Cori, would you like to share more about what you do?Cori:Sure. Thanks, Aparna. Happy to be here too. And I'm glad that we can discuss this topic together. I'm Cori Shen. I lead our identity and fraud data science team for Equifax.Aparna:Alright. So speaking of identity and fraud, 2020 has been quite a year. COVID accelerated digital transformation across the board. We saw a stark paradigm shift take place last year, where we went from a “digital first” to “digital only” business environment. And this was of course brought on by abrupt shelter in place orders.Cori:That's right, Aparna. I totally agree with you. You know, consumers were forced to do everything online from buying groceries to ordering food. And of course they're doing all their financial transactions online. You know, last year 80% of my groceries were done through a mobile app.Aparna:Oh wow.  Yeah, I know. And we saw during this pandemic that not only did the new fraud schemes emerge, but we also saw the existing types of fraud have multiplied. Right?Cori:That's absolutely true. You probably saw this report coming from the Federal Trade Commission, right?  The report shows they have received about, I think 275,000 fraud complaints last year. And also when we track the fraud trends in our own data, we see that the authorized user abuse risk in 2020 went up by over 23% compared to 2019 and 2018.Aparna:Wow. The other factor, of course, was the unprecedented unemployment rates and economic downturn. And to combat that, as we all know, Congress passed trillion plus dollars of stimulus relief packages to help struggling families and boost the economy. We saw new fraud schemes in March exploiting PPP, which is the Payroll Protection Program, as well as the expanded unemployment insurance program.So as millions of Americans were applying for help, we had these international and national criminal rings that were working relentlessly to steal these funds, using sophisticated methods of identity theft.Cori:That's right, Aparna. You know, with all the relief money that went to the market in 2020, I think it really made fraudsters go all out on it. As a matter of fact, these fraud schemes might be new, but the underlying fraud challenges are the same ones like synthetic ID, the compromised ID, which has been around for years. And I think that's why now more than ever, we need something better in identity and fraud prevention.Aparna:I couldn't agree more. So let's talk about how we can use data and analytics to solve this, right? There is just so much data out there. Not just related to our credit file, but also every digital interaction that we make as individuals. Be it social media or when we shop online. So how do we sort through these billions of interactions and use analytics to really drive those insights that can be used to mitigate against these growing challenges?Cori:This is a great question.  Because if we look at today's digital paradigm, managing big data from multiple sources is no longer a challenge. What matters most is how to make sense of big data and how to intelligently and efficiently assemble multi-source data for the right insights. And we will call it smart data because we want data to talk, and we want data to be able to offer recommendations.Aparna:I love it. Smart data. I mean, it sounds fantastic, right? But it's easier said than done, isn't it? Let's take synthetic identities for example.  We know that many of these have been in the system for a while and they look like legitimate people. Very often their identity information is complete, and it matches to what systems have. As a matter of fact, sometimes they even have a matched social media profile. That's why these fake identities look like real people and can be used to create fake businesses, defraud the system with millions of dollars of PPP or employment claims. Right? So even if we do identity verification matches from multiple sources, we may not be able to catch them. So what should we do?Cori:Ah, what should we do? This is exactly the right question. I totally agree with you. If we're just talking about matching identities from multiple sources, it is not smart data. Smart data has two components: insights and connections. We think a real effective way to build smart data is to connect to the useful insights from a graph network perspective. Let me take synthetic ID detection for example. Here is how you can build.  First, build useful insights from multiple sources. You want to search for the abnormal signals throughout an identity's lifecycle. To do so you will need the consumer activity data from multiple sources and from multiple systems. For example, the consumer applies for credit cards or loans. The consumer checks their credit online. They enroll. We're logging into an online system. They're making payments. They're making purchases from e-commerce sites. All these different data points are consumer activity data.We all know that we cannot listen to what fraudsters say. But we need to watch what they do. Because fraudsters will give you a fake ID and tell you, Hey, everything's good. Everything matched. And I want to borrow $50,000. But when you get the power of the consumer activity data, what you can do is that you can look closely into their activities. And then, you will find out a lot of secrets about them. And here are some examples. All the synthetic ID outliers appear at an early stage. You will see some synthetic IDs apply for mortgages and shop for luxury cars. However, when you look at the activity pattern for a regular legit consumer at the earlier stage, you will often see they only apply for cell phone, apartments, internet service, credit cards.  These types of starter programs. Another example, sometimes synthetic ID can be a very patient game. This means that, you know, fraudsters can wait for a couple years to build their credit history before they take action. However, the interesting thing about their activity is that once they start taking actions, they do it super fast to an extreme extent. So this means that when you explore the trended activities, you see these ideas can be dormant for a while. And then all of sudden you see a huge spike in their activities. These huge spikes are usually something like they are desperately shopping around for money all over the place. For example, they try to get as many credit cards or loans as possible from lots of different institutions. Also, they will act extremely anxiously in monitoring their credit. It's like they're doing this every day while they're shopping for money.Aparna:This is very interesting. Thanks for sharing these secrets on consumer behavior anomalies, and how they can be used in synthetic identity detection. So what about the digital signals and bureau data? I would think they are also very useful in identifying synthetic identities, right?Cori:Digital signals are definitely powerful and critical. Here's another example about synthetic ID to establish and maintain synthetic ID. The fraudsters like to manipulate identities via online channels. They like to change addresses and alter names online or from their mobile phones. At that time, you may see there could be the same device links to many different IDs for name and address change request. You may also see that the IP geo location is far away from the existing addresses they're using and the new addresses they requested. Speaking of bureau data, it is also really helpful when you use them to explore the risk of signals like piggybacking credit using authorized user abuse schemes.Aparna:Ah, I see. So it's, it's really neat to see how we can derive so many different insights to look for anomalies and then use those for synthetic identity detection. So Cori, you earlier, you mentioned that one recommended way to assemble for smart data is to connect these insights in a graph network. I'm aware of link analysis, which is a very effective tool used in fraud review. Can you tell me a little bit more about graph networks? Is it the same tool you use in your lab?Cori:It's a little bit different from visualization. So what I'm saying is that what we do in our innovation lab is not to run one or two graphs. In order to find the true meaning of the connections, we need to build graph networks on very large scale data, like billions of transactions.Aparna:Wow. Building graphs on billions of records. I mean, it's impressive, but there is a lot of information. So how could you make sense of these connections so that the outcome from it can be actionable? You know, versus something that's too abstract and which cannot be easily explained?Cori:This is a really good point because it is very important for our smart data to not only be predictive, but also prescriptive. So because of that, let me explain to you how you can make sense of the connections when we are processing billions of transactions. And then you can come up with the actionable recommendations through our work. So basically this is a machine learning capability. You can build with a graph database on a scalable and distributed system such as Google cloud. So this is what you're gonna do. So first you can link all the identities from billions of transactions based on address, phone number, email and device. So what I mean by linking is for example, a group of family members can be linked and connected to each other, as they might be living in the same place, using the same address. However, two strangers probably cannot be connected directly because there's no reason they will live together or they will use the same email accounts. So by doing this linking, you are connecting the identities. So now you're going to have millions of groups, right? Some groups connect more people and some groups connect less people. So next, you can then assign these synthetic ID insights… the ones we just talked about earlier, remember? The authorized user abuse risk, consumer activity pattern outliers, or the high risk digital signals. You can assign them to the identities in each group. So this way, by connecting the identities, now you're indeed connecting the insights.Aparna:Let me see if I've got this. So the first thing this tool does is link people and tie them together in a group based on some PII, right? And then you layer in the synthetic identity insights that we discussed earlier to detect anomalies, which will possibly indicate synthetic identities? Is that correct?Cori:That is absolutely right. So to put into a more concrete perspective. For example, when you have this connection, and you may find a group with a hundred people in it. And in this group, you can see some strangers are connected to each other, and you can also see some people in this group showing one or multiple synthetic ID risks. Those synthetic ID insights. And now what does that mean to you is that this group is indeed a synthetic ID crime ring.Aparna:Now I can see the whole picture of how we build smart data for this use case. So you derive insights, then you connect those insights to discover a synthetic identity fraud ring. And once we do that, we can take actions, right? We can conduct fraud reviews, we can do step up authentication against these synthetic IDs and stop them from stealing money, right?Cori:That's absolutely right. So this is our smart data approach. We assembled data insights differently for a very effective fraud detection. And moreover the outcome from the connected insights like you just mentioned is indeed actionable.Aparna:Thanks Cori. This really helps me, and I'm sure our listeners as well understand how our smart data strategies can be used to mitigate identity and fraud threats. So to summarize, the amount of digital transactions and data is growing exponentially since the pandemic began last year. So it is really critical we can use this data and assemble it in a way to make the data talk as in smart data to derive actionable insights. And we have seen organizations who have recognized this and have been data-driven and proactive to be very successful in combating identity and fraud challenges for this post pandemic era. Thank you so much, Cori, for discussing this topic with me today. It was a lot of fun.

In this episode of Data Dialogues, Equifax Marketing VP Tricia Gabberty, and Alice Siu, Associate Director at the Center for Deliberative Democracy at Stanford University, discuss the role that brands and consumers must play when trying to ensure quality, accurate data.Jump ahead to these highlights:0:50 - Alice's role at the Center for Deliberative Democracy2:15 - The definition of data quality7:15 - Supplementing raw data with outside data10:41 - The privacy conundrum13:51 - What to know when seeking a data provider16:12 - Data sources or techniques to avoid19:30 - What should consumers consider when reading polls and surveys23:46 - A warning about news recommender engines26:28 - Gathering reliable Gen Z research

