Attracting seasonal workers remains a problem for some UK farmers, despite the UK government’s attempts to increase the number of visas available for people from overseas.
There is a shortage of short term farm labour in the UK to pick crops, especially potatoes. Some of the possible causes and consequences of this situation range from Brexit to the war in war Ukraine.
Problems
Brexit has reduced access to temporary workers coming from the EU, while war in Ukraine has disrupted the flow from a country that has provided a large proportion of the UK’s harvest workers in recent years.
The UK government has a seasonal workers pilot scheme that offers short-term visas to those helping with food production, but the farming industry says it needs more than the 38,000 visas that have been made available.
High employment levels in the UK and alternative work opportunities in other sectors such as warehouses and delivery have made it harder for farmers to recruit local workers.
The labour shortage has led to food waste of home-grown fruit and vegetables, as some crops are left to rot in the fields or are harvested less frequently.
Unharvested crops left to rot in a field due to worker shortage in the UK
Food waste and supply chain
The food supply chain is also affected by the lack of workers in slaughterhouses, dairy farms, and other processing facilities.
The food waste and supply disruption could have negative impacts on the environment, the economy, and the consumers’ access to fresh and affordable produce
And it can be especially challenging for farmers in very rural areas, where transport is more difficult and the pools of workers available are likely to be smaller.
Many economists stronly believe that India’s stellar economic trajectory alongside strong forecasts for some Southeast Asian countries will be important drivers for future global growth.
The next decade, could see Asia Pacific become the fastest growing region of the world economy. India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam will most likely be among the world’s fastest growing emerging markets over the next 10 years.
India’s economy grew 7.8% in the June quarter, marking the fastest pace of growth in a year.
The momentum in the Indian economy looks really strong at the moment, economists suggest. Some forecasts expect that India will surpass Japan to become the third largest economy by 2030, with the country’s GDP projected to rise from $3.5 trillion in 2022 to $7.3 trillion by 2030.
As a region, Asia-Pacific’s growth is expected to strengthen from 3.3% last year to 4.2% this year, according to economic projections.
Over the next decade, we expect that about 55% of the total increase in the world’s GDP will come from the Asia-Pacific region.
Where does this leave the U.S. and China?
Still, the U.S. will remain an important driver of the global economy, accounting for some 15% of the world’s growth over the next decade.
China will also still be pivotal in this growth story, contributing to about one-third of the total increase over the same period, analysts suggest. China’s recovery has been weaker than expected and the expected ‘growth momentum’ has wained.
China has been affected by a slew of economic data broadly missing expectations.
As a whole, analysts expect global growth to come in at 2.5% this year and next. But please bear in mind these are forecast and move regularly.
Ashoka Chakra – the Flag of India
The flag of India is a horizontal tricolour of saffron, white and green, with a navy blue wheel called the Ashoka Chakra in the centre. The flag was adopted on 22nd July 1947, after India gained independence from British rule.
It is based on the Swaraj flag, which was designed by Pingali Venkayya and modified by Mahatma Gandhi. The colours and symbols of the flag have different meanings and interpretations.
Saffron represents courage, sacrifice, Hinduism and Buddhism. White represents peace, truth, purity and other religions in India. Green represents faith, fertility, Islam and Sikhism.
The Ashoka Chakra represents the law of dharma, the cycle of life and death, and the ancient Indian emperor Ashoka who spread Buddhism across Asia.
India’s flag is also known as the Tiranga, which means ‘the tricolour’ in Hindi. The flag has a ratio of 2:3 and can only be made of khadi, a hand-spun cloth.
The flag code of India regulates the usage and display of the flag by the government and the public.
The G20 summit will be held in New Delhi on 9th and 10th September 2023. This is the first time that India has hosted such a prestigious event, which brings together the leaders of the world’s 20 major economies with the exception of Russia.
India has invited several other countries and organisations to attend the summit, to include Bangladesh, Egypt, Spain, Netherlands, Nigeria, Mauritius, Singapore, Oman, UAE, UN, IMF, WHO, WTO, ILO, OECD, ISA, CDRI and ADB.
Broad range of issues
The summit will cover a range of issues, such as global health and pandemic response, economic recovery and resilience, climate change and environment, digital transformation and innovation, and gender equality and women empowerment. India has also proposed three new agenda items for the summit: reformed multilateralism, physical and social infrastructure for rapid inclusive development, and media and entertainment.
Major global player
India hopes that the G20 summit will cement its role as a major global player and showcase its achievements and aspirations to the world. However, the summit also faces some challenges and uncertainties, such as the absence of China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, the possibility of failing to agree on a joint communique, and the criticism of India’s beautification efforts that have displaced many poor people and animals.
Significant growth expected for India
India’s economy is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. For example, some economists predict that India’s annual gross domestic product growth (GDP) will average 6.3% through 2030. Others estimate that India’s GDP is likely to more than double from current levels by 2031. The OECD also forecasts that India will grow by 6% in 2023–24 and by 7% in 2024–25.
Some of the factors that may contribute to India’s economic growth are its strong emphasis on physical infrastructure development, ease of doing business, improved global conditions, and increased public spending on health care. However, there are also some challenges and risks that India may face, such as inflationary pressures, global uncertainties, environmental issues, and the labour market.
What is the G20?
The G20 is a group of 20 major economies that meet annually to discuss global issues such as economic growth, trade, development, health, climate change and energy.
India plays host to the G20 (2023)
Members of the G20
Argentina
Australia
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Indonesia
Italy
Japan
Republic of Korea
Mexico
Russia
Saudi Arabia
South Africa
Turkey
United Kingdom
United States
European Union
The European Union is represented by the European Commission and the European Central Bank. The G20 accounts for around 80% of gross world product, 75% of international trade, two-thirds of the global population, and 60% of the world’s land area.
The G20 was founded in 1999 in response to several world economic crises and has become the primary venue for international economic and financial cooperation.
There is a possibility that the summit could be overshadowed by India and Modi, who has given the event ‘major’ attention.
Update
African Union made permanent member of G20 ‘family’ of countries at the India hosted summit 2023.
The UK superfund plan is a new initiative launched by the Prime Minister and the Technology Secretary on 6 March 2023, with the aim of making the UK a global science and technology superpower by 2030.
