Ten years has past since the last financial crisis and its shadow still casts over the aftermath of it. We improved a lot indeed and are technologically more advanced than ever. But are we heading to something worse than 10 years ago?
Looking at tech and Fintech Industry, we did achieved some fantastic improvements in a world still unbanked, with a roughbly 3 billion plus people have no financial account. But on a geopolitical level we have other issues. We have a leaderless world that might be sleepwalking towards a repeat of its near meltdown in late 2008 and early 2009. Basically because it has failed to remedy the causes of the financial crash of a decade ago, as former UK prime minister Gordon Brown warned.
In fact, Britain’s leader during the period when the collapse of the US investment bank Lehman Brothers put every major bank at risk, said that after a decade of stagnation the global economy was now moving into a decade of vulnerability. Speaking to the Guardian at his home in Scotland, Brown delivered a scathing analysis of how the big problems of 2009 remained unresolved and said that much tougher action was needed to prevent wrongdoing by bankers
“We are in danger of sleepwalking into a future crisis,” Brown said when asked to assess the risks of a repeat of 2008. “There is going to have to be a severe awakening to the escalation of risks, but we are in a leaderless world.” Brown was instrumental in creating the G20 – a body made of the world’s leading developed and developing nations – but said the cooperation that helped avoid a second Great Depression had been replaced by a world in which countries had retreated into nationalist silos.
The former prime minister, who lost the 2010 election following Britain’s longest and deepest recession of the post-war era, said there was less scope to reduce interest rates than was the case a decade ago, no evidence that finance ministries would be allowed to cut taxes or increase public spending, and no guarantee that China would be as active in providing stimulus.
“The cooperation that was seen in 2008 would not be possible in a post-2018 crisis both in terms of central banks and governments working together. We would have a blame-sharing exercise rather than solving the problem,” he pointed out.
Financial institutions have been adapting in the post-crisis world and some have learned from the past. However, there are many other banks, governments and companies that hasn’t yet. In the light of the trade war launched against Beijing by the US, Brown doubted that China would be as cooperative a second time. “Trump’s protectionism is the biggest barrier to building international cooperation,” he said. Finance is about managing financial assets. This now is all about technology and data but without forgetting the basics – clients / partners.
Financial institutions are becoming driven by data and tech
New technologies are and will rapidly reshape the entire financial services spectre.
Fintech that’s no longer the headline, it’s now the industry reality together with new digitalisation of money, crypto and regulatory frameworks.
Banks, insurers and asset managers are knee-deep in the potential of such technologies known as Fintech, data, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain.
These technologies are the main drivers helping transform the finance businesses and stay on top of ever-changing consumer expectations.
For instance, the financial services seen as a digital transformation infrastructure is now a fact.
Big Data, AI, blockchain automation, cloud computing, IoT and augmented reality are reshaping the present near future of financial services companies, the products they offer and the way they engage their customers.
Leaders of financial institutions must be the catalyst for change. All organisations need to have a clear fintech strategy that aligns with business model goals.
Those who are ready to manage innovation as an ongoing process, will be positioned to not just survive disruption—they will thrive. But we are humans and we need to have wisdom and joint efforts. Tech won’t save us if we don’t cooperate correctly.
Dinis Guarda is an author, academic, influencer, serial entrepreneur and leader in 4IR, AI, Fintech, digital transformation and Blockchain. With over two decades of experience in international business, C level positions and digital transformation, Dinis has worked with new tech, cryptocurrencies, drive ICOs, regulation, compliance, legal international processes, and has created a bank, and been involved in the inception of some of the top 100 digital currencies.
Dinis has created various companies such as Ztudium tech platform a digital and blockchain startup that created the software Blockimpact (sold to Glance Technologies Inc) and founder and publisher of intelligenthq.com, hedgethink.com, fashionabc.org and tradersdna.com. Dinis is also the co-founder of techabc and citiesabc, a digital transformation platform to empower, guide and index cities through 4IR based technologies like blockchain, AI, IoT, etc.
He has been working with the likes of UN / UNITAR, UNESCO, European Space Agency, Davos WEF, Philips, Saxo Bank, Mastercard, Barclays and governments all over the world.
He has been a guest lecturer at Copenhagen Business School, Group INSEEC/Monaco University, where he coordinates executive Masters and MBAs.
As an author, Dinis Guarda published the book 4IR: AI, Blockchain, FinTech, IoT, Reinventing a Nation in 2019. His upcoming book, titled 4IR Magna Carta Cities ABC: A tech AI blockchain 4IR Smart Cities Data Research Charter of Liberties for our humanity is due to be published in 2020.
He is ranked as one of the most influential people in Blockchain in the world by Right Relevance as well as being listed in Cointelegraph’s Top People In Blockchain and Rise Global’s The Artificial Intelligence Power 100. He was also listed as one of the 100 B2B Thought Leaders and Influencers to Follow in 2020 by Thinkers360.
