Wealt Weekly Roundup #33

Good morning ??

It has been a brilliant week for us, and we have some thrilling updates to share with you. ?? Without further ado, let’s delve into the 33rd edition of our Wealt Weekly Roundup.

Every week, we bring you the most noteworthy highlights and developments from the ever-changing realm of money and markets. Grab your favourite drink, and let's delve into this week's captivating edition, exploring the latest from Wealt, worldwide financial updates, and riveting blog posts worth reading. ??

???Highlights from Wealt

Wealt appoints Stefan Henrich to the Board of Directors

We are delighted to announce a significant addition to our Board of Directors!

Please join us in welcoming?Stefan Henrich, a seasoned investment professional and multi-jurisdictional transactions and asset management lawyer with over 20 years of experience at top-tier financial institutions in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. His extensive career spans asset and fund management, wealth management, fintech, M&A, real estate, private equity, venture capital, capital markets and securitisation.

Stefan’s addition strengthens the company's governance and strategic guidance as we continue to scale our next-gen platform.

Stefan Henrich holds a Master of Laws in International Business and Finance Law from Queen Mary University of London. He currently serves on multiple investment advisory boards, supervisory boards, and executive committees, and has held executive and non-executive director roles with international investment, fintech, trading and holding companies worldwide. He is approved by regulatory bodies, including the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) and U.K. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and is a member of the Bar Associations in the U.K. and Germany.

We are finalising our first investment opportunity and eagerly anticipating many more to come!

???Last week, we proudly announced that we had secured an allocation to?one of the hottest AI companies in the world,? Anthropic , marking yet another significant milestone in bringing our alternative investments universe to life. As we finalise this deal by tomorrow, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to Wealters for securing their positions. ****

?? We are delighted by the tremendous interest, along with exciting and positive feedback we have received – thank you all so much! Your overwhelming response has inspired us to expand our offerings and source more deals for you. Make sure to subscribe to our list to stay updated and never miss out on these amazing opportunities!

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We welcomed Alex Jimenez from Backbase to discuss shifting the banking mindset with digitalisation.

• Bank executives’ thinking is finally evolving; digital capabilities are no longer seen as alternatives or added channels but as the new way banking is done today and in the future—a new perspective.
• Banks have difficulty implementing AI in customer service, and customer service bots are less powerful than platforms such as AI ChatGPT.
• Banks are moving away from merely adjusting and incrementally making process changes and are finally redesigning how to meet their clients’ needs. This will ultimately produce and boost better services.
• Innovation continues to face many obstacles. North American banks and regulators cannot effectively collaborate to move the industry forward, complicating the integration of new fintech innovations.
• Effective digital transformation requires a holistic approach, emphasising leadership involvement, strategic planning, and preemptive compliance measures.

Read more to explore his insights more deeply.

???Must know

Fun fact: The first bank holiday, “St Lubbock's Days”, was after the banker Sir John Lubbock. It was rumoured that Sir John Lubbock was so keen on cricket that he chose the bank holiday dates to fall on the days when village matches were played in his home county!

• The Bank of England kept its key interest rate unchanged at a 16-year high (5.25%) but indicated it is on course to join its European peers in cutting rates over the coming months.
• TSB is to close 36 bank branches and cut 250 jobs in a major operational overhaul at the UK bank.
• Mastercard starts domestic payment processing in China.
• Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has been fined C$6 million by Canadian authorities for violating money laundering and terrorist financing laws.
• Trading platform Robinhood says its cryptocurrency arm has received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission, indicating that the US regulator is set to take enforcement action.
• Visa is introducing a generative AI tool to assign real-time risk scores to transactions. This will stop enumeration attacks, which use automated scripts and botnets to test for vulnerabilities.
• JPMorgan Chase uses OpenAI’s GPT-4 model for a range of thematic investment baskets.
• Malaysia’s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged (3.00%), extending its policy pause to a year as it monitors growth and inflation.
• The Wall Street Journal CEO Council Summit was held on May 8 and 9.
• Vodafone hopes to bring blockchain technology to smartphone users by integrating cryptocurrency wallets with subscriber identity module (SIM) cards. The telecom company is reportedly seeking $1.8 billion in loans amid a plan to raise $2.9 billion in debt.
• Egypt set for the launch of its first digital bank.
• HSBC customers are furious as the mobile banking app goes down, leaving thousands unable to access their accounts. Over 2,800 users have reported issues with the app, and around 57% of issues reported are related to mobile banking.
• Wells Fargo has joined JP Morgan in revealing that US authorities are investigating the handling of complaints about P2P payments service Zelle.
• Binance CEO Richard Teng provides key details on how execs were arrested and jailed in Nigeria.
• The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has censured and fined SoFi Securities $1.1 million for failing to establish and maintain a reasonable Customer Identification Program for SoFi Money, its cash management brokerage account, which resulted in $2.5 million in stolen funds.

???Readings for you

We add another article about life and wealth management to our collection every week. We know and love that knowledge grows when it’s shared. So, here there are some handpicked suggestions from our collection:

• We welcome Stefan Henrich to our board of directors. ?? Check out the press release.
• As part of our Wealt Talks, we welcomed Alex Jimenez from Backbase to discuss shifting the banking mindset with digitalisation.
• Here are your 50 top resources for finance enthusiasts, including leaders, podcasts, newsletters, communities, events, reports, and books for 2024.

????♀???????♂??Before you go…

We will continue to be here every week. Stay tuned for more in your inbox or on LinkedIn. To learn more about wealth management and Wealt, join our community and drop us a ??.

With warm regards and enthusiastic spirits,

Wealt Team ???