Suparna Goswami Bhattacharya

September 26, 2016: Though talks of the adverse after-effects of Brexit have been going on for a while, things have not been as bad for the country as was predicted, at least for now. In fact, the adverse impact in the short term has been lesser than initially feared.

Markus Kuger, Senior Economist, Dun & Bradstreet, expects the British economy to continue to grow throughout the 2016-18 period as the underlying pillars of growth remain intact.

“At the moment, the British economy is more price competitive in global markets, thanks to the depreciation of the pound. Hence, it does not come as a surprise that businesses selling abroad are doing well. However, the fact is that UK currently is still in the EU and if it were to lose access to EU markets, the introduction of tariffs and other regulations could counterbalance this development,” he says.

The UK economy will get a further boost on the policy front from the Bank of England (BOE). The BOE’s move to cut back interest rate alongside reviving quantitative easing and other measures will help the economy chug along for a while, says Howard Archer, Chief European and UK Economist, IHS Global Insight. “On the fiscal front, some stimulus measures will likely be announced later in 2016 now that the government has dropped its plans for a fiscal surplus by fiscal year 2019/20. This could include increased infrastructure spending,” remarks Archer.

In fact, London continues to enjoy its position as the preferred destination for businesses. A recent study by PwC states that London has maintained top spot as a centre for business, finance and culture — widening its lead over 30 international cities. London’s success is consistent across all of the indicators — city gateway, economic clout, intellectual capital and innovation categories, and technology readiness. There are ample reasons why London will not relinquish its financial hub status overnight. These include English language, the time zone, the pro-business and well organised regulatory environment, a relatively stable economy, efficient transport infrastructure, office space availability and its cosmopolitan and desirable lifestyle.

However, experts warn that the ambiguity surrounding the new rules and regulations post Brexit is hampering London’s image. “Financial services companies can’t afford to wait for negotiations to complete. They have to plan their strategy to develop their European operations,” opines Nigel Green, founder and CEO, deVere Group. There is a fear among UK banks of losing their passporting rights, which will mean that they would need individual country licences in order to operate in the EU.

While large scale redundancies are not expected, there will definitely be gradual downscaling in London with expansion occurring in Frankfurt, and the new emerging hubs like Dubai. Negotiations are also not expected to settle soon.

“The EU refuses to hold informal talks before Article 50 is invoked and negotiations won’t begin until early next year. Both the UK and EU will have two years of limbo with the outcome largely unknown,” says Kuger.

Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty sets out how an EU country might voluntarily leave the union.

There will also be vast political uncertainty with the parliamentary elections due in France, Germany and Holland, to name just a few.

Kuger adds that the EU will not allow the UK to have their cake and eat it too. The situation for the EU is easy – access to the single market is impossible without the UK agreeing to free movement.

“The UK on the other hand faces a tough balancing act: they cannot have access to the single market while also restricting migration. While it’s in the EU’s interest to maintain and continue trading with the UK, the EU holds the upper hand in the upcoming negotiations,” feels Kuger.

The EU is transparent in saying that you can’t cherry pick between passporting rights and free movement of labour. If the UK does not want unlimited migration from the EU, it cannot have financial passporting rights.

The post Brexit: So far so good for the UK appeared first on International Finance.

IFM Correspondent

September 21, 2016: Fed up with delay in getting regulatory approvals, Iran has reduced the number of airplanes it plans to buy from Airbus by six and from Boeing by one. The country’s deputy transport minister said Iran finds it unfair on the part of US to delay what had been promised.

The renewed deal of 112 aircraft, instead of the previously decided 118 airplanes, will be finalised with Airbus in the coming weeks.

“There are six fewer aircraft. These are the ones that were due to be delivered in 2016,” the Iranian official told Reuters, speaking on the sidelines of the CAPA Iran Aviation Finance Summit in Tehran. Boeing, which has also agreed to provide jets to Iran as it emerges from sanctions, may see its deal clipped by one jet to 108 aircraft instead of 109, the Iranian official said.

“The majority of the reduction is for aircraft that were to be delivered this year but have been delayed by regulatory approvals,” says Paul Lyons, strategy director at International Bureau of Aviation.

Iran is expected to get a US licence for aircraft by the end of September. This will help facilitate the purchase of the Airbus and Boeing jets. Approvals were expected by the end of August.

The post Iran trims aircraft deals appeared first on International Finance.

