CRYPTOCURRENCY Starling Bank says, “No Bitcoin for you!” More setbacks for cryptocurrencies, as Starling Bank joins other institutions such as Lloyds, Barclays, and RBS to restrict crypto activity (most likely in the wake of the FTX debacle and another crypto business, BlockFi files for bankruptcy). It shouldn’t be surprising to anyone, since cryptocurrencies are currently […]
RBC Buys HSBC Canada Read More »
Ever have a manager who dilly-dally’s (being indecisive) when it comes to making decisions? Or maybe you Here are seven tips to making faster decisions and stop wasting time.
How to Make Faster Decisions Read More »
COMPLIANCE Corporate Controls? What’s that? [via GritCapital] “New FTX CEO John Ray says “never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here”. “ “From compromised systems integrity and faulty regulatory oversight abroad to the concentration of control in the
One Small Step for the Digital Dollar Read More »
I have a huge disdain for meetings (both in-person and zoom). I understand there can be a need for meetings in specific circumstances, but most situations don’t really call for a meeting. See what happened at Zapier, a fully-remote company even pre-COVID), when they cancelled all meetings for a week.
What Happens When You Cancel Internal Meetings? Read More »
CRYPTOCURRENCY Another One Bites the Dust Unless you’ve been living under a big cryptocoin rock, you’ve heard about the demise of one of crypto industry’s “darlings”: FTX. We won’t beat this news item any more than it has already been covered, but we’ll just give you some tidbits below if you want to read more
Paris Overtakes London as Europe’s Biggest Stock Market Read More »
As we all adjust to a world where working remotely / working from home is a normal thing, managers might still suffer from what’s now called “Productivity Paranoia”. You know, where you’re stressing out and worried if your team is actually doing work at home or they’re bingeing on the latest Bridgerton series on Netflix
Work-from-Home Productivity Paranoia Read More »
JOBS Job Cuts Everywhere Looks like a lot of the binge-hiring during the pandemic is being undone now as companies in various sectors are now bing-cutting staff, such as: DIGITAL BANKING HSBC Customers Left Out in the Cold Due to Outage HSBC UK customers were left unable to buy food, pay for meals and pay
Forget Meme Stocks, Sports Teams Baby! Read More »
Credit Suisse is laying off staff. Meta (Facebook) is laying off staff. Twitter is laying off staff. Hootsuite is laying off more staff. Job security doesn’t exist in the modern era, and more and more people are embracing a gig economy. We’ve got something in the works just for professionals like you who want to
How to Find a Job via Social Media When You’ve Lost Your Job Read More »
BANKING Embattled HSBC Not So Embattled While there’s been talk of HSBC focusing more on profitable regions (e.g. Asia), HSBC reported increase in profits year on year in the previous quarter due to skyrocketing interest rates. BANKING Credit Suisse “Cuts Like a Knife” Those in banking know when banks hire, they hire in massive spurts
A Look at the Gas Crisis in Germany Read More »
Growing up, I lacked a lot of self-confidence. As I grew into adulthood and achieved more confidence through my work and career, I learned to be more confident. I know many have underlying insecurities despite showing confidence on the surface at work and there is a fine line between being confident and being arrogant. Here’s
How to Be Confident Without Being a Jerk Read More »
DIGITAL BANKING Voice Assistants in Banking Banks are beginning to integrate voice assistants (e.g. Alexa) into the mix of digital banking channels. It’s still early days, so you won’t mistakenly buy the latest meme stock. BANKING Goldman Sachs Restructures (again) Goldman Sachs recently announced they will be restructuring again (second time in last four years).
Voice Assistants in Banking Read More »
All the books and content we see about “productivity”, are they wrong? Are they leading us down the wrong path? See what this author says about how we shouldn’t focus on productivity, but to focus on this instead.
Don’t Focus on Productivity, Do This Instead Read More »
FINTECH How AI is Changing Finance The SEC’s Gary Gensler talks about how artificial intelligence (AI) is changing finance. Here’s 4 themes from his talk. FINTECH A Look at Real-Time Payments Jared from Fintech & Finance, takes an interesting look at real-time payments (RTP) and how things look going forward in the industry for RTP.
How AI is Changing Finance Read More »
When it comes to being a leader within your organization, your team is more interested in following someone who inspires them. It’s a “soft-skill” that’s not always clear on how to learn. Simon Sinek shares some tips on how to be an inspiring leader.
How to Be an Inspiring Leader Read More »
DIGITAL BANKING The Story of Truist’s AI Assistant Truist is a the love-child of the merger between BB&T and Suntrust in 2019. Go behind the scene at Truist for how their team revamped and launched their AI-enhanced virtual assistant while integrating with their human contact centers. SPONSORED Want to learn more about digital banking? Become
Central Banking as a Service? Read More »
No matter what you think of Jeff Bezos, there’s no denying what he’s achieved in taking Amazon to where it is today. He’s proven to be a keen observer. And he’s observed that the smartest people he’s seen do this.
