Machine Learning Promises to Shake Up Large Swathes of Finance

Machine-Learning – Compliance/Risk Management/Prevention of Fraud

Machine-learning has been enhancing in fields right from trading to credit assessment to fraud prevention. It has begun shaking up finance wherein a subset of artificial intelligence –AI tends to excel in locating patterns as well as making forecasts, which it utilised in preserving the technology firms. Towards 2019, those seeking to aspire being a `chartered financial analyst’ or desire distinction in the industry would be requiring, AI proficiency in order to be successful in his exams.

 Machine-learning, regardless of the uncertainty of several inclusive of some `quant’ hedge funds which tend to specialise in algorithm based trading, is said to be poised in having great impact. New fintech firms together with some quick officials have begun applying the system to everything right from scam protection to discovering new trading policies, capable of up-end not only of the labour of the back office but also the more honest glamorous stuff.

 Machine learning has already been utilised for task like compliance, risk management as well as the prevention of fraud. A British firm known as `Voice’, tends to sell machine-learning driven speech transcription tool to huge banks in order to monitor the phone calls of traders for any indications of wrongdoing lime an insider trading.

Near Actual Tracking – Risk Disclosure

The other specialist such as Xcelerit or Kinetica seem to provide the banks as well as investment firms with near actual tracking of any risk disclosures enabling them to display their capital needs constantly. Machine-learning tends to surpass in noticing strange patterns of operation that may display fraud. Start-ups firm such as Feedzai – for payments, or Shift Technology – for insurance to behemoths like IBM have been providing these services and some have been developing the skills internally.

A British banking start-up – Monzo had built a model, swift enough for stopping the would-be fraudster from implementation of a transaction thus bringing down the fraud rate on its pre-paid cards in June 2016 from 0.85% to less than 0.1% by January 2017. The natural-language processing wherein AI-based system have been released on text, has begun to have a great effect in document-heavy portions of finance.

JPMorgan Chase, in June 2016, had organized software which can scrutinize through 12,000 commercial-loan contracts within seconds in comparison to the 360,000 hours the lawyers and loan officers tends to utilise in reviewing the contracts.

Automated Financial Decision

Besides this, machine-learning is also said to be good for automated financial decision irrespective of assessing credit worthiness or eligibility for an insurance policy. Zest Finance being in business of automated credit-scoring right from its foundation in 2009 had earlier in the year rolled out a machine-learning underwriting tool to support lenders in making credit decisions as well as for people with little conventional credit-scoring information.

It tends to scrutinize through huge amount of data like the payment history of people or how they seem to interact with the website of lenders. A tech savvy insurance start-up, Lemonade, has been utilising machine-learning to sell insurance policies as well as to manage claims. The latest boundary for machine-learning probably is in trading wherein it is utilised to bite on market data and also to select and trade portfolios of securities.

At Goldman Sachs, the quantitative-investment strategies division tend to utilise language processing motivated by machine-learning in order to go through thousands of analyst’s reports on the companies. Here it complies an aggregate `sentiment score’, depending on balance of positive to negative words. Goldman had also invested in Kensho which is a start-up utilising machine-learning in predicting how events such as natural disasters tend to affect market prices centred on data on similar events.

Restricted Useful Applications

A Toronto-based upstart, Castle Ridge Asset Management has attained annual average returns of 32% since its establishment in 2013. It tends to utilise a cultured machine-learning method such as those used in modelling evolutionary biology in making investment decisions. The chief executive, Adrian de Valois-Franklin, claims that it is very sensitive that it picked up 24 acquisitions before they had even been announced.

On the other hand, Man AHL, which is a well-established $18.8bn quant fund provider, had been conducting research in machine-learning for the purpose of trading since 2009 as well as utilising it as one of the techniques in managing client money since 2014. Martin Lueck of Aspect Capital seems to find the system exaggerated stating that his firm had observed only restricted useful applications for the same. However in other fields machine-learning has the possibilities of game-changing and there is no reason in expecting finance to be changed.

 As per a machine-learning fund manager, Jonathan Masci of Quantenstein, years of work on rules-based approaches in computer vision, telling a computer on how to recognize a nose for instant were instantly eclipsed in 2012 by machine-learning processes which enabled computers to `learn’ what a noses looked like from examining millions of nasal pin-ups.

