By Kristian Marquez, CFA Founder and CEO, FinStrat Management, Inc.

The fund-raising environment for startups has experienced a significant shift. The strategy of “growth at any cost” is under threat as the Federal Reserve has raised rates to a multi-decade high. As a result, startups that built their foundations on cheap cash and unsustainable unit-economics are witnessing a decline in their valuations and access to capital. And while some fear an impending economic downturn, not everyone views

Technology has developed over the years. One of the most notable changes is in payment systems and financial services. Digital wallets are a major part of this revolution. They make it easier for customers to pay for goods and services with their smartphones or other digital devices. As such, more people are utilizing digital wallets to make payments.

In this article, we'll talk about digital wallets and how they're transforming how people pay for goods and services.

What Are Digital Wallets?

Digit

Home office expenses might be one of the most feared business deductions due to concern over disallowance by the IRS. Thus, many taxpayers entitled to the deduction don’t claim it. If you use part of your home exclusively and regularly for conducting business, you may be able to deduct expenses such as mortgage interest, insurance, utilities, repairs, and depreciation for that area. You need to figure out the percentage of your home devoted to your business activities, utilities, repairs, and de

Businesses have traditionally valued customer feedback. For various reasons, good complaint management is crucial. The most reasonable explanation is that dealing with client complaints is essential to customer service. Many businesses use complaint data for far more than merely responding to complainants. Such data can indicate issues with service delivery, allowing the company to enhance its operations. Increased coordination in financial firms enables risk and compliance professionals to go o

In this week's blog post, we're sharing insights on our interview with Terisa Roberts. She is a Director and Global Solution lead for Risk Modeling and Decisioning at SAS. She has extensive experience in quantitative risk management, and advanced analytics. She has worked in a variety of industries, including financial services, telecommunications, energy, retail and government. She advises banks and regulators around the world on best practices, topics in risk Modeling, Decisioning, and the r

In today's post, we're inspired by our interview with Kevin Lester, co-founder and CEO of Validus Risk Management, a specialist financial risk advisory firm with offices in London and Toronto. With a focus on the alternative asset management sector, Kevin has pioneered the use of innovative financial hedging tools and techniques in the private equity, private credit, infrastructure and real estate markets, and is responsible for managing over $300 billion in market risk exposure via the Validus

Bridging finance solutions have been a common go-to for business owners that are looking for quick resolutions. Essentially, bridging finance options can help ‘bridge the gap’ in transactions which are time-constrained and require large funds. This is one of the reasons why bridging finance has become such an appealing proposition for business owners.

Whilst it can be beneficial, as with any form of lending there can be risks involved with taking out a form of bridging finance. This article helps

Wells Fargo has suffered the consequences of repeat scandals since 2016. This week, the bank agreed to a $1 billion settlement with federal regulators who have cited their lack of effective risk management practices as the root cause of their woes.

This settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency would be another blow to Wells Fargo in a long line of many.

Let’s look at a timeline of Wells Fargo’s risk management scandals:

• 2009-2016 – Wells

The business of petrol pump operations is long term in nature. It involves significant capital expenditure and license agreements. While the revenue earnings look attractive to most people, the owners of such businesses know that their operating expenditure (OPEX) is also huge.

Fuel retailers do need a steady supply of working capital to maintain the viability of their business in the industry. They must invest suitably in logistics, warehousing and restock fuel whenever the international market

Boris Agranovich has kindly asked me to offer my free course for you to browse, or to take, over the holiday period.

MAGIC

The course will change your entire understanding of modern economics and risk management.

• It is a paradigm shift in both subjects.
• Essential reading for anyone in the financial services industry.

It is no co-incidence that following an article which I had published at www.fin24.com where I am a columnist, my prescription for the South African economy was circulated to the entire

By now, the Wells Fargo scandal is already beginning to become a memory. While the public may forget their costly mistake in time, theirs is a lesson you should definitely commit to memory. Wells Fargo’s failure could easily be your own without taking proper steps to avoid mistakes made by management.

Besides not keeping track of employees as they should have, Wells Fargo made the tragic mistake of incentivizing sales over the interests of their customers. Rather than reward employees for providi

Considering the current climate is loaded with regulatory and market changes, funds transfer pricing frameworks must be adapted in such a way to account for this without losing competitive edge. In order to optimise the practice of FTP, banks need to understand how it can be implemented alongside evolving regulations and market changes. This marcus evans conference will show banks how to shape their FTP methodologies according to regulations such as the liquidity and capital regulations and appl

Cyberweapons are a constant and evolving threat to society. They have the potential to shut down entire electric power grids and bring companies to their knees. Securing networks against the threat is possibly the most pressing priority, and the cybersecurity market is expected to grow from $75 billion in 2015 to $170 billion by 2020 as a result.

One of most pressing priorities for companies in ensuring cybersecurity is what seems to amount to a massive talent shortfall. Current estimates place t

From Safety to Profit Tool: Collateral Optimization

Interview with Judson Baker, Senior Vice President and Product Manager of Derivatives at Northern Trust.

The past year and a half has seen collateral management evolve from a back-office concern, to a middle and front-office operation. The Dodd-Frank Act, devised as a solution to the financial crisis, has had a profound effect on the market, which many are still learning to manage effectively. The threat of new uncleared margin rules (taking ef

Timothy Daniel Hogan, chairman & CEO of downtown-Chicago-based Commonwealth Capital, has addressed the complex issues every entrepreneur needs to know when raising seed, development, or expansion capital under the crowdfunding provisions: Title II and Title III of the Jobs Act of 2012.

Click for your complimentary, abridged edition of his e-book, The Secrets of Wall Street – Raising Capital for Start-up and Early Stage Companies.

The Age of Finance Capital—and the Irrelevance of Mainstream Economics

Source:

 Prof. Ismael Hossein-Zadeh

Global Research, September 12, 2015

Despite the fact that the manufacturers of ideas have elevated economics to the (contradictory) levels of both a science and a religion, a market theodicy, mainstream economics does not explain much when it comes to an understanding of real world developments. Indeed, as a neatly stylized discipline, economics has evolved into a corrupt, obfuscating and usel