News

Switzerland Close to Agreeing a Lower Tariff Rate with the United States

The Swiss government is reportedly close to agreeing a reduced tariff rate of 15% with the White House. However, experts caution that no deal will be finalised without the explicit approval of Pres…

Lukoil Declares Force Majeure in Iraq

Russian oil major Lukoil has declared a force majeure at its Iraqi oilfield West Qurna-2, as it struggles under the recently imposed sanctions by the United States. The declaration marks the most s…

Bank of England Keeps Interest Rates on Hold

In a knife-edge vote, with Governor Andrew Bailey casting the deciding ballot, the MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) voted 5–4 to keep interest rates on hold at 4.00%. It was a narrower margin than e…

Taking a Fiscal Holiday from the UK

How Wealthy Individuals Can Protect Their Capital, Leverage Arbitrage, and Live Free While the Storm Passes Introduction There are moments in history when prosperous individuals face more than the …

Bitcoin Continues to Fall After October Crisis

Yesterday, Tuesday 4th November, Bitcoin fell 7.4%, dropping below the $100,000 mark ($96,794) for the first time since 23rd June this year. Experts in the sector suggest that Bitcoin holders, as w…

The Federal Reserve Cuts Key Benchmark Interest Rates

On Wednesday, 29th October, the Federal Reserve’s FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee), for the second time in 2025, and in consecutive months, reduced interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.75% &#…

Russia Hit with New Oil Sanctions

Last week on 22nd of October, in Washington D.C, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) announced that further sanctions on major Russian oil companies were be…

President Trump and the Tariff Trade Wars

On Thursday, 23rd October, President Donald Trump announced that he was halting all trade negotiations with Canada, blaming an advertisement funded by the Ontario Government, which cast negative co…

S&P Global Ratings Downgrade France’s Sovereign Credit Score

In a move that surprised bond markets, S&P Global Ratings (Standard & Poor’s), one of the world’s leading credit agencies, announced on Friday, 20th October, that it had downgraded France’s…

The Global Banking System at Risk from the USD 4.5 Trillion Private Credit Market

Senior Wall Street figures have voiced growing concerns that the global banking system could be facing serious risks from the USD 4.5 trillion private credit market. The main worries centre on risk…

What Ignited the Recent Record Crypto Crash?

On Friday, 10th October, just after reaching an all-time high, the cryptocurrency market imploded, wiping out around half a trillion dollars in value. Bitcoin alone lost more than USD 200 billion. …

Silver Soars Above $50 as Squeeze Hits London Silver Market

On Thursday, 9th October, silver breached the $50 per ounce mark for the first time since the 1980s, evoking memories of the Hunt brothers*, before continuing its climb to reach a high of $51.23 pe…

Gold Rally Helping China Towards Less Reliance on the Dollar and U.S. Financial Dominance

China and its partner countries in BRICS* have long aspired to develop an alternative currency to the US dollar, as well as their own payment systems and other financial instruments that would redu…

Precious Metals and Bitcoin Rise on the Back of Debasement Trades

A financial strategy in which investors allocate funds to assets such as Bitcoin and gold as a hedge against the devaluation of fiat currencies is known as a debasement trade. Key drivers include r…

Swiss Government Offering Gold Concessions to U.S. for Improved Tariffs

To reduce the tariffs currently standing at 39%, imposed by President Trump, the Swiss government has offered to invest in the United States’ gold refining industry in the hope that the White…

U.S. Politicians Ensure First Government Shutdown for Six Years

The deadline for the United States Congress to approve federal funding was midnight, and once again, politicians have put America in jeopardy by refusing to agree on a budget. The Republicans and D…

Is The Russian Economy Completely Underpinned by Its War Machine?

