Kotak Securities Limited (KSL) has announced an investment in fintech startup Multipl as part of the company’s $3 million Pre-Series A round of funding, along with other investors- Blume Ventures, GrowX Ventures, and IIFL. Founded by serial investors Jags Raghavan, Paddy Raghavan and Vikas Jain, Multipl encourages its users to save money for short term goals. The fintech is working on a ‘Plan Now Pay Smarter’ aka Save Now Buy Later for its users, said an official press release. Multipl works in contrast to BNPL – Buy Now Pay Later, and discourages its users to make credit purchases that can strain their finances.

Partnering with leading brands, the fintech startup has created a Brand Saver Plan where users can save more money on their future spending from these brands. Another model offered by the company is the Market Saver plan, where users can avail of dual benefits- returns from the market and exclusive discounts from the brands.

“Indians have traditionally been savers. Multipl, through its embedded shopping experience, has created an interesting category altogether to incentivize people to plan their spending in advance,” said Shripal Shah, President and COO, Kotak Securities commenting on the latest investment.

Multipl’s CEO & Co-founder Paddy Raghavan said that Kotak’s validation in form of the investment will help the platform in creating a new category that can positively impact the users in the way they save and spend. “Multipl is pioneering the idea of saving for a future expense in a way that is not only financially superior but is also exciting and rewarding,” he added.

Kotak Securities has recently been focusing on engagement with startups involved in innovation and product development for the financial sector.

Earlier, Kotak Securities had previously invested close to Rs 3 crore for a minority stake in fintech startup, Entroq Technologies as part of its Startup Engagement and Investments initiative. Entroq Technologies operates the brand FlipItNews and focuses on ‘reinventing; financial literacy in India by providing curated financial news in less than 50 words. Announcing the investment, KSL said that it was excited to partner with the vision of FlipItNews, especially at a time when simplification of the stock market has become paramount for retail investors in India.

Read all the Latest News , Breaking News and IPL 2022 Live Updates here.

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Nikkei Group — one of the world’s largest financial news outlets — announced that its Asia headquarters in Singapore is suffering from a ransomware attack that began on May 13.

The Japanese company, which owns The Nikkei and Financial Times newspapers, said in a statement Thursday that it has reported the attack to Japanese and Singaporean authorities.

While the company claimed that no data leak has been confirmed, it noted that the affected server “likely contained customer data” and that investigators are in the process of “”determining the nature and scope” of the attack. 

“We sincerely apologize for the trouble we’ve caused,” Nikkei’s public relations office said in a statement. “We will take appropriate action in cooperation with relevant authorities and strive to enhance information protection.”

The Nikkei incident is one of several involving news outlets in recent years. 

In June 2021, U.S. media conglomerate Cox Media Group was crippled by a ransomware attack that brought down live streams for radio and TV stations across the country. Cox Media owns 57 radio and TV stations in 20 markets and it was eventually revealed that the attackers were from Iran. 

In January, the Lapsus$ extortion gang attacked Impresa, the largest media conglomerate in Portugal and the owner of SIC and Expresso, the country’s largest TV channel and weekly newspaper, respectively.

In September 2019, a ransomware gang attacked CBS-owned Entercom, the second-largest radio broadcasting network in the US, and brought down several radio stations.

Ransomware attacks temporarily disrupted major TV channels like France’s M6 and The Weather Channel in incidents throughout 2019.

Jonathan has worked across the globe as a journalist since 2014. Before moving back to New York City, he worked for news outlets in South Africa, Jordan and Cambodia. He previously covered cybersecurity at ZDNet and TechRepublic.

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‘Kudlow’ host provides insight on government spending.

Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow” was the most-watched business news program for the fourth straight week, as Americans seek financial news and analysis with a possible recession looming. 

Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow” was the most-watched business news program for the fourth-straight week, as Americans seek financial news and analysis with a possible recession looming.  (Fox News / Fox News)

ELON MUSK BEING TARGETED BY THE LIBERAL MOB WILL END THE SAME WAY IT DID WITH JOE ROGAN: CONCHA

Inflation, the war in Ukraine, COVID-19 and other factors have put financial news at the forefront in recent months. FBN has outdrawn CNBC among total viewers four of the past six weeks in the business day category of Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. through 5 p.m. ET.

“Kudlow,” which averaged 285,000 viewers from May 9-13, has now topped CNBC for 18 of the past 19 weeks and Fox Business Network recently finished April with more business day viewers than CNBC for the first month since January 2020. 

