Western Europe

Even as the most infamous cryptocurrencies crashed this year, new ones were already emerging, designed to peg their value to fiat currencies. The most popular of the so-called stablecoins, Tether, broke its peg to the dollar in October, raising questions over the best design for these instruments and the worry that they may be just the latest crypto fad to sucker in the unwary. But if they succeed, stablecoins could prove a tipping point for broader crypto adoption and the reinvention of money.

The city is wooing banks from London in an all-too-literal manner.

Banks and traders tout efficiency and the trust benefits of a new fintech platform, but key absentees mitigate the hoped-for 'network effect'.

Asset management is one of the few opportunities European banks have for growth and good returns, but regulation is challenging the captive market and margins are falling. Can banks build their own versions of the low-cost US fund management firms – or are these few remaining crown jewels heading the same way as their investment banks?

Eight banks have gone live with the Voltron initiative, an open platform for documentary trade.

Marex Spectron is making a low-key return to the FX market, just over four years after it terminated its foreign-exchange business.

When the financial crisis hit and retail banks – desperate to cut costs – closed less profitable branches, they did so chiefly in rural towns, or low- to moderate-income (LMI) communities.

A time of crisis is a time for action. At last.

The UK financial establishment says it can cope if the UK crashes out of the EU, but behind the scenes panic seems close.

The sacking of DWS’s chief executive barely six months after its IPO shows that asset management might not be the great hope for a firm like Deutsche Bank.

Seven firms launch trade finance platform to improve efficiency and services, especially for SMEs.

While negative rates fundamentally undermine its domestic lenders, the Alpine nation’s enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies also coincides problematically with threats to its private banks.

Investors throw money at cash-burning issuers as concern over leveraged finance grows.

Rates are only rising because economies are doing so well and there is no need to panic, even if risk assets do sell off, at least according to the sell side.

With 75 banks signed up in late September, IIN is already approaching 100 banks convinced that blockchain is the best, safest and quickest way to resolve blocked cross-border payments.

As financial fraud in the UK evolves, so too does the financial industry, stepping up its efforts to tackle the issue with new technologies, such as biometrics and artificial intelligence.

Speed bumps appear to be gathering favour among stock exchanges, but their potential to level the playing field in the FX market is tempered by concerns around transparency and the impact on trading costs.

Funding Circle demonstrates the pitfalls of IPO-ing a marketplace lender.

Even as the most infamous cryptocurrencies crash, new ones are already emerging that are designed to peg their value to fiat currencies and recover the dream of new forms of money moving on new rails to everyone’s advantage.

Recommits to holding top spot; mid-tier of most concern as oil traders struggle.

Allegations of large-scale money-laundering at Danske Bank’s Estonian branch may have been bad news for Scandinavian banks, their investors and European authorities – but at least someone’s happy.

Two of the world’s most advanced cryptocurrency markets agree to exchange notes on blockchain regulation.

No one is surprised by the money-laundering revelations from the Baltics.

The UK's financial market regulator finds firms still struggling with suspicious transaction reports, but it could be bolder in its criticism.

Larger family offices are taking on the private equity firms as they focus on investing directly.

Two London IPOs have struggled this week: the reasons are nothing new

As Mifid II beds down, its impact on the global fixed income research industry is already being felt. There are clear signs that investors are less reliant on research and are using fewer providers than before. As they start to cut costs to implement their own research budgets, providers must ensure that they are getting good value for money.

The frequency and severity of UK banks’ IT failures are troubling their customers even if their regulators remain calm.

The world of cross-border payments in undergoing a digital transformation, which is set to eradicate long delays, friction and high transaction costs.

Part two: The fallout from Iceland’s banking crisis rumbled on for seven years. Members of the task force set up to deal with seemingly insurmountable problems arising from creditors – chiefly aggressive hedge funds – reveal the inside story of how, from a position of disaster, a lot of parties ended up in one of relative triumph.