Likewise a machine- learning procedure, according to Mr Masci has to beat conventional trading strategies depending on rules set by humans.

How will GST Impact the Indian Real Estate Sector

Impact of The Goods & Service Tax - GST 

The most ground-breaking tax connected reforms in some decades to be seen in India is the Goods and Service Tax – GST that will eradicate the incompatible as well as mounting taxation arrangements which have confused various industries over the last few decades.

 It would positively tend to have a deep effect on the economic prospects of India. An individual indirect tax covering the goods and services would tend to increased tax collection in the long run by making it simple for retailers together with many other businesses in complying as well as regulating the overall taxation stages. The favourable outcome of this new taxation administration would only become apparent within 2-3 years after its implementation.

 In spite of the announcement of the tax structure of the goods and services tax – GST, a lot of speculation would be there with regards to tax rate being applicable to the real estate as well as construction industry. It would be untimely to comment at this point of time since the tax rate has not yet been decided. Prospects for the real estate would be in the bracket of 12% but the GST rate does not seem to be the only significant element.

GST – Tax Neutral/Tad Adverse

It is a known fact that real estate sector tends to play a vital part in employment generation in India and ranks second after agriculture. The significance of real estate segment is comprehended with its average 5-6% GDP contribution as well as stimulating demand for over 250 subsidiary industries.

The real estate segment is said to have a considerable growth of about 22% in its private equity reserves from 2015 to 2016. During the third quarter of 2016, there was an increase of 9% in investments for residential properties from previous quarter.

The reduction rules for developers applicable under service tax system together with the input tax credit facility would be determined if the effective tax incidence on real estate would be lower or higher under GST. Meritoriously the composition system enables reduction against the cost of land up to 75% of the cost of the house for residential units at a price under I crores IND and less than 2000 sq.ft. tends to make the effective rate at 3,75%.The reduction in other cases seems to go below 70% thus making the effective rate at 4% which will go a long way in defining whether GST would be tax neutral or tax adverse in the case of real estate.

Uncertainties to Rental Housing Market

Some clarity on reduction for under construction houses as well as input tax credit benefit for developers has been offered by the government. Considering the residential property sector, the sales have not only been obstructed by tax rates but also by sentiment as well as on account of the trust deficit that the Real Estate Regulation & Development Act or RERA, it now seeks to report. Under GST, if cost tends to go higher, the lower prevailing current home loan rates to some extent could ease the impact.

Investors and buyers together with the developers are reasonably anxious that the final ticket size of the homes would escalate if the Government levies GST at 12% as against the prevailing service tax rates. Further clarity on this is anticipated by the developers though they are aware that it is in the interest of their business in keeping ticket sizes range-bound.

Developing market dynamics have already made a change in a way the developers tend to work. Other uncertainties relate to the rental housing market that would logically be the obstructed if the Government tend to tax residential leases under GST.

Rental Profit/Capital Value Appreciation

The common anxiety is that should this occur, the rental housing segment would see a big slump over the medium-term as residential leases are not taxed at all presently. It is appropriate to note that the residential leasing could be an essential demand that would not disappear just by increased taxes.

 Undoubtedly, we could be viewing at rental lack of progress or marginal decline while the market readapts to the new dynamics that GST would permeate. Rental housing demand however tends to be sticky and end-user-driven in nature. Hence we are certainly not watching for major slump in this sector due to GST even if it does not tend to tax residential leases.

Nonetheless it is true that most of the investors in the residential segment do not tend to invest for rental profit but for capital value appreciation and so reduced rental profits would not freely control sentiment. With regards to the impact of GST on the commercial office real estate market, with the prevailing service tax for commercial leases at 15%, GST overall would be probably neutral.

Presently reasonably priced housing has been exempted from service tax and it is possible that the government would come out with a clarification with regards to the applicability or tend to continue the exemption under the GST.

How Can I Enhance My Company's Conversion Rates?