The Central Bank of Nigeria, has explained preciously the reason for its directive to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and other financial institutions to stop trading in cryptocurrencies.Issuing a press statement on Sunday through Mr Osita Nwanisobi, its acting director of corporate communications, titled ‘Response to Regulatory Directive on Cryptocurrencies' the Apex bank said it felt the need to provide further reasons about its standpoint to the general public .The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to various comments and reactions following our recent reminder to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to desist from transacting in / and with entities dealing in cryptocurrencies. Most of these reactions reveal that there appears to be a need to provide further justifications about our position, especially to the general public.For those who are not conversant with the universe of cryptocurrencies, it is important to state that Cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual currencies issued by largely anonymous entities and secured by cryptography. Cryptography is a method of encrypting and hiding codes that prevent oversight, accountability, and regulation. While there are a number of cryptocurrencies now in circulation, Bitcoin was the first to be introduced in 2009, and now accounts for about 68 percent of all cryptocurrencies. As regards our recent policy pronouncement, it is important to clarify that the CBN circular of February 5, 2021 did not place any new restrictions on cryptocurrencies, given that all banks in the country had earlier been forbidden, through CBN's circular dated January 12, 2017, not to use, hold, trade and/or transact in cryptocurrencies . Indeed, this position was reiterated in another CBN Press Release dated February 27, 2018.It is also important to note that the CBN's position on cryptocurrencies is not an outlier as many countries, central banks, international financial institutions, and distinguished investors and economists have also warned against its use. They have all made similar pronouncements based of the significant risks that transacting in cryptocurrencies portend- risk of loss of investments, money laundering, terrorism financing, illicit fund flows and criminal activities. China, Canada, Taiwan, Indonesia, Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Bolivia, Kyrgyzstan, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iran, Bangladesh, Nepal and Cambodia have all placed certain level of restrictions on financial institutions facilitating cryptocurrency transactions. In China, for example, cryptocurrencies are completely banned and all exchanges closed as well. Banks and other financial institutions are not allowed by law to transact or deal with cryptocurrencies. China's Central Bank, called the Peoples Bank of China (PBoC) has provided several directives ruling out the use of these currencies. The PBOC views cryptocurrencies as illegal because they are not issued by any recognized monetary institution and do not hold any legal status that can make them equivalent to money. Hence banks and all stakeholders are strongly advised against their use as a currency.Even famed investor Warren Buffett has called cryptocurrencies “rat poison squared,” a “mirage,” and a “gambling device.” Mr. Buffett believes it is a “gambling device” given that they are mostly valuable because the person buying it does so, not as a means of payment; but in the hope they can sell it for even more than what they paid at some point.During an online forum hosted by the Davos-based World Economic Forum few weeks ago, Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England, highlighted the extreme price volatility of cryptocurrencies as one of the biggest flaws and explained that this flaw makes it impossible for them to be used as a lasting means of payment.“Have we landed on what I would call the design, governance and arrangements for what I might call a lasting digital currency? No, I don't think we're there yet, honestly. I don't think cryptocurrencies as originally formulated are it,” he said.It is not surprising he would take that position because, Bitcoin, the best-known cryptocurrency, hit a record high of $42,000 per unit on January 8, 2021, and sank as low as $28,800 about two weeks later. This is far greater volatility than is found with normal currencies. Let us now turn to some of the justifications for CBN's recent policy reminder. A perfunctory reflection on the definition of cryptocurrencies can already reveal several problems.First, in light of the fact that they are issued by unregulated and unlicensed entities, their use in Nigeria goes against the key mandates of the CBN, as enshrined in the CBN Act (2007), as the issuer of legal tender in Nigeria. In effect, the use of cryptocurrencies in Nigeria are a direct contravention of existing law. It is also important to highlight that there is a critical difference between a Central Bank issued Digital Currency and cryptocurrencies. As the names imply, while Central Banks can issue Digital Currencies, cryptocurrencies are issued by unknown and unregulated entities.Second, the very name and nature of “cryptocurrencies” suggests that its patrons and users value anonymity, obscurity, and concealment. The question that one may need to ask therefore is, why any entity would disguise its transactions if they were legal. It is on the basis of this opacity that cryptocurrencies have become well-suited for conducting many illegal activities including money laundering, terrorism financing, purchase of small arms and light weapons, and tax evasion. Indeed, many banks and investors who place a high value on reputation have been turned off from cryptocurrencies because of the damaging effects of the widespread use of cryptocurrencies for illegal activities. In fact, the role of cryptocurrencies in the purchase of hard and illegal drugs on the darknet website called “Silk Road” is well known. They have also been recent reports that cryptocurrencies have been used to finance terror plots, further damaging its image as a legitimate means of exchange.More also, repeated and recent evidence now suggests that some cryptocurrencies have become more widely used as speculative assets rather than as means of payment, thus explaining the significant volatility and variability in their prices. Because the total number of Bitcoins that would ever be issued is fixed (only 21 million will ever be created), new issuances are predetermined at a gradually decelerating pace. This limited supply has created a perverse incentive that encourages users to stockpile them in the hope that their prices rise. Unfortunately, with a conglomeration of desperate, disparate, and unregulated actors comes unprecedented price volatility that have threatened many sophisticated financial systems. In fact, the price of ether, one of the largest cryptocurrencies in the world, fell from US$320 to US$0.10 in June 2017. The price of Bitcoins has also suffered similar volatilities.Given that unlike Fiat Money which accompanied by full faith and comfort of a country or Central Bank, cryptocurrencies do not have any intrinsic value and do not generate returns by themselves. When one buys a stock, say of a conglomerate in the Nigeria Stock Exchange, its price reflects the activity and production of that conglomerate and the value people place on their goods and/or services. This price may rise as the conglomerate produces better goods/services and probably gains greater market share. The reverse would be true if the conglomerate does not innovate to improve the quality of its goods/services. In other words, the price of that stock reflects market fundamentals. In contrast, , cryptocurrencies do not have fundamentals and would never have fundamentals. Investors only buy in the hope that its use and acceptability will rise, thereby pushing up its demand and price. But since new versions of cryptocurrencies come on stream with new mathematical models, an infinite supply may someday crash the price to zero.At this juncture, the CBN would like to assert that our actions are not in any way, shape or form inimical to the development of FinTech or a technology-driven payment system. To the contrary, the Nigerian payment system has evolved significantly over the last decade, leapfrogging many of its counterparts in emerging, frontier and advanced economies propelled by reforms driven by the CBN. This is evident from the variety of participants, products, channels, cutting-edge technology in the payments system. It is also validated by the astronomical growth of volume/value of transactions and the fact that Nigeria is an investment destination of choice for international financial technology companies because of CBN's policies that have created an enabling investment environment in the payments system.These developments in the payments and settlements space has helped to grow the financial system, improving financial inclusion, the quality and convenience of financial services and has also created millions of direct and indirect jobs for teeming youth population.The innovations in Nigeria's payment system were catalyzed by regulatory reforms driven by the CBN which entailed the issuance of a raft of guidelines and regulations on Operations of Electronic Payments Channels in Nigeria; Transaction Switching; Card Issuance and Usage, Licensing of payment service providers; Mobile Money Services, Electronic Payments of Salaries, Pensions, Suppliers and Taxes, Licensing Super Agents in Nigeria; and use of USSD for Financial Services in Nigeria, Super Agents and Agent Banking Operations and Payment Service Banks to mention a few.The robust regulatory framework put in place by the Bank opened up the payment system to innovation with several new players across in the following licensing categories- Payment Terminal Service Providers (PTSPs), Payment Solution Service Providers (PSSPs), Mobile Money Opera

1. Report proves ‘wider play' against Australia Post/people's bank 2. Keep financial predators on the leash Presented by Robert Barwick and Craig Isherwood Sign the Petition to create an Australia Post Bank!: https://info.citizensparty.org.au/auspost-bank-petition To make a submission to the Committee reviewing the National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Supporting Economic Recovery) Bill 2020, please click here: https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Economics/NCCPEcoRocovery

The People's Bank of China announces a plan to rectify regulatory violations of the online financial giant Ant Group, Xiaomi launches the Mi 11 with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, and MediaTek is the largest smartphone chipset vendor in Q3.  Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dth.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The People's Bank of China (PBoC) held its benchmark interest rates steady for the fifth straight month at its September fixing, after the central bank maintained borrowing costs on medium-term loans last week, as policymakers face a challenge in sustaining stable expansion over the next few years. Recent economic data showed the economy has steadily recovered from the COVID-19 shocks. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was left unchanged at 3.85 percent while the five-year remained at 4.65 percent. --- This episode is sponsored by · Afrolit Podcast: Hosted by Ekua PM, Afrolit shares the stories of multi-faceted Africans one episode at a time. https://open.spotify.com/show/2nJxiiYRyfMQlDEXXpzlZS?si=mmgODX3NQ-yfQvR0JRH-WA Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/newscast-africa/support

1. People power beat the cash ban, a people's bank can save the country 2. Fight the foreign influence operation pushing Australia to war with Russia and China Presented by Robert Barwick and Craig Isherwood Mobilise your MPs and Senators to convert the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) into an emeregency national investment bank: DETAILS: https://citizensparty.org.au/campaigns Sign the Petition: "Fast-track Australia to economic recovery and prosperity— expand the CEFC into a national development bank!" https://citizensparty.org.au/cefc-petition

Participating at a recent Caixin roundup table, Yi Gang, Governor of the People's Bank of China, shared his views on several striking developments within the national economy. From China's road to recovery following the domestic outbreak, to digital currencies and market opening. Read further coverage at caixinglobal.com Sign up this May for a 30% discount on our basic yearly digital subscription.

Chevis Sweman is the President/CEO of Peoples Bank.

Chevis Sweman is the President/CEO of Peoples Bank.

In rebuilding the global economy, we cannot afford to ignore the looming clouds of the climate crisis – has Covid 19 given governments and businesses valuable breathing space to reassess their economic models? Are big oil's fortunes in terminal decline? What tools will we require to build a sustainable low carbon future? And how will all of this play out in COP26? Speaker: Sean Kidney is CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative, an international NGO working to mobilize debt capital markets for climate solutions. Projects include a green bond definitions and certification scheme with $34 trillion of assets represented on its Board and some 200 organizations involved in its development and governance; working with the Chinese central bank on how to grow green bonds in China; an international Green Infrastructure Investment Coalition; and market development programs in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Nigeria and East Africa. He was member of the 2017 EU High Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance and is a member of its successor, the EU Technical Expert Group on Sustainable Finance; he is also a member of green finance advisory groups in China, India, Mexico and Khazakhstan. He has previously been a consultant on green bonds to the United Nations Secretary General, a member of the Peoples Bank of China Green Finance Task Force and a member of the Commonwealth Secretariat's Expert Committee on Climate Finance. In both 2017 and 2018 he was voted GlobalCapital magazine's “Most Influential Champion” of the sustainable finance market. Interested in watching our webinars live, or taking part in the production of our research? Join our community at: https://bit.ly/3sXPpb5

BoA, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs all post drop in Q1 earnings Bank of America, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs have reported plunging earnings for the first quarter due to the coronavirus pandemic. Net profit at the US banking giants nearly halved, as they set aside billions of dollars to cover corporate loans expected to go bust in the coming months. On Tuesday, rivals JP Morgan and Wells Fargo also reported a steep fall in profits. US retail sales plunge by a record 8.7% in March US retail sales suffered their worst drop on record in March due to mandatory business closures aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus. The value of overall sales plunged 8-point-7 percent last month, marking the steepest decline since records began in 1992. Clothing sales suffered the biggest drop of 50-percent, while grocery store sales surged 27-percent. China cuts medium-term lending rate to record low China's central bank has cut a key lending rate to a record low as Beijing seeks to soften the economic blow from the coronavirus outbreak. The People's Bank of China said it's lowered the one-year medium term lending facility to financial institutions by 20 basis points to 2-point-95 percent. The move will inject 14-point-2 billion dollars into the country's financial system.

Trish Glose talks to Ken Trautman, President and CEO of People's Bank. Trautman talks about what his bank has been doing to help customers during the pandemic, what people should do with those stimulus checks, and the lessons learned from the Great Recession.

Investors will look at global cues, coronavirus-related developments, and March quarter earnings for market direction in this yet another truncated week. The markets will remain shut tomorrow on account of Ambedkar Jayanti. To begin with, Covid-19 remains the big focus for investors the world over. The disease has so far infected over 17.7 lakh people and caused at least one lakh deaths globally. In India, the confirmed coronavirus cases jumped to 9,205 and the death toll mounted to 331 so far, according to the Worldometer. The 21-day lockdown imposed to cull the spread of the virus ends on April 14. And while India awaits a final decision on the likely extension of the lockdown, six states have already extended the lockdown till April 30. A formal announcement of a lockdown extension is likely to impact investor sentiments as it would mean virtually no business for most of the companies. Besides, reports in the media said the government is working on a separate economic package for Indian businesses which might be announced in the next few days. The Centre is also said to be keen to restart economic activity in areas with a low incidence of Covid-19 cases. In another development, the World Bank has scaled down India’s GDP growth projection to 1.5-2.8 per cent from the earlier 6.1 per cent for the current fiscal year, which would be the lowest economic expansion since the balance of payments crisis of 1991-92. Investors will also track the March quarter earnings of various companies which will start pouring in from this week. Wipro will announce its quarterly and full year results on April 15, followed by TCS on April 16 and HDFC Bank on April 18. In terms of marco data, CPI inflation for March will be released later in the day. Besides, WPI inflation for March will be announced on April 14 while the minutes of the monetary policy meeting held on March 27 will be released on April 17. In commodities, oil jumped on Monday after major oil producers reached a deal for a record 10 million barrels per day output cut to support oil prices amid the pandemic. Consequently, Brent crude futures rose over 5 per cent to $33.19 a barrel early Monday. HDFC will be in focus in today's session after the People's Bank of China increased its stake in the lending major to 1.01 per cent. The Chinese central bank held 17.5 million shares at the end of the March 2020 quarter, according to a regulatory disclosure by HDFC. And, in the end, let's have a look at global cues for today's trade. The US Futures and Asian stocks were largely lower in Monday's early deals. Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's Kospi slipped over 0.5 per cent each. SGX Nifty was also down around 100 points, suggesting an open at around 9,000 levels for the Nifty today. Read by: Kanishka Gupta