The first quarter of 2022 saw “Varney & Co.” outdraw CNBC’s “TechCheck,” giving Stuart Varney his first 11 a.m. hour victory over CNBC since the fourth quarter of 2020.  (Fox News)

April was also the second consecutive month that FBN’s “Varney & Co.” topped CNBC’s timeslot competition of “Squawk on the Street” and TechCheck.” With an April victory, “Kudlow” has beaten CNBC’s “Closing Bell” for seven straight months as Larry Kudlow’s program finished as the most-watched business program for back-to-back months with a third victory in May on the horizon. 

BUFFALO SHOOTING: MSNBC, ABC, ROLLING STONE, OTHERS ‘EXPLOITING PAIN,’ USING TRAGEDY TO TRASH OPPONENTS

The first quarter of 2022 saw “Varney & Co.” outdraw CNBC’s “TechCheck,” giving Stuart Varney his first 11 a.m. hour victory over CNBC since the fourth quarter of 2020. The first quarter saw “Kudlow” finish as the No. 1 business program among total viewers for an entire quarter for the first time ever. 

Fox Business has now delivered the most-watched business telecast for 19 of the past 21 days. 

Goldman Sachs Senior Chairman Lloyd Blankfein recently told CBS’s “Face the Nation” the risk of the U.S. falling into a recession is ‘very, very high’ and warned the federal government and Federal Reserve has pumped too much money into the economy. 

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“It’s certainly a very, very high risk factor,” Blankfein said when asked by host Margaret Brennan if he thinks the U.S. is “headed towards recession”. 

“It’s definitely a risk. If I were running a big company, I would be very prepared for it. If I were a consumer, I’d be prepared for it,” Blankfein continued, adding that a recession is “not baked in the cake.” 

All data courtesy of Nielsen Media Research. 

Fox Business’ Joe Silverstein contributed to this report. 

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A campaign group is organising a march on Parliament to protest against a Financial Conduct Authority that it says is “wrong at the top” and “not fit for purpose”.

The Transparency Task Force is planning a Rally for Better Financial Regulation on 24 May.

The march will start at the Royal Courts of Justice, before moving down the Strand and Trafalgar Square to the Treasury at Horse Guards Road, and then onto Downing Street and Parliament.

“The rally will focus on our firm, evidence-based belief that the Financial Conduct Authority is not fit for purpose and that it needs to be robustly reformed, or if necessary replaced,” said Transparency Task Force founder, Andy Agathangelou.

“We are organising the rally because we believe the financial sector is profoundly important to the well-being of society, to economic stability and to political stability too; but we also believe that society cannot have the financial sector it needs and deserves if the regulatory framework that governs it is poor.

“The vast majority of FCA employees are honest, ethical, and hard-working people doing the best job they can. But we believe the authority is ‘wrong at the top’ and is subject to unhealthy external influences on it.”

The FCA has been approached for comment.

The event organisers point to a host of apparent regulatory failures recently on their website, including on collapsed mini-bond providers such as Blackmore and London Capital & Finance, peer-to-peer investment groups such as Lendy, and asset management groups such as Connaught and Keydata.

They also take aim at those pushing to introduce a new competition objective for the regulator, which could come at the expense of consumer protection.

Robin Powell, who runs the Evidence Based Investor blog and is a Transparency Task Force ambassador, said the “final straw” was the FCA’s failures around the collapse of Neil Woodford’s fund empire.

“It failed to act on, and perhaps even to notice, the problems with Woodford’s flagship Equity Income fund as it teetered towards disaster. And even now, almost three years since the scandal broke, we are still waiting for a report on the inquiry the FCA is supposed to have conducted.

“That’s why I would urge you to join The Rally for Better Financial Regulation.”

The rally comes as the FCA continues to battle for its reputation in the face of staff strikes. While the walkout of 40 staff last week, with others said to be striking at home, does not appear to have caused significant problems for the regulator, it is still facing further strike action and work to rule from union members in the coming months over changes to pay and conditions at the watchdog.

To contact the author of this story with feedback or news, email Justin Cash

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Astra Taylor

Source: Isabella De Maddalena

Astra Taylor took out her first student loan at 17. She attended Brown University and The New School, and owed tens of thousands of dollars when she defaulted on her debt during the 2008 financial crisis.

