Business
Blockchain - Integrating new technologies in smart ways
Published
4 months agoon

Recent media reports suggest a new cryptocurrency legislation for safe cryptocurrency exchange could be introduced in the EU countries. By this new legislation, under the new guidelines, Bitcoin and other digital currencies will be named monetary instruments all through Europe. This means legal cryptocurrency exchange will be more transparent than ever. Moreover, it is said that this new legislation will encourage the innovation associated to crypto and blockchains sector.
One area looking to new innovation using the blockchain is the cross-border money movement in multi-commodity trading business, which is very complex. There are a number of stakeholders, intermediaries and banks operating together to make deals happen. The supply chain deals are massive in value and happen very frequently.
“Many traditional banks have recently exited trade finance sector because it's simply too risky for them,” said Ali Amirliravi, CEO of LGR Global of Switzerland. “The banks that stay have no incentive to optimize the inefficient processes, that’s because as the companies are working to gather up all the required documentation and address the compliance needs, the banks are sitting back and charging interest - they actually don’t care how long it takes, it’s the trading companies that have to pay the extra fees.
"It gets even worse in what we call the 'Silk Road Countries'- the areas between Europe, Central Asia and China. Here you really see big differences within the supply chains and they also have to deal with large number of different currencies. You’ve got some companies that are using all manual, paper based processes and others that are moving into digital - there’s no standardization and that’s a real problem."
Ali Amirliravi’s LGR Global is a member of the Silk Road Chamber of International Commerce - an international association with the aim of increasing trade amongst members and states.
“These issues outlined are brought up frequently at the high-level meetings of the chamber of commerce,” said Amirliravi . “The influence of my own experience in the industry mixed with the stories of other stakeholders really pushed me to start to create end-to-end digital system. We are building a better way to do things, one that is faster, cheaper and more transparent for all parties involved. “
“It comes down to integrating new technologies in smart ways. Take my company for example, LGR Global, when it comes to money movement, we are focused on 3 things: speed, cost & transparency. To address these issues, we use leading technologies such as blockchain, digital currencies, and general digitization to optimize the existing processes.
It's quite clear the impact that new technologies can have on things like speed and transparency, but when I say it’s important to integrate the technologies in a smart way that’s important because you always have to keep your customer in mind - the last thing we would want to do is introduce a system that actually confuses our users and makes his or her job more complicated. So on one hand, the solution to these problems is found in new technology, but on the other hand, it’s about creating a user experience that is simple to use and interact with and integrates seamlessly into the existing systems. So it’s a bit of a balancing act between technology and user experience, that’s where the solution is going to be created.
When it comes to the broader topic of supply chain finance, what we see is the need for improved digitalization and automation of the processes and mechanisms that exist throughout the product lifecycle. In the multi-commodity trading industry, there are so many different stakeholders, middlemen, banks, etc. and each of them have their own way of doing this - there is an overall lack of standardization, particularly in the Silk Road Area. The lack of standardization leads to confusion in compliance requirements, trade documents, letters of credit, etc., and this means delays and increased costs for all parties. Furthermore, we have the huge issue of fraud, which you have to expect when you are dealing with such disparity in the quality of processes and reporting. The solution here is again to use technology and digitalize and automate as many of these processes as possible - it should be the goal to reduce risks and take human error out of the equation.
And here is the really exciting thing about bringing digitalization and standardization to supply chain finance: not only is this going to make doing business much more straightforward for the companies themselves, this increased transparency and optimization will also make the companies much more attractive to outside investors. It’s a win-win for everyone involved here.”
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European Investment Bank
Kris Peeters appointed as new Vice-President of the European Investment Bank
Published
1 week agoon
January 12, 2021
Kris Peeters has been appointed Vice-President and Member of the Management Committee of the European Investment Bank (EIB). He takes up his duties today, assuming the Benelux seat on the EIB’s Management Committee.
The EIB’s Board of Governors appointed Mr Peeters, a Belgian national, on a proposal from the Government of the Kingdom of Belgium and with the agreement of the EIB-shareholder constituency the country shares with the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Upon joining the EIB, Kris Peeters remarked: “I am very honoured to join the European Investment Bank, the EU’s Bank, especially at a moment when the Bank accelerates the deployment of its efforts in climate change mitigation. Clearly, this engagement is there to stay and I am looking forward to making a difference with the team at the helm of the EU’s Climate Bank. In doing so I will pay special attention to mobility, a field in which significant and innovative changes are ahead of us, while also closely following security and defence, as well as operations in the ASEAN countries. I am also delighted that I can contribute to the recovery efforts of the Bank in tackling the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic across Europe.”
Until his nomination as Vice-President, Mr Peeters served as Member of the European Parliament since 2019. Mr Peeters has a long-standing political career, starting in 2004, when he became Flemish Minister for Public Works, Energy, the Environment and Nature. Subsequently he was Minister-President of Flanders from 2007 until 2014, and was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Employment in the Belgian federal government of Prime Minister Charles Michel (2014-2019). Prior to his political career, Mr Peeters held leading roles at UNIZO, the Union of Self-employed Entrepreneurs and SMEs (1991-2004). Mr Peeters studied philosophy and law at Antwerp University and obtained a degree in taxation and accounting at the Vlerick Business School Ghent.
The Management Committee is the EIB’s permanent collegiate executive body, consisting of a President and eight Vice-Presidents. The members of the Management Committee are appointed by the Board of Governors – the economy and finance ministers of the 27 EU Member States.
Under the authority of Werner Hoyer, President of the EIB, the Management Committee collectively oversees the day-to-day running of the EIB as well as preparing and ensuring the implementation of the Board of Directors' decisions, notably regarding borrowing and lending operations.
Background information:
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. It makes long-term finance available for sound investment in order to contribute towards EU policy goals.
Digital economy
2021 predictions for the mobile telecommunications industry
Published
2 weeks agoon
January 7, 2021
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Aviation/airlines
Commission approves €120 million Greek support to compensate Aegean Airlines for damages suffered due to coronavirus outbreak
Published
2 weeks agoon
January 5, 2021
The European Commission has found a Greek grant of €120 million to Aegean Airlines to be in line with EU state aid rules. The measure aims at compensating the airline for the losses directly caused by the coronavirus outbreak and the travel restrictions imposed by Greece and other destination countries to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Greece notified to the Commission an aid measure to compensate Aegean Airlines for the damage suffered from 23 March 2020 to 30 June 2020 resulting from the containment measures and travel restrictions introduced by Greece and other destination countries to limit the spread of the coronavirus. The support will take the form of a €120 million direct grant, which does not exceed the estimated damage directly caused to the airline in that period.
The Commission assessed the measure under Article 107(2)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), which enables the Commission to approve State aid measures granted by member states to compensate specific companies or sectors for damage directly caused by exceptional occurrences. The Commission found that the Greek measure will compensate the damage suffered by Aegean Airlines that is directly linked to the coronavirus outbreak. It also found that the measure is proportionate, as the aid does not exceed what is necessary to make good the damage.
On this basis, the Commission concluded that the Greek damage compensation measure is in line with EU state aid rules. Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “The aviation industry is one of the sectors that has been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus outbreak. This measure will enable Greece to compensate Aegean Airlines for the damage directly suffered due to the travel restrictions necessary to limit the spread of the coronavirus. We continue working with member states to find workable solutions to support companies in these difficult times, in line with EU rules.”
The full press release is available online.

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