What a Digital Dollar looks like…We are on the cusp of a new monetary era. Central bankers around the world are increasingly worried that privately controlled digital currencies will relegate them to the sidelines of monetary affairs. To avoid this fate, central banks have been studying, and in some cases actively pursuing, issuing digital currencies of their own: so-called central bank digital currency (CBDC). Today's tech giants have the scale and consumer reach, not to mention the incentive, to create their own digital moneys that threaten to compete with or even displace the public moneys that central banks issue and manage. The Peoples Bank of China is reportedly poised to launch its CBDC as soon as this year. If it succeeds, other major central banks are sure to follow. The stakes are especially high for the United States because a successful digital currency—whether controlled by a private company or by China—could imperil the U.S. dollar's status as the dominant global currency, a source of “exorbitant privilege” for Americans.Congress should authorize the Federal Reserve to implement a broadly accessible, U.S. dollar-based CBDC by giving the general public—individuals, businesses, and institutions—the option to hold accounts at the central bank, which we call FedAccounts. FedAccounts would offer all the functionality of ordinary bank accounts with the exception of overdraft coverage. They would also have all the special features that banks currently enjoy on their central bank accounts, as well as some additional, complementary features. The FedAccount program would put government-issued digital or “account” money on par with government-issued physical currency, transforming digital dollars into a resource that anyone can use. The technology behind the digital dollar would be HyperLedger DLT, being designed to be fungible, meaning regardless of what central bank might end up minting its currency using the technology, every token will have the same value as the underlying asset, regardless of whether the token had been previously used for some nefarious purpose and will comply with the ERC-1155 token standard.When it comes to money and payments, integration and interoperability are demonstrably better than fragmentation and balkanization. On top of that, distributed ledger technology, however ingenious its conception, remains extremely slow and inefficient compared to centralized ledger systems. For central banks, these cryptocurrency design features are a needless distraction. The FedAccount system would be seamlessly interoperable with the existing system of money and payments and would rely on low-cost, reliable systems and technologies that the Federal Reserve has used successfully for decades. It would not charge interchange fees on debit card transactions, FedAccounts would reduce or eliminate an implicit tax on retailers and consumers. The Digital Dollar effects on BitcoinImportant to keep in mind. Bitcoin has the lead and will continue to have the lead in the digital currency space. The creation of the Digital Dollar at its core and infrastructure level isn't really a challenge for Bitcoin. Bitcoin wins hands down.China's digital yuan has been in the works since 2014. The launch date, however, still remains unknown but is expected later this year. Industry insiders told The Global Times that China should accelerate the launch of its digital currency amid the coronavirus pandemic and economic slowdown. This will be Bitcoin first major test.People's Bank of China Digital Yuan, United States of America Digital Dollar, Bitcoin and other crypto currencies. Currency Wars are upon us.What happens to cash when the digital dollar is created, does it become worthless. Will we continue on using the same fiat money system that hyper inflates the digital dollar as well. Currency devaluation, or debasement, has always been synonymous with inflation, where the amount of money in circulation relative to economic activity increases. When the Federal Reserve System started creating hundreds of billions of dollars out of thin air, they called it ‘quantitative easing' of the money supply. When that didn't work, they created more money and called it ‘QE2', instead of saying: ‘We are going to print more dollars — and hope it works this time.'” Now they are calling this QE infinity. Does the Fed introduce a new currency and if so do we lose all value in our current USD.Worse case scenario a new FedCoin currency is created including the wiping out of previous USD debt. Digital FedCoin becomes the world reserve currency backed by gold and/or a basket of other currencies, still highly centralized and highly controlled. However to make social and economic choices regarding this, the FED implements governance in a two tier token system that is well coordinated with other central banks holding the vast majority of wealth very similar to MakerDAO…while the smaller stable FedCoin token is distributed to everyone else all while keeping the programmable money aspect in tact. This pulls the rug under bitcoin. They then take additional steps to make it extremely difficult to receive and/or send and/or store legally if not held in a digital online/offline wallet not tied to a digital identity or an exchange. This creates a secondary market in the Bitcoin, Crypto industry and an onslaught of privacy coins become the standard and/or Bitcoin forks implementing a privacy component to its protocol. Best case scenario old cash currency is still used, currency wars continue, hyper inflation increases and most people make the move to bitcoin and becomes the world reserve currency.Citation: Ricks, Morgan and Crawford, John and Menand, Lev, Digital Dollars (February 1, 2020). Vanderbilt Law Research Paper 18-33; UC Hastings Research Paper No. 287; George Washington Law Review, Forthcoming. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3192162 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3192162

This special report will discuss the People's Bank of China's announcement today that it will inject $174 billion of liquidity into reverse repo agreements on Monday

This talk was given at a #YesCymruTalks #SgwrsAnnibyniaeth event in Theatr Soar, Merthyr Tudful on 25 January 2020. Mark Hooper is Project Lead for Cambria Cydfuddiannol Ltd, a co-operative society working to launch Banc Cambria. The idea for this bank, came from the Peoples Bank for Wales Action Group, and has been developed over the last three years. Follow the progress at https://twitter.com/banccambria. YesCymru: Yr ymgyrch dros annibyniaeth / The campaign for an independent Wales Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/YesCymru Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YesCymru Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/yescymru Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/YesCymru/ Website: https://www.yes.cymru

Stocks are roaring to begin 2020. All three of the major averages are off to a strong start to the new year, trading higher by at least 0.5 percent, with the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 reaching fresh highs. The early gains come on the heels of the People's Bank of China saying it would cut its reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, lowering the amount of money banks are required to keep on hand. The benchmark S&P gained 28.9 percent last year while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite rallied 35.2 percent and 22.3 percent, respectively.   Ticker Security Last Change Change % I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 28714.17 +175.73 +0.62% SP500 S&P 500 3249.19 +18.41 +0.57% I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 9060.195978 +87.59 +0.98% Apple shares hit a record high, and are closing in on the $300 level. Elsewhere, Boeing gained despite Reuters reporting rival Airbus delivered a record 863 aircraft in 2019, making it the top planemaker for the year. Ford was little changed after receiving a downgrade at Evercore. The firm cut its rating on the automaker to "underperform," citing its high valuation.   Ticker Security Last Change Change % AAPL APPLE INC. 297.88 +4.23 +1.44% BA BOEING COMPANY 328.19 +2.43 +0.75% F FORD MOTOR COMPANY 9.26 -0.04 -0.43% Looking at deals, Anixter International accepted a $93.50 a share in cash offer from Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC. The deal, which values Anixter at about $4.3 billion, comes after Wesco last month offered $93.50 a share in cash and stock.   Ticker Security Last Change Change % AXE ANIXTER INTL 94.30 +2.20 +2.39% WCC WESCO INTL 59.49 +0.10 +0.17% On the commodities front, gold was up 0.5 percent at $1,530 an ounce and West Texas Intermediate crude oil was higher by 0.2 percent at $61.16 a barrel. U.S. Treasurys gained slightly, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down almost 2 basis points to 1.89 percent. In Europe, France's CAC 40 rose 1.3 percent while Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE both added 1 percent. Overnight, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.1 percent and China's Shanghai Composite

Stocks are roaring to begin 2020. All three of the major averages are off to a strong start to the new year, trading higher by at least 0.5 percent, with the Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 reaching fresh highs. The early gains come on the heels of the People's Bank of China saying it would cut its reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points, lowering the amount of money banks are required to keep on hand. The benchmark S&P gained 28.9 percent last year while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq Composite rallied 35.2 percent and 22.3 percent, respectively.   Ticker Security Last Change Change % I:DJI DOW JONES AVERAGES 28714.17 +175.73 +0.62% SP500 S&P 500 3249.19 +18.41 +0.57% I:COMP NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX 9060.195978 +87.59 +0.98% Apple shares hit a record high, and are closing in on the $300 level. Elsewhere, Boeing gained despite Reuters reporting rival Airbus delivered a record 863 aircraft in 2019, making it the top planemaker for the year. Ford was little changed after receiving a downgrade at Evercore. The firm cut its rating on the automaker to "underperform," citing its high valuation.   Ticker Security Last Change Change % AAPL APPLE INC. 297.88 +4.23 +1.44% BA BOEING COMPANY 328.19 +2.43 +0.75% F FORD MOTOR COMPANY 9.26 -0.04 -0.43% Looking at deals, Anixter International accepted a $93.50 a share in cash offer from Clayton Dubilier & Rice LLC. The deal, which values Anixter at about $4.3 billion, comes after Wesco last month offered $93.50 a share in cash and stock.   Ticker Security Last Change Change % AXE ANIXTER INTL 94.30 +2.20 +2.39% WCC WESCO INTL 59.49 +0.10 +0.17% On the commodities front, gold was up 0.5 percent at $1,530 an ounce and West Texas Intermediate crude oil was higher by 0.2 percent at $61.16 a barrel. U.S. Treasurys gained slightly, pushing the yield on the 10-year note down almost 2 basis points to 1.89 percent. In Europe, France's CAC 40 rose 1.3 percent while Germany's DAX and Britain's FTSE both added 1 percent. Overnight, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.1 percent and China's Shanghai Composite

Raising the inflation rate target is something that both the Federal Reserve and the People's Bank of China (PBOC) have announced they are seriously considering in 2020. Whether the numbers are actually real or not, the official inflation rate has been very low in developed countries for many years. The Fed is pondering raising the target higher than the current 2% over the medium term, while China is targeting a whopping 4%. Why might they be doing this? I believe it is another method of both countries trying to extend the current economic cycle, which is clearly aging. There is still plenty of leverage in the system and could cause other problems if a downturn begins. I'll have to assume for now that this program will be successful if implemented. As usual, we'll take a look at the trend going on in the S&P500 and update the views from last video. Also, we'll take a look at some inflation themed trades which have been down for several years and might start showing some signs of life. As always, this video is for entertainment purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Reading Links: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-12-02/federal-reserve-s-inflation-approach-to-benefit-markets https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3040251/chinas-central-bank-hints-possibility-higher-2020-inflation Follow me Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/clockworkcharts Twitter - https://twitter.com/clockworkcharts Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/clockwork_charts