The plan outlines key actions that will involve every part of the government
Identifying and pursuing strategic advantage in the technologies that are most critical to achieving UK objectives
Showcasing the UK’s S&T strengths and ambitions at home and abroad to attract talent, investment and boost our global influence
Boosting private and public investment in research and development for economic growth and better productivity
Building on the UK’s already enviable talent and skills base
Financing innovative science and technology start-ups and companies
Capitalising on the UK government’s buying power to boost innovation and growth through public sector procurementSshaping the global science and tech landscape through strategic international engagement, diplomacy and partnerships
Ensuring researchers have access to the best physical and digital infrastructure for R&D that attracts talent, investment and discoveries.
Government funding
The plan is backed by over £370 million in new government funding to support infrastructure, investment and skills for the UK’s most exciting growing technologies, such as quantum and supercomputing, AI, biotechnology, clean energy, space and robotics. The plan is expected to create high-paid jobs of the future, grow the economy in cutting-edge industries, and improve people’s lives from better healthcare to security.
Government funding for Superfund
The funding sources for the UK superfund plan are mainly from the government’s budget allocation for science and technology, which has increased by 50% since 2020 to reach £22 billion per year by 2024/25. The government has also committed to increase public spending on R&D to 2.4% of GDP by 2027, which is expected to leverage additional private sector investment. Moreover, the government has established a new agency called Advanced Research & Invention Agency (ARIA), which will have a budget of £800 million over four years to fund high-risk, high-reward research projects that could lead to breakthroughs in science and technology.
Foreign investment
The UK superfund plan also aims to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI) into the UK’s science and technology sector, by promoting the UK as a leading destination for innovation and showcasing its world-class research facilities, talent pool, regulatory environment and market opportunities. The government has set a target of increasing FDI stock in R&D from £45 billion in 2018 to £67 billion by 2025.
The UK superfund plan is a separate initiative from the superfund consolidators for defined benefit (DB) pensions, which are a new innovation in the UK pension industry. Transferring a DB pension scheme to a superfund can improve the security of members’ benefits by replacing a weak employer covenant with a capital buffer. The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has published guidance for trustees and sponsoring employers of UK DB pension schemes considering transacting with a superfund.
GB Savings One Fund
The GB Savings One Fund is a proposal by the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) to create the country’s first superfund for pensions. According to the TBI, the superfund would be an expansion of the Pension Protection Fund (PPF), which is a statutory fund that provides compensation to members of eligible defined benefit (DB) pension schemes in the UK when their employers become insolvent.
The UK Superfund
The Tony Blair Institute suggests that sponsors of the smallest 4,500 UK DB schemes would be offered the voluntary option of transferring to the PPF on a benefit preserving basis, which would improve the security and efficiency of their pensions.
The institute also proposes that the PPF model should be replicated and rolled out throughout the UK in a series of regional, not-for-profit entities that sit within a master governance structure under the existing fund or participate in consolidation in parallel with and modelled on the original GB Savings.
The TBI argues that this approach would result in a modernised pension system that would generate better returns for pensioners, attract more investment and talent, and strengthen pensions for the entire generation stuck with inadequate provision since the closure of the DB funds over the past two decades.
GB Bank
The GB Savings One Fund is not related to GB Bank, which is a bank that offers competitive savings accounts that support residential and commercial developments in communities that need them most. GB Bank has a full UK banking licence and offers the same level of protection as the traditional high street banks.
When you save with GB Bank, your money is protected up to £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
Baidu also announced that more than 6 million users have used an AI powered tool that sits inside its Google drive-like cloud product.
At the 4th September event, Baidu also demonstrated ‘displayed generative’ AI-based products that could assist with traffic management, financial research and coal mine logistics.
ChatGPT, from Microsoft-backed OpenAI, is not officially available in China, where Google and Facebook are blocked.
10 new AI products announced by Baidu
Chinese tech giant Baidu announced more than 10 new AI-based applications on 4th September 2023, just days after its ChatGPT-like Ernie bot was released for public use.
Among the products revealed was a generative AI-integrated word processing app called WPS AI, created by Shanghai-listed Kingsoft Office. It was reported the company built the tool using the AI model on which Baidu’s Ernie bot is based, as well as Baidu’s ‘Qianfan’ cloud platform for AI models.
‘This AI malarchy is progressing at quite a rate’.
Nearly 10,000 businesses are actively using Baidu’s Qianfan cloud platform each month, the company claimed.
AI assistant
Baidu also announced that more than 6 million users have used an AI-powered tool that sits inside its Google drive-like cloud product. The AI assistant can search documents, summarize and translate text and create content, the company claimed.
It wasn’t immediately clear to what extent those products were available for public use.
On 31st August 2023, Baidu released its Ernie bot to the public, signaling government approval of the AI-powered chatbot. Other Chinese companies also released similar AI products around the same time.
Chip design firm Arm on 5th September 2023 submitted an updated filing for its upcoming initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, setting a price range between $47 and $51. Only 9.4% of Arm’s shares will be freely traded on the NYSE.
Arm was previously listed in London and New York, before SoftBank acquired it for $32 billion in 2016.
Chip design firm Arm on Tuesday is looking to acquire as much as $4.87 billion in its upcoming initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, according to the new filing.
The deal could value the company at as much as $52 billion
As a British company, Arm qualifies as a foreign private issuer in the U.S. and its shares will count as American depositary shares, or ADS’s. It is reported that the company will list some 95.5 million ADS’s at a price range of between $47 and $51. At the upper end of that range it is estimated that Arm will likely raise up to $4.87 billion. At the lower end, the IPO would fetch $4.49 billion of fresh capital for Arm. It could do even better.
Institutional funds
When the company floats in New York, it will look to enjoy a very deep pool of professional institutional funds. Arm seeks to ramp up its investments in research and development, particularly as it pursues growth in the artificial intelligence (AI) space with some of its newer chips. The company recently released new chips specifically targeted at AI and machine learning use cases.
Arm seeks up to $52 billion valuation in U.S. IPO
Upper end
At the upper end of the pricing range, Arm would also touch a total valuation of $52 billion or more. Only 9.4% of Arm’s shares will be freely traded on the New York Stock Exchange, with SoftBank expected to own roughly 90.6% of the company’s outstanding shares after the completion of the IPO.
Arm’s listing is set to be the biggest technology IPO of the year. Investors are hoping that the listing could breathe new life into an IPO market that has been ‘slack’ since 2022.
