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Paul Penrose

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

Virtual money worries

Chinese authorities have acted to curb the spread of virtual currencies into the real economy. The FT reports on a recent formal notice from the government and central bank effectively banning the use of virtual cash to pay for material goods and services in the real world. The edict was issued in response to the growing popularity of Q-coins, the...

/payments /retail Futuristic Banking

Paul Penrose

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

Visa's Monopoly money

Toy maker Hasbro is doing its bit to keep pace with the vogue for virtual currency. When it launches this summer, Hasbro's latest edition of the 60s board game, The Game of Life, will be the first in America to replace cash with a Visa-branded card as the preferred form of currency. A new electronic "LifePod" - which replaces the spin ...

/payments /retail

Paul Penrose

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

Reuters to take on MySpace

Reuters is working on plans to develop a professional networking service for fund managers, traders and analysts. Pitching the project to Guardian journalists as a “version of MySpace for the financial services community”, Reuters’ Web 2.0-bedazzled CEO Tom Glocer adds: "It won't have the latest hot videos and the 'why I am into Metallica an...

/wholesale

Paul Penrose

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

City gents to bare all at Bank tube station

Icap broker Johnny Black and fintech headhunter Chris Mike are going to extreme lengths to publicise their forthcoming charity race to the North Pole. The two City gents have formed Team Bearing 360 North to compete in the 400-mile race and raise vital funds for Orchid, a male cancer charity dedicated to fighting prostate and testicular cancer. T...

/wholesale

Paul Penrose

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

Baptism of fire for Reg NMS

As leading FTSE shares post triple-digital losses in London this morning, the markets await with trepidation the response from Wall Street. The continuing slide in stocks in London follows further reverses in the Dow on Friday afternoon and another hammering for the Asian markets this am. The market wobble couldn’t have come at a worse time for U...

/wholesale

Paul Penrose

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

Floor Traders 1 Computers 0

Nice to see the legacy human interface saving the day for Nyse after Tuesday’s run on stocks sent the Big Board’s fancy new electronic trading system into a tailspin. Capacity constraints forced the Nyse to shut down its automated trading system after a meltdown in Chinese share prices prompted a global panic that so upset the Dow Jones index calc...

/wholesale

Paul Penrose

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

Breaking the CrackBerry habit

Addled BlackBerry users looking to indulge their inclinations or control their CrackBerry habits now have a Website on which to find both a fix and a cure. CrackBerry.com offers help forums, beginner’s guides, downloads, an accessory store, and social networking features. The site is also updated daily with news, reviews and celebrity Blackberry ...

/wholesale

Paul Penrose

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

A second look at Second Life

ING has made a serious stab at extending its presence beyond the realms of the physical world by announcing plans to open a Dutch mini state in screen-based 3-D universe Second Life. In making the move, the Dutch banking group is following in the footsteps of its compatriot ABN Amro, which in December opened a virtual financial advice centre for S...

/retail

Paul Penrose

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

Y2K-redux

It’s déjà vu all over again. An imminent early switch to daylight savings time in the US is raising fears of a Y2K-style disruption to date-sensitive computer applications. And the problems could extend far beyond US shores. Thanks to a new law aimed at saving energy, daylight savings time in the US will start three weeks earlier on 11 March and en...

/retail /wholesale

Paul Penrose

Paul Penrose Head of Research at Finextra

McCreevy wakes to MiFID 'nightmare'

EU internal market commissioner Charlie McCreevy says the dream of a single Europe-wide rule book for equity market trading runs the risk of becoming a "practical nightmare", as euro zone regulators adopt their own distinct MiFID enforcement and compliance guidelines. Speaking at a high level City event organised by the UK Treasury, McCr...

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