Welcome to Finance and Fury, Last Friday – new monetary reset might be going digital Today – Dive into Cyrpto/BTC potential traps of the future – The potential regulation and eventual centralisation of Cryptocurrency at the nation-state level – i.e. domestically in any country Something always has puzzled me – Who invented BTC – I know the anonym's name and we all know the story – In 2008 - Bitcoin was proposed by unknown author or authors - pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto At the heart of blockchain is the distributed ledger - or a distributed network is a shared database So rather than one central entity holding the information, it’s spread through a network of millions of sites or nodes – in the early days decentralization offered many benefits over traditional, centralized systems: increased security and transparency As it uses a trustless, fungible and tamper-resistant distributed ledger called a blockchain Ironic it is called a decentralised currency, when you need power and the internet to access – and turns out – potentially Government permission Take a step back – bit of conjecture in this episode – but think this through with me Blockchain is a revolutionary invention – another extension of the internet – I liked it initially as well But remembered one key factor - Where did the internet come from? Technology for GPS, almost the foundation for most of the stuff we use day to day? Governments or their funding arms – Like the CIA's DARPA – funding almost all tech since the 70s Examples – Internet and emails, Windows, WWW, and Videoconferencing, google maps, Siri, Unix, and cloud technology, GPS, VR Essentially – the foundation for most technologies – but bitcoin just came to be from an unknown source – in this day and age? There are plenty of narratives through history – Benjamin Franklin and the invention of electricity – Total BS – how? Step 1, fly a kite in a storm, step 2, attach a skeleton key to it – weighs a good 50grams – then he is shocked by lightning – is a narrative of history that falls apart with some scrutiny But Given the inventor of BTC is unknown – we don’t know where it came from – but following the trend – just as likely (if not more) a government as some lone programmer/group – especially when you look at the current Especially if it serves their needs in the end game – How do you get someone to adopt something – Willingly – Edward Bernays the founder of PR- Spin and book of Crystallising public opinion Examples = Smoking freedom torches for women, or selling American Aluminium’s waste products – fluoride By force is hard – resistance when told what to do – much easier to have people adopt by choice New cool technology, antiestablishment, untraceable, profitable! Who wouldn’t want to get in? But What if that is what Central banks and the banks of Central Banks (BIS and IMF) want? They know fiat is going to collapse at some point – too much debt – never be repaid Central Banks – BOE’s Carney Floats Idea of New, Virtual Reserve Currency Statement: “Such a synthetic currency potentially could damp dollar dominance, ease burden of greenback’s moves on smaller economies” Banks of banks - It is well within regulations of banks - Rhetoric regarding cryptocurrencies is somewhat more moderate in a recent report from the BIS - finds that cryptocurrencies in fact, “rely on regulated financial institutions to operate, bringing cryptocurrencies within reach of national regulation.” This isn’t to be taken lightly - The BIS regulates and holds capital on behalf of 60 central banks across the globe Though the BIS has expressed moderate conclusions about cryptocurrencies in the past Statements made by BIS Head of Research Hyun Song Shin in June and recently the BIS president - called cryptocurrencies “psuedocurrencies” and Bitcoin, “a combination of a bubble, a Ponzi scheme, and an environmental disaster.” But the new report from the BIS says that a close correlation of trading behaviour with regulatory news suggests the crypto sector responds like any other market to news about legality: “Cryptocurrencies are often thought to operate out of the reach of national regulation, but in fact their valuations, transaction volumes and user bases react substantially to news about regulatory actions…(E)vents related to general bans on cryptocurrencies or to their treatment under securities law have the greatest adverse effect, followed by news on combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism…News pointing to the establishment of specific legal frameworks tailored to cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings coincides with strong market gains.” BIS views the crypto sector being orientated towards lawfulness – as they see an increased dependence on regulated interfaces (exchanges and banks) and by “market segmentation,” i.e. – BIS statements: “These results suggest that cryptocurrency markets rely on regulated financial institutions to operate and that these markets are segmented across jurisdictions, bringing cryptocurrencies within reach of national regulation.” Also - S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission - officially confirmed that both Bitcoin and Ethereum should be considered commodities They know cryto market is going to get bigger – this is what the Governments actually want – why? Look at this in a second Can Governments/Banks actually regulate crypto markets? Technically – cryptocurrencies can function without institutional backing and are intrinsically borderless – this raises the question of whether regulation is effective – in particular national regulation The BIS advises that lawmakers tasked with governing the sector should not be awed by technological claims, but should rather focus on understanding how crypto functions economically: “To tackle regulatory concerns, authorities will first need to clarify the regulatory classification of cryptocurrency-related activities, and to do so using criteria based on economic functions rather than the technology used.” In Aus – Or any country – very easy – A Financial Systems Legislation Amendment can be made – update definition of ‘property’ in currency subsection using a simple amendment Going deeper, is bitcoin an option? What do you value BTC in? Is it AUD? Or USD? Think about that – When something is valued in Fiat – is it truly a new currency? Is it really a new form of money if it is still valued in current currency – not in relation to good themselves Fractal version of fiat currency – you need fiat money to start with to purchase under current economy Therefore – the very conversion of crypto is where it will start in legislation changes Unregulated leads to fraud and manipulation – or regulation being introduced Future regulations are a worry – for the most part left alone – easy to regulate – Requires internet – Aus providers easily block IPs – what if access through internet is blocked – can’t verify without internet connection May have a base value purely due to the areas it is most useful for – tax evasion, laundering, terrorism, illegal stuff – North Korea blocked in cash transfers, but could trade in crypto - utility token until use taken the supply of it also being snapped up by Governments – China, seized all of the citizens BTC, while on the surface against it, they likely have the largest control over the mining and ownership of BTC – come back to this in a sec Doesn’t escape concentrations in control/supply – cheapest power or deepest pockets – China has both June 2018, over 80% of Bitcoin mining is performed by six mining pools - five of those six pools are managed by individuals or organizations located in China. Other is in Iceland. First – why concentration in china? Cheap power – mining takes a lot of Electricity power requirements   Why would China, or other Govs want Crypto market to grow – admits the possibility of Government doing a ban/buyout of Crypto – and implementing their own as a money base History is a powerful tool – Gold used to be the money bass – hence the Gold seizures of 1900s Gold used to be the monetary base – and Governments would ban private ownership of this to take all the gold for themselves For example - Executive Order 6102 is a United States presidential executive order signed by FDR in 1933 "forbidding the hoarding of gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates within the continental United States" Made under the authority of the Trading with the Enemy Act of 1917 - amended by the Emergency Banking Act  EO6102 required all persons to deliver on or before May 1, 1933 all but a small amount of gold owned by the population to the Federal Reserve – in exchange for $20.67 (equivalent to $410 today) per ounce punishable by fine up to $10,000 (equivalent to $200k today) or up to ten years in prison, or both Exemptions were made for those in the know – i.e customary use in industry, profession, art and also exempted was "gold coins having recognized special value to collectors of rare and unusual coins" After all the gold was taken for $20.67 - Treasury then raised price of gold under the Gold Reserve Act to $35 an ounce – Governments/Banks made a massive profit – 40% overnight – again population got screwed Why did they do this? - US was on a gold standard at the time – therefore people owning gold (i.e. the backing for money) was seen as a threat to the stability of the financial system FDR desperately needed to remove the constraint on the Federal Reserve that prevented it from increasing the money – which was a limit to their Gold Stores the ban on private ownership of gold in America—the home of the free— went on for over 40 years until 1975 when the population was allowed to own more than $100 in gold again Gold also had many other regulations in other countries to be taken from the population to ‘stabilise’ the financial system Australia Gold Confiscation - 1959 - The Australian government similarly nationalised gold Art of the Banking Act in 1959 - allowed gold seizures of private citizens if the Governor determined it was “expedient to do so, for the protection of the currency or of the public credit of the Commonwealth.” Made it legal to seize gold from private citizens and exchange it for paper currency All gold had to be delivered to the RBA within one month of it's coming into a person's possession Great Britain’s Gold Ban—1966 – Same thing – needed to stockpile more gold for financial system stability These three gold confiscations have commonalities – Were imposed by first world nation governments - were advanced societies, among the richest countries on the planet - yet they all confiscated gold due to this very factor – wealth appeared through monetary policy Arose out of economic crisis. Each government had abused its finances so badly that it eventually nationalised privately held gold from citizens   China is the canary down the coal mine – as they have just gone through another crackdown in crypto markets Back on 5 December 2013, People's Bank of China (PBOC) made its first step in regulating bitcoin by prohibiting financial institutions from handling bitcoin transactions Then - Cryptocurrency exchanges or trading platforms were effectively banned by regulation in September 2017 with 173 platforms closed down by July 2018 New Financial System likely involves Many new cryptos 0 which isn’t crazy Since Bitcoin's inception, thousands of other cryptocurrencies have been introduced – no limit or requirement to join Every country can have own form of currency – similar to crypto – but issued by the state – or central banks – like Fiat system Would be easy to regulate –   Summary – there is money to be made in BTC and other crypto through trading within the bands – but long term has massive political risks – same reasons I wouldn’t invest in African mines – depending on country has massive political risk through Government nationalising Episode is a cautionary tale – I may be 100% wrong – but it is potentially a point of view you haven’t heard and something else to consider Thanks for listening today. If you want to get in contact you can do so here: http://financeandfury.com.au/contact/

Fear of exchange raids in China take Bitcoin down to $7000. We look at the (false) rumours of police raids on Binance and Bithumb & the new announcement from the People's Bank of China (PBoC). Algorand announced major updates to their platform leading to Layer-1 issuance of tokens & atomic swaps.

In episode 88, host Will Kollmeyer welcomes three guests for in-the-field interviews from the Northeast at Ripley groundbreaking -- Northeast president Dr. Ricky Ford, the Chairman of the Board for The Peoples Bank of Ripley Bobby Martin and Chief Architect Rud Robison, Jr. of PryorMorrow. During his portion of the interview, Ford talks about the benefits for not only the college but the city of Ripley and people of Tippah County with the addition of the Ripley center. Martin echoes Ford's remarks and reminisces about the changes that Ripley and Northeast have seen over the past 60 years and how a Northeast at Ripley center will be used. Robison, a NEMCC graduate, gives the finish date for the center and also talks about how Northeast prepared him for becoming one of the top architects in the South. In the second half of the podcast, diesel power technology instructor Jonathan Alexander stops by to talk about two important events involving his program. First, the dedication of Gayle T. Davis Hall (the old Ryder building on North Second Street) and the Higher Education Achieves Demonstrative Skills (HEADS) Festival. Alexander's diesel power technology program will be relocating to Gayle T. Davis Hall soon and will give up their home in Vo-Tech Building #3 for a new, spacious learning environment and will celebrate the naming of the building at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 8. During the HEADS Festival, Northeast will welcome over 3,000 ninth through twelfth-grade students to campus for a one-day event that showcases our career and technical education programs. Between the segments, Kollmeyer gives a rundown of events that are happening in the next 10 days and also mentions a few events to be on the lookout for later in the month. Don't forget that we have also started a YouTube account, http://bit.ly/NEMCCTigerTalkYouTube , and we will be putting all our podcasts on our YouTube channel as time allows. Future guests on the podcast, do not fret; this is an audio-only YouTube account with the video produced by the Headliner App. As always, if you have any podcast ideas or want to be a guest on the podcast, drop us a line and we can get you set up to be on an upcoming episode of TigerTalk.

David Andolfatto, senior vice president at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, gives his thoughts on Facebook's Libra, including why regulatory issues will make it hard to compete with the US dollar, and why Bitcoin wouldn't have such issues. He also says, "who cares?" about the US dollar losing global reserve status, pointing out that many prosperous countries have currencies that don't function as global reserves. He tells us how he would design a central bank digital currency, and why, even if central banks enabled citizens to open accounts with them, thus bypassing commercial banks, it wouldn't drive banks out of business. We also cover how that could affect fractional reserve banking and credit creation, the People's Bank of China's soon-to-be-issued digital yuan, and why blockchains haven't yet substantially helped the unbanked, as they were originally touted to do. Thank you to our sponsors!  Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Crypto.com:  https://crypto.com Episode links:  St. Louis Federal Reserve: https://www.stlouisfed.org David Andolfatto: https://research.stlouisfed.org/econ/andolfatto/sel/ David's blog: http://andolfatto.blogspot.com Letter from House Reps to Fed Chair Jerome Powell: https://static.coindesk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Foster-Hill-US-Crypto.pdf Talk on blockchain, cryptocurrency and central banks: https://www.stlouisfed.org/dialogue-with-the-fed/blockchain https://www.stlouisfed.org/~/media/files/pdfs/dwtf/blockchain_082918.pdf?la=en Blog post on cost efficiency of a centrally managed ledger: http://andolfatto.blogspot.com/2017/12/fedcoin-and-blockchain.html?spref=tw David’s paper on the impact of central bank digital currency private banks: https://s3.amazonaws.com/real.stlouisfed.org/wp/2018/2018-026.pdf Raskin and Yermack paper: https://ccl.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Raskin_Max_and_Yermack_David_The%20Future%20of%20Central%20Banking.pdf David on FedCoin: http://andolfatto.blogspot.com/2015/02/fedcoin-on-desirability-of-government.html  Philadelphia Federal Reserve banker Patrick Harker on a G20 CBDC being inevitable: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-harker-digital/feds-harker-digital-central-bank-currency-inevitable-idUSKBN1WH1L4 Related Unchained interview: Dong He and Yan Liu on central bank digital currencies: https://unchainedpodcast.com/the-imf-on-how-to-design-central-bank-digital-currencies/

Eric Marcotte of Peoples Bank joins me today to give you a thorough overview of the mortgage process.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for sale After you decide to buy a house, your first step should be to talk to a mortgage lender. Knowing what you can afford, how you can improve your credit, and the state of your financial situation overall is crucial in getting the home you want. With that in mind, I’ve invited mortgage expert Eric Marcotte of Peoples Bank to join me today to answer a few mortgage FAQs and talk about each step of the mortgage process. I hope this conversation gives you the guidance you need to become the best buyer you can be. If you’d like to reach out to Eric, you can give him a call at (219) 838-9101. If you have any questions for me, feel free to email me or give me a call. I’d love to help you.

