IT in banking Some business success stories surprise like new gourmet recipes. It occasionally happens that culinary innovations start with ingredients which by and in themselves do not appeal to everyone as superb delights for the senses—for example liverwurst and artichokes, or Brussels sprouts and tofu—but make a winning dish when combined. Likewise, hardcore banking and software development…… Read More
The breakdown It has been one of the most reassuring factors in the Lebanese economy—some might be inclined to say nearly the only one—that local banks maintained their strong financial standings during the past years and have been perfectly assuming their role in financing the economy. Beyond their financial performance, which is highlighted in the analysis below,…… Read More
HSBC Exec Warns ‘Digital Islands’ Could Inhibit Blockchain Trade Blockchains should do for the global value chain what shipping containers did for transport of goods, says HSBC trade finance expert Vinay Mendonca.… Read More
China Has Built a Blockchain System That Could Replace Paper Checks China’s central bank has completed a blockchain-based system that digitizes checks in a move to counter fraud in the country.… Read More
Strongest linkage or missing links? The list of infrastructure needs is long, yet the wish list of these projects for Lebanon is still very rough, and as Executive noted last month, looks methodologically as messy as a disorganized teenager’s room waiting for an encounter with neatness. As the projects in the vast national infrastructure file may contain some old and…… Read More
News on the house of Saradar Over the past three to four years, Saradar Bank was being developed as a universal bank with a full range of services in corporate, private, and retail banking. The process was aimed at engineering one differentiated banking entity out of two smaller banks, Near East Commercial Bank and Banque de l’Industrie et du Travail. Although,…… Read More
Buoyed by banks The relationship between the Lebanese economy and its banks is not quite as simple as the numbers suggest. Banking aggregates are improving every year. But the economy in Lebanon cannot be assumed to be sturdy just because the banking sector is jogging on and on. There are far too many risks and alarm signals on…… Read More
Public or Private? Blockchain Distinctions Are Falling Out of Fashion “Convergence” means different things to different people in the blockchain space. But it’s a word that’s cropping up again and again.… Read More
IHS Markit Has a Plan to Tokenize the $1 Trillion Syndicated Loan Market IHS Markit is developing a blockchain-based system to handle cash payments in syndicated loans – and eventually, in a wider range of transactions.… Read More
Bangkok Bank Joins R3’s Trade Finance Blockchain Initiative Bangkok Bank has joined the Marco Polo trade finance initiative developed by blockchain startup R3 and trade finance technology firm TradeIX.… Read More