We hope the recent Easter break provided quality time with friends and family along with a chance to recharge as the next few months will be full of interesting events. Firstly, on Thursday, 25 April, Employee Share Plans – Beyond The 1 Percent, at White & Case in London, will focus on increasing productivity, register here. Then on Wednesday, 15 May, we are hosting the Economic Crime Summit – Identity, Fraud, Security in partnership with Cityforum at Simmons and Simmons LLP, which focuses on assessing threats, securing a digital identity infrastructure, and building a safe digital financial system, find more information here. As always, we have plenty of diverse webinars and articles to suit a variety of interests. Happy viewing and reading!
Charlotte Dawber-Ashley (Manager, FS Club) & The Team at Z/Yen

Knowledge Miles: The 695th Lord Mayor's Lectures

Z/Yen Group are delighted that our Chairman, Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli, is serving as the 695th Lord Mayor of the City of London for the year 2023/2024. As part of Michael’s working theme, we are running Knowledge Miles: The 695th Lord Mayor's Lecture Series, an online webinar series exploring the connections of the Square Mile and its role as "The World's Coffeehouse" addressing diverse global challenges. Please see the table below for February's lectures and contact Jacopo Moratto if you and your organisation would like to get involved:

The Future Of The Arts And Humanities: The First 25 Years Of The Arts And Humanities Research Council , Wednesday, 10 April
Leadership In Sustainable Finance: Charting A Course Through Purpose, Profit, And Politics , Monday, 15 April 2024
Mastering Misinformation: How Stories, Statistics, And Studies Exploit Our Biases – And What We Can Do About It , Friday, 26 April 2024
Featured Past Lectures

Professor Carolyn Roberts:
The Thames Barrier – Immediate Future Or Long Past?

Find our entire library of lectures and webinars on YouTube

Chris Williamson:

Urban Transport In Tomorrow's World: What Other Growing Cities Can Learn From London

Events & Webinars

• Events

Secret Alleys & Taverns Of The East Side Of The City Of London , Tuesday, 16 April 2024

2024 Economic Crime Summit – Identity, Fraud, Security, Wednesday, 15 May 2024

• Webinars

Intelligent Money: Our Future Is Where We Do Not Think About Money, As Our Money Thinks For Us , Monday, 08 April 2024

Protection Gap Entities: Saving Disaster Insurance In A Time Of Climate Change? , Tuesday, 09 April 2024

ESG Impact To Your Business , Tuesday, 16 April 2024

Lunch and Learn: How to Manage Stress in the Workplace , Tuesday, 16 April 2024

All Forthcoming EventsAll Past Events

If you enjoy our webinars and events, and would like to contribute to our content, we would very much welcome your support as a corporate sponsor, please contact Charlotte_Dawber-Ashley@zyen.com to discuss the various opportunities available.

The Esop Centre’s newspad, is a monthly publication providing in-depth coverage of the main international news in the field of employee share ownership. Read this month’s newspad in full.

British Isles Share Plan Symposium 2024 , Thursday, 25 April 2024

Public Reports

Z/Yen publishes reports on its three leading indices: the Global Financial Centres Index, the Global Green Finance Index, and the Smart Centres Index. In addition to this, reports on topics of special interest are also regularly published by Z/Yen.

Kevin M. A. Parker, Michael R. Mainelli: : What Happens If We ‘Burn All The Carbon’? Carbon Reserves, Carbon Budgets, And Policy Options For Governments

Mike Wardle, Professor Michael Mainelli, Charlotte Dawber-Ashley: : The Global Financial Centres Index 35

FS Club News

Busan Finance Center: Busan Digital Asset Exchange Since its designation as the 'Busan Blockchain Regulatory-Free Zone', Busan has embarked on a journey to establish the Busan Digital Asset Exchange. This innovative platform is designed to facilitate the tokenization and trading of a wide range of valuable assets, including raw materials, precious metals, intellectual property, and carbon emission rights, leveraging blockchain technology. With a focus on decentralization, the exchange promotes investor security through comprehensive mechanisms for escrow settlements, listing evaluations, and market surveillance, heralding a new era of '4th generation blockchain exchange.‘ In a significant advancement towards this vision, on February 21, 2024, Busan Metropolitan City made a partnership with the Busan BDX Consortium. This consortium, spearheaded by ITSEN Corporation and comprising companies like Hana Securities, Hana Bank, and others, is set to develop the 'Busan BDX,' a cutting-edge trading platform within the Blockchain regulatory-free zone. The Mayor of Busan, Park Heong-joon, has articulated a vision to position Busan as a global leader in blockchain technology by 2026. It includes cultivating the K-Blockchain system into a pivotal export industry, drawing inspiration from Busan's historical success in sectors such as semiconductors and shipbuilding, thereby reinforcing the city's technological and economic prominence on the world stage. 4th-gen Blockchain-based Digital Asset Exchange to be Established in Busan (ENG).

