Week ending March 10 on TheBanker.com

Image: Getty Images

Your quick guide to the week ending March 10, 2023, on TheBanker.com.

Last week, natural language models came for capital markets, a new World Bank head may refocus on climate change, and Fintech Fortnightly returned with a variety of fintech news. Our community offers its opinions on female entrepreneurs, sustainability and gender equality, while we visit Dubai and Latin America to gather insights from around the world. Not to be missed, the first new episode of the Functional Banking Magic for 2023 as well as The Banker Midweek are offered for your podcast pleasure. 

Trending topics 

ChatGPT is riding a hype cycle, but financial services have serious plans for natural language processing. “We can’t have an 80% accuracy rate ... that causes real problems from all sorts of ways,” he says. “The models are great for accelerating workflow and getting answers faster, but they’re not worth anything ... if the answer isn’t right,” says Mike Lynch, chief product officer at Symphony.

  • Hopes that World Bank head will focus on climate change — Philippa Nuttall | Click here to read

Despite many hoping for a female nominee from a global south country, Ajay Banga — the former executive chairman, president and CEO of Mastercard — has been named by US president Joe Biden as the replacement for David Malpass as the head of the World Bank.  

“We were expecting a woman, that was the least of our expectations,” says Turkey-based Cansin Leylim from the climate campaign group 350.org. “We were keen to see a woman from a global south country or from an indigenous community. In 2023, that shouldn’t be such a wild ask.” 

But it is still a step forward. “[He] is not a woman, but he is from a developing country and he is Sikh,” points out Sonia Dunlop of climate think tank E3G. Mr Banga is a US citizen, but was born, grew up and was educated in India. “This is a historic choice and we should mark that.” A female candidate can wait until next time, Ms Dunlop adds. 

Over the past fortnight, banks offered advice to start-ups; the UK welcomed a new bank (with restrictions); gamers get safer, financially; and the SME Finance Forum gets a new fintech partner. Meanwhile, one fintech player posts profits as another posts loses. 

Opinion sharers

Female founders of start-ups, whether fintechs or in other industries, are growing in number, but much more needs to be done to unlock their ambition.

NatWest’s Rose Review 2023 report found that more than twice as many female-led businesses were founded in 2022 than in 2018. According to its research, more than 150,000 all-women led companies were founded in 2022.

  • The governance of sustainability in large global banks — Stilpon Nestor, Darya Vinogradov-Wouters and Jacob Nolan | Click here to read

A report exploring the sustainability progress of 30 European and North American banks shows a need for renewed focus on strategy and risk management. 

Banks are at the heart of the global economy as a prime allocator of capital across all economic sectors. They make decisions of systemic importance regarding the kind of growth that is supported by the capital they allocate. Therefore, they have a pivotal role in promoting sustainability across most sectors of the economy. 

  • A cost too high: why the time is now for gender equality — Tea Trumbic | Click here to read

Beyond empowering women, gender equality makes societies and economies more dynamic and more resilient. Denying equal rights to women across much of the world is not just unfair to women; it is a barrier to countries’ ability to promote green, resilient and inclusive development.

Countries cannot move forward if half of their citizens are held back. The time is now to level the playing field for women, and the place to start is with the laws.

To that end, the World Bank Group’s Women, Business and the Law report examines laws affecting women’s prospects as entrepreneurs and employees across 190 economies. 

Globe at a glance

  • Is painting China as the predator in Latin American activities reductive? — Barbara Pianese | Click here to read

Experts at a think tank webinar were keen to dispel some of the myths regarding China’s relationship with Latin America. 

“The big, bad, land grabber narrative is completely equivocated,” said Gustavo Oliveira, assistant professor of geography at Clark University, during a webinar organised by the think tank Canning House. “It does not sustain itself in terms of the political economic data. By far, the largest investments in Brazilian agricultural production come from the US, followed by European investors and even some from Latin America.”

  • Dubai’s new virtual asset regulations set a high standard — John Everington | Click here to read

After a year of chaos in the crypto sphere, the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority’s framework represents a shift in the regulatory approach to virtual assets.

While Binance and other large players will be able to put in place the necessary regulatory and compliance requirements with minimal disruption, the regulations may prove too much for smaller firms wishing to base themselves in Dubai. 

Podcasts!

Banks, partnerships and the ESG journey.

This episode we sit down with: Natalie Blyth, global head of commercial banking sustainability at HSBC and Mark Blick, CEO of Diginex.

Your weekly look at what the industry is talking about. offering information bankers like you need to know.

This week Liz Lumley and Joy Macknight discuss innovation labs, net-zero transition plans, bank profits and the possibility of embedded finance on a bike.

PLEASE ENTER YOUR DETAILS TO WATCH THIS VIDEO

All fields are mandatory

The Banker is a service from the Financial Times. The Financial Times Ltd takes your privacy seriously.

Choose how you want us to contact you.

Invites and Offers from The Banker

Receive exclusive personalised event invitations, carefully curated offers and promotions from The Banker



For more information about how we use your data, please refer to our privacy and cookie policies.

Terms and conditions

Join our community

The Banker on Twitter