Smart Leaders Do This… Read More »
BANKING Credit Suisse in the News Credit Suisse has been in the news recently but not for reasons anyone wants to be in the news for. Fears of the bank’s precarious situation tanked their bonds but it’s unlikely Credit Suisse will follow in Lehman’s footsteps. BANKING Gartner Forecasts Banking-as-a-Service Becomes Mainstream in 2 Years Gartner
Will Banking as a Service Become Mainstream? Read More »
Productivity has taken the spotlight lately due to teams still working from home or working in a hybrid format. It’s clear both options are something workers desire (I believe in the end a hybrid offering is going to be more mainstream). But… …whether you’re in the office or working remotely, there’s no guarantee either environments
9 Ways to Boost Your Productivity Read More »
COMPLIANCE Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Gets Charged The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced charges against Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (MSSB) for their failure to protect their customer’s personal identifying information. It’s like something out of a financial crime movie. CURRENCIES The Pound Sterling Hits New Low It’s been a whirlwind month for the UK,
Why the UK is Having an Economic Crisis Read More »
Part of being a good leader and manager is eliciting feedback from those around you. Problem is, we’re not taught HOW to get proper feedback. (Asking “How am I doing as a manager?” or “Give me any feedback about the job I’m doing.” doesn’t really work). Here’s how you can elicit useful yet hard feedback.
Handling Hard Feedback Read More »
ECONOMY The Fedex Signal Fedex reported declining package deliveries around the world signalling a potential slowdown in the economy => potential global recession coming in hot. M&A Adobe Acquires Figma If you’re a graphic artist/designer, web designer or have any kind of artistic talent, then you’ll know what Figma is (and Adobe), so Adobe announcing
Even before our schedules were dominated with meaningless Zoom meetings, meetings have been a bane to productivity. Some well-known Founders even call meetings toxic. While we can’t escape meetings entirely, here’s how you can organize more meaningful meetings if and when you need them.
How to Organize Meaningful Meetings Read More »
CRYPTO El Salvador’s Bad Bet on Bitcoin So, it’s already been one year since El Salvador made a bet on Bitcoin and promoted Bitcoin to their population as legal tender. Here’s how it’s going upon the anniversary of this event. (tldr: not so good) BANKING Digital Banking: You’re UX Isn’t All That Can you provide
Ethereum’s “Merge” Read More »
I have been fortunate in my career, most of my bosses were relatively nice. Not all were “great” but at least not a nightmare boss. As a leader, I’ve also strived to be innovative, inspiring and nurturing. In any case, I’ve tried to avoid being any one of these five types of bosses.
Are you any one of these 5 types of bosses? Read More »
FINTECH Fintech Lenders Feeling the Pinch of Rate Hikes Even though Fintech startups are supposed to be “disruptive”, they’re not immune to the same challenges the more established players encounter. Such as interest rate hikes. BANKING Credit Suisse Mulls 5K Job Cuts Bankers know the highs and lows of working in the banking industry, you
Fintech Lenders Feeling the Pinch of Rate Hikes Read More »
Researchers looked at leaders across various backgrounds to answer the question: “What is common trait all these leaders share?” They found the answer to this question was this one ingredient.
Do You Have This Leadership Ingredient? Read More »
BANKING Enhancing Financial Services Customer Service with AI Customer service and financial services aren’t exactly synonymous with each other, but with the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), it’s now possible to improve customer engagement through AI, see how. COMMODITIES Soft Commodities Pulling Back on Recession Fears Inflation isn’t the only factor affecting commodities, record
Enhancing Financial Services Customer Service with AI Read More »
Readers of the Essential Edge are people who are driven to s\ucceed but not in a way that tramples over others. Take a deep-dive into the non-obvious traits of people who perform in the top 1%. (And, no, being an arrogant jerk is not one of those traits.)
How to Become the Top 1% Performer Read More »
Here are our hand-picked issues for you to know about in the world of global finance from the past week: FINANCE Hold Back On Those Buybacks With recent bear markets, it’s been attractive for companies to pursue stock buybacks. But the Biden Administration is saying, “hold on there” by signing a 1% excise tax on
Big Banks Falling Behind Startup Banks Read More »
When I managed a sales team, I remember listening in on conversations and I could hear executives on the other end of the phone saying “I’m really busy right now, can’t speak.” Now, I understand sometimes it’s just to get off the phone to avoid a sales conversation but even when it was to deal
Are You Always Busy? Read More »
Here are our hand-picked issues for you to know about in the world of global finance from the past week: M&A What companies s\ucceeding in M&A are doing this year 2021 was a blistering year for M&A. While 2022 isn’t seeing the same amount of deal flow, it’s still been a good year for M&A.