One of the business owner's primary concerns is determining how to optimize the company's conversion rates. If you're currently thinking about strategies you can implement to enhance your organization's bottom line, it's important to remember that there are hundreds of options available to you. Here are three of them:

1. Utilize Consulting Services.

One of the best ways to improve your company's conversion rates is by utilizing business consulting services. These services will ensure that you have a team of business experts carefully analyzing every element of your company to ensure that it is functioning optimally. Any errors detected will be corrected so that your organization can maximize efficiency. Once this happens, you can expect to see a substantive increase in your conversion rates. Companies such as Predictive Service are pleased to offer clients dynamic reliability consulting services to keep their organizations going and growing.

2. Invest In Digital Marketing Services.

In addition to utilizing consulting services, make sure that you start investing in digital marketing services. This step is immensely important because we now live in a digital world. Given that people are now using mobile devices and PCs to shop and purchase items online, you want to be able to connect and convert people through the internet sphere. Some of the digital advertising services that may prove particularly beneficial for your organization include:

• web design and development

• social media optimization

• online reputation management

• search engine optimization

• blog work

Another digital advertising service that can be particularly beneficial for your organization is content marketing. This service is empowering because it ensures that all of your online content is innovative, information-rich, and engaging. Some forms of online content that you'll want to optimize include blog posts, web articles, and videos.

3. Implement Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software.

One final conversion rate optimization technique that you may want to implement is the use of CRM software. This software helps your sales and marketing staff optimize interactions with customers, thereby increasing the likelihood that they will make purchases and be loyal to your brand. For example, CRM software enables your employees to keep detailed records of each conversation they have with clients as well as the purchases made by the customer. This information will help them market new products more effectively!

Don't Delay: Start Optimizing Conversion Today!

There are millions of things you can do to increase your company's bottom line. Three conversion optimization strategies you may want to consider implementing include utilizing consulting services, investing in digital marketing services, and implementing CRM software!

GST not to increase compliance burden, says Hasmukh Adhia

GST Not to Increase Compliance Load

Hasmukj Adhia, Revenue Secretary has informed that the GST would not increase compliance load on assessees, regarding the same are misdirected. He had stated while addressing netizens on Facebook that several people are of the opinion that the implementation of GST would end in increase in compliance cost which is totally misplaced.

 While explaining the basis he had said that people need tto keep various law books for the purpose of filing return for different taxes such as VAT, Excise etc in the prevailing taxation system. He went on to added that with the roll out of GST, there would be individual tax as well as accounting for which it would be quite easy.

It could be done via an offline excel form provided by the GST Network and if one intends to utilise this form for the purpose of maintaining record on the purchase and sales, he could utilise this for filing return and hence compliance would be reduced. Adhia leading the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax – GST had mentioned that the finance ministry has been gearing up for its roll out and a training comprising of five days has been already given to the officers.

GST to Be Implemented in July

He has also informed that an IT training is in the process for them. The intention of the government is to implement the GST from July 1 and the GST Council controlled by Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley had settled four rate classifications of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% on merging levies such as central excise, service tax and VAT.

 Addition would be done by calculating the overall incidence of present taxation - central plus state levies and thereafter placing the good or service in the tax bracket nearest to it. Adhia also informed that the indirect tax load would come down in the new GST system. He said that there would be several goods and service that would be out of GST and would therefore offer advantage to common man with regards to taxes and the roll out GST would be tax neutral or there could be decrease of tax burden.

Regarding traders, he also informed that the tax filing would begin from the starting point level of Rs 20 lakh where the registration below the inception limit would not be essential.

No Harmonized System of Nomenclature 

He also informed that under PAN within one state only one registration would be permitted. For one business, no other registration would be permitted though there would be a need of single registration with regards to supply of production for more than one state.

For the purpose of coding, he mentioned that no Harmonized System of Nomenclature – HSN code would be needed in case of business turnover of Rs 1.5 crore. The Revenue Secretary also mentioned that on petroleum as well as alcohol products under GST, would not be under the new tax system till the time the GST Council tends to impose a rate. He added that in the near future, if the state agrees then petrol, alcohol together with natural gas would be coming under GST.

The Benefits of a 360 Degree Employee Survey

Let's face it, you don't always like getting feedback about your job performance. Even when you know it's coming, it can be hard to face the truth from your fellow employees. Add the process of taking a survey and it becomes even less appealing. You would think that great leaders are the best people at getting feedback, but this is definitely not the case.