Fintech Lab Seoul: Seoul Financial Hub, managed by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, is currently inviting esteemed overseas financial institutions to join our global financial epicenter in Yeouido, Seoul. Benefit from exclusive office space, expert consultation on market entry, and unparalleled networking opportunities. Stay ahead with insights into the Korean Financial market. For further details about Seoul Financial Hub, click here.

Financial Services Comission Mauritius:

New Regulatory Framework for Spot Commodity Market in Mauritius: The new Rules aim to support the creation of a new and dynamic ecosystem for spot commodity trading, clearing and intermediation within Mauritius with the new following financial business activities:

(a) spot commodity market; (b) spot commodity clearing house;

(c) spot commodity broker; (d) spot commodity broker’s representative;

(e) spot commodity trading adviser; and (f) spot commodity trading adviser’s representative

The new regulatory framework for spot commodity market and its intermediaries, overseen by the FSC, provides salient features such as a fast-track application process for existing licensees, a Spot Commodity Market may inter-alia be operated through an electronic system, and operators may engage in environmentally-linked financial instruments.

Bridgeworks: Bridgeworks, based in Lymington, Hampshire, UK, was invited last month to present their award-winning AI technologies to U.S. government and industry leaders to highlight the best in British technology. A key aim was to spotlight the support of the U.K. Government’s Department of Defence and Security Exports, (Department for International Trade), and share insights as an Export Champion. British Ambassador to the United States, Dame Karen Pierce was present to facilitate valuable engagement with the U.S. Federal agencies and U.K. technology partners. David Trossell, CEO and CTO of Bridgeworks, explains: “We invited our customers, OEM Partners, such as Dell Technology and IBM, Spectra Logic and our North American Resellers and System Integrators to share their successes implementing our systems.” Trossell explains: “We were able to present solutions and deliverables and translate those to future business benefits for end users.” Eykyn commends Trossell: “I am not a technical man, but I have always been interested in new technology. With Bridgeworks our WAN and data acceleration products, our CEO and CTO David Trossell, brought all his extensive skills in the storage world to bear, strongly supported by the IBM R&D Storage Establishment at Hursley, who confirmed the need for the AI and machine learning based products David developed and which we now know as PortRockIT and WANRockIT." See their full news item here.

GFT Financial Ltd: GFT and Google Cloud ‘Creating real business value from AI’ event this March: GFT and Google Cloud are hosting an exciting event on 13 March in London to cover the latest trends and adoption of real use-cases for AI in Financial Services. At the event, industry experts from GFT and Google, plus client practitioners will come together to discuss generating real business value from AI - beyond the hype and the proof of concept. There are still limited spaces left for this event and you can register here. New thought leadership on AI and ML use cases in the financial services industry: This brand-new GFT thought leadership paper provides a systematic evaluation of AI and ML use cases in the financial services domain. Authored by Alistair Gill (Principal Data Scientist, GFT), this review focusses on AI uses cases featuring risk management, operational development and customer experience. Download here. UDPN adds PayPal USD to network for global payment: Universal Digital Payments Network (UDPN), co-founded by GFT, has announced the integration of the U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoin PayPal USD (PYUSD) onto the UDPN. The UDPN is a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)-underpinned global messaging network designed to bridge the gap between legacy payment infrastructures and modern digital currencies, including regulated stablecoins and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Read the story in full here. Our latest blogs:
Neobanking. What’s next? By Shilpa Doreswamy – LINK.
Pathway to net zero: building AI into climate risk strategies by Simon Thompson - LINK
How to unlock the real value of AI by Dean Clark - LINK.

i2 Group: i2 Group is a world leader in intelligence analysis software. For more than 30 years we have empowered intelligence analysts and investigators to discover, create, and exploit actionable intelligence to identify the perpetrators of criminal activity. This blog demonstrates how i2’s iBase product was used to manage supplier risk for a Billion-Euro Construction Project. iBase was used to prevent and identify potential issues with subcontractors, ensuring timely project completion, high quality standards, and cost savings. The tool is used regularly in risk assessments to help prevent money laundering activities and to classify risks for ongoing projects. Read the article in full here.