Emily Parker, cofounder of Longhash, describes what the company, which has an Asia-focused incubator and data media site does, how she ended up launching an Asia-focused company, why she’s seeing US crypto teams and ICOs going to Singapore, why the Chinese government cracked down on crypto, and what misconceptions she sees about crypto in China. She explains how the Chinese still trade Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies despite the ban, why Tether plays a big role, how the China ban has affected crypto entrepreneurship and how the upcoming People's Bank of China digital currency could impact crypto. We also discuss how the attitude toward crypto has changed in Japan over time, why so many crypto teams are settling in Singapore, and whether or not the philosophies of censorship-resistance or decentralization resonate in China.  Thank you to our sponsors!  Crypto.com: https://crypto.com Kraken: https://www.kraken.com CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Episode links:  Longhash: LongHash.com Longhash's Twitter: https://twitter.com/longhashdata Emily Parker: Emilyparkerwrites.com Emily Parker on Twitter: https://twitter.com/emilydparker Emily Parker on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-parker-738034142/ Longhash's incubator: https://incubator.longhash.com BTC trading by US EST and PST vs. China: https://www.longhash.com/news/american-traders-lead-on-bitcoin-rally-while-asian-traders-not-so-bullish Bitcoin metrics on Longhash: https://www.longhash.com/livecharts/bitcoin-social-metrics Emily's interview with SEC commissioner Hester Peirce: https://www.longhash.com/news/in-cryptocurrency-will-asia-surpass-the-us-exclusive-interview-with-sec-commissioner-hester-peirce Unchained interview with commissioner Peirce: https://unchainedpodcast.com/sec-commissioner-hester-peirce-come-talk-to-the-sec/ Longhash article showing more ICOs in Singapore than in US in Q1 2018: https://www.longhash.com/news/how-singapore-became-asias-ico-hub Longhash's graphic showing money transmitter laws in the US: https://www.longhash.com/news/is-cryptocurrency-money-depends-on-your-state Longhash on ICOs fleeing the US: https://www.longhash.com/news/after-years-of-regulatory-uncertainty-icos-are-fleeing-the-united-states Unchained interview with Primitive Ventures: https://unchainedpodcast.com/asia-edition-mining-a-crypto-yuan-and-the-two-main-reasons-the-chinese-are-interested-in-crypto-ep-102/ Unchained interview with Da Hongfei and Patrick Dai (not Lai!): https://unchainedpodcast.com/from-blockchains-to-mooncakes-two-chinese-crypto-founders-on-the-ico-and-bitcoin-exchanges-ban/ Unchained interview with CZ of Binance: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-binance-became-the-most-popular-crypto-exchange-in-5-months-ep-84/ Emily's interview with Coincheck's president: https://www.longhash.com/news/lessons-from-the-largest-crypto-hack-in-history-exclusive-interview-with-coincheck-president-toshihiko-katsuya Longhash deck of cards of crypto players: https://www.longhash.com/news/fiftyfour-players-in-the-blockchain-industry-transformed-into-a-real-deck-of-cards

Kicking off season two Barry talks to Jonny Fry, CEO of TeamBlockchain and cofounder of the BBFTA.org about how the global landscape has changed so very fast. First the shift in the zeitgeist resulting from Libra coin, backed by Facebook and a consortium including Mastercard and Visa - plus the spread of CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) - sometimes called "digital fiat currencies". Not least among them the People's Bank of China's announcement that they will lead the world with their own digital currency - set to rival, or surpass at a stroke, Libra. We touch on how a digital token could add 20% - 30% to the bottom line... and whether understanding and exploring this is part of director's fiduciary duties. Why BP created the VAKT - and then made it available to their competitors. How Louis Vuitton have done something similar. We explore how and why we now have negative rates - and what it all means.

Just weeks after Facebook announced their Libra cryptocurrency project, the People's Bank of China has become quite vocal about their on-going project. Most recently, the PBOC announced that China's digital currency is "nearly ready." Following on from our previous conversation about Libra and QQ Coin, this week we're joined by Zennon Kapron, director of Kapronasia, to look at what Libra means in a global context as well as China's plans to launch its own digital currency. Key questions What are the biggest implementation and adoption challenges for Libra? Why don't governments like cryptocurrency? How does a digital currency affect the RMB's status? What are the downsides of a digital fiat currency? Links China Tech Talk 33: Fintech IPOs and the future of money in China with Zennon Kapron China Tech Talk 80: Libra lessons from WeChat and QQ China fast-tracks development of national digital currency in response to Libra China’s digital fiat currency is ‘nearly ready’ for launch: PBOC official WeChat Conference: CHina CHat 2019! Become a member of TechNode Squared Guest Zennon Kapron, @ZennonKapron Hosts John Artman, @knowsnothing, TechNode Matthew Brennan, @mbrennanchina, ChinaChannel Editor Peter Isachenko Podcast information iTunes Spotify RSS feed Music: “Theme from Penguins on Parade” by Lee Rosevere, Music for Podcasts 3