Think about who gets told the most what they are doing wrong at your company. If it's anything like most other businesses, the higher you go up the totem pole, the less feedback you are going to get. Thanks to all of this, a 360 degree employee survey can be a huge benefit to your company. Here are just a few of the reasons why.

1.  Puts how over what - Just because an employee is getting all of their work on time doesn't necessarily make them a great employee. They need to be doing it in a way that benefits both them and the company without cutting corners or taking the easy way out. One thing this type of survey does is ensure that each employee is following protocol correctly in their daily tasks because an organized company is a healthy company. 



2.  Accountability - Everyone at a company should be held accountable for their job in the same way. Just because you have been promoted and advanced to a higher level in the company doesn't mean that you aren't held to the same high standard that you were when you were new.
    



3.   Performance Enhancing - One great thing that a survey does is remind people of what the job requires, especially helpful for long-time employees at the business that may have grown stagnant and bored with their job. The survey can act as a refresher course that inspires them and makes them perform better in the future.
   
    
4.  Improves Intra-office Relationships - Employees that are open and honest with each other build trust and the best way to do this is through an open dialogue.
    

These are just some the reasons that a 360 employee survey can be beneficial to both a company's leadership and lower-level personnel. Those looking into having a survey done at their place of business should contact a professional consulting group like Key Group Consulting. They have the knowledge and facilities to complete a survey for a company of any size.

How Fintech Is Increasing Financial Inclusion after Demonetisation

Prospect of Personal Finance – Cashless/Paperless/Presence-less

Prospect of personal finance and money is being fashioned into three consequences namely cashless, paperless and presence-less. Due to demonetisation together with succeeding steps involved ever since attempts have been done by the Indian government in making the economy more digitized and less cash-dependent and the banking system is made more accessible.

 Being digital seems to be the quickest means of speeding up financial presence, ensuring that more individuals are brought under the domain of formal banking scheme, Moreover they can also take advantage from the linked benefits of insurance as well as investment. India has been a home to almost 50 crore million people who do not seem to involve themselves in formal banking either through saving account or a cell phone based payment scheme.
Digital execution means having a bank account and hence the challenge here is how you could get more individuals in opening bank accounts to provide them with digital benefits together with subsidies. When the government had been directing the country towards a reduction in the use of hard cash, people would need to have an account with the bank, together with internet connection as well as cell phone to operate the digital transaction. It is here that the roles of Aadhaar as well as the cell phone tend to get crucial.

Pilot Project through RBI

From the population of about 125 crore, around 109 crore have enrolled for Aadhar with at least 100 crore having cell phone number which is quite a large number than those having bank accounts which according to estimates would be around 70 crore.

With the combination of Aadhar together with cell phone it is advantageous of bridging the gap by around 30 crore unbanked individuals.The government has aided a pilot project, through the RBI which would quicken the opening of fresh bank accounts with the support of cell phones and Aadhaar.

Limited- functionality bank accounts can be opened by the customers utilising this system without the need of the usual stress of visiting a branch and submission of documents in completing the KYC process. With the aid of the Aadhaar linked cell number, their KYC can be completed by authenticating themselves via an OTP and one can open an account digitally, instantly, cashless, paperless, without the need of being physically present.

Process – Convenient & Easy 

This tends to be convenient and easy for the individual to complete the process in the comfort of his home and it is also great for financial service providers since the cost of customer acquisition tends to get condensed by relying on digital platform which have the capabilities of processing millions of account opening application simultaneously.

This will progressively be the type of account opening developments in insurance as well as investment sectors. Insurance providers have already been depending on the OTP system in authenticating new accounts through Aadhaar.

This development would be enhancing with the increase in internet penetration together with the availability of cheap smart phones. India has about 35 crore people, presently who are linked to the internet which tends to double every two to three years on an average and it is expected that by 2020, there would be around 70 crore Indians utilising the internet.

That Chip on Your Credit Card May Not Be Stopping Fraud After All

It's a different world, where the science and technology have registered some of the most magnificent developments and innovations, which are potentially, help the society in having a massive growth in almost all sectors. The advent of the computer and the internet are one of the major inventions of the scientific development, which have changed the world to a great extent and today we can find some sort of touches in almost all products and issues in our existing society.