Compass Plus: Can we please stop talking about digital transformation - To be clear, this is not a call to refute the usefulness and necessity of digital transformation. This is a call to stop using the term “digital transformation” as a standalone “topic” in itself. Let’s face it, in the payments industry, digital transformation is all we know. It’s everything we’ve been doing in some form or another for the last however many decades. Yet somehow, recently it’s become a “thing”: an undefined click-bait article topic that everyone wants to read about; a buzz-term that generates larger audiences at conferences and stirs excitement that someone will say something ground-breaking. (Thought leadership blog) Beyond buzzwords: The underrate role of ATMs in modernisation - In the fast-paced world of finance, the term ‘digital transformation’ has become a constant buzzword. Whether it's the latest five tools for effective digital transformation or the insistence that small steps won't suffice, the pressure for financial institutions (FIs) to overhaul their digital strategies is palpable. However, amidst the noise for mobile apps, generative AI, and online account opening, there's a vital but often overlooked player in the digital transformation journey – the Automated Teller Machine (ATM). How banks can leverage their existing credit portfolios to unlock the power of BNPL - In recent years, the BNPL space has exploded with a myriad of players, notably dominated by specialised providers like Klarna and Afterpay. These pioneers have gained market share by deploying the 'follow the seller' strategy, integrating BNPL services via merchants to drive new sales. However, as the market continues to evolve, there's a significant opportunity for those adopting the 'follow the customer' approach, which allows cardholders to decide which merchants they want to use BNPL at. Amidst the multitude of fintech providers targeting merchants, traditional banks stand uniquely positioned to serve consumers. Boasting substantial customer bases and long-standing relationships built on trust, banks are well-equipped to step into the BNPL arena. (Thought leadership blog)

Compass Plus: We’ve had an exciting month so far, highlighted by the recent celebration of a special cohort of SMEs sponsored by Siemens through our Foundations for Responsible Business programme after their first year! Witnessing the strides these businesses have made in developing their first responsible business strategy has been remarkable, and we hope this programme will serve as an inspiration for others to consider the sustainability support they could offer to SMEs. You can discover more about the Siemen’s cohort on our website here, or if you would like to learn more about our tailored programmes, please do let me know. In our continued commitment to empowering SMEs in adopting responsible business practices, we're always on the lookout for new opportunities to collaborate and share knowledge. If you have any events, initiatives, or news that you think would benefit our community, please don't hesitate to get in touch. Our next free Lunch and Learn ‘How to Manage Stress in the Workplace’ is scheduled for 16th April. Your help in optimising its reach would be greatly appreciated, whether that's by re-sharing our posts on social media or by including the workshop details in your newsletters or event pages: LinkedIn, Twitter.

Z/Yen Launches Ethical AI Course with CISI Register Here

The Chartered Institute For Securities & Investment, in collaboration with Z/Yen Group and The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor Professor Michael Mainelli, have launched a Certificate in Ethical Artificial Intelligence.

The short online course deals with the core definitions and global developments in the field of AI, associated ethical dilemmas, and the implications for financial services.

Find Out More

Pamphleteers Blog

The Pamphleteers Blog features considered thoughts – somewhere between a knee-jerk editorial and a full-blown piece of research. "Write for today and not for tomorrow."

Made Me Think
Bob McDowall:

De-Dollarisation: Acceleration In 2024?

Of Great Interest
Amit Sharma:

Endowing AI With Legal Personality Is Not The Same As Endowing AI With Human Attributes!

Read More

FS Club Bulletins - Keep Track Of Your Commercial Interests

FS Club provides up to 1,000 weekly bulletins on a variety of topics from Inflation, to Inter-Bank Lending, to the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine. Register here.

Equity Markets

Actuarial Science

Best Of The Finanser

Stirred My Thoughts:

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the oldest bank in the world became the newest?

Grabbed My Attention:

With no funding, you can’t fight

Read More

Membership & Sponsorship

FS Club is the premier global executive knowledge network for technology and finance professionals. Great events, research, and social functions build a buzz for Members and a valuable partnership for Sponsors. Membership of the FS Club is a great way to enhance your professional development, grow your network and profile, and get backing for your ideas, contact: Charlotte_Dawber-Ashley@zyen.com