250 billion chips globally
Arm says its energy-efficient processor designs and software platforms are integrated into more than 250 billion chips globally, into products ranging from sensors and smartphones to supercomputers.
The company estimates it enjoys approximately 48.9% share of the market for semiconductor design. Other players, such as Intel and AMD, have raced to catch up on designing their own chip architectures, but have struggled so far.
U.K. misses out… again
The U.K. government had originally hoped Arm would list on the London Stock Exchange, but the company instead dealt a major blow to Britain’s ambitions to become the leading global tech hub by opting for New York. The U.S. financial center has a deep institutional investor base and analysts who have a close understanding of the technology sector.
BIG interest
Chip design firm Arm said in a Tuesday filing that Apple, Google parent Alphabet, Nvidia and other technology companies are interested in buying up to $735 million in its shares as it seeks to go public on Nasdaq.
The investments might not happen, but the fact that these companies are considering them underlines the importance of Arm, whose designs are used for processors in data center servers, consumer devices and industrial products.
Arm chip – some 250 billion chips globally
Chip makers Intel, Samsung and TSMC are interested in investing alongside the three trillion-dollar technology companies, along with AMD and MediaTek, which make chip designs based on Arm architectures. Cadence Design Systems and Synopsys, which make electronic design automation software for processor development, have also expressed interest, according to a revised prospectus for Arm’s shares sale. This IPO could easily be the biggest of the 2023!
As part of the deal, Arm could wind up with a $52 billion market capitalization and almost $5 billion in new cash.
This is likely to be the biggest IPO of 2023
It is estimated that there will be about 19 billion devices using the Arm processor in the world by the end of 2023.
Arm target
The market share of Arm across different technology markets worldwide, which was 90% for mobile application processors, 34% for embedded computing, and 5% for data center and cloud in 2019.
Arm has a target of increasing its market share to more than 90%, 50%, and 25% respectively by 2028.
With second-quarter earnings season now largely behind the U.S. market, stock investors have been focusing on the latest economic data and for the most part been reacting positively to bad economic news, or any data that may point to an economic slowdown.
It’s been almost nine months since the trend emerged, as softening economic data and lower inflation may mean the Federal Reserve can stop raising interest rates.
Traders are reportedly pricing in an over 90% chance that the Fed will hold its policy interest rate unchanged at its September 2023 meeting, and a roughly 35% likelihood that the U.S. central bank will raise interest rates by 0.25% in November 2023.
Fed policy weakening?
The Fed’s monetary policy has lost some of its potency and interest rates may need to rise as a result, economists say.
U.S. stocks closed higher ahead of the Labour Day holiday weekend, after data released indicated a cooling labour market, though there was speculation that summertime jobs data may have been a factor. The U.S. created 187,000 new jobs in August, while the unemployment rate jumped to 3.8% from 3.5%.
The data supports the narrative of a gradual slowdown in the U.S. labour market, but there are no dramatic signs that the economy is weakening significantly economists say. The economic data has not been bad. It is just softening.
‘Good news bad news, bad news good news’!
However, if investors see a significant decline in the housing and U.S. labour markets, that could change the narrative and break the cycle in which ‘bad economic news is good news’ for stocks, economic data have to be much worse than now, indicating more damage from high interest rates and higher inflation.
The trend may also reverse if there is a meaningful downgrade of corporate earnings ‘expectations’ and then this translates into weakened profitability.
Inflation just may climb again
Investors should also be alert for the possibility that inflation may accelerate again. Data showed that the personal consumption expenditures price index rose 0.2% in July, but the yearly inflation rate crept up to 3.3% from 3%. Inflation has been trending down but that trend could turn again.
If investors start to treat ‘bad economic news as bad news’ for the stock market, it could put pressure on the 2023 stock-market rally, with the S&P 500 SPX already up 17.6% since the start of the year and the Nasdaq Composite COMP up 34%.
General concensus is that the bull run ain’t over just yet.
The digital pound is a proposed new form of money that would be issued by the Bank of England and backed by the government. It would be similar to a digital banknote, enabling you to use it in-store or online to make payments.
It would not be intended to replace cash, but complement it. The digital pound is also known as digital sterling or Britcoin.
Bank of England and UK Government
The Bank of England and HM Treasury are looking at the idea of a digital pound because they think it might offer a new way to pay, help businesses, build trust in money, and better protect the UK’s financial system. They have published a Consultation Paper, which explores the need for the digital pound and proposes a set of design choices for it. They are also engaging with businesses and communities to get their views on the digital pound.
The digital pound is not a cryptocurrency or cryptoasset. Unlike cryptocurrencies, which have volatile values, the digital pound would be issued by the Bank of England and have a stable value, just like banknotes.
I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of £10.00
The digital £ is coming to a bank near you or more likely, an app near you
£10 in digital pounds would always have the same value as a £10 banknote.
The Nationwide Building Society says house prices are 5.3% lower compared to August last year, in the biggest annual decline since 2009.
Nationwide said the drop represented a fall of £14,600 on a typical home in the UK since house prices peaked in August 2022. It also said higher borrowing costs for buyers had led to a slowdown in activity in the housing market. Mortgage approvals are also about 20% below pre-Covid levels.
After 14 rate increases from the Bank of England – a two year fixed rate mortgage is now touching 6.7%
Since December 2021, the Bank of England (BoE) has raised interest rates 14 times in row in a bid to clamp down on rising inflation in the UK. The bank’s base rate now stands at 5.25%. This has led to lenders raising their mortgage rates, putting increased pressure on homebuyers.
The average two-year fixed mortgage rate on Friday was 6.7%, while the average five-year fix was 6.19%.
Average house prices in the UK peaked at £273,751 in August 2022 but fell to £259,153 last month.
Think of the biggest market for a physical product you can possibly imagine – are you thinking mobile phones, cars or game devices even? Think again…?
They are all big commercial markets but in the coming decades a new product is coming and it will be so desirable that it will dwarf these giants – it will be… the ‘robot’.
Robots will be able to understand what we want, comprehend the way the world works and looks and have the skills to execute our commands in a safe and controlled manner – at home and in the workplace.
Biggest market
The labour market is the biggest market that has ever existed in the history of business – it’s the market where we want things ‘done’ – where we do things – and it’s forever evolving. It carries massive stock market and investing potential right now and for the future.