Experts on the Russian economy suggest that since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, more resources such as financial, human, and production, have been redirected to Russia’s milit…

USA and the World Bank Give a Boost to the Argentine Economy

Scott Bessent, the United States Treasury Secretary, has announced that Argentina is a “systematically important ally in Latin America” and went on to say that “all options are on the table” and “t…

Swiss National Bank Keeps Benchmark Interest Rate on Hold

Today, the SNB (Swiss National Bank) kept its key benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0%, as it continues to assess the impact on the economy of the tariffs imposed by United States President Dona…

Switzerland’s New Capital Push for UBS: Balancing Resilience and Competitiveness

In an update to our UBS (Union Bank of Switzerland) note in June of this year, the collapse of Credit Suisse in 2023 and its emergency takeover by UBS remains one of the most consequential events i…

Stablecoins & New Regulatory Regimes: Tether’s USAT and the Future of Digital Money

Why Stablecoins Matter Stablecoins have long been a bridge between the volatile world of crypto and the predictability of fiat money. By offering digital tokens that maintain a 1:1 peg to a stable …

The London IPO Market – Still in the Doldrums

In Q1 and Q2 of this year, data released showed the London IPO market was down to just £182.8 million from nine raisings, as opposed to the same period in 2024, where eight IPOs raised £526.7 milli…

Bank of England Leaves Benchmark Interest Rates on Hold

Today the BOE’s (Bank of England) nine-member MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) voted 7-2 to keep interest rates on hold at 4.00%, with the two dissenting votes of Swati Dhingra and Alan Taylor both …

Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rates

Today, and for the first time since December 2024, the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) cut their benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.00% – 4.25%. This comes after literally m…

Bitcoin versus Altcoin – A Corporate Dilemma?

For a while now, and just in the background, there has been a long-simmering feud between the advocates of Altcoin and the purists of Bitcoin as they compete to win the corporate treasury boom*. In…

Bond Vigilantes Continue to Circle

What is a bond vigilante? They are investors who sell off government bonds to protest against official monetary or fiscal policies that they deem irresponsible or inflationary. To this end, they us…

ECB Holds Interest Rates Steady

There were no surprises for financial markets as today and for the second meeting in a row the ECB, (European Central Bank) kept their key deposit rate unchanged at 2%. Officials at the ECB advised…

The World Gold Council Looking to Launch a Digital Form of Gold

The WGC (World Gold Council)* is, according to experts within this arena, planning to launch gold in a digital form, which may well create major changes as to the collateralisation, trading and set…

Borrowing Costs for the United Kingdom Highest Since 1998 As Sterling Falls 1.5%

Yesterday, 2nd September, the pound slipped a full 150 basis points against the US Dollar (came back to a 1% drop at $1.34) on the back of increasing borrowing costs on the 30-year gilt (UK Governm…

Financing a Super-Yacht with a Swiss Lombard Loan: A Simple, Step-by-Step Guide

A Lombard loan is a line of credit secured against your liquid investments—typically cash, bonds, equities, and sometimes funds—held at a Swiss private bank. Instead of selling investments to pay f…

Brushstrokes and Balance Sheets: How AI Is Repainting Art and Banking

From the Renaissance studio to the modern trading floor, two seemingly distant worlds—art and banking—have always been connected by one invisible thread: the search for value. Whether it’s a painte…

Will Switzerland Join the United Kingdom’s Dirty Money Task Force?

At the end of August 2023, Switzerland announced that they would be proposing new rules that would toughen anti-money laundering laws in response to claims by the United States who said that their …

A Brief Overview – The Global Outlook for the Remainder of 2025

The central banks’ banker BIS (Bank for International Settlements) recently said that fractious geopolitics and trade tensions have exposed deep fault lines in the global financial system and the t…

How Tariffs are being Weaponised by President Trump

For years, international trade was as tranquil as it comes and within the offices of the WTO (World Trade Organisation) on the banks of Lake Geneva worked the trade lawyers and trade economists une…

U.S. Investment Surges into European AI – A Swiss Perspective

Since pulling back during 2023’s tech downturn, U.S. investors are once again muscling into deal flows in Europe – and AI is the magnet. Data released by PitchBook* shows the U.S. share of deal mak…

The Bank of England Cuts Interest Rates

On Thursday, 9th August the BOE (Bank of England) cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 4% and in the process, the MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) took borrowing costs to its lowest level since …

Trump Hits Switzerland with 39% Tariffs

The highlight of Switzerland’s summer calendar is the national holiday (Switzerland’s birthday), which fell last Friday, 1st of August, but all of Switzerland, including the government, woke up to …