“Overnight, they added 19% to my principal,” Taylor, 42, said. “Like millions of others, I was caught in a debt trap.”

By luck, her partner, Jeff Mangum, a musician who founded the band Neutral Milk Hotel, offered to pay off her loans in 2012. In almost every way, her life changed.

“It saved me decades of payments,” she said. Without worrying about meeting her monthly student loan bill, she was able to focus on her passion of making documentaries and writing books.

Around the same time, in 2014, she helped to found Debt Collective, the first union for debtors.

“The experience of having the weight of my student loans lifted is part of why I am doing this work,” Taylor said. “I want the same relief and opportunity for other people.”

President Joe Biden recently said he’d be making an announcement on student loan forgiveness within weeks. CNBC interviewed Taylor about what it’s like to finally see something you’ve been fighting for for so long on the horizon.

Annie Nova: Beyond your personal experience, what made you want to make one of your life’s mission fighting for people in debt?

Astra Taylor: When wages aren’t high enough to cover the essentials of life, poor and working people have no choice but to take on debt to survive. In this sense, we are robbed twice, first by bosses who underpay us, and then by lenders who charge interest and fees when we borrow to cover the gap. Contrary to stereotypes, a lot of credit card debt is for basic necessities — things like rent, food and medical care. In this country, most working people aren’t living beyond their means, they are being denied the means to live. Exploding household debt is the result.

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AN: Why do people with debt, in your opinion, need a union?

AT: The financial sector is incredibly well organized. They are lobbying around the clock and have been able to repeal usury protections, deregulate the banking industry and grow their business, and we’re all paying the price. That’s why we need to band together to fight for fairer terms, debt relief and policy shifts that will ensure we don’t have to take on debt to survive.

AN: Outstanding student loan debt has been rising for decades. What do you see as some of the earliest roots of the crisis?

AT: We used to have a model of adequately funding public higher education. That began to change in the 1960s, when Ronald Reagan was governor of California. He dismantled the University of California Master Plan, which provided free college to everyone, and demanded that the system start charging students. This was part of his strategy to quiet down student protests for civil rights and free speech. The idea was that if people had to go into debt to go to school, they’d think twice about paying to carry a picket sign. His actions were part of the broader right-wing push to dismantle government services and turn as many public institutions as possible over to private actors looking for new ways to profit.

AN: You have an issue with the term “student loan forgiveness.” Can you explain why?

AT: Millions of debtors have paid off the original amount they borrowed, and yet are still in debt thanks to compounding interest, and many of them somehow owe more than their original balances. That’s the classic definition of a debt trap. It doesn’t make sense to say these people are asking for “forgiveness.” That word makes it seem like debtors have done something wrong. We are talking about a system-level problem — not an individual moral failing.

AN: What role do you think student debt cancellation could have on the midterm elections?

AT: Nearly 1 in 5 Trump voters said they would consider voting for a Democrat if Democrats canceled all student debt. Another poll determined that 40% of Black voters would consider staying home for the next election if there’s no action on student loan debt. It could make or break the Democrats in battleground states.

AN: It remains uncertain how much student debt will be canceled, if any. Biden has said he’s not considering wiping out $50,000 per borrower, suggesting he might decide on a smaller figure. You believe all $1.7 trillion in outstanding student debt should be canceled. Why?

AT: For millions of borrowers stuck in a debt trap, … $10,000 or $20,000 barely provides a dent in the amount they owe. For 83% of Black borrowers, canceling $10,000 of debt still leaves them with a balance higher than their original amount. That is unacceptable.

AN: One of the leading arguments against student loan cancellation is that it directs resources to people who are better off, since they attended college. What are your thoughts on this?

AT: Truly rich people do not have student debt, because they or their parents could cover the costs. Also, the well off get lots of financial assistance they don’t acknowledge. Mortgage holders have been able to take advantage of historically low interest rates, and they also get to deduct their mortgage interest on their taxes. Credit card debtors, who are more likely to be struggling, aren’t getting a 3% interest rate they can write off. Our financial system is riddled with these kinds of double standards and it’s rigged against poor and working people.

AN: Student debt cancellation could be imminent. How does that feel?

AT: It’s amazing to see something you’ve been working on for so long become mainstream and to hear people like Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and others echo our talking points. We first protested student debt in 2012, when it surpassed $1 trillion. Ten years later, it’s racing toward $2 trillion and even more borrowers are suffering. The problem has gotten a lot worse, but at least we’re finally hearing politicians acknowledge that the only sensible solution is for the debt to be erased.