Robot AI tech – a market place to explore
Take Nvidia, Microsoft, Google, Meta, Apple and Tesla as prime examples of companies pioneering technological advancements for instance – we can already enjoy and invest in these – and there’s much more to come.
Dozens of firms around the world are working on the technology
One of the highest profile companies in the market is Tesla, Elon Musk’s electric car company. It is working on the Optimus humanoid robot, which Mr Musk intimates could be on sale to the public in a few years’ time.
Massive tecnological advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics suggest the development of humanoid robots is accelerating… and fast. It’s a race to the become the first to succeed in the biggest practical labour market ever… and it carries huge potential for everyone, including you and me.
20 years from now…? Where were Tesla and Apple 20 years ago?
Twenty years at the pace the technology is developing now is is an eternity – every week, month and year there are new developments in the AI world that have introduced fundamental changes and enhancements to our world.
Mainstream interest in AI exploded late 2022 when a powerful version of ChatGPT was made public. Its ability to generate almost unlimited useful text and images has spawned rivals and a wave of investment in AI technology.
But developing the AI that would allow a robot to complete useful tasks is a different and much more difficult task. Tesla could be the company best placed to be one of the first to achieve this goal – given its advancements in ‘self driving’ technology. But, unlike ChatGPT and its rivals, humanoid robots have to navigate the physical world and need to understand how objects in that world relate to each other.
Tasks that seem easy to humans are major feats for humanoid robots. This is a problem that engages a lot of different complex issues in an AI driven robotics system. Picking up a cup and having a drink is a major undergoing for a robot.
The market place potential is unlimited
The potential market for robots in the future depends on various factors, such as the level of technological innovation, the demand from different industries and sectors, the regulatory and ethical frameworks, and the social and economic impacts of robot adoption. But if recent developments are anything to go by – it promises to be big!
Robot AI – a massive potential future market place
Based on the some indicative web search results, the current market size for robots is estimated to be around $55 billion to $114 billion in 2023, depending on the type and scope of robots included. The projected market size for robots in 2028 or 2029 ranges from $165 billion to $260 billion, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.4% to 17.6%.
The professional services robots, which include medical, agricultural, and personal assistance robots, are expected to dominate the market and account for more than half of the total sales by 2030. The industrial and logistics robots, which include conventional, collaborative, and mobile robots, are also expected to grow steadily and increase their productivity and efficiency in various manufacturing and transportation applications.
However, these projections are based on assumptions – but one thing is for sure the robots are coming and the market will be massive!
I for one will be keeping a watchful eye on where to invest my hard earned cash to take advantage of this potentially high growth market in the coming years (and now).
The price of bitcoin surged Tuesday 29th August 2023 after the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was wrong to deny crypto investment giant Grayscale permission to convert its popular bitcoin trust into an ETF.
Bitcoin jumped around 7% following the ruling to $27,852. The move lifted other cryptocurrencies as well as crypto equities higher.
Grayscale
Grayscale’s lawsuit against the SEC has been closely watched by investors and other industry participants as a key catalyst that would shake up a market governed by low volatility and liquidity.
Earlier this month, bitcoin trading volatility fell to its lowest level in more than four years as investors had been waiting on the sidelines for more regulatory clarity on crypto activity .
Several bitcoin futures ETFs have already been approved in the U.S.
‘Shackles being removed from crypto regulation paving way for easier crypto trading’
Court ruling
‘The denial of Grayscale’s proposal was arbitrary and capricious … The Commission failed to adequately explain why it approved the listing of two bitcoin futures ETPs but not Grayscale’s proposed bitcoin Exchange Trade Product (ETP),‘the court said in the ruling. ‘In the absence of a coherent explanation, this unlike regulatory treatment of like products is unlawful. We therefore grant Grayscale’s petition for review and vacate the Commission’s order‘.
Tuesday’s ruling may increase the chances that the SEC will approve other bitcoin ETF applications, including that of BlackRock, whose filing in late June 2023 drove one of bitcoin’s big rallies this year, as well as Fidelity, Invesco and many others.
A U.S. bitcoin ETF would provide a way to get exposure to bitcoin without having to hold it, which would invite retail and institutional investors as well as wealth managers into the market.
A spokesperson for the SEC said it’s ‘reviewing the court’s decision to determine next steps‘.
‘Today’s decision reaffirms that a bitcoin ETF in the U.S. is a matter of when, not if’, said the global head of asset management at Galaxy, which filed with Invesco for its bitcoin ETF. ‘In order for digital assets to continue to flourish, they must be accessible to all investors. We believe that the ETF structure can enable greater access to and transparency across cryptocurrency investing, and truly help further democratize the asset class‘.
Dark cloud for crypto finally lifting?
The ruling also comes as a relief to many crypto market traders who have been frustrated by the SEC, particularly under Chair Gary Gensler, and its insistence on regulating by enforcement.
The crypto industry has long sought out clarity in rules businesses can apply to establish and build long-lasting, compliant companies. The U.S. regulatory crackdown on crypto in 2023 – which includes SEC enforcements and a lawsuit against the biggest U.S. crypto exchange Coinbase and also its case against XRP Ripple has been a dark cloud over the market.
Lawsuit filed June 2022
Grayscale initiated its lawsuit against the SEC in June 2022 after the agency rejected its application to turn its bitcoin trust, better known by its ticker GBTC, into an ETF. The company decided to pursue the ETF, which would be backed by bitcoin rather than bitcoin derivatives, after the SEC approved ProShares’ futures-based bitcoin ETF in October 2021.
The ruling faced multiple delays but the SEC ultimately rejected the application last summer, citing failure by Grayscale to answer questions related to concerns about market manipulation and investor protections.
Nvidia shares rose 4.2% Tuesday 29th August 2023 to close at a record high, after the company announced a partnership with Google that could expand distribution of its artificial intelligence technology (AI).
The stock’s bountiful run continued, now up 234% in 2023, making it by far the best performer in the S&P 500. Facebook parent Meta is second in the index, up 148% so far this year.
The record close comes less than a week after the company said quarterly revenue doubled from a year earlier and gave a forecast indicating that sales this period could rise 170% on an annual basis. The day after the better-than-expected earnings report, the stock climbed to a record intraday high of $502.66 before declining later in the afternoon.