Mustapha Mensah & Gloria Ofosu-Kusi

February 19, 2016: In the current situation of financial and investment uncertainties in Ghana, devoid of sophisticated and innovative investment solutions, certain individuals saw in this void an opportunity to create an Investment management haven. The company’s comprehensive financial analysis and tactical  investment decisions would be the Midas’ touch of investments throughout the country and elsewhere. The result of their innovation and diligence was McOttley Capital Limited, the investment citadel of McOttley Group of Companies in Ghana.

Financial markets the world over are becoming more complex and specialised. While opportunities for investment continue to emerge, the risks to investors continue to increase. Therefore, successes in the financial markets require expert management and professional skills with thorough primary market research and innovative investment products.

McOttley Capital Limited is a limited liability company licensed and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA). The company was established in 2013 and has for the past two years churned out productive investment solutions for its valued retail and institutional clients. The company’s umbrella is McOttley Holdings Limited, and McOttley Capital is one of the triad of the company’s subsidiaries. The others are McOttley Money Lending Limited and McOttley Properties Limited.

What McOttley offers

McOttley Capital’s investment products have been the solution to many individual and corporate financial predicaments for the past two-and-a-half years. It has been well-noted for its expertise in Fund Management, Corporate Financing and Research and Due Diligence.

Fund Management products

McOttley Capital’s Fund Management product is one that offers clients the prerogative of having every penny of their investment prudently managed, no matter the size of the investment. Their Fund Management product uses thoroughly analysed research conducted by their able Research Unit and scours the investment environment for suitable investment opportunities that uniquely fit the intent of each client.

They do this with the purpose of fulfilling each investment objective outlined by their clients, be they institutional or retail clients, and whether for short-term or long-term investments. The Fund Management schemes include Fixed Premium Investment, a fixed deposit scheme that offers clients the surety of a secure fixed deposit investment at highly rewarding yet realistic rates; McFund and McFund Plus Investments, both collective investment schemes providing their clients secure rates that mimic the surety of the country’s treasury bill rates yet delivering much higher satisfaction in rates; and McOttley Unit Trust (McTrust), another collective investment scheme providing clients with the best of both asset classes, investing in both equities and fixed income securities and thus assuring the investor of both safety and higher returns.

Besides these schemes, McOttley Fund Management also provides Pension Fund management for its clients, utilising a strategic approach to help clients manage all aspects of their retirement plan. McOttley Capital’s Pension Fund Management offers the fund a chance to grow at a pace above inflation and make a healthy real return.

McOttley’s Fund Management Investment schemes are designed to revolve around their clients aiming for their utmost satisfaction whatever their investment objectives may be. Fuelled by discerning analysis and thorough research, their highly skilled portfolio managers and analysts effect informed decisions and strategies that significantly impact clients’ investments ensuring their utmost satisfaction.

Corporate finance

In addition to these products, McOttley Capital also offers the option of corporate finance to its clients. McOttley Capital Corporate Finance aims to provide its clients with quality in the services it offers, whether they are corporate clients or individual clients with corporate concerns. This product has the target of solving any corporate finance difficulties with the client at heart.

With the support of thorough research, due diligence and analysis, their Corporate Finance team is able to use this highly validated research and information to guide corporations in their Mergers and Acquisitions. They use their skills of learned persuasion and credibility to support corporations garner funds for the  development of their institutions, for strategic development planning as well as assisting firms with the financial assessment of their companies and corporate restructuring and turnaround.

Through their corporate finance initiatives, they serve as intermediaries to raise funds for both small and medium scale companies in Ghana and elsewhere for clients who require professional expertise in company restructuring and planning. They advise clients on their short, medium to long investment decisions.

Research and due diligence

At McOttley Capital, they consider the research and due diligence the company produces to be the lifeblood of what the company is today and is yet to become. Their Research and Due Diligence navigates the intricacies of the Ghanaian, African and other international financial markets. They conduct meticulous analysis of micro and macroeconomic indicators, at the same time tracing and making subtle yet crucial financial connections and forecasts that impact the financial industry. Thus enabling them to add new meaning to an adage they strongly believe; that knowledge is power.

The goal of McOttley research is to analyse factors affecting the capital and money market, micro-finance industry, micro and macroeconomics and publish value added and timely analysis using up-to-date statistical techniques. Their use of modern analytical statistical tools, and in-depth assessment of investment horizons, financial occurrences and atmospheres from a top-down and bottom-up approach and how these in turn affect the unique investment decisions, made on behalf of their clients is a major contributor to making McOttley Capital a luminous rising star in the investment arena.