While the primary sectors are getting huge supports from the computer technology; the financial sector also has seen some of the major breakthroughs in the operation and management of the financial instruments and data. The Credit card is considered as one of the important issues in the financial market, which is now being used by millions of users, throughout the globe, for ease and comfort.

Today the credit card or debit card are using as the avenue of the cashless transaction, which safeguards the malpractices and helps in efficient accounting purpose. It can be noted that the safety of using the credit card is getting the highest priority and several measures are being taken to get the utmost safety of the cards, which are often found quite inadequate and vulnerable.

Credit Card and Relevant Issues

It is now known to everybody that the transaction through these cards are quite popular among the people, especially in the younger generation, and there are lots of chips and other devices are being used in order to check potential frauds. But at the same time; the fact is that there are some problems inherent in these chips, which are essentially meant for the safety of the credit cards. In the present scenario, the security chips are widely used in the financial world and it becomes a bit difficult for the criminals to counterfeit any debit or credit card.

But in recent days, the fraudulent activities are on a rise and various criminals are now pilfering cash from the plastic card by using some different mode of operation, which is considered as a great threat to the general people, who are using the credit card for convenience and safety. The new study, done by the renowned research organization, Javelin Strategy and Research, has made some unique revelations in the frauds of the credit card, which are as follows:

• The most common identity fraud has been rose about 16% in the year 2016, which cost individual an all-time high of USD 16 billion; 
• About 15.4 million people are affected by this kind of fraud, which is about 6.15% of the total consumers and a 2 million more from the earlier year i.e. 2015;
• While the study was not been done exclusively for the credit cards, but the researchers made it a point that the majority of these identity thefts are predominantly linked with to the credit cards; 
• This escalation in fraudulent activities, which is about USD 700 million more than the previous year, seems to be unspecified.

Use These 12 Steps For Success With Your Regulation A+ Capital Raise

In any business, the resource mobilization is a crucial and most important issue and people try their best to have some positive solution of this problem. The most natural form of resource mobilization is being done by the help of IPO, Venture capital or bank syndication, the Regulation A+ is helpful in getting the right kind of support in mobilizing the fund.

There are some steps to be followed for achieving Regulation A+, which are as follows:

1.  It is always a tough issue in front of any business or project; as the seasoned investors are usually quite skeptical about investing in new ventures. Therefore, using the Regulation A+ could be the best option to get the required fund; 
2.  The provision of dividend or royalty to the investor, broaden up the scope of getting fund from the targeted organization. Interest payments have been considered as a major issue in the Real Estate sector; 
3.  These days, the crowdfunding is considered as one of the most encouraging and effective forms of resource mobilization and to get it done, one has to appoint a 360-degree marketing agency for this specialized job; 
4.  It would be a great deal if a partnership can be cemented with a syndicate of broker-dealer, which could be helpful in getting an inroad into the world of potential investors at a single move; 
5.  The required "Testing of water" has to be done for a short period of time, otherwise; the very essence of testing the market can be jeopardized, which will eventually not been helpful in getting the financial support from the investors; 
6.  It is often found that some auditors delay the process by taking abnormal time to get things ready, therefore, the selection of the auditor has to be done with special care, which might be of great help for the funding; 
7.  This can be noted that the SEC use to allow the company to go for "no-minimum" offerings, which is a great advantage for the company to get at least some forms of capital investment, which might not be possible if there is any minimum level being set;
8.  It is always been suggested that the intended company should go for the offerings; once they have sufficient fund in hand to go forward, otherwise, the move can be disastrous and harmful; 
9.  One should not be confined their approach in the domestic market, on the contrary, an international exposure is always a very good option for mobilizing the fund and may at a lower financial cost; 
10.  The complex terms and conditions are usually being avoided by any potential investors, therefore a simplistic and transparent approach in this regard, is always helpful in getting the support from the investors; 
11.  The important part of the Reg A+ is the minimum level of opportunity that is being offered to the potential investors, which any investor from any part of the globe to invest, as per the capability, to the project or business; 
12.  Try the tier 2 of Reg A+, which provides the opportunity to raise from Zero to $50 million per year for the company.