The Investor's Guide to China from Fidelity International takes you deep into the workings of the Chinese economy and its financial markets. Paras Anand brings you a cast of investment experts working in the world's second largest economy. Hear how they're navigating its markets to uncover the opportunities and avoid the pitfalls. Paras Anand is Fidelity International’s Head of Asset Management in Asia Pacific. Episode 1: It’s an historic time for China's capital markets. Company shares and bonds have are drawing international attention after being included on global indices for the first time. But how open is China really to investors? Exactly how far down the road to liberalisation does China stand today and what should investors watch for next? Joining Paras to answer these questions are Lynda Zhou, a Portfolio Manager based in Shanghai, Bryan Collins, Portfolio Manager and Head of Fidelity's Asia fixed income team, and George Efstathopoulos, Portfolio Manager in the Asia multi asset team. With additional contributions from Alex Zhang, Investment Analyst. Click here (or below on Apple podcasts) for more episodes from this series.   ---- Transcript PARAS ANAND This is An Investor's Guide to China, a new podcast from Fidelity International. I'm Paras Anand, Head of Asset Management in Asia Pacific and I'll be taking you deep into China's economy. What makes the country tick, the areas that are most exciting, and the ones to avoid. Fidelity has built up decades of experience in China and each episode I'll bring you Fidelity's portfolio managers, research analysts, and other specialists who cover the market and can share with you their expertise. The past year has been historic for Chinese capital markets. Company shares and bonds have stepped into the international spotlight, included on global indices for the first time. But how open is China really to investors? Exactly how far down the road of liberalisation does China stand today and what should investors watch for next? To help me answer these questions I'm joined by three of Fidelity's China experts. With me in Shanghai is Lynda Zhou, a portfolio manager who's based in the city. Lynda, you're based here but how long have you known Shanghai?    LYNDA ZHOU I'm actually Shanghainese. I was born and brought up here but I went to Hong Kong to study and further work. And then the last year, it's basically the opening up of the China market that bought me back. So I relocated the whole family back to Shanghai after almost 20 years.   PARAS And joining us from Hong Kong we have Bryan Collins, a portfolio manager and head of our Asia fixed income team. Brian, how much does China figure in your Asia portfolios?   BRYAN COLLINS China's a significant part of our portfolios directly and indirectly. But you could easily account for half of the exposures that we have and growing. frankly. And, of course, indirectly China has a significant influence on Asia, less the rest of the world.   PARAS And also in Hong Kong we have George Efstathopoulos, a portfolio manager in the multi asset team. George, how close are you to the Chinese market?   GEORGE EFSTATHOPOULOS  In recent years we have found ourselves increasingly participating in China across the cap structure whether it is China bonds - sort of CGBs - sort of the saver part of the cap structure. Increasingly, the past year or so, in China high yield and more recently in Chinese equities, as well. So particular important for us in recent years.   PARAS Thanks George. And thank you all for joining me today. Lynda, Fidelity’s been in China for a decade and a half and you can see that the Shanghai skyline has changed beyond all recognition in that time. But what about the country's financial markets. Where are we in that journey?   LYNDA That's actually a very interesting question for now because we all know that China is still a relatively closed up market. You know we have the capital account is still pretty much closed. The financial markets, just in the past two to three years, the opening up happening… what is really encouraging is in the past one year we do see that speed of opening up actually accelerating quite a lot. It’s probably because it's one of the negotiation conditions of the trade war but we're still very happy to see that process.   PARAS And Brian and George you’re both very frequent visitors to China. But from your vantage point in Hong Kong what's your take on the pace of change? Bryan?   BRYAN I would say it's a little mixed. I mean it's very rapid. I very much look at the domestic capital markets in China and see them as not developed but rapidly developing. So in some respects the rate of growth - the size of the market, for one - has been impressive, immense. We've never seen this before in terms of the growth of a debt capital market or a capital market more generally. The good thing for China is that it's got large established developed markets around the rest of the world which it can effectively mirror or at least reflect or take the best of, if you will. We've seen some good improvements with the regulatory oversight especially around the banking system and around regulating shadow banking, for example, and shadow financing channels over the last couple of years in particular. Yet on the other hand there are some aspects, little things, which still have a long way to go. One of the obvious ones that we feel is significant for the onshore domestic bond markets is simply allowing greater use of really basic derivatives like bond futures, government bond futures, for example, which are available and they're used, but for example as international participants we're not yet able to use that as some other participants. Now we feel that that will change and will obviously continue to develop and there's always this balance between making sure that the development of any capital market is measured, it's controlled, it's not excessive or creating any kind of systemic risks. But on the other hand, given the size, the fact that the bond markets is 13 or so trillion US dollars in size, we expect within the next five to six years that number to be easily 30 trillion US dollars in size - that's as big as the US debt capital markets. So if you think about it in size terms they're going to equate each other very soon but when you think about the depth and breadth and the sophistication of the two markets, China's well behind. So it's got lots of room and opportunity to continue to grow.   PARAS And we're seeing that same sort of development also in terms of the A--share market as well when we think about index inclusion. George, when I look at the Chinese market, despite the sort of the development of it the depth of it liquidity of the market the volatility of the market still gives me the impression that it's still a very immature or sort of developing market. What's your perspective on that?   GEORGE I think it is a more retail-driven market. So retail investors onshore in China, they're responsible for roughly about 80 per cent of trading activity, of turnover, when they hold about 20 per cent of the outstanding. These numbers are slowly changing with the inclusion that we saw we are seeing a little bit of those dynamics change, it's still very early days. I think about 10 per cent now of the outstanding is held by foreign investors so this will gradually change dynamics and will have a positive impact on volatility. But having said that, I'd also like to mention inclusion. Typically what happens when a country gets included in an index you tend to have the ‘buy the rumour, sell the fact’, that's what happened with UAE, Qatar, and even going back with Taiwan and Korea many years ago. And this time around, with China, it's been the exact opposite. We knew there was going to be inclusion sometime earlier this year - we didn't particularly know the extent of it - but last year, despite decent earnings growth in China, we saw a huge compression of multiples. So we didn't really see this buying the rumour, selling the fact, that then created a very interesting buying opportunity on the back of very attractive valuations.   LYNDA After the valuation compression of last year the market is definitely becoming more interesting. And last year it was because we got multiple surprises from both inside and outside. I think the outside one - the trade war one - is probably still going on, but inside-wise the financial market deleverage has almost come to the end. So it does look more interesting from now.   PARAS And let's stay with trade wars for a bit. Obviously we're in this environment now, tariffs being imposed by the US on China and the retaliation that we're seeing. George, how serious is this and how much of an impact is it having on your asset allocation views, as you’re thinking through the portfolio. Is this a short term situation or something that you see extending for quarters ahead of us?   GEORGE The key thing that we're monitoring on trade wars is: what is the impact on the Chinese economy? And from our perspective we've done a lot of work trying to understand from the bottom up what does it really mean and the impact it has and today versus 10, 15 years ago, the impact today is very different because today the Chinese economy has managed to transition from an export driven economy to one [where] a big part of GDP growth is driven by the consumption story. So trade wars 15 years ago would have had a much bigger impact than what it has today.   PARAS I'd like to I'd like to come in on currency though because I think one of the things that I'm finding particularly surprising is how weak the currency was as we went through 2018. But despite all of these headlines around trade wars, when you actually look at the currency, yes - we see a little bit of weakness but really it's been more resilient maybe than one might have expected as we look through 2019. Bryan are you seeing value in the currency or do you feel that there's further weakness to come?   BRYAN The RMB is an evolving currency. For all intents and purposes it's a managed trade-weighted currency. And especially you can start to see how domestic monetary policy in China is playing a bigger role in the direction of the currency. So you mentioned that it was weak during 2018 which was the reverse of 2017 versus the US dollar because monetary policy growth trajectories are actually diverging, so that's what currencies should do. In 2018 the PBOC was easing monetary policy, the US Fed was actually starting to hike. Growth trajectories between the two were actually starting to diverge: the US was stronger, China was starting to moderate. So you should see a currency behave that way, like a natural stabilizer. That's what they do. That's one of the great things about having a currency.   PARAS But I want to bring out this point on value though. Lynda, when you look at the currency do you see value?   LYNDA It’s a tough question because as an as an insider people are always trying to diversify because we see the credit expansion speed - it's so much faster than your nominal GDP growth. That's why internal-wise, domestic people always have a fear of the currency depreciating, that's why they're willing to put money into things like property or even hard liquor. But just not keep cash.   PARAS But in the context, George, of your portfolios you can be hedging out currency. Are you hedging the currency at the moment?   GEORGE We have been hedging the currency for the past month or so. I'd say roughly two weeks before the trade war shenanigans came back to surface. And the reason for that is we thought that the currency had gone a long way so far this year, it was pricing in a lot of good news. The hedging cost as a result had come down quite significantly. Last year, hedging cost we're about three and a half to four per cent - almost the entire coupon you'd be getting from the bonds. On the other hand, a month ago they had gone down two basis points. So from our end, pricing was very good news and hedging costs were very low, we thought that was a good opportunity to reduce some of our renminbi exposure.   BRYAN The interest rate differentials have completely converged between China and the US. So those hedging costs are negligible now. I wouldn't say there's value in the currency only because there are downside risks. There are psychological barriers if you will, particularly for the domestic consumer and domestic confidence that seven is an issue. But frankly it should be able to break through that. If China needs to be able to adjust to a relatively high level of debt to GDP, if it needs to use that as a tool within the trade war negotiations, maybe, but currencies need to go up and down to be a natural stabiliser and the problem is with a closed capital account, with a managed currency, its ability to do that has both very strong pros and cons.   PARAS Just turning to the economy more broadly. One of the things that international investors really struggle with, Lynda, is actually trying to get a read on the Chinese economy. From inside the country, what's your view on where we are in the business cycle? How do you get a read on the economy?   LYNDA It's also not very easy even for a domestic person because the volatility in the GDP number is very low and to some extent doesn't really reflect how the economy changes. So we do have some better indicators, things like power generation and things like discretionary spending on some of the key items. I think these are more close to the reality, [these] types of parameters. And also I have some personal channels.   PARAS Tell me?   LYNDA I’m based in Shanghai so I take taxis - [it’s a] shared car system - twice a twice a day.   PARAS So you take taxis twice a day?   LYNDA Yeah. It’s actually quite good value because we still got a lot of internet giant subsidies on shared car services. So I talk to the drivers twice a day. The interesting thing is these taxi drivers, they are not full time taxi drivers, most of time they have another job and [often] they're actually SME owners. So in their leisure time they can earn some additional money.   PARAS SMEs - small companies?   LYNDA Small medium enterprises. They can give you really first hand information of what's happening on the ground. Like, for example, one of the drivers last year, he raised pigs. He told me it was very tough last year, in his business. And he was thinking that he may close down his business and switch to another one. That's typically a signal of the trough of the cycle of the pig market.   PARAS And how did you act on that? What did you do on the back of that information?   LYNDA Usually it will give you some idea of a kind of turning point and also it just gives you an idea. So after that I need to prove that. So I talked to the really big scale pig raising companies to see if it's really close to the downcycle of the market. I think that probably gives me some of the information earlier, you know quicker, before I really picked up some news from Bloomberg or from a sell-side report. It's really first-hand information.   PARAS One of the things that I'm really interested in at the moment is the role that monetary policy is playing. Bryan, I don't know how effective you think the Chinese authorities have been in terms of their use of monetary policy to manage the economy? Should the folks at the People's Bank of China - should they be talking to the pig farmers as well?   BRYAN For what it's worth I'm certain they are because that's an important component of inflation. Food in particular is a big part of the consumer price index and it's just a big part of the disposable income. And I think what we've noticed with the PBOC is that their monetary policy framework, their formalised open market operations, have really stepped up quite meaningfully in the last couple of years - officially from November of 2015. So monetary policy is now becoming a much better tool and you can monitor that through, again, the formal open market operations, you can look at it with short end funding costs. So this is actually a much better indicator, we would say, of what the central bank is actually doing rather than just what they're saying. And so you can actually start to see over the last couple of years that tightening of monetary policy. The easing of monetary policy over 2017 and ‘18 respectively were very clear to see and that helped us with our positioning, it helped us get conviction, it helped us to add risk at the end of last year. And the other thing that I think is very relevant to that - it's all very interconnected as you can imagine - is obviously the currency and interest rate differentials (we talked about that before). But then it's even just looking at the credit impulse, that credit growth within the economy. This is critical in assessing and evaluating the cycles and the mini cycles that we see within China, all very related to each other, because monetary policy is not just credit growth, we also need to add things like fiscal impulse or local government spending, for example.   PARAS And if we turn to macro prudential measures more broadly. George, again, to ask the same question: despite lots of different economies and governments talking about macro prudential measures, you could argue actually that China's been one of the most effective at using macro prudential measures to control the economy. Am I right in thinking that?   GEORGE Last year we have had the deleveraging campaign and that has been working but at the same time it has also had some unintended consequences. And actually that links up very much to what Bryan talked about - the credit cycle and the credit impulse. What happened last year was that companies that needed liquidity, that needed credit flow the most, these sort of private companies, small and medium sized enterprises - these companies did not have access anymore to lending. And as a result we started seeing an increase of defaults, more spread volatility in the onshore bond market, and that's important because small and medium sized enterprises in China, private companies in China, they make up a big part of China's employment - about 70 to 80 per cent of urban employment. And if we think of China and the political spectrum in China, they key objective here is, I would say, social stability. How can we relate that to the economy and something more tangible that we can monitor? I would argue that that is employment, essentially not seeing unemployment rising. If private companies are having issues - and not issues because they've been poorly managed but issues because they're not finding access to liquidity - then that is a bad thing because it can lead to rising unemployment. Now that was identified as an unintended consequence by the PBOC middle of last year, they started stepping up on that front. And as a result, from our perspective, that was a catalyst to start adding to risk especially in Chinese corporates.   BRYAN The macro prudential policy that we've also seen, which I think is a little bit mixed but I think you're right Paras, it's been a pretty good example of how it can work, certainly at scale, that's for sure. Clearly, we've seen over many years quite extensive policy controls around the property market, around lending standards, that's actually created some distortions frankly, it’s a mixed result if you will. The other macro prudential policy - it's probably torturing and stretching the term and the definition a little bit - has just really been about the cost of funding. So the overall cost of funding, the allocation of capital within the economy, has been very heavily skewed towards state owned enterprise and with good cause - through decades of rapid development this is a necessary, very valid way to create capital, to generate fixed asset investment, infrastructure and everything that goes with it. The problem however is over time, if the cost of capital is not priced correctly you then get a misallocation of capital. And one of the nice things that we see about the development of a domestic bond market is that it starts the process of pricing capital better. And when you price capital better you get a much higher chance of that capital being allocated more efficiently. It's not perfect. It just means that good quality companies get rewarded with a lower cost of funding and vice versa. It's a work in progress. The bond market helps you do that. But that's, I would argue, the number one financial market reform for China: the efficient pricing and allocation of capital, and the bond market helps with that but there's still a lot more to be done.   GEORGE And not just the bond market, also the inclusion of China into the Barclays indices etc which will slowly find international institutional investors coming into the market and again helping with pricing that risk more efficiently.   LYNDA Just on that misallocation of capital point: this round of easing I got a very different feeling because from the recent April PBOC monthly commentary you already feel that they started to tighten a little bit after the first big scale of easing. So this time round their mentality is very different. They want to just control the liquidity enough to support the economy, not [let it] collapse, but they don't want to really pump the system with abandoned liquidity and create a lot of bubbles or in another words, allocate capital in a very inefficient way. So I think it's also a kind of mentality, an attitude change towards the easing and definitely that brings more credit financing to direct equity financing or bond financing.   PARAS And Bryan you mentioned property and traditionally property is where up to 70 per cent of Chinese household wealth is tied up. And my colleague Richard Edgar has hit the streets in Shanghai to see what's happening in the property market and what that could actually mean for the broader economy.   -----   RICHARD EDGAR Paras, I'm in downtown Shanghai, the centre of the Pudong business district, in fact just outside our offices. You can probably wave and I'd see you. But I'm about to go on a ramble to see some rather different areas, different neighbourhoods and the story they tell about China's economy today. My guide is Alex Zhang, Fidelity's real estate analyst here in China. Alex welcome to you.   ALEX ZHANG Welcome to Shanghai.   RICHARD Thank you very much. What an exciting time to be covering real estate. I know that you think that Shanghai is a little bit like China in miniature - if you could call a city like this of 26 million people in any way mini - but tell me about the development here in this business district, what are we looking at right now?   ALEX Sure. We are now standing in the very centre of Lujiazui financial town and there are around 40 buildings in this area and in those buildings we have over 200,000 people working for the financial industry.   RICHARD And 30 years ago what was here?   ALEX Fields and some very shabby neighbourhoods. And when the Chinese government decided to develop the Pudong area as the starting point of opening up we started to see a lot of building. Some of them were built in the 1990s but also some of them are what built in 2010.   RICHARD So this is possibly the scene that most people think of - most foreigners certainly think of - when they think of Shanghai. But you're going to take me to a rather different place.   ALEX Yes of course. For the residential community in this Lujiazui area there are two camps. One is about five to 10 minute walk from our office. And the other is around 20 minute walk from the office. I'm actually living in the 20 minute camp.   RICHARD It sounds like we've got some exercise to get on with, why don’t you lead on.   ALEX Yes, of course.   RICHARD Right, Alex, not an awful lot of exercise. We've only been walking about seven or eight minutes and here we are in the area that you were telling me about. It’s much more residential, it’s leafy - we've got lots of trees down this street, very attractive and helpful on a very sunny day here in Shanghai. Tell me about the shops that we can see around.   ALEX As you can see the most popular are property agents, restaurants, coffee bars, juice bars. And I think all of these represent the fast-growing service industry in China. So definitely it's a structural trend. However, we can also see with all of these tenants the turnover rate is very high.   RICHARD The turnover rate?   ALEX Yeah - or the churn rate, which means a lot of people are trying to open their own shops. However, some people succeed to survive but some people just have to close down just after the tenant lease period.   RICHARD This is your neighbourhood. You walk up and down the streets every day. How often do you see new shops here?   ALEX I have to say very often. Actually, in front of us these three shops, I didn't find them during the last weekend.   RICHARD Really? They’re brand new?   ALEX Yeah.   RICHARD And how long do you think they'll last?   ALEX It depends. I think the property agents probably could last quite a period because they are the experts about demand. And these dumpling shops, I think they mainly serve the mid to low end customers, they can actually also survive quite a long time. But this one which is a stewed meat kind of shop is quite a specific demand, so I'm not quite sure how long they can survive.   RICHARD So dumplings - yes; stewed meat - maybe not.   ALEX Yeah.   RICHARD And how important is property as an investment to people here in Shanghai?   ALEX The property price went up about 30 per cent in 2015 and another 30 per cent in 2016. But after two years of skyrocketing the Chinese government came in with interventions to curb the property bubble in late 2017. So since then we’ve seen a 15 per cent drop from the peak and which bottomed in February this year and edged up 6 per cent since then.   RICHARD It’s been edging up 6 per cent? I mean that's a pretty good edging up, isn't it. Has that government intervention and the slowing of the incredible racing away of prices, has that changed the way that people think about property?   ALEX Definitely property has become less attractive as an investment.   RICHARD And this is something close to your heart as well? Not just professionally.   ALEX Yeah because I bought my apartment in this area in early 2016 so I enjoyed the rally in 2016. However, I also experienced the drop in 2017 and ‘18. But definitely I don't view that from an investment angle, I more treat it as a living purpose. I think one of the purposes for the government to control the property bubble is also to prevent property from crowding out too much consumption. So I think there will definitely be a structural trend for the Chinese household to allocate their assets out of property and gradually into other types of assets like equity, fixed income, and other type of things. And also on the other hand you have more disposable income to be allocated to consumption. So that's definitely both good for the capital markets and consumption for the next decades.   RICHARD Alex Zhang here on the leafy streets of almost central Shanghai, thank you very much indeed.   ALEX Thanks very much.   ----   PARAS Lynda, I want to explore this point that Alex raised on consumer trends a bit more. Does what he said really chime with your own outlook?   LYNDA I think it's quite common to think in that way but from my kind of experience I actually do feel the opposite way. I think that having your property price rising actually creates a lot of wealth effect and increases your consumption power. And second, it also increases your expectation for future growth. So I do think that the wealth effect takes a big part from the property price. It's probably quite good for consumption. And also I did experience a very big drop in the Hong Kong property price back in 1987 when the property price dropped 70 per cent. So that's definitely going to decrease our consumption not increase.   PARAS One of the things that I discovered meeting Chinese companies over the last year is that it seems as if local brands are starting to resonate with consumers arguably more than international brands. And we're very used to this idea that international brands like Nike have global resonance. But what's really surprised me is the prominence and growth and appetite for local brands. Is this is a real shift that we're seeing?   LYNDA It is a very strong phenomenon that’s emerged in the past decade. I think there are two reasons behind that. First one is you have local brands that have really had a quality improvement. In terms of value for money it can give you a better utility. So there is fundamental reasons why the local brands are emerging. And second, also from the consumer perspective, we’ve got a young generation - their consumption pattern is very different from my generation. They're very focused on tailor-made demand and also very focused on experience. And also they’re quite focused on a kind of interaction or feedback. Sometimes the local brands are really good at that, they're very fast at changing their models, their designs, to better tailoring the younger generation customers. Whereas international brands - for example, it's a very typical example, is like a P&G, when they want to launch a new product and try and fit into the younger generation they need tonnes of process approval from their US-based R&D centre but the local cosmetics or FMCG brands they change really, really fast.   PARAS But one of the emerging stories really though is about increasing household leverage. On the credit side, Bryan, is increasing household borrowing a concern for you?   BRYAN The level of household debt is always something we need to be thinking about in any economy, particularly around the rate of change. Someone's property or properties plural as is often the case within China and the mortgage associated to that is typically the largest part of that household debt. That wealth effect and everything that we've talked about is obviously an important part of that. The good thing is generally speaking we don't see excessive levels of debt in the household sector other than the investors and even then it's been difficult to have excessive amounts of debt within the household sector. But as we start to think about things like auto leasing, for example, if we start to think about the use of consumer credit, this is a much trickier part of the household debt problem because usually it's a higher cost of funding, it usually brings forward consumption and of course it's harder for that to sustain rapid growth. And that actually is what brings about cyclicality within more developed economies like the US, for example, which is very much domestic driven with a large amount of domestic credit focus and household debt focus. The development of China’s credit scoring systems or social scoring systems is clearly a way to try and rein in and self-regulate if you will. But I guess I'm not concerned about household leverage at this point of stage but my goodness it's increased quite significantly over the last few years so it's definitely something we need to be watching and mindful of.   GEORGE One more thing to add to sort of link up to that is you know monitoring household leverage levels but simultaneously monitoring savings rates which historically and continues to be one of the highest globally. If that starts deteriorating at a time when household leverage is moving upwards that would be a more worrying dynamic. Haven't really seen that yet happening in a meaningful way.   LYNDA I agree with Bryan. It does rise very, very quickly. But my feeling is that it’s still pretty much linked to the mortgage. So mortgage debt is still so far the largest part of the household leverage. So again it links back to the question of property prices. My view is property prices are going to be stable, not collapsing. And as long as that’s the case I don't think the mortgage-type of household leverage is going to be a big problem.   PARAS Well that's a really helpful insight. If I wanted to bring this all together: what we've really learned today is that the Chinese market, the capital markets, are continuing their process of opening up but really we've seen the pace really accelerate over the last 12 months. Also really interested to hear that our view on the management of the economies by the Chinese authorities, we're giving a lot of credibility for both the efficacy of monetary policy as well as the macro prudential measures. And that whilst we're seeing a maturing real estate cycle and potentially a kind of a more mixed outlook for real estate that in fact the consumption story continues apace. And of course we'll be keeping a very close eye on pigs.   That brings us to the end of our show today. I'd like to thank my guests Lynda and Alex in Shanghai and Bryan and George in Hong Kong. The producers were Richard Edgar in Shanghai and Neil Gough and Seb Morton-Clark in Hong Kong. If you like what you've heard today do subscribe, rate and review us on your podcast app. Until next time, thanks for listening and goodbye.  

