Finance
WSJ: China’s Ant Group plans revamp amid regulator pressure
China’s Ant Group Co Ltd is planning to refashion itself as a financial holding company under the supervision of China’s central bank in the face of regulatory pressure, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The fintech affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd has submitted an outline of a restructuring plan, which could be finalised before China goes into the week-long lunar new year holiday in mid-February, the Wall Street Journal said, citing sources. Chinese regulators had asked Ant to consider folding up most of its financial businesses into a holding company that would be subject to more stringent capital requirements, two sources told Reuters in December. The country’s central bank, People’s Bank of China, has said Ant controls a range of financial institutions, including sec...
7 Cryptocurrency Predictions for 2021
Ongoing volatility, further progress on regulations and continued interest from institutional investors can be expected in 2021 – this according to South African cryptocurrency exchange, Luno. “Looking back at our predictions from last year – the Bitcoin halving happened without a hitch and the industry matured as institutional investors entered the market,” says Marius Reitz, GM for Luno Africa. “2020 was a proper stress test with Bitcoin hitting a low of around $5,000 in March and a high of $28,000. The new year is following the same trend with the price already reaching the $40,000 level.” Here’s a closer look at seven cryptocurrency predictions for 2021: /* custom css */ .tdi_3_da6.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_da6.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } 1. Institutional inve...
FNB Launches Virtual Card Service
FNB has launched its virtual card service to all individual and business customers. The Virtual Card is accessible via the FNB App and the RMB Private Banking apps. With this service, customers no longer need to rely on a physical card at merchants that have Tap-to-Pay functionality as they can either use an Android smart device or an Apple device where the merchant accepts QR Code payments. “Customers can immediately load the Virtual Card on their FNB and/or RMB Private Bank profile and link it to a debit, credit or fusion account at no additional cost to shop safely and conveniently,” says FNB. These customers are also able to create multiple virtual cards for dedicated transactions at no extra cost. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_166.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_166.td-a-rec-img img...
Spotify Stock Downgraded by Citi, as Podcast Competition Heats Up
Spotify’s share price was already in retreat, dropping 12.5% from an all-time high of $370.95 reached on Wednesday (Jan. 13), however. Some experts would argue it’s still too high. The 25 analysts covering Spotify have a median price target of $298.53 with a high of $425.90 and a low of $141.30, according to Refinitiv. Key Takeaways: 1) The three leading audio streaming companies — Spotify, Apple and Amazon — are pushing hard into podcasts. If turning a music service into an all-around audio service attracts subscribers and reduces churn, record labels and publishers will benefit.2) Regardless of how its podcasts perform in the next year or two, Spotify has the resources to see its strategy through. It had €1.18 billion ($1.43 billion) on its balance sheet on Sept. 30, 2020, en...
Nigerian government seizes bank’s assets over Shell’s N183 billion debt
File Photo Nigerian government have moved to sequester the assets of the country’s premier lender First Bank of Nigeria Limited in an effort to recover the damages oil major Royal Dutch Shell owed the Ejama Ebubu community of Rivers State in a legal contest spanning many decades, Bloomberg reported Thursday. Police operatives and court officials arrived the bank’s main branch in Port Harcourt on Tuesday to execute an order to seize the lender’s asset, FirstBank said in a statement. The bank said the incident leading to the confiscation of its properties was “unjustified, illegal and a reckless misuse of the machinery of justice.” Lagos-headquartered FirstBank resolved to guarantee the damages awarded against Shell by a Rivers State high court judge a decade ago. According to the estimation...
Iran’s smog, blackouts made worse by power-sapping crypto mining
Outages have been compounded by cryptocurrency mining, which uses banks of high-powered computers. Cities across Iran have been cloaked in thick layers of toxic smog and darkened by blackouts, as the alleged use of low-quality fuel and power-sucking cryptocurrency mining deepen the country’s hardships. Tehran’s Hamshahri newspaper, the country’s most-read daily, ran the headline, “20 Days Living in Smoke,” on Wednesday over a photo of the capital covered in smog. Power plants have been forced to switch to burning low-grade fuel oils to generate electricity because high levels of domestic consumption have led to natural-gas shortages, the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency reported. Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh denied earlier this week that any of Iran’s power stations are us...
