This week’s news: 2-6 November 2015
On Wednesday Rangewell had a great time at the 2015 Finance Professional Show here in London. We attended a lot of panels, including one very interesting discussion of the evolution of bridging and development finance – you can read our thoughts on that here – and Barry, our Head of Lender Relations, got to spin the Shawbrook prize wheel. Doesn’t he look excited? You can also see our Twitter feed for our real-time updates during the show.
“It is a way of making and preserving truths” – The Economist’s guide to blockchain, the technology that makes bitcoin – and a whole lot more – possible.
The fast-growing Islamic finance sector is one to watch, and (typically) London’s right at the centre of it. On Tuesday, TheCityUK published a report on Islamic finance in the UK, stating that London is the leading western hub of the Islamic finance market. Currently there are 20 banks offering Islamic financial services and over 100,000 Islamic finance retail customers across the UK.
Last week the ICAEW issued a report calling for accountants to embrace tech innovation, despite fears of job loss. Andrew Ratcliffe, ICAEW’s president, stated that “accountants have to see innovation as an opportunity they can embrace and benefit from.” You can read the highlights and download the full report here.
The FT reported on the growth of SME lending by challenger banks, especially Virgin Money and TSB. Over 40% of SMEs in the UK are using external finance – a big opportunity for all you finance providers out there, not just the challenger banks.