Julie Huber joined Equity Bank in January 2003 and currently oversees mergers and acquisition integration and major projects for the $4.0-billion bank in her role as Executive Vice President of Strategic Initiatives. Julie began her banking career with Peoples Bank and Trust in McPherson, Kansas, and soon supervised retail, operations, compliance, training and security functions for Sunflower Bank over 8 years. She has been a member of Equity Bank's senior leadership team since the bank's inception, serving roles in human resources, retail, finance, training, and compliance, as well as two years as Chief Risk Officer, 4 years as Chief Credit Officer, and the last two years in her current role. Julie is an alumnus of McPherson College, with B.A. degrees in Business Administration and History and also earned an MBA from Baker University. She graduated from the Stonier Graduate School of Banking in 2006 and was honored by the Wichita Business Journal as a class member of “40 under 40” in 2008 and Women In Business in 2013. Julie is a 2012 graduate of the Bank Leaders of Kansas (BLOK), sponsored by the Kansas Bankers Association.  Julie has previously served as President for the Andover Advantage Foundation in Andover, Kansas, and currently serves as a Board Trustee for McPherson College.

Lisa Schermerhorn, Certified Hypnotist and Coach   Does money buy happiness? Research says no, but still this myth prevails. Listen in to Kathleen’s conversation with Lisa about how money mindsets impact your perception of wealth and how changing your mindset can increase financial health. Lisa Shermerhorn received her B.A. in Management from Simmons College. She is certified in NLP, a Certified Hypnotherapist, Clarity Coach and a professional speaker. Lisa founded Indigo Wellness Center in Duxbury, MA, and has spoken for the Depression and Bipolar Alliance at McLean Hospital, Peoples Bank, Plymouth State University, Dental Group of NH, Women Inspiring Women, NH Charitable Foundation and NH Council on Aging. She lives in Vermont and currently is the VP Business Development of a virtual reality health and wellness company Meditainment VR™. You can contact her at lisaschermerhorn1@gmail.com. Breaking Money Silence® Podcast was recorded at Sugarhouse Soundworks, LLC  

Trump burned his bridges and wore out his welcome in this country - in the investment banking community.  By the 1990's no U.S. bank would lend Trump a friggin' dime!  Hell, not even the People's Bank of China would. Trump turned eastward.  Aside from the freaky confluence of events involving Mr. Burnett and "The Apprentice" in the early 2000's, propelling this Dip-Shit into public notoriety, the Orange Dumpster sucked up to Deutschebank for some loans, notably for his Chicago Trump Tower.  But even this proved a pitfall for that bank as the Dumpster "welched" on upwards of $760-million in loans.   No, the only source of investment cash/money through the Trump criminal enterprise was from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan.  This is where Felix Sater & Tevfik Arif come into the picture.  In 2002 these two fellow Ukrainian emigres set up shop in the Trump Tower on the 24th floor - 2 floors below Trump's 26th floor office.  Their investment firm, Bayrock Capital, got mysterious infusions of cash from Tevfik's brother back in the Ukraine - everytime they were needed.  Felix Sater, during this time, had befriended the "Dump" and pitched all kinds of deals to the Orange One.  Sater had connections back in Russia - his father worked for Russia's largest mafia family.  Between these two sources a good deal of cash made its way into Trump real estate projects - such as the Soho condo/office complex in downtown Manhattan.  

The presidents "fixer' charged, again, licensing undocumented workers, 40 years since the murder of the icon and the mayor. With these and other stories I'm Paul DeRienzo with the news for November 29, 2018

Coinbase will add the 0x protocol token to its professional trading platform, Coinbase Pro. It's the first ERC-20 token to get a place on the platform.A region in Northern Syria is looking to cryptocurrency as a way to overcome economic sanctions.Crypto giveaway scams featuring Elon Musk impostors are common on Twitter, but on Thursday they went to new heights, with a promoted tweet from a verified account.The Securities and Exchange Commission moves against an initial coin offering and its organizer who allegedly claimed to have received approval from the agency. Know any Mandarin-speaking blockchain experts? The People's Bank of China is hiring as it continues development of its central bank digital currency. Late Confirmation is a CoinDesk production made in collaboration with The Podglomerate.For more information, visit www.CoinDesk.com

Cryptocurrency and blockchain news for October 10, 2018. Binance delists Bytecoin, ChatCoin, Iconomi and Triggers. Singapore's Central Bank supports bank accounts for crypto startups and cryptoexchnges. People's Bank of China researcher publishes op-ed advocating for yuan stable-coin. Today's price for top cryptocurrencies. Top Gainers in cryptocurrency today.