Overview of the New Trade Agreement Between the European Union and the United States

On Sunday 27th July, and after weeks of tense behind the scenes negotiations, the President of the European Union, Ursula von de Leyen, shook hands with United States President, Donald Trump, concl…

The Federal Reserve Keeps Interest Rates on Hold

On Wednesday, 30th July and for the fifth straight time, the Federal Reserve’s FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) kept interest rates steady at 4.25% – 4.50%. The committee voted 9 – 2 to k…

The ECB Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged

Today the ECB (European Central Bank) held interest rates steady with the key deposit rate* holding at 2%. To date, the ECB has cut interest rates eight times since June 2024 and President Christin…

Collateralised Fund Obligations are Emerging as a Popular Route to Raise Finance

Collateralised Fund Obligations or CFOs have been around for nearly 25 years, they are a close relative of CDOs (Collateralised Debt Obligations) and are a vehicle for securitising real or alternat…

Overview for Gold Q3 and Q4 2025

In Q1 and Q2 gold investment demand for the metal was strong with gold rising at a record setting pace of 26% (in US Dollars terms), this was mainly a result of global geoeconomics uncertainty, ran…

Bitcoin Surges Past USD 120,000 Creating New Record

On Monday of this week, Bitcoin blew past the USD 120,000 mark creating a record price and hitting a high of USD 123,205 (up 3.4%) before pairing early gains to trade around the USD 121,600 mark. O…

Major Banks Have Ditched the Net Zero Banking Alliance

The NZBA (Net Zero Banking Alliance) was convened in April 2021 by the UN (United Nations) Environment Programme finance initiative and led by banks whose mission statement was to support efforts t…

In the Crypto World Are Stablecoins About To Become Mainstream?

In the cryptocurrency arena, a stablecoin is a digital asset where the value is pegged to a fiat currency such as the US Dollar, the Euro, or the sterling pound. They can also be linked to other as…

Emerging Markets Debt Could Potentially Hit Record Sales in 2025

Experts in emerging market debt advise that global issuance volumes in this sector year-on-year were up 20% for Q1 and Q2 for 2025, with issuances growing particularly quickly from the corporate se…

Indian Regulators Come Down Hard on India’s Options Market

Over the last five years, India’s equity derivatives* market has become the largest in the world, with a daily turnover (including options**) of circa USD 3 Trillion. India’s SEBI (the Securities a…

Is the US Dollar Under Threat Due to the Policies of Donald Trump?

Donald Trump was inaugurated on Monday 20th January 2025, and since his elevation to the White House, the greenback has lost over 10% of its value against the Swiss Franc, Sterling, and the Euro. G…

Is the Russian Banking System Close to a Systemic Crisis?

Experts in the Russian banking arena, plus a number of Russian banking officials themselves, have advised that the banking system in Russia is close to a systemic* crisis. A number of officials wit…

Swiss National Bank Cuts Interest Rates to Zero

On Thursday 19th June, the SNB (Swiss National Bank) announced their benchmark interest rate was being cut by 25 basis points to zero and is now standing very close to a negative interest rate for …

Bank of England Holds Interest Rate Steady

On Thursday 19th June the BOE (Bank of England) held benchmark interest rates steady at 4.25% – 4.00% with the MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) voting 6 – 3 leaving rates on course for a poten…

Federal Reserve Hold Interest Rates Steady

On Wednesday 17th June, and for the fourth straight meeting, the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) announced that benchmark interest rates will remain steady at 4.25% – 4.50% with policyma…

Major Victory for the Crypto Arena as Senate Passes Stablecoin Bill

On Tuesday 17th June 2025, the United States Senate passed a bill (AKA The Genius Act) to create a regulatory framework for “Stablecoins”* in a defining moment for digital currencies in the crypto …

Rush to File Exotic ETFs Linked to Crypto

Currently there is a rush of filings by fund firms for exotic ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) that will be linked to will track digital artwork, cryptocurrencies, meme coins in the hope that bored ret…

Are Banks Using the Phrase ‘Non-Inclusive’ as an Excuse to Debank Clients?

