by Samuel Mbaki | Apr 13, 2023 | Finance
Group of Seven (G7) finance heads have promised to take action to strike stability of the global financial system following the recent banking collapse. They have stated that they will give low and middle-income countries a more significant focus on diversifying supply chains to make them more resilient.
Better measures to be taken to calm the finance sector
The finance heads who met on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank meetings in Washington said they had been discussing recent financial turmoil concerning the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse.
“We commit to jointly empowering low- and middle-income countries to play bigger roles in supply chains through mutually beneficial cooperation by combining finance, knowledge, and partnership, which will help contribute to sustainable development and enhance supply chain resilience globally.”
G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors
Shunichi Suzuki, Japan’s Finance minister, said they would continue monitoring the finance sector as they have seen their efforts are paying off.
“We will continue to closely monitor financial sector developments and stand ready to take appropriate actions to maintain the stability and resilience of the global financial system.”
Shunichi Suzuki, Japan’s Finance Minister
The officials noted that the supply chains needed now should be more efficient and resilient. They added that they need to diversify the current “highly concentrated” ones but particularly said that their actions are not in any way aimed at affecting China.
This meeting and deliberations come after Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) have gained strength by pulling their efforts together and attracting other nations like UAE and Mexico. There have been reports that these world powers may seek to topple the US Dollar.
The international monetary fund has released economic forecasts warning that the fragmentation of the global economy owing to geopolitics will reduce longer-term growth potential and said only 3% growth is expected in 2028. Their prediction is the lowest five-year projection since it started the service in 1990.
by Samuel Mbaki | Apr 11, 2023 | Technology
Jack Ma’s Alibaba has announced that it plans to roll out its AI chatbot, Tongyi Qianwen. The company will roll out the chatbot and integrate it with its tech ecosystem in the “near future”.
AI usage continues spreading
The launch of OpenAI’s chatbot ChatGPT brought life to a sector thought only to be futuristic. Since then, numerous artificial intelligence applications and platforms have surfaced, with major technology giants like Microsoft showing interest in the industry.
Now, Alibaba has joined the club and is developing its version of an AI chatbot to compete with the innovations in the market. According to a report by BBC, the company’s version will be named Tongyi Qianwen, which translates to “seeking an answer by asking a thousand questions.”
The report explained that this chatbot is set to be integrated with the company’s vast tech ecosystem, including its workplace messaging app DingTalk and voice assistant smart speaker Tmall Genie. It will also be able to communicate in English and Mandarin at the first stage of launch.
Additionally, its task scope will include transcribing conversations into written notes, composing emails, and drafting business proposals. However, whether the chatbot can accomplish more creative tasks than ChatGPT already does is still being determined. This concern is a major issue as other big tech companies like Google and China’s Baidu are developing their versions of AI, namely Bard and EernieBot, respectively.
The fast growth of the AI sector has attracted mixed reactions from users, tech innovators, and governments. Some, like Elon Musk, believe that AI could be an existential threat to human life, while others believe it could solve significant issues like harsh work environments. As such, Alibaba’s chatbot must abide by the rules that China’s Cyberspace Administration has set to ensure that it is “Accurate and doesn’t “endanger security.”
by Samuel Mbaki | Apr 4, 2023 | Finance
Virgin Orbit stocks sank 14% in premarket following news that the company was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The company also plans to lay off nearly all its workers after failing to secure funding for its space missions.
Is Virgin Orbit out of business?
California-based satellite launch company Virgin Orbit filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings on April 4, 2023, due to funding issues. It submitted its decrement to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware, looking to liquidate all its assets.
Dan Hart, the company’s CEO, spoke about the matter, saying that the steps taken are currently best for the company despite their previous efforts.
“While we have taken great efforts to address our financial position and secure additional financing, we ultimately must do what is best for the business,” he added; at this stage, we believe that the Chapter 11 process represents the best path forward to identify and finalize an efficient and value-maximizing sale.”
The company added that it had obtained $31.6M in funding from Virgin Investments via “debtor in possession” financing. This financing process allows businesses that have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to keep operating.
Why did the company go under?
A series of difficult situations befell Virgin Orbit, forcing it to want to cease operations. The company was founded in 2017 by Richard Branson, who also owns a 75% stake. The second largest stakeholder is Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala.
The space company designed its rockets to be set in orbit by modified Beoing 747 jets. It has launched six missions since 2020, with four successes and two failures. However, its last mission suffered mid-flight failure resulting in the rocket’s crash into the ocean.
Since then, it failed to secure funding for several months, with its majority owner Richard Branson unwilling to fund it further. As a result, it reached the inevitable point of filing for bankruptcy. Keep watching Fintech Express for more finance-related news.
by Samuel Mbaki | Apr 3, 2023 | Blockchain
Solve.Care, a well-known Web 3 health services provider, has taken a step forward by introducing a new Layer 2 blockchain (Care.Chain). The organization revealed that the new blockchain would help advance its mission to improve healthcare access, delivery, management, and payment while benefiting consumers and health institutions.
Introducing Care.Chain, a decentralized layer 2 healthcare-oriented blockchain network
Solve.Care has confirmed the launch of Care.Chain, its L2 blockchain optimized to solve specific challenges prevalent in the healthcare industry. Some of the challenges that the network seeks to improve include patient access to health data, the rising cost of running administrative processes, trust and compliance issues, and the provision of proof of competence, such as healthcare licensing and certification.
Care.Chain will also come with new healthcare computing primitives via introducing ZK (Zero Knowledge) verifiable runtime for events. This solution will allow for several other use cases beyond basic distributed ledger technology. It will also provide out-of-the-box support for waller-based apps introducing peer-to-peer communications and processing business deals.
According to the official announcement by Solve.Care, the chain will also combine the power of Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and verified credentials-based event stream processing to build a unique Healthcare Event Virtual Machine. It added that the network would allow for the development of dApps (decentralized applications) like NFTs and Peer to peer communications between healthcare roles.
As such, the network will support direct communications between two key parties without needing a moderator/ third party. That will increase data security as only the involved parties will know about any healthcare event. Additionally, the network will have a native token like most L2 networks. Its token will be called SOLVE. Keep watching FintechExpress for updates on this and other Web 3-related developments.
by Samuel Mbaki | Mar 29, 2023 | Regulation
A Delaware bankruptcy judge has ruled to allow FTX to sell Sequoia Capital Fund to the Abu Dhabi investment arm.
Abu Dhabi Investment arm to purchase FTX related Sequoia Capital Fund
A Delaware judge has approved the sale of Sequoia Capital Fund to the Abu Dhabi investment arm, according to a March 28, 2023, court filing. The ruling was made to answer a declaration request filed by FTX on March 8.
Judge John Dorsey has declared that the sale of the Capital Fund to Al Nawwar Investments RSC limited has satisfied all the required standards per the US bankruptcy law that prevents the unduly hasty sale of assets and thus should proceed.
FTX also requested the judge to offer an indefinite delay to the sale of its stock-clearing business, Embed. Embed was initially used as a solution to facilitate a quick raise of funds for outstanding creditors. The hearing for the sale of Embedd has been scheduled for March 27 but is now on hold “until further notice.”
FTX was plagued by too high withdrawal requests than its treasuries had in November 2022, leading to the company filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings to help protect its assets and liquidate them. The developments led to investigations that saw its CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, arrested and charged with one of the most prominent cases in the US.
The case against Sam Bankman-Fried is continuing in tandem with the bankruptcy proceedings. Keep watching Fintech Express for updates on these and other finance-related news.