Nvidia’s business is booming because its graphics processing (GPU’s) are being gobbled up by cloud companies, government agencies and startups to train and deploy generative AI models like the technology deployed in OpenAI’s ChatGPT as fasta as Nvidia can make them.
NVIDIA stock chart
Nvidia announcment
On Tuesday 29th August 2023, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang appeared at a Google conference to announce an AI agreement between the two companies.
Through the partnership, Google’s cloud customers will have greater access to technology powered by Nvidia’s powerful H100 GPUs.
‘Our expanded collaboration with Google Cloud will help developers accelerate their work with infrastructure, software and services that supercharge energy efficiency and reduce costs’, the Nvidia CEO reportedly said in a blog post.
Nvidia’s GPUs are also available on competing cloud platforms from Amazon and Microsoft.
At 4.33%, the 10-year Treasury yield in the U.S. is at its highest in 16 years. That represents a risk-free, long-duration asset with relatively high returns and this is challenging the stock market.
Why should traders invest in stocks that may not return as much, or just slightly more and take unecessary risks, when there is an asset class that guarantees around 4% return or slighlty more?
Cash is king?
Cash is now yielding 5% in the U.S., short term bonds are yielding 5% plus, so equities for the first time in a long time, have actually got some competition.
Typically stocks if they do well, are likely to return more than a risk-free asset, precisely because it isn’t certain stocks will rise. That’s called the equity risk premium, a return that’s supposed to compensate stock investors for the chance that they might lose money. But, as the premium is below 1% now. Historically, it’s been between 2% and 4% – meaning stocks are looking much less attractive than Treasuries.
Harder job for the Fed?
Another potential issue that could crop up with high Treasury yields is that it could make the Federal Reserve’s job tougher. During the recent Jackson Hole gathering, the Fed head has indicated that more interest rate hikes are still high possibility.
But don’t panic just yet… this is likely a pullback phase of a bull market analysts suggest. That is, it’s still too early to be bearish on stocks.
Yardeni Research president Ed Yardeni is reported to have said that the market is ‘going to hang in there’ and ‘a year-end rally will bring the S&P 500 back to something like 4,600‘.
That implied an increase of almost 5% in stocks – while not certain – would give Treasuries a run for their money again.
An apparent ‘technical issue’ halts flights to and from UK as the UK National Air Traffic Services control system (NATS) goes offline!
Holidaymakers are stuck all over the UK and abroad, with the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) saying it had applied restrictions to traffic flow. Passengers have been advised to check if their flight has been affected on one of the biggest UK travel days of the year.
National Air Traffic System
NATS reportedly apologised for the fault just after midday on bank holiday Monday 28th August 2023, before it announced at 15:15 BST that it had identified and remedied the issue that was affecting its ‘ability to automatically process flight plans’. We don’t yet know what caused the failure. NATS added that engineers would be monitoring the system’s performance as it returns to normal.
NATS had earlier stressed that ‘UK airspace was not closed, we have had to apply air traffic flow restrictions which ensures we can maintain safety’.
Several airports across the UK, and most airlines have all warned passengers of delays or cancellations to flights.
How fragile are the infrastructures systems in the UK?
‘Why travel when you can stay at the airport free of charge’!?- ‘It wasn’t that long ago UK airports were brought to a standstill through strikes and border control issues. C’mon UK Plc… get your act together’!
Slow-Growing UK Faces Over £2.6 Trillion Debt Pile
£2,600,000,000,000 in debt
The amount the UK owes exceeds GDP for first time since 1961. Inflation-linked bonds mean the UK is paying more than its peers.
From the financial crisis to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UK has borrowed and spent its way out of every jam. The bill for that is becoming a massive concern for the UK treasury and for the economy.
£2.6 trillion public debt
The UK’s public debt has soared by more than 40% to almost £2.6 trillion ($3.3 trillion) since the pandemic struck, leaving the country owing more than its entire annual economic output for the first time since 1961. A heavy reliance on index-linked bonds, at a time of high inflation, also means Britain will pay more to service the debt.
The high level of debt poses a risk to the UK’s credit rating, which could affect its borrowing costs and fiscal credibility. The three main credit-rating firms are due to update their assessments of the UK over the next four months in 2023, and some analysts are concerned that the UK could face a downgrade, especially after the U.S. lost its AAA status from Fitch.
A downgrade could undermine Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s effort to rebuild Britain’s fiscal reputation after his predecessor, Liz Truss, triggered a bond-market crash in 2022 by promising huge unfunded tax cuts.
Bond sell-off pressure
The pressure on the UK’s finances is also being compounded by a selloff in bonds amid aggressive rate hikes by the Bank of England to quell inflation. The yield on the 10-year benchmark this week rose above 4.70% to its highest since 2008.
UK debt higher than UK GDP March 2023
The UK bond market is among the developed world’s worst performers this year. The rise in yields could increase the cost of servicing the debt, which is already high due to the UK’s heavy reliance on index-linked bonds that adjust with inflation.
The UK’s economic growth is forecast to remain flat through next year, which limits the scope for reducing the debt through higher revenues or lower spending. The National Health Service is stretched to breaking point and the tax burden is already at a 70-year high. The ONS warned that debt could balloon to more than three times GDP over the next half century without action.
ONS data
According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.2% in the second quarter of 2023 (April to June), following a revised growth of 0.1% in the first quarter of 2023 (January to March). This means that the UK’s GDP growth rate for the whole year of 2023 is estimated to be 0.3%, which is lower than the previous forecast of 0.5%.
ONS data to March 2023
The main factors that contributed to the weak GDP growth in the second quarter were the slowdown in consumer spending, the decline in business investment, and the negative impact of the additional bank holiday in May due to the King’s Coronation. The services sector, which accounts for about 80% of the UK’s economy, grew by only 0.1% in the second quarter, while the production sector grew by 0.7%, and the construction sector fell by 0.2%.
Uncertain outlook in uncertain times
The outlook for the UK’s economy remains uncertain, as it faces several challenges such as high inflation, rising interest rates, a slowing global economy, and the ongoing effects of Brexit and the effects of the war in Ukraine.
ONS data for EU countries
Some economists have warned that the UK faces a ‘very real risk’ of recession due to higher interest rates, which could dampen consumer and business confidence and increase the cost of servicing the debt.