Bitcoin exchange Coinbase gets money transmitter license in New York

With everything getting digitalized, the life of every individual is also becoming digital. Internet has given the power to everyone to avail anything they want that too by just sitting at your house. So, digitalization has captured every sphere of the human life. Whether it is about paying bills or opting for shopping you can manage anything and everything from anywhere and in every situation, that’s the power of being digital. Cashless is also not a problem in this era of digitalization. I believe the world is getting powerful day by day with this new technique that allows you to overcome every obstacle.


The effect of digitalization can be mostly felt in the zone of finance. New firms have come up to become a part of the world market holding hands of digitalization. One of the major company that has joined in with the New York’s Financial system is Coinbase. Recently, The Department of Financial System, New York has declared that it has given license to Coinbase for genuinely transmitting currency and money. Coinbase is one of the renowned companies famous for its dealings in terms of currency operating in almost 32 countries. Maria T. Vullo, the Superintendent of Financial Services had made this announcement that Coinbase has maintained its record of efficiency in terms of technological developments and thus New York’s Financial Services Department have decided to incorporate the company in their money and currency transmitting process.


A review of Coinbase’s technology was conducted by Department of Financial Services which involved the companies laundering process regarding anti-money, capitalization, protection of consumers against any piracy and also policies in terms of cyber security. The company Coinbase is constantly under the supervision of Department Of Financial System for offering services such as buying, selling, sending, storing bitcoin and receiving.


The company’s Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong declared that their first and foremost priority is to provide the safest and easiest way of currency exchange that too in a digitalized manner. So, that the customers can rely on them and do not have to experience any discrepancies from the company’s end. It is their way of maintaining a good relationship with its customers. Since, Coinbase in now a part of New York’s Financial System, hence, it has become a much known company in the field of currency transfer. The users can feel free to use them in times of their need and they assure you to provide satisfaction from all ends.


With the increasing need of transmitting currency, The Department OfFinancial System, New York has given license to several other money and currency transmitting firms like Ripple and Circle Internet Financial and trust charters to Gemini Trust Company, Winklevoss brothers are its founders and also itBit Trust Company. The Department before granting them license have fully enquired about these respective companies and after being satisfied have granted them license. These companies have come up to provide the best answer to digitalization and will add up in making life much easier for every human being.

Dollar retreats from 14-year highs, investors unpack Fed minutes

 
As the value of dollar fell against euro and yen the investors became cautious regarding increase in bets on greenback without any hints with respect to the economy of U.S. and the hike in rate of interest. The very first day of trading in 2017 for several investors was full of expectations as they met with U.S. manufacturing data which was way different from the previous days. Since, the depreciation of dollar was the highest till date.

The Federal Open Market Committee that met in December, had warned everyone of the risk of increase in inflation after President Donald Trump’s proposal of fiscal influence standards that would shift dollar and will push up euro to $1.0499, which is its highest value declared. But as the investors changed their ways, euro started tracing profits to some extent.

Joe Manimbo, a senior market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions in Washington has intended that this decrease in the value of dollar in comparison to euro and yen have led to mixed reactions as in a way it sounds optimistic in terms of the economy, and on the other way it suggests a demoralized power of dollar.

Research have shown that the last time the value of euro increased by 0.6 percent at $1.0465. The current data shows that such a quick increase in the value of euro in December was unexpected and the surveys prove that due to this the growth in business have reached new heights in more than five years.

The dollar was last seen to be down by 0.2 percent against yen at 117.51 after an overnight hike of 118.17 yen. After Trump was elected as the President dollar has increased against many currencies with an expectation that administration under him will push up inflation, leading the Federal Reserve to follow up through a hike in rate of interest.

The Mexican peso was found to be striking the lowest level against the greenback, it fell more than 2 percent to 21.62 pesos per dollar with an intention that Trump’s policy might allow the protectionist U.S. trade policy to become a reality.