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Dear Wall Street friend, 

I write this letter because I like you. I know we have our differences, especially in terms of how we view the financial institutions that dominated the last century of history, but I understand where you’re coming from.

You are a smart and communicative person, banks and managers have identified your potential, offered you a well-paid career and a financial education along the lines of the fiduciary system. Suddenly I appear with an obsessed gaze, telling you that an anonymous individual has created digital money that, in addition to being an unparalleled investment, is a technology that will revolutionize humanity and turn everything you’ve learned from your successful billionaire employers upside-down.

At first glance, I must seem like a crazy person, but be patient and read this letter until the end. I write it from the bottom of my heart.

This is not a definitive article to convince you that bitcoin is the best investment at your disposal or why it represents the biggest social disruption of this century. My intention is just to give you some warnings and suggestions on how to approach this topic so that you may find your way down the Bitcoin rabbit hole.

Bitcoin Is A Threat To The Financial Industry

This may scare you, but I can’t tell you otherwise. Bitcoin is indeed a threat to the entire financial industry. As the adoption of bitcoin increases, the trend is that the entire sector of funds, banks, brokers, investment banking, etc., will decrease in size.

Please don’t let this fact keep you from understanding Bitcoin in depth. Those who understand the orange coin today are only a part of the entire population that will adopt the technology in the future. Even with a pessimistic outlook for the investment industry, the opportunity you will see is so massive that you will soon forget about the disruption of the industry that employs you.

Bitcoin Is Not A Company

Bitcoin is a weird beast, but it’s especially weird if you try to understand it through the traditional lens of analyzing income-earning assets like companies, real estate and debt. Bitcoin is difficult to define even for someone obsessed with the subject for years, like myself.

My suggestion is to approach Bitcoin from a network technology perspective. Look for parallels in the development of the internet, decentralized peer-to-peer networks like Tor or BitTorrent and even sea and air routes.

And of course, be sure to study monetary history. Placing bitcoin and fiat money on an evolutionary timeline will make it clear how much more dynamic this story is than central bank proponents would like to admit.

Bitcoin Is A Revolution Of Individuals, Not Of Institutions

Don’t look for the value of bitcoin in the big financial institutions and gurus. Its value lies in the anonymous people who make a conscious decision to participate in maintaining the Bitcoin network by purchasing their own in-home equipment, and saving via small weekly purchases of bitcoin.

This is quite different from what you are used to. In the fiduciary world, names, surnames, positions and institutions are agents of great importance and value. In Bitcoin, the opinions of Jamie Dimon, Warren Buffet and the CFO of BlackRock matter little. What makes this technology inevitable is the existence of an anonymous, uncompromising and unstoppable minority.

Try to understand what this minority thinks, what motivates them, how they interact with Bitcoin and why it is so difficult to stop them. The next time Charlie Munger gives his opinion on the matter, ignore it.

Bitcoin’s Technical Nuances Matter

You may not be interested in understanding the difference between asymmetric key cryptography and a hash function, nor the difference between computation and predicate verification. It also may not seem very important to understand the nuances of governance of an open-source project or what a soft fork means and the Bitcoin tendency to avoid investing in hard forks. I understand you, they are specific ideas and are not part of your daily life.

But know that these concepts make a difference, especially when you want to understand why Bitcoin is different from all altcoins, which we Bitcoiners affectionately call “shitcoins.” Take the time to research how Bitcoin works at a deeper level than the articles on financial news portals. Some technical details are essential to understand the guarantees that Bitcoin offers and why they are unique compared to all the projects that exist in the “crypto” world.

Study Austrian Economics

I’ve heard big names in Wall Street claim that bitcoin has no “intrinsic value” more times than is reasonable. After a few years of not understanding this “phenomenon,” I came to learn that many economists who have advanced degrees and work in finance have never read even one essay by Friedrich Hayek or Ludwig von Mises.

It would be of great value to your Bitcoin journey to set aside linear regressions and differential modeling for a while to focus on the ideas of Carl Menger and his disciples. I promise you that you will not become a gold bug overnight, but at the very least you will understand that the term “intrinsic value” does not make sense.