What exactly do the words ‘Debank’ or ‘Debanking’ mean in today’s financial world? In simple terms a bank can close, without notice or recourse, an individual’s or company’s…

Swiss Regulators Forcing UBS to Increase Capital by USD 26 Billion

In an attempt to defray the risks of another Credit Suisse debacle, the government of Switzerland has proposed, much to UBS’s consternation and chagrin, that UBS increase their capital requirements…

The Debanking Crisis and How to Rebuild Financial Confidence

A new financial phenomenon has in recent years swept through the financial world and it is known as “DEBANKING”. Debanking occurs when a bank, at any time and in any place, closes a corporate, pers…

The European Central Bank Cuts Interest Rates

Today the ECB (European Central Bank) for the eighth time in a year cut interest rates by 25 basis points leaving the deposit rate standing at 2%. The governing council were unanimous in their deci…

Trump’s Tariffs Hobble U.S. Markets Whilst European Stocks Forge Ahead

The week ending 30th May 2025 saw equities in Europe as a clear winner globally, whilst tariffs and trade wars initiated by President Trump have hampered and shackled the markets in the United Stat…

Has President Trump Triggered a Sell-Off of U.S. Dollar Assets by Asian Countries?

Analysts advise that many exporting Asian nations, especially those considered as powerhouses* are beginning to unwind their US Dollar holdings which today stands at circa USD 7.5 Trillion. Preside…

Rebuilding Financial Confidence After Debanking

Expert Banking Solutions for High-Net-Worth Individuals in the UK and Europe When the System Says No, We Say “Let’s Begin Again” In recent years, an unsettling trend has been sweeping across the Un…

Trump Reignites Trade War with EU as he Threatens 50% Tariffs on the Bloc

On Friday 23rd May, President Trump threatened to impose a 50% tariff on June 1st, 2025, on the EU (European Union) stating that current negotiations on trade between Washington and Brussels were g…

Will the UK’s Inflation Figures Strengthen the Bank of England’s Hawkish Bias?

The latest data released by the ONS (Office for National Statistics), shows the United Kingdom’s inflation rate, the CPI (Consumer Price Index), jumped to 3.5% from 2.6% in April of this year, driv…

United States and China Trading Update

Without a doubt, President Trump’s tariff war has severely disrupted trade between the two economic powerhouses, and nowhere else is this as dramatically highlighted as Apple’s iPhone and mobile de…

Moody’s Downgrades the United States’ Sovereign Credit Rating

On Friday May 16th, 2025, the credit rating agency Moody’s downgraded the Unites States’ sovereign credit rating from Aaa (equivalent to AAA at Standard & Poor’s and Fitch) by one notch t…

Despite the Recent Rebound, Will Investors in the Long-Term Continue to Dump Dollar Assets?

Although recent losses in US stocks have almost been wiped out, market experts believe that institutions such as pension funds and institutional money managers could in the long-term cut back on th…

United States and China Agree 90-Day Trade Deal

On Monday 11th May 2025, both China and the United States agreed to de-escalate their trade war with each other by announcing a 90-day pause on tariffs. The United States agreed to cut tariffs on C…

Bank of England Cuts Interest Rates

Today the BOE (Bank of England) announced a cut in interest rates with the MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) advising a reduction of 0.25% to 4.5%. The committee was divided, with five members voting…

Donald Trump Tariffs Pushes India and Great Britain into a Landmark Trade Agreement

In the days since President Trump announced he would be hitting all imports into the United States, countries around the world have been talking with each other regarding free trade deals. As a res…

United States Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rates

In the weeks leading up to today’s interest rate announcement by the FOMC (Federal Reserve Open Market Committee), President Donald Trump has viciously attacked the Chairman of the Federal Reserve,…

Are Critical Minerals China’s Trump Card?

Among the many things coveted by President Donald Trump, experts suggest “Critical Minerals”* are somewhere very near the top of the list. The reason why critical minerals are so important is that …

Are Tariffs Negatively Impacting America’s AI and Semi-Conductor Ambitions?