The Chinese yuan was increased to 6.8707, which was its highest value recorded against dollar since 6th December. As a result China went into both onshore and offshore markets to increase the depreciating yuan for the second time. China was also found to set the onshore middle point rate much lower than the market actually expected from it which lead many investors leaving the ground, who were intending more upcoming weaknesses in the currency, positioning in the negative direction, this was propagated by Greg Anderson, who is the global head of foreign exchange strategy at BMO capital Markets.

Thus, we can relate that how the marketing strategies as well as the position of investors are subjected to change with fluctuating value of currencies that on a longer run effects the entire economy of the country both positively and negatively.

Rs 500, Rs 1000 Notes Abolished

Demonetization of Rs 500 & Rs 1000 Rupee Notes

In an important effect to check black money, the Prime Minister has announced demonetization of Rs 500 and 1000 rupee notes with effect from midnight of November 9 which makes these notes invalid on black money, corruption and fake currency.The decision of PM Narendra Modi to eliminate Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 rupee notes with a view to control the flow of black money has been mentioned by almost all in Bollywood.

The decision had been effective abolishing Rs 500 and Rs 1000 rupee value notes as legitimate tender. To get to know on the implications on this financial decision, an interaction had been conducted with leading film exhibitor Akshaye Rathi who mentioned that the impact could be of two levels namely micro and macro.

With regards to film that would be coming in the future, it was essential to comprehend the pattern of audience which could be beyond the metros.In areas like Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune, individuals seem to be comfortable in utilising plastic money as well as online transactions.

However there is a massive population which is beyond the metros who do not approve of utilising plastic money. Then there is a still bigger crowd which goes to the bank and withdraw money, making their payment through cash.

Impact on Industry – Positive

People in places such as Kanpur and Satara tend to go to the bank on the first day of the month for withdrawal of cash for their monthly expenditure where the payment is done by cash. Hence, individuals would find it difficult in being unable to use the denominations of 500 and 1000 rupees when they go for a movie or intend to dine out with their family or friends.

Carrying a few five or hundred rupee notes tends to be much easier than carrying a good amount of hundred rupee notes in your wallet which could cause a bit of inconvenience to the individuals. With regards to Bollywood, Akshaye envisions the decision affecting the industry crowd in a positive manner and is of the belief that it would go a long way in eliminating bribes as well as corruption. He stated that the impact on the industry would be a very positive one.

A producer shooting is troubled by several entities such as organisations, political outfits and associations who tend to come and upset the shoot, by asking for bribe. The producer then provides them with the option of card or cheque payments. With this decision, all these bribes and loopholes have been stopped since one cannot pay a bribe with hundred rupee notes.

New Notes of Rs 2000 & Rs 500

Modi has mentioned that people having Rs 500 and Rs 1000 could deposit them in their bank and post office account from November 10 to December 30. He also mentioned that the notes would not be legal tender from midnight of November 9 and that they would be just useless piece of paper.

But he also added that all notes in the lower demolition of Rs 100, Rs 50, Rs 20, Rs 10, Rs 5, Rs 2 and Re 1 together with the coins would continue being valid.

He informed that new notes of Rs 2000 together with Rs 500 would be introduced and that there would be no modification of any kind of currency exchange be it DD. Cheque, payment through credit/debit card etc.

Snapchat Is Pumping the Next Tech Bubble with More Hot Air

Tech Bubble Likely to Burst

For greater part of the year, apprehension has been mounting that the second tech bubble is likely to burst. Contrasting from the dotcom bust of 1999 as well as 2000, that had been generated due to the unexpected downfall of companies on the stock market, the second coming has been established on the eye of valuation which the latest generation of tech companies had organised in achieving through private fund-raisings.

Scores of business all over the world have attained the so-called `unicorn’ status, an estimate of over $1bn. Overall, it is reaching 200 universally which have succeeded this mythical tag. Some of them seemed to be `mega-unicorns’ companies that have exceeded the $10bn target though a handful of superstars have hit the extraordinary levels.

Uber the taxi app is presently worth over $60bn while Airbnb, the favourite of the sharing economy has raised funds valued at $30bn. Meaningless estimates of young companies some of which make no money and you have the makings of a bubble which will certainly have to burst at some point of time with catastrophic consequences for global markets. Indications have been there for some time. Confidence in private market has taken a blow with a drop in funding rounds for start-ups.