The OECD has projected that the UK’s GDP growth will improve moderately to 1.0% in 2024, but still remain below its pre-pandemic level.
The latest U.S. mortgage rates are the highest they have been in decades.
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 7.23% in the week ending 25th August 2023, up from 7.09% the week before, according to latest bank reports from U.S. This is the highest level since June 2001, when it was 7.24%.
The rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage increased to 7.31% in the week ended 18th August 2023, according to Mortgage Bankers Association data. This is the highest level since late 2000.
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 7.16% with 0.68 points as of August 16, according to U.S. News. This is up from 7.09% with 0.7 points the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage increased to 7.6%.
Inflation driving interest rates up
The rise in mortgage rates is driven by indications of ongoing economic strength and inflation pressures, which have also pushed up Treasury yields and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate expectations.
Higher mortgage rates make home buying more expensive and reduce the affordability of homeownership. They also discourage existing homeowners from selling or refinancing their homes, which contributes to the low inventory of available homes for sale.
As a result, home sales have declined and home prices have soared in many markets. Will interest rates touch 8%?
Technology giant Nvidia reports its sales have hit a record after more than doubling as demand for its artificial intelligence (AI) chips take off!
It figures
The company says revenue jumped to above $13.5bn (£10.6bn) for the three months to the end of June. Nvidia also expects sales to perform very well in the current quarter and plans to buy back $25bn of its stock. The firm’s shares rose by more than 6.5% in extended trading in New York, adding to their huge gains this year. Nvidia also said it expects revenue of around $16bn for the three months to the end of September 2023.
That is substantially higher than Wall Street expected and would equate to a rise of around 170%, compared to the same time last year.
Even before 23rd August’s figures, Nvidia’s stock price had more than tripled for the year, making it the top performer in the S&P 500. It’s share price jumped to around $500 after hours, a level that would mark a record if it closes there on 24th August 2023. Its prior closing high was $474.94 on 18th July 2023.
‘A new computing era has begun’, Nvidia’s chief executive, Jensen Huang, said in a statement. ‘Companies worldwide are transitioning from general-purpose to accelerated computing and generative AI’, he reportedly added.
Strong performance
The strong performance was driven by Nvidia’s data centre business, which includes AI chips.
The power of Nvidia’s AI microchips
Revenue for that unit came in at more $10.3bn, a rise of more than 170% from year ago, as cloud computing service providers and large consumer internet companies snapped up its next-generation processors.
This year, Nvidia’s stock market value has jumped to more than $1 trillion as its shares more than tripled in value, mking it the fifth publicly traded U.S. company to join the so-called ‘Trillion dollar club’, along with Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Microsoft.
AI ‘mania’ helps Nvidia
Nvidia have been making micro chips for a long time and it’s only really been in the last couple of years that the market has caught on.
Nvidia was originally known for making the type of computer chips that process graphics, particularly for computer games. They have been making chips for a long time and have now become the leader in AI chip design and manufacture.
Now Nvidia’s hardware is the foundation for most AI applications, with one report suggesting it had cornered 95% of the market for machine learning.
ChatGPT which generates human-like responses to user queries within seconds was trained using 10,000 of Nvidia’s graphics processing units clustered together in a supercomputer belonging to Microsoft.
AI products are expected to dramatically change how we use computers and the role they play in our lives.
AI Chatbot ChatGPT reportedly has a political bias
ChatGPT, the popular artificial intelligence chatbot, shows a significant and systemic left-wing bias, UK researchers have found. According to the new study by the University of East Anglia, this includes favouring theLabour Party and President Joe Biden’s Democrats in the U.S.
Concerns about an inbuilt political bias in ChatGPT have been raised before, notably by SpaceX and Tesla tycoon Elon Musk, but the academics said their work was the first large-scale study to find proof of any favouritism.
Lead author o the report reportedly warned that given the increasing use of OpenAI’s platform by the public, the findings could have implications for upcoming elections on both sides of the Atlantic. Any bias in a platform like this is a concern’, he said. If the bias were to the right, we should be equally concerned.
Sometimes people forget these AI models are just machines. They provide very believable, digested summaries of what you are asking, even if they’re completely wrong. And if you ask it ‘are you neutral’, it says ‘oh I am!’ Just as the media, the internet, and social media can influence the public, this could be very harmful. I have personally witnessed incorrect responses from ChatGPT where the AI ‘system’ 100% believed ‘it’ was correct and would not engage in a debate as ‘it’ was right!
How was ChatGPT tested for bias?
The chatbot, which generates responses to prompts typed in by the user, was asked to impersonate people from across the political spectrum while answering dozens of ideological questions. These questions ranged from radical to neutral, with each ‘individual’ asked whether they agreed, strongly agreed, disagreed, or strongly disagreed with a given statement.
UK researchers descovered Chatbot ChatGPT had a political bias
Its replies were compared to the default answers it gave to the same set of queries, allowing the researchers to compare how much they were associated with a particular political stance.
Each of the more than 60 questions was asked 100 times to allow for the potential randomness of the AI, and these multiple responses were analysed further for signs of bias.
Dr Motoki described it as a way of trying to simulate a survey of a real human population, whose answers may also differ depending on when they’re asked.
British microchip designing giant Arm has announced that it has filed paperwork to sell its shares in the U.S.
The Cambridge-based company, which designs chips for devices from smartphones to game consoles, plans to list on New York’s Nasdaq in September. The highly anticipated IPO in the U.S. comes after UK Prime Minister, failed to convince Arm to float in London or pursue a dual UK-U.S. listing.
Arm’s decision to list in New York rather than London has fuelled fears that the City is losing its competitiveness to Wall Street, where valuations are typically higher. SoftBank-owned chip designer Arm on 21st August 2023 disclosed a modest 1% fall in annual revenue as it made public the paperwork for a U.S. listing that is expected to be the year’s biggest initial public offering. The company is reportedly looking for a valuation of between $60bn (£47bn) to $70bn.
Arm was bought in 2016 by Japanese conglomerate Softbank in a deal worth £23.4bn. Prior to the takeover, it was listed in both London and New York for 18 years.
Companies that use ARM processors in their products
Some of the companies that use ARM processors include Apple, Qualcomm, Samsung, Broadcom, and Fujitsu. ARM technology is used in a wide range of devices, from smartphones to game consoles to supercomputers.