President Donald Trump has made his desire public for U.S. global dominance in the AI and Semi-Conductor (chips) markets; however experts suggest that his tariffs will hinder domestic chip producti…

The European Central Bank Cuts Interest Rates

Today, for the seventh time since June 2024, the ECB (European Central Bank) cut interest rates by 25 basis points, with the key deposit rate now standing at 2.25%, which according to data released…

Confidence in U.S. Government Bonds Can No Longer be Taken for Granted

Amongst the financial carnage inflicted on the global markets by the introduction of punitive tariffs by President Donald Trump, global investors have been fleeing to safe haven assets, which for t…

China Retaliate with the Imposition of 125% Tariffs on all U.S. Imports

So the all-out trade war escalates between the United States and China as Beijing announces retaliatory tariffs of 125% (up from 84%) as Donald Trump confirmed that tariffs on China are now effecti…

Trump 90-Day Suspension U-Turn on Tariffs Except China Sees Equities Rebound

In line with his election promises, President Trump has marched forward imposing global tariffs on all America’s trading partners, with some countries seeing a 10% tariff, others such as the EU (Eu…

Tariffs Cause Global Market Chaos

On Monday, 7th April 2025, and from the opening bell in the far east, through Europe, and into the United States, chaos ensued across global markets. In the Asia Pacific arena, long before Europe a…

Tariffs, Tariffs and More Tariffs as Donald Trump Risks Global Trade War

Wednesday, 2nd April 2025 (or liberation day as per President Trump), is a day that will stand out in history, as Donald Trump announced a sweeping across the board 10% tariff on all imports of goo…

Donald Trump is Ruining European Wineries

Wine growers across the European continent have been struggling due to a decline in consumption from secular demand with consequences so awful that the French government has been paying growers to …

Donald Trump Hits European and UK Carmakers with 25% Tariffs

On the evening of Wednesday, March 26th 2025 in Washington DC, and in a devastating blow to global car makers, President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on all car imports into the United State…

New Lenders in the Crypto World for those Crypto Companies Seeking Debt

The crypto lending arena was nearly wiped out during the last major bear market, but is staging a huge comeback, and Cantor Fitzgerald (Cantors)* is trying to satisfy the crypto industry’s hunger f…

Trump Takes Aim at Chinese Ships with Docking Levies at U.S. Ports

The new U.S. administration has suggested imposing multi-million U.S. Dollar levies on Chinese ships wishing to dock in ports in the United States. Experts in this arena say that this will disrupt …

Swiss National Bank Cuts their Benchmark Interest Rate

On Thursday, 20th March 2025, officials of the SNB (Swiss National Bank) cut their benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 0.25%, the lowest rate since September 2022. In the current cycle of…

Bank of England Holds Interest Rates Steady

On Thursday, 20th March 2025 the BOE (Bank of England) held interest rates steady at 4.50%. Officials from Threadneedle Street warned that the bank was grappling with major uncertainties over the B…

Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rates Steady

On Wednesday, 19th March 2025, the Federal Reserve announced they were holding their benchmark interest rates steady at 4.25% – 4.50%. The FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) voted 8 –…

Donald Trump, Tariffs, Gold, U.S. and European Stock Markets, Climate Change and Greenland

Tariffs Since Donald Trump officially took office on 20th January 2025, the 47th President of the United States of America has imposed across the board tariffs of 25% on all imports from his two cl…

America’s LNG Diplomacy

Eight years ago, the United States was irrelevant when it came to exporting LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) as it was an exceptionally minor player. Move forward to March 2024, and the United States ha…

Investors Pile Into Ultra-Short Term Bonds ETFs

Currently, President Trump’s economic policies are fanning the flames of concerns regarding a recession and a sell-off in the stock markets, and investors are pumping money into Ultra-Short Term Bo…

The European Central Bank Cuts Interest Rates March 2025

On Thursday 6th March 2025 and for the sixth time since June 2024, the ECB (European Central Bank) cut interest rates by a ¼ of 1% (25 basis points) to 2.5%. The ECB’s Governing Council released a …

The Rise of DeFi: Smart Contracts and Collateral in the Digital Age

Decentralized finance (DeFi) represents a revolutionary transformation in the financial sector, fundamentally changing how we think about and handle collateral in digital transactions. This emergin…