Jesse McWaters speaks about analyzing the impact of blockchain technology on industry and society at the World Economic Forum, disruption vs. collaboration in the financial sector, why blockchain technology gives people a license to image a future without constraint, the role of established financial institutions in the cryptoasset space, why the road of blockchain entrepreneurs differs from those in the FinTech space, how the blockchain narrative changed in recent years, blockchain regulation, checks and balances, code of conduct in ICOs, why blockchain technology might become less of a binary idea in the future, and much more. Jesse leads the World Economic Forum's exploration of fintech and financial innovation where he works with financial executives, regulators and a global network of innovators to analyze the implications of open banking, blockchains, digital identity, and AI on the financial sector and society. Jesse is a frequent speaker and media commentator on CNBC's Closing Bell, in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Wired, and the New York Times and he has presented his analyses to financial institutions and global policymakers such as the Financial Stability Board, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the Federal Reserve Board, the Peoples Bank of China, the European Parliament, and the FDIC. Jesse McWaters: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/authors/jesse-mcwaters/, https://twitter.com/rjmcwaters Previous interview with Jesse for my blockchain documentary (2017): https://blockchain-documentary.com/jesse-mcwaters-wef/ The Blockchain and Us newsletter To stay up to date about what blockchain pioneers, innovators and entrepreneurs from all around the world think about the future of this space, sign up for the newsletter.

In this week's Happening Now Podcast we will be taking another close look the markets and what is driving the major moves we move further in to earnings season. We also take a look at the Asian markets with the Peoples Bank of China has begun easing monetary policy by injecting 502B Renminbi into its economy. We'll also be taking a closer look at the Bank of Japan as they are reconsidering monetary policy which is having an impact on bonds.

Abonniert den GRATIS Telegram Channel für Analysen und Tipps: https://bit.ly/blue-alpine-de ——————————— In der heutigen Folge sprechen wir über: Die PBoC hat über 40 Währungs-relevante Patente angemeldet, kommt jetzt die chinesische Krypto? (https://www.coindesk.com/pboc-filings-reveal-big-picture-for-planned-digital-currency/) Facebook führt Krypto Werbung wieder ein (https://cointelegraph.com/news/facebook-s-crypto-ad-ban-reversal-power-play-gets-their-own-news-stuck)

Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most-populous country, and the continent’s fastest growing economy are inviting big business to cash in. Business confidence in South Africa eased in May, putting a further damper on the gloomy economy, following worse-than-expected first-quarter gross domestic product figures on Tuesday. Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most-populous country, and the continent’s fastest growing economy are inviting big business to cash in. The deal between the Central Bank of Nigeria and Peoples Bank of China to exchange N720 billion for 15 billion Chinese Renminbi (Yuan) in three years under the U.S.$2.5 billion bilateral currency swap is said to strengthen the Nigerian Naira by reducing the demand for USD. This week in our Africa Chat segment we are discussing with Gloria Otieno Muka Founder & CEO Recours Four Kenya, an HR Services firm. Gloria has recently been listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 entrepreneurs in Africa to watch; she's sharing with us how she became an entrepreneur --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

He talks interest rates, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s style and the People's Bank of China.

Ethiopia, Africa's second-most-populous country, and the continent's fastest growing economy are inviting big business to cash in. Business confidence in South Africa eased in May, putting a further damper on the gloomy economy, following worse-than-expected first-quarter gross domestic product figures on Tuesday. Ethiopia, Africa's second-most-populous country, and the continent's fastest growing economy are inviting big business to cash in. The deal between the Central Bank of Nigeria and Peoples Bank of China to exchange N720 billion for 15 billion Chinese Renminbi (Yuan) in three years under the U.S.$2.5 billion bilateral currency swap is said to strengthen the Nigerian Naira by reducing the demand for USD. This week in our Africa Chat segment we are discussing with Gloria Otieno Muka Founder & CEO Recours Four Kenya, an HR Services firm. Gloria has recently been listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 entrepreneurs in Africa to watch; she's sharing with us how she became an entrepreneur Become a supporter of this podcast: https://anchor.fm/africa-podcast-network/support

1. That's not a people's bank—this is a people's bank! 2. British caught in lies—yet again—about Russia Presented by Elisa Barwick and Craig Isherwood

This week Bitcoin has gone the the moon! So what's the story behind its new all time high price? And how might the long courtship between Wall Street and Bitcoin have played a part in the story? The guys take a look at the JP Morgan messaging on Bitcoin, including Jamie Dimon's views. We cover news from both Swell and Sibos, the pseudonymous nature of Bitcoin and how SWIFT intend to respond to the changing payments landscape. PLus, how is IBM using cryptocurrency in cross-border payments? Colin explains why open blockchains might be the canary in the coalmine and, while the People's Bank of China Digital Currency Director calls for a centralised state cryptocurrency, Simon asks whether it's really possible to have a true cryptocurrency that's centralised. Plus, what can all this mean for a possible CryptoRuble? We return to the story of the legal battle between R3 and Ripple to find out who's in the ascendancy, and the guys discuss how Digital Asset Holdings intend to use the $40m series B funding they raised recently. And of course, we also revisit Segwit2x for an update on its progress, and discuss Ethereum's own Byznatium fork. Plus, interviews with Brian Behlendorf, Executive Director of the Hyperledger Project (https://www.hyperledger.org/) within the Linux Foundation, and Paul Worrall, founder of Zonafide (https://www.zonafide.net/). We hope you enjoy the show - don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode! Want to join the conversation on all the topics discussed? Tweet the show @bchaininsider or read more about the news stories and add your own thoughts at fintechinsidernews.com (https://fintechinsidernews.com/). And if you really love the show, why not leave us a review on iTunes? Special Guests: Brian Behlendorf and Paul Worrall.

N Vasantha Kumar on the challenges of digitising Sri Lanka's largest banking branch network

Market Analyst Clive Ramathibela 1. Asian stocks rise as investors seek high yields 2. Peoples Bank of China signals to use more innovative monetary policy tools 3. Emerging stocks rise after positive payroll results

Jeff Berwick and Amir Adnani return. Berwick was an early pioneer of Bitcoin which has started to gain attention once again. Its price skyrocketed 25% last week alone as the Peoples Bank of China has been devaluing the Renminbi. Jeff will discuss recent remarks by Bill Gross & Alan Greenspan suggesting the global banking system is on the verge of collapse. Only a debt jubilee can save us. But if the ruling elite are planning a debt jubilee, will it benefit the masses or just the elite? For self protection, Jeff favors diversification of assets, which is why Bitcoin, in addition to gold, silver and precious metals mining shares, is part of his portfolio. Amir will be with us to talk about Brazil Resources which company has used the recent downturn to add a large gold resource to its portfolio in Brazil and Canada. Now is one of the best times to consider buying gold stocks I have seen in decades so you won't want to miss Amir's remarks.

The Chinese are bluffing with their reported Gold holdings. Here's the case for why they have more gold than they lead on to #NewClassRising [TweetThis] Last week the much anticipated Chinese Gold holding more released by the PBOC - the People's Bank of China According to the PBOC, in the last six years the Chinese Government has increased its gold holdings by about 57%, just over half, to 1,658 metric tons. Although most experts and financial commentators were expecting the gold holdings to be announced soon, what they were not expecting was such a low report of actual holdings.  Most experts, best-selling author "Currency Wars" and "The Death of Money", Jim Rickards being one of them, believe that China is bluffing when it comes to disclosing  their full gold holding.  There are very specific reason Why and those lead to an assault on the U.S dollar. On this episode, I give you the full story.   Show Notes You can find today's show notes at http://NewClassRising.com/088    FundedWit  I've Partnered up with Spencer Sevy, the creator of DudeStick, funded over 1,800% on Kickstarter, to create the next community of Crowd Funding Crushing Machines! Interested? Join our mailing list!   Want to Wish me a Happy Belated Birthday? Hit Me Up on Twitter: @Hector_Avellan   

The People's Bank of China issued a statement on Friday that halted virtual credit card products and face-to-face payment services, including QR code payments, ruling that this line of business was too risky. According to the statement, both forms of mobile finance have gone beyond the traditional business models of point-of-sale machines and credit cards, which may have potential security loopholes. Before talking about reasons for the ban, we should talk about e-credit cards first. A few days ago when WeChat and Alipay announced such projects, everyone thought it was an industry-changing move. What exactly are e-credit cards?

The Federal Open Market Committee announced that it's taking a series of steps to give the public a greater understanding of the basis for its interest-rate decisions. In a statement, the FOMC -- charged with formulating U.S. monetary policy -- said it would provide more-timely information about the evolving outlook by releasing its economic projections four times each year, rather than twice as done previously. U.S. businesses built up their inventories modestly in September but sold more goods than they kept. Sales at U.S. businesses rose 0.6% in September, the most in two months, while inventories increased 0.4%. The inventory number is a two-month high. Wholesale prices rose 0.1% in October as food prices rose and energy prices fell. The core producer price index which excludes food and energy costs didn't grow at all. Retail sales grew at a sluggish pace in October as many cash-strapped Americans continue to struggle with higher gas prices, less equity in the home and tighter credit availability. The Commerce Department said total sales rose 0.2 percent last month from a revised gain of 0.7 percent in September. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that mortgage application filings increased 5.5% last week on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to the prior week, driven by a jump in applications to refinance existing loans. Three states, California, Florida and Ohio, continue to dominate new foreclosure filings, as most of the nation saw increases in the third quarter. Bear Stearns Cos. (BSC) will take a $1.2 billion write-down in the fourth quarter related to weakness in its credit portfolios. In Forex News TodayThe dollar resumed its recent familiar pattern, gaining on the yen but slipping against other major rivals, as risk aversion faded in the shining light of a stock market rally. The dollar extended gains against the yen after data showed U.S. retail sales in October were in line with market expectations while producer price inflation was benign. Japan's low interest rates make the yen a popular currency for carry trades, in which investors borrow lower-yielding funds to buy higher-yielding assets. Such trades are less popular when risk aversion rises. Japan's third-quarter gross domestic product data revealed that the nation's economy grew at a 2.6% annualized rate in the third quarter, but the prior quarter was revised down to a 1.6% contraction from a 1.2% contraction. In China, the yuan fell nearly 0.3% versus the dollar -- its biggest daily drop since China stopped pegging its currency to the greenback in July 2005. The People's Bank of China set its official parity rate for the midpoint of yuan trading, compared with a record high rate the previous trading day. The central bank allows the yuan to trade in a band of 0.5% on either side of its parity rate. In Europe, Sterling pared early gains after the Bank of England?s quarterly inflation report suggested UK interest rates would fall in 2008. And in Canada, Paul Jenkins, senior deputy governor of the Bank of Canada, said a persistently high Canadian dollar could pose a threat to Canadian economic growth and push inflation lower. Jenkins said the rapid and significant decline of the U.S. dollar increased the risk of disorderly adjustments to global imbalances. Scheduled Economic Reports (Thursday)Initial Jobless Claims (Week of Nov 19th), Consumer Price Index (Oct), Philadelphia Fed Index (Nov)In Earnings NewsMacy's Inc. (M) reported a profit of $33 million in the third quarter in contrast to a slim loss a year ago. Daktronics Inc. (DAKT) reported fiscal 2008 second-quarter profit fell 10 percent to miss Wall Street's expectations, hurt by supply chain issues at one of its manufacturing facilities. Regency Energy Partners LP's (RGNC) posted a loss of $12.8 million, compared with $11.3 million a year earlier. Scheduled Earnings Reports (Thursday)JC Penney, Intuit, Agilent Technologies, Franklin Covey, Kohl?s, Starbucks, Tyco InternationalStocks in the NewsEthan Allen Interiors (ETH) said its board increased the company's stock buyback authorization to 2 million shares.Arvin Meritor (ARM) narrowed its quarterly loss on sales flat at $1.6 billion.Eddie Bauer Holdings (EBHI) said its third-quarter loss narrowed to $16.4 million or 54 cents a share.Longs Drugs Stores (LDG) said its board approved the buyback of up to $200 million of shares.