ARM
Arm is a British semiconductor and software design company that is known for its Arm processors, which are widely used in smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other devices. Arm was founded in 1990 as a joint venture between Acorn Computers, Apple Computer, and VLSI Technology. The company was originally called Advanced RISC Machines, but later changed its name to Arm Ltd in 1998.
China’s central bank has cut one of its key interest rates for the second time in three months as the world’s second-largest economy struggles to bounce back from the pandemic.
The country’s post-Covid recovery has been hit by a property crisis, falling exports and weak consumer spending. In contrast, other major economies have raised rates to tackle high inflation. Raising interest rates to tackle inflation is likely creating a econmic problem all of its own for many contries caught in the inflation trap.
The PBOC last cut its one-year rate, on which most of China’s household and business loans are based, in June 2023 – demonstrating China’s commitment to reviving the economy. Economists had also expected the bank to lower its five-year loan rate, which the country’s mortgages are pegged to. However, this was unchanged at 4.2%. In a surprise move mid-August 2023, short and medium-term rates were also cut.
More stimulus
China will need a much bigger stimulus package to boost confidence to drive up consumption and growth. Without it, the economy is risking faltering into deflation which will make it even harder to recover. More rate cuts could be announced in conjunction with government spending, as well as targeted measures to help the property market.
China struggling to shake off the effect of the 2020 pandemic
Beijing is trying to restore confidence, but officials will also be mindful of the long-term implications of the policies may create. China’s economy has struggled to overcome several major issues in the wake of the pandemic, which saw much of the world shut down.
Property problems
Concerns with China’s property market still remain and were highlighted again when ongoing crisis-hit real estate giant Evergrande filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S in August. The heavily-indebted company is attempting to arrange a multi-billion dollar deal with creditors.
Also, earlier this month, another of the country’s biggest property developers, Country Garden, warned that it could see a loss of up to $7.6bn (£6bn) for the first six months of the year. At the same time data showed China had slipped into deflation for the first time in more than two years. That was as the official consumer price index, a measure of inflation, fell by 0.3% last in July 2023 from a year earlier.
Exports, imports and youth employment figures
Official figures indicated that China’s imports and exports fell sharply in July 2023 as weaker global demand threatened the country’s recovery prospects.
China exports and imports slow July 2023
Beijing has also stopped releasing youth unemployment figures, which were seen by some as a key indication of the country’s slowdown. In June 2023, China’s jobless rate for 16 to 24-year-olds in urban areas climbed to a record high of more than 20%.
There is a serious ongoing message here of concern and worry for global stock markets, and not just from China – do we need to act now?
The 89 threats to life in the UK are listed in a recent report called the National Risk Register (NRR), which was published by the Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden on 3rd August 2023.
The NRR is an assessment of the risks facing the UK that would have a significant impact on the UK’s safety, security or critical systems at a national level. The NRR is based on the government’s internal, classified risk assessment and offers more detail on the potential scenarios, response and recovery options relating to the risks.
The 89 threats are divided into four categories: natural hazards, malicious attacks, accidents and system failures, and global events.
Some of the threats
Natural hazards: These include extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, floods, storms, droughts, and wildfires; geological hazards, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and landslides; biological hazards, such as pandemics, animal diseases, plant diseases, and invasive species; and space weather events, such as solar flares and geomagnetic storms.
Malicious attacks: These include terrorism, such as bombings, shootings, chemical weapons, biological weapons, radiological weapons, cyberattacks, and drones; espionage and sabotage, such as interference with critical infrastructure, communications, or data; and conflict and instability, such as war, nuclear weapons, state-sponsored attacks, civil unrest, and violent extremism.
‘Cyber security hack – just one of the potential risks facing the UK’.
Accidents and system failures: These include industrial accidents, such as explosions, fires, spills, or leaks; transport accidents, such as plane crashes, train derailments, ship collisions, or road collisions; infrastructure failures, such as power outages, water shortages, gas leaks, or internet disruptions; and technological failures, such as software bugs, hardware malfunctions, or AI errors.
Global events: These include economic crises, such as recessions, inflation, debt defaults, or trade wars; political crises, such as coups, revolutions, sanctions, or human rights violations; social crises, such as migration flows, refugee crises, humanitarian emergencies, or famines; and environmental crises, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, or resource depletion.
Threat level
The NRR also provides information on how likely each threat is to occur in the next five years (from very low to very high), how severe the impact would be on the UK (from minor to catastrophic), and what actions the government and other stakeholders are taking to prevent or mitigate the risks.
The NRR is intended to help the public and businesses better understand and prepare for potential threats facing the country now and in the future.
The U.S. stock market has experienced a 5.6% slide for the S&P 500 index over 15 trading sessions through 17th August 2023 and levelling off in the last trading day of that week.
This is about as bad as August typically gets, as August is a rocky month with low volume and high volatility. Some of the reasons for the pullback include the rise in the 10-year Treasury yield, the strengthening of the U.S. dollar, and the signs of a slowing Chinese economy.
Pullback temporary for August?
However, some analysts argue that the pullback will likely prove to be temporary and not turn into a serious market rout. It has been suggested that the bull run isn’t quite over just yet, and that a 10% ‘pullback’ was on the cards.
Analysts also suggest that the rise in yields would need to threaten a serious shift or there would need to be an additional shock to cause a larger selloff.
NASDAQ
NASDAQ drops some 7% in one month from 19th July – 18th August 2023
However, some suggest that the market is showing signs of stability, as the speed of the surge in the 10-year yield often occurs near the end of a selling cycle for equities. Investors should watch for indicators such as oil prices, wage pressures, and inflation expectations to gauge the market sentiment.
The S&P 500 and the Dow levelled off the week at the close of trading Friday 18th August 2023.
The NASDAQ did score its best first half of the trading year since 1983 January to June 2023 so a pullback was likely to happen.
Bitcoin fell sharply on Thursday 17th August by 9% to just over $26,000
The fall in Bitcoin followed several hours after reports emerged that SpaceX, one of Elon Musk’s enterprises, wrote down the value of its Bitcoin holdings by a total of $373 million in 2022 and 2021, and that the space travel company had sold the virtual currency.