Understanding Smart Contract Functionality in DeFi: A Comprehensive Guide

The evolution of decentralized finance (DeFi) has fundamentally transformed the landscape of modern financial systems, with smart contract functionality serving as the cornerstone of this revolutio…

Distributed Ledger Technology in Banking: A Comprehensive Guide

The financial sector is undergoing a revolutionary transformation through the implementation of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in banking systems. As traditional banking infrastructures face i…

Understanding Liquidity in Finance: Its Importance and Significance

In the dynamic world of financial markets, liquidity in finance stands as a cornerstone concept that shapes investment decisions, market behavior, and overall economic stability. The importance of …

Is China’s Property Crisis Getting Worse?

Over the last four years a number of China’s biggest property developers have gone into default and today the Chinese economy is hobbled by the world’s largest distressed debt of circa USD 160 Bill…

Major US Investment Banks are Recalibrating and Pulling Back from China

Once upon a time China was regarded as one of the major centres for the expansion of investment banking, with many of these banks viewing China as one of the crown jewels within their portfolios. T…

Trump Tariffs Latest News

On Monday 24th February 2025, President Donald Trump announced that when the month-long delay on tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico expires, (March 4th, 2025), his administration will initia…

Reserve Bank of India cuts Interest Rates for the First Time in Five Years

On Friday 7th February 2025, the Central Bank of India, the RBI (Reserve Bank of India), for the first time in five years cut its key policy rate by 25 basis points to 6.25%. Officials advised that…

Collateral Transfer – Moving Towards Digital Blockchain Assets

Introduction Collateral Transfer facilities have traditionally relied on well-established bank instruments, such as Bank Guarantees, as well as other forms of blue-chip securities, to underpin the …

Trump Tariff Update February 2025

On Sunday 11th February 2025, President Trump, whilst aboard Airforce One, announced to reporters that he would be applying tariffs of 25% on ALL imports of aluminium and steel widening the spread …

Bank of England Cuts Interest March 2025

On Thursday 7th February 2025 the BOE (Bank Of England) cut interest rates by 25 basis from 4.75% to 4.5% with the MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) voting 7 to 2 in favour of the cut. The two d…

Are We Living In 1984

How the Automatic Exchange of Information Act is denying human rights to financial privacy As we see new laws and regulations that are set to destroy financial bastions and banking privacy – …

What will the new FINMA FinTech licence mean to investors?

Recent news covered the Swiss Parliament’s introduction of the new FinTech licence to encourage innovation within financial companies that interested parties can apply for from the Swiss Financial …

Retail Bonds: A Return With A Difference

Bonds have always been an investment opportunity for those who are looking for a long term, high return option, with recent market forces showing bonds popularity continuing with investors cashing …

Gold Doré Purchase – Bolivia, Brazil & Canada

Proposal Collateral Transfer Facility – Collateral Injection to Guarantee Gold purchases: Export / Import. Brief : To obtain collateral that would Guarantee the clients’ suppliers for the payment o…

Commercial Port Development – Adriatic

Proposal Collateral Transfer Facility – Collateral Injection with Credit Line and Investment. Brief : To obtain strong collateral to secure both private investors and commercial lending facilities….

Hotel & Casino Development – Europe

Proposal Collateral Transfer Facility – Collateral Injection with Loan Advance included. Brief : To obtain suitable collateral and secure a lender to make available loan funds to the Client. Total …

Residential Property Development – Holland

Proposal Collateral Transfer Facility – To act as back-up support and enhancement. Brief : To obtain suitable collateral to bolster or enhance ability and to act as a fall-back in the event further…

Mineral Water Bottling Plant – FYROM.

Proposal Collateral Transfer Facility – Collateral Injection with Credit Line and ongoing support Brief : To obtain suitable collateral and secure a lender (or investor) to make available loan fund…

Indian Textile Manufacturer – subsidiary in Dubai

Proposal Collateral Transfer Facility – Collateral / Loan Security Only Brief : To Secure and Guarantee an existing pre-approved commercial credit line Total Facility Requirement : € 12 million Fac…

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