McOttley Capital’s Research and Due Diligence has not only greatly added value to staff of McOttley and their clients but also to the general public as the credible research conducted is often published in the media.

McOttley Capital has become the fast-growing company it is today because of the dedication of the industrious team of investment professionals, who work tirelessly employing the core values of  integrity, timeliness, professionalism, fostering relationships, going the extra mile and showing respect to all clients in all their investment transactions.

The post Portfolio management with a global perspective appeared first on International Finance.

21st November 2013

Dark data, otherwise known as unstructured, unmanaged, and categorized information is a major problem for many organisations (and many don’t even know it). Many organisations don’t have the will, systems or processes in place to automatically index and categorize their rapidly growing unstructured dark data and instead rely on employees to manually manage their own information. This reliance on employees is a no-win situation because employees have neither the incentive nor the time to actively manage their information so dark data continues to pile-up all over the organisation. This accumulation of dark data has several obvious problems associated with it:

• Dark data consumes costly storage space and resources – Most medium to large organisations provide terabytes of file share storage space for employees and departments to utilize. Employees drag and drop all kinds of work related files (and personal files like personal photos, MP3 music files, and personal communications) as well as PSTs and work station backup files. The vast majority of these files are unmanaged and are never looked at again by the employee or anyone else.
• Dark data consumes IT resources – Personnel are required to perform nightly backups, DR planning, and IT personnel to find or restore files employees could not find.
• Dark Data masks security risks – File shares act as “catch-alls” for employees. Sensitive company information regularly finds its way to these repositories. These file shares are almost never secure so sensitive information like personally identifiable information (PII), protected health information (PHI, and intellectual property can be inadvertently leaked.
• Dark data raises eDiscovery costs – Organisations find themselves trying to figure out what to do with huge amounts of dark data, particularly when they’re anticipating litigation. Almost everything is discoverable in litigation if it pertains to the case and reviewing GBs or TBs of dark data can push the cost of eDiscovery up substantially.

Dark Data…it’s a good thing?

Many organisations have begun to look at uncontrolled dark data growth and reason that, as Martha Stewart use to say….”it’s a good thing”. They believe they can run big data analytics on it and realize really interesting things that will help us market and sell better. This strategy misses the point of information governance, which is defined as;

a cross-departmental framework consisting of the policies, procedures and technologies designed to optimise the value of information while simultaneously managing the risks and controlling the associated costs, which requires the coordination of eDiscovery, records management and privacy/security disciplines.

Data has risks associated with it as well as cost beyond its daily cost of storage. Let’s consider the legal implications of dark data.

Dragging dark data out of the legal shadows

Almost everything is discoverable in litigation if it’s potentially relevant to the case. The fact that tens or hundreds of terabytes of unindexed and unmanaged content is sitting on file shares means that those terabytes of files might have relevant content so it may have to be reviewed to determine if they are relevant in a given legal case. That fact can add hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars of additional cost to a single eDiscovery request. For example, according to a CGOC survey in 2012, on the average 1% of data is subject to legal hold, 5% is subject to regulatory retention and 25% has some values to the business leaving 69% with no real legal, regulatory or business reason to be kept. So for a given 20 TB file share, on the average 1% or 200 GB is potentially relevant to a given eDiscovery request. 200 GB of content can conservatively hold 2 million pages that might have to be reviewed to determine relevancy to the case. These same 2 million pages of content would cost $1.5 million to review using standard manual review processes. The big question that has to be asked is how many of these 2 million pages were considered irrelevant to the business and should not have been kept? Considering the same 69% number from the survey mention above; 2 million docs * 69% = 1.38 million docs that should have been deleted and would never had to have been reviewed for the case.

Dark data equals higher discovery costs so make dark data visible so that you can find it, manage it, and act on it.

About the Author:

Nick is Recommind’s director of product marketing and product strategy. He leads a global team tasked with developing marketing strategy across Recommind’s products. Nick joined Recommind from The 451 Group, a technology industry analyst company he co-founded. He started and ran its information management practice and was known as a thought leader in areas such as e-Discovery, enterprise search, text analytics and unstructured data management. Nick has a BA in Philosophy from Middlesex University and an MSc in Computing Science from the University of London.

Source: Recommind

The post Discovering Dark Data appeared first on International Finance.