Fidelity – Instigated Panic

A high profile tech investor, Fidelity had instigated panic when it had dropped the evaluation on dozen investments. On the other hand, some start-ups comprising of Uber had been compelled to go overseas in raising funds at higher assessments where the assessments of several big tech companies already on the stock market had collapsed.

However, in spite of the anxieties, the bubble is likely to be pumped with more hot air due to another burst of vastly over-priced floats. One of the most high profile is Snapchat which is a company that several people of a particular age would possibly not have heard it but has instantly become the social network of choice among millennial who tend to utilise the same in sharing photos, video drawings and texts.

Launched only five years back by three ex-Stanford University students, the same has been amazing. Snapchat tends to generate sales of only £300m each year, in spite of being utilised by 150m users each day and is uneconomic due to its free services.

Bubble – Low Interest Rate Environment

But these matters seem to be of no concern to the experts of Silicon Valley and Wall Street who tend to value the app at $25bn. However, it could prove to be the next Apple or Facebook and many are of the opinion though the same has been said regarding Twitter, Groupon as well as LinkedIn which tend to be over-hyped.

Snapchat will probably be followed by other hot tech firms comprising of Pinterest, Dropbox and SpotifyIt may only need one failure to affect it badly and 2016 may be the year the dotcom bubble 2.0 would eventually goes pop. The founder of PayPal and a billionaire tech investor, Peter Thiel states that we are in a bubble owing to the low interest rate environment that had been talked over earlier.

 He comments that `I think we have a bubble in the US in government bonds, due to the quantitative easing and the adverse real interest rates and to some extent that increases asset values all over the board inclusive of start-ups’

Mark Carney ‘serene’ about pre-referendum economic warnings

Governor of Bank of England – Serene on Judgement of MPC/FPC

With the indications increasing, that economic activity had held up more than expected since the June referendum, the Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney has fortified his blatant warnings regarding the negative impact of Brexit on the economy before MPs. In recent weeks with the firming of business activity surveys together with resilient retail spending data, has led to assertions from supporters of Brexit that the warnings of recession of the Governor has now been shown as scaremongering together with the quick to reduce interest rates, by the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee – MPC, after the vote.

 However, these charges were denied by Mr Carney at the time of replying to the questions before the Treasury Select Committee. He stated that considering all the events since the referendum he was absolutely serene regarding the judgements made by the MPC as well as the FPC – Financial Policy Committee. He further added that they certainly welcome the signs of stabilisation and that the Bank had anticipated a bounce back in the much observed Purchasing Managers’ Index – PMI surveys when the interest rates were reduced on 4 August.

Biggest Downgrade in Modern History – Growth Forecasts

That recover had provoked the economic forecasters of a host of City of London to revise their expectation of a recession in the second half of the year, though a sharp go-slow in the growth is yet extensively predicted. Mr Carney had mentioned before the EU referendum in May that a technical recession would be possible in case of a majority Brexit vote by the British public.Interest rates were reduced last month by the Bank to a new historic low of 0.25% and had pushed on another £70bn of Quantitative Easing as it revealed its biggest downgrade in its modern history in growth forecasts.

Mr Carney had repudiated the charges that levelled by the pro-Brexit Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg stating that the Ban had issued dire warnings before the vote, replying that he had heighted risks aptly. Moreover, the Governor had also added that the financial impetus the Bank had instigated together with its rapid offer of liquidity to the banking system had been one of the main causes the financial conditions seemed to be alleviated.

Traders Clambering Back

Moreover the Governor had also added that the implementation of the Bank on monetary stimulus and its rapid offer of liquidity to the banking system had been the main cause of financial situations being steadied. He commented that they had made the crystallisation of those risks less probable. Mr Carney had also mentioned that the Bank had `helped ensure that what was surprise for financial markets passed smoothly and that allowed us not to have an overshoot’.

Sterling has faced a record fall against the dollar in the two day in the wake of June 23 vote, dipping to its lowermost rate against the US currency in the last 31 years.The Bank of England had stated in August, that it could cut the interest rates again later in the year if the economy declined on the predictable. Presently the traders are clambering back their bets on another cut in view of the more positive economic data.