Monday, 23 October 2017
Heads up: Honolulu’s phone ban
From The Economist
“Distracted walking” becomes illegal in Hawaii’s capital this week, enforced by fines of up to $99. With one of the highest pedestrian-fatality rates in the country, it is the first big American city to prohibit pedestrians from crossing the road while looking at phones or other gadgets. Pedestrian fatalities in America rose 11% last year, to nearly 6,000; mobile phones are blamed for more than 11,000 distracted-walking injuries between 2000 and 2011. Critics of the law worry about government overreach, and say that lowering speed limits, or cracking down on intoxication (of both drivers and pedestrians), would work better. Augsburg in Germany has tried another approach, embedding lights into pavements to catch the attention of downward-looking phone users and let them know when to cross a road. Before signing the bill, Honolulu’s mayor, Kirk Caldwell, lamented the need for such laws, but said: “sometimes we lack common sense”.
Labels:
Hawaii,
law,
mobile phone,
risk
Sunday, 22 October 2017
New On-line Courses from Citadel Advantage
INTERNATIONAL TRADE FINANCE (a full course in four parts)
Although the full course is divided into four parts, which together form a complete picture of international trade, its various instruments, its operations and its financing, each part may be
studied as a stand-alone unit.
This course will be of especial interest to banking, business, and import/export professionals who wish to expand their knowledge base as well as enhance their expertise and advance their careers in or gain a deeper understanding of the international trade finance arena.
The course provides a comprehensive foundation for understanding all aspects of International Trade Finance in a global context, covering the key principles, concepts, infrastructures, practices, issues, and current developments.
Part 1 - Trade Finance Instruments
Part 2 - Payment Instruments
Part 3 - International Payment Systems
Part 4 - Supply Chain Finance
Please click on the Part Title for more information
NEW On-line Course from Citadel Advantage
INTERNATIONAL TRADE - PART 2: PAYMENT INSTRUMENTS
Join Citadel Advantage’s Stanley Epstein in this ILLUMEO on-demand training course.
This course provides a comprehensive foundation for understanding all aspects of International Trade in a global context. This is the first of four-part collection, covering the key principles, concepts, infrastructures, practices, issues, and current developments in the world of International Trade Finance.
Part 2 of the course covers:
- The key concern in International Trade in providing a safe conduit for the transfer of ownership of the shipment in return for payment.
- A comprehensive examination of the different payment Instruments that may be used to settle International Trade transactions, including the process, the advantages/disadvantages and the risks attached to each.
Labels:
courses,
Illumeo,
International Trade Finance,
Stanley Epstein,
training
Tuesday