Quality FinTech Solutions In Africa
The African continent is an exciting market where financial technology gets implemented every day. The impact these financial technology solutions are having on the financial sector in Africa is tremendous. Financial technology, or FinTech, has proved to be a good and more effective alternative to traditional banking systems in different parts of Africa. The FinTech creates a very advanced environment that promotes value, quality financial solutions, and efficiency gains. FinTech is constantly improving the financial sector across many countries on the African continent and stimulates innovation as well as creativity and productivity in many different sectors. In many countries, the banking sector relies heavily on good FinTech solutions that reduce the cost of banking operations and incre...
2021: Banks to walk a tightrope amid low revenue environment
Nigeria’s deposit money banks (DMBs) must brace up for the challenge of 2021 that might tax their resolve to remain in business. Reason: the industry is faced with a tougher operating environment that could threaten the operators’ ability to meet their stakeholders’ needs and expectations yet perform meaningful corporate social responsibility roles. Their valuable customers such as high net-worth individuals, corporate bodies and other institutions are equally challenged. In his book, Business Stripped Bare, celebrated iconic entrepreneur and founder of the Virgin Group, Richard Branson, says, “without trustworthy banks, there can be no business, no employment, no money. According to Branson, “People have got to be able to go to bed at night secure in the knowledge that the money they depo...
Spotify Stock Price Hits New All-Time High
What recession? The leader in the fast-growing music streaming market, Spotify reached an all-time high of $354.60 on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday, and closed at $353.48, up 7% from Thursday’s closing price and up 12.2% for the week. At Friday’s high, Spotify’s enterprise value rose to roughly $66.1 billion. Why the investor enthusiasm? An obvious factor is Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich’s price target hike from $357 to $428 on Wednesday. But a number of factors have had investors excited about the stock over the past year: It is the leader in music streaming and is aggressively expanding its podcast business, most notably with the strong — although controversial — launch for the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Plus, limited pricing experiment...
AfDB grants $11.26 million for women, girls’ education in Chad
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a grant of $11.26 million to the Government of Chad to finance the Girls’ Education and Women’s Literacy Project – the bank’s first grant exclusively targeting women and girls. The project will be financed from the Bank’s Transition Support Facility and will be implemented over a five-year period by the Chadian Ministry of National Education and Civic Promotion, in coordination with partners involved in the education sector, civil society organisations, and youth organisations. The Chadian government will contribute a non-monetary contribution of $713,000 towards the program. “Through this financing, the African Development Bank is providing support to the Chadian government to reduce inequalities through access to educati...
Roblox Raises $520M From Warner Music Group and Others
Warner Music Group has been focused on growing its footprint in gaming for some time. “Ultimately, everything is going toward gaming, and we want to make sure we’re capturing value within it. It’s the future of entertainment,” Oana Ruxandra, Warner Music Group’s chief digital officer, told Billboard last September. The music industry has certainly been flocking toward gaming platforms over the past year, with Travis Scott pulling in 27.7 million participants during his Fortnite in-game performance last April, kicking off a wave of artists looking to set up virtual concerts on similar platforms. Roblox launched its first virtual concert in November, with a virtual concert by Lil Nas X that racked up 33 million views. “COVID has supercharged the demand for 2D and 3D live streaming even...
Yemisi Edun appointed acting FCMB chief
First City Monument Bank Limited (FCMB) has appointed Yemisi Edun as the acting Chief Executive Officer of the bank. This followed the decision by the Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Adam Nuru, to proceed on voluntary leave as the board investigates allegation of paternity scandal against him. The bank disclosed this on Wednesday. Edun holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife and a Master’s degree in International Accounting and Finance from the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and a CFA Charter holder. She is also an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers; an Associate Member of the Institute of Taxation of Nigeria; a Member of Information Systems Audit and Cont...
