Editor's letter - February 2015
2015 got off to a busy start, as more than 2,500 representatives of business, government, academia and civil society participated in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2015 in Davos, Switzerland. Finance Monthly kept the world informed via its dedicated WEF 2015 website.
In this month’s issue, we present a review of the event, highlighting some of the hot topics for debate, including European economic reform, growth from the BRICS nations, further support for gender diversity, and growing fears and solutions to cyber-attacks.
January also saw the European Central Bank finally take a decision on quantitative easing, in what has been seen as a shock and awe tactic aimed at reviving the Eurozone economy. The announcement followed news that the Swiss Franc had de-pegged against the Euro, and was succeeded by national elections in Greece, which elected an anti-austerity Syriza/Independent Greeks coalition. Already, analysts are predicting a rough ride for the European economy for at least the first half of 2015 as it adjusts to these changes.
In this month’s Finance Monthly, we consider the future of crypto-currencies. Robert Lyddon, General Secretary of international banking network IBOS, talks us through the impact on banking of crypto-currencies and ask what are the risk and regulation issues now faced by the finance industry?
Meanwhile, Rajesh Agrawal, CEO of Xendpay, argues the case for modern-day funding options such as crowdfunding, peer-to-peer and ‘pay what you want’ (PWYW) in his article on ‘Altruistic Finance’.
Majid Shabir, Founder and CEO of Instinct Studios, wants to put the ‘fun’ back into fund factsheets, and offers his advice on how these somewhat staid reports can be brought into the 21st century.
This month’s issue also provides industry insight on due diligence, forensic accounting, discretionary fund management, trade finance and pensions litigation.
As Finance Monthly was about to go to press, I had the pleasure of meeting the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alan Yarrow, for an in-depth interview on the past, present and future state of the UK’s finance industry. Don’t miss the March edition to read this frank insight into one of the country’s leading financiers.
In the meantime, please follow us on Twitter @Finance_Monthly to stay up-to-date on industry news as it happens, have your say via our online poll, and join the Finance Monthly group on LinkedIn.
Sarah McCay
Editor – Finance Monthly