The Downfall of Three Arrows Capital Read More »
Are you great at your job but overlooked for that last promotion? This story of Justin Herron, one of the best players on his college football team, was expecting to be voted to be his team’s captain. That didn’t happen. His team voted six other teammates ahead of him to be team captain. Here’s what
The One-Stop Shop to Rule Them All India is paving the way for something interesting in e-commerce, they’re testing out their Open Network for Digital Commerce, a government-supported initiative, which could revolutionize e-commerce. The open network is NOT a platform itself, but a network of platforms allowing sellers on multiple platforms to participate yet allowing
The One-Stop Shop to Rule Them All Read More »
Here are our hand-picked issues for you to know about in the world of global finance from the past week: Happy Birthday SOX Recently, CFO’s & Finance heads “celebrated” the 20th birthday of Sarbanes-Oxley (lovingly known as SOX). As Finance heads have adapted to life with SOX, they’re seeing it more as a risk exercise
Happy Birthday SOX Read More »
Even before a global pandemic made “Work-from-home” a common term, pockets of geographies around the world were testing out a four day work-week. Iceland’s trial of a shorter work week has been widely reported as a “success”. Iceland’s trials ran between 2015-2019 cutting the work week hours from the typical 40 hours to 35-36 hours.
Is It Time for Your Company to Try a 4 Day Work-Week? Read More »
AMAZON SELLING Amazon is that Big Brother you love to hate. Yes, they offer one of the world’s largest marketplace for e-commerce selling, but if they set their sights on you and your products, then look out! Amazon has been under the microscope for its alleged antitrust practices around the world. The claim: Amazon uses
Amazon Sellers Beware Read More »
Here are some of the top issues in global finance you want to be aware of: The US economy (GDP) fell for the second consecutive quarter (recession anyone?). The continued global supply chain issues and record high inflation isn’t helping. The U.S. Senate is going after credit card fees. If you run (or have run)
Work from home (WFH). Remote work. Hybrid work. These terms have been ingrained in our vocabulary for the last three years and it has become the new normal. Managing a team that is remote or semi-remote has its challenges. So, here’s four rules for managing in the new hybrid work world.
4 Rules for Managing in a Hybrid World Read More »
E-commerce darling, Shopfiy, recently laid off 10% of its workforce after making a bet on e-commerce growth during the pandemic. However, based upon recent US Census Bureau statistics, e-commerce adoption has taken a tumble this year as the world faces an economic downturn. Lessons we can take from this: Expand into international markets, so you
US e-commerce Takes a Tumble Read More »
Here are the top hand-picked global financial issues you should know about this week: Why have commodity prices fallen off a cliff? CFO’s: how to implement AI the right way Lloyds bank preparing for economic downturn Want a better understanding of what influences commodity prices and what to do about it? Check this out.
Why have commodity prices fallen off a cliff? Read More »
I’m a firm believer in the saying: “…All leaders are readers.” Harry S. Truman One skill I’ve been working on is to read faster, but not just devouring a book, but to also digest the essence of the book. Here’s some tips on how to read smarter and deeper.
How to Read Smarter Read More »
While this isn’t a new problem for Amazon, the stakes are getting higher for those peddling fake Amazon product reviews (e.g. Facebook groups). Rewind: There are groups and merchants who offer rewards in exchange for 5-star product reviews on Amazon (thus manipulating Amazon’s algorithms). Not only would it cost your your product listing and/or removal
Amazon seeks & destroys fake reviews Read More »
Here’s 3 issues to make you smarter in the world of finance and fintech this week: What will drive crypto adoption? Deutsche Bank announces they’re white-labelling their buy now, pay later (BNPL) service in Germany Commodity prices are dropping Don’t know what to do with volatility in commodities? This helps you get clarity on what
Commodity prices are dropping Read More »
“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise“. – Benjamin Franklin This is one of Ben Franklin’s most notable quotes. Franklin’s numerous achievements positions him as one of the most studied people in history on how to be more productive and successful. (including me!) Sahil Bloom, breaks down Franklin’s
Tips from Ben Franklin on being more productive Read More »
The live-shopping (selling goods via live streaming) market in China was worth approximately $300 billion in 2021. In the US, while Walmart, Meta, Amazon and Youtube are trying to get this trend going in the West, it doesn’t forecast to reach anywhere near the amount in China and Asia.
Live shopping falls flat in the West Read More »
Here’s 3 top financial issues you should know about: The Euro approaches parity with the US dollar for first time in two decades Hey Fintech, who’s data is it anyway? Is this the future of financial services?
Euro approaches parity with USD Read More »
Even pre-pandemic work-from-home and hybrid work environments, companies (well-known companies too) have suffered through toxic company culture. I remember hearing from top bank executives and how they were so tired of dealing with toxic bosses and trying to figure a way out or at least how to manage their daily work without going crazy or
Is your company culture broken? Read More »
Amazon’s annual Prime Day sale is coming up this week. Consumers spent $10.4 billion on Prime Day in 2020. What can you learn from this? Consider setting up your own “Prime Day” sale for your e-commerce biz.
What can you learn from Prime Day? Read More »
Islamic finance was trendy topic for traditional bankers a few years ago (despite it being around for over 1300 years), it’s since quieted down, but it’s still an important area of global finance. Here’s a nicely laid out beginner’s guide to Islamic Finance.
Beginner’s Guide to Islamic Finance Read More »
Speaking in public is notoriously known for being the most common activity people are afraid of doing. Of course, in work and life, we often don’t get to choose to avoid public speaking – it’s a necessary skill as you advance in your career. So, if you want to improve your public speaking, here’s something
Want to improve your public speaking? Read More »