This is likely one of the fastest minute-by-minute selloffs in the history of Bitcoin but this is largely an Elon Musk/SpaceX-driven selloff and probably short-sighted and largely retail-driven. But still, 9% is a big drop for any asset!
In 2022, Tesla, which Musk also owns, announced that it sold about 75% of its Bitcoin holdings after investing $1.5 billion in the flagship cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin had been under pressure earlier, starting after the Federal Reserve issued the minutes from its July policy meeting. In Thursday’s session, the cryptocurrency slumped to its lowest level in almost two months.
Singapore’s financial regulator has reportedly said it had finalised rules for a type of digital currency called ‘stablecoin’, placing it among some of first the regulators worldwide to do so.
Stablecoins are a type of digital currency designed to hold a constant value against a fiat currency. Many claim to be backed by a reserve of real-world assets, such as cash or government bonds.
Reserves that back stabelcoins must be held in low-risk and highly-liquid assets. They must equal or exceed the value of the stablecoin in circulation at all times, the rules say. The stablecoin market is valued at around $125 billion, with two tokens – Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC – dominating roughly 90% of the market cap value. Stablecoins are broadly unregulated around the world.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) framework requirement
Reserves that back stabelcoins must be held in low-risk and highly-liquid assets. They must equal or exceed the value of the stablecoin in circulation at all times
Stablecoin issuers must return the par value of the digital currency to holders within five business days of a redemption request.
Issuers must also provide ‘appropriate disclosures‘ to users, including the audit results of reserves.
These rules will apply to stablecoins that are issued in Singapore and mimic the value of the Singapore dollar, or of any G10 currencies, such as the U.S. dollar.
‘Shackles being removed from crypto regulation paving way for stablecoin adoption’
Last year, the collapse of a so-called algorithmic stablecoin named UST put this type of stablecoin in the crosshairs of regulators. Unlike USDT and USDC, UST was governed by an algorithm and did not have real-world assets like bonds in its reserves.
Singapore’s stablecoin framework puts it among one of the first jurisdictions to have such rules. In June, the U.K. passed a law that gives regulators the ability to oversee stablecoins, though there are no concrete rules yet. Hong Kong is meanwhile undergoing a public consultation on stablecoins and seeks to introduce regulation next year.
What is a stablecoin
A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency that tries to maintain a stable value by being pegged to another asset, such as a fiat currency, a commodity, or another cryptocurrency. Stablecoins aim to offer the benefits of cryptocurrencies, such as decentralisation, security, and transparency, without the drawbacks of high volatility and price fluctuations.
Stablecoins can be used for payments, remittances, trading, and storing value. However, stablecoins also face some challenges and risks, such as regulatory uncertainty, technical issues, and trust issues.
There are different ways to create and manage stablecoins, depending on the mechanism used to stabilize their value.
Main types of stablecoins
Fiat-backed: These stablecoins are backed by a reserve of fiat currency, such as the US dollar or the euro, held by a third-party entity. The stablecoin issuer promises to redeem the stablecoin for the fiat currency at a fixed ratio. Examples of fiat-backed stablecoins are Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), and TrueUSD (TUSD).
Commodity-backed: These stablecoins are backed by a reserve of physical commodities, such as gold, silver, or oil, held by a third-party entity. The stablecoin issuer promises to redeem the stablecoin for the commodity at a fixed ratio. Examples of commodity-backed stablecoins are Paxos Gold (PAXG), Tether Gold (XAUT), and Digix Gold (DGX).
Crypto-backed: These stablecoins are backed by a reserve of other cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, held in a smart contract. The stablecoin issuer uses over-collateralization or algorithmic adjustments to maintain the stability of the stablecoin. Examples of crypto-backed stablecoins are Dai (DAI), sUSD (SUSD), and BitUSD (BITUSD).
Algorithmic: These stablecoins are not backed by any reserve, but instead use an algorithm to control the supply and demand of the stablecoin. The algorithm adjusts the supply of the stablecoin according to the market conditions and the target price. Examples of algorithmic stablecoins are Basis Cash (BAC), Empty Set Dollar (ESD), and TerraUSD (UST).
What is ‘crypto’
Crypto has attracted a lot of attention in recent years. Crypto is short for cryptocurrency, which is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography to secure and verify transactions. Crypto can also refer to the underlying technology that powers cryptocurrencies, such as blockchain.
Some examples of popular cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple ( XRP)and Cardano (ADA).
Cryptoman superhero
Cryptocurrencies have many advantages over traditional currencies, such as decentralisation, transparency, anonymity, and lower fees. However, they also face some challenges, such as volatility, regulation, security, and scalability. Crypto enthusiasts believe that cryptocurrencies have the potential to revolutionise the world of finance and beyond.
Some examples of popular stablecoins are Tether, USD Coin and Binance USD.
Asia is promoting clear crypto rules at a time when large businesses are facing regulatory uncertainty in the U.S.
Some Asian countries that have taken the lead in crypto regulation include Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea. They have proposed or implemented frameworks that protect investors, prevent money laundering, and encourage innovation in the crypto industry.
Lack of clarity in U.S.
In contrast, the U.S. has been singled out for its lack of clarity and consistency in crypto regulation. The SEC for instance and other agencies have different views on how to classify and regulate crypto assets – take alook at the case with XRP and ripple of recent years.
Some industry leaders have threatened to leave the U.S. or sued the regulators over their actions. There is also a debate in Congress that could level crypto transactions with a tax.
Attractive
As a result, some analysts have suggested that Asia could become more attractive to investors and innovators in the crypto industry, as it offers more certainty and stability in the regulatory environment.
However, there are also challenges and risks involved in crypto regulation, such as balancing security and innovation, ensuring compliance and enforcement, and dealing with cross-border issue.
A technical issue that affected the Bank of Ireland’s online banking services allowed some customers to withdraw or transfer more money than they had in their accounts.
The glitch reportedly also added €1,000 to some accounts without explanation. This led to large crowds forming at ATMs across the country, hoping to take advantage of the error.
Some reports suggest that the police were called to calm some situations as some ATMs ran out of cash. The bank has since fixed the problem and warned customers that any excess money they withdrew or transferred will be debited from their accounts.
The bank also apologized for the disruption and urged customers who may face financial difficulties due to overdrawing on their accounts to contact them.
Questions remain – how or even why did this happen?
‘Bank error allowed people to withdraw money from their accounts they didn’t have’.