Everything Will Be Fine

This journey will not be comfortable. Realizing that the investment industry — probably the most powerful sector of the economy in the last 50 years — is about to be shaken up, and understanding that many of the teachings of your status-laden billionaire bosses aren’t exactly the best in a post-fiat world will be sore, but it’s going to be okay. As I told you at the beginning of this letter, you are an intelligent and communicative person, once your Bitcoin domino, you will be faced with one of the greatest opportunities of your life; and I promise you that after the initial scare, the only thing left is an inexhaustible optimism.

This is a guest post by João Grilo. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.

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seb_ra / iStock.com

Crypto is crashing, the stock market’s tanking, and today is Friday the 13th, but some good luck has to be heading our way soon, right? If not, at least the weekend is here. Before you enjoy it, take some time to catch up on the big financial stories of the day.

The Big Lead: Musk’s Twitter Deal on Hold?

Not so fast on that Elon Musk-Twitter deal, folks. The Tesla CEO tweeted that his $44 billion bid to acquire Twitter, announced last month, was “temporarily on hold” until he can confirm that spam and fake accounts represent less than 5% of the social network’s total users.

Bonus Offer: Earn up to $1,500 by opening a Citi Priority Account with required activities.

Read the full story here

Business Spotlight: Meme Stocks

Is this the return of a full-fledged meme mania, or just the result of retail investors “buying the dip” on AMC and GameStop? Analysts aren’t sure, but trading of the two stocks was halted “several times during the day for volatility” Thursday before they both closed up, and have continued to increase Friday.

Read the full story here

That’s Interesting: More Than Half of Americans Believe They Handle Finances Better Than Their Parents

BOK Financial conducted a poll of 2,000 adults and found that 58% of those surveyed believe they are better financial managers than their parents.

Read the full story here

Bonus: How To Prep Your Social Media Feeds Before Job Hunting

To help you prep your social media accounts further before job hunting — and find out how to avoid raising a red flag among recruiters — here are some suggestions from industry experts.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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Rajesh Agrawal is the Deputy Mayor of London for Business

I’m so excited to be in America with the Mayor, Sadiq Khan, this week, banging the drum for London and sending a clear message that the capital is open for tourism, business and investment.

This is the Mayor’s first international visit since the pandemic started – and it is going to be incredibly busy. This week, the Mayor visited New York where he launched our largest-ever international tourism campaign to attract global visitors back to London. We have also made our way to Silicon Valley to meet industry leaders and entrepreneurs.

London is a global hub for tech, and this visit to Silicon Valley will further strengthen the investment and trade ties between London and the Bay Area.

During this visit the Mayor will meet with senior representatives from some of the world’s biggest tech companies, including Google and LinkedIn at their headquarters. Sadiq will also visit the Silicon Valley headquarters of Plug and Play, the world’s largest early-stage investor and a global innovation platform, which has announced that it will be setting up new UK operations in London.

READ Make post-Brexit rules more competitive for City banks, government told

Additionally, Palo Alto-based artificial intelligence software provider and unicorn, SambaNova Systems, has announced its expansion in the UK with the opening of its first London office over the coming months.

New research from London & Partners reveals that London is the number one destination for US tech companies expanding outside their home market. In the last five years, London has attracted more new international tech investment projects from the US than any other global city, including Singapore, Bangalore, Dublin and Paris. From 2017 to 2021, London has seen 251 US tech companies set up in the UK capital, creating almost 9,000 new jobs.

Last year was a record year for investment into London tech companies, as the UK capital’s tech firms secured $24.9bn in funding – more than double any other European city. The capital also attracted $59.4bn in venture capital between 2017-2021, more than three times the amount of total funding received by other tech hubs such as Paris, Berlin and Tel Aviv.

L&P’s report proves that London and the Bay Area are natural partners for collaboration across a number of fast-growing tech sectors, as they lead the way for investment and startup growth in areas such as fintech, health tech and climate tech.

READ London’s finance and professional services sectors beat global peers to foreign investment

It is truly great news that today even more leading US tech companies have revealed their plans to invest in London. The latest expansion of US tech firms to London follows Google’s $1bn investment for a new office in London’s West End and its long-term plans to base 7,000 staff at its new flagship office in Kings Cross. Over the past few years, London has also seen the likes of Facebook, Netflix, Amazon, Microsoft and LinkedIn all commit to further staff and office space in the UK capital.

This visit to America represents a significant milestone in our work to promote London to tourists, business and entrepreneurs, and we are determined to use every moment possible to sing the praises of our great city and invite businesses from across the tech and tourism sectors to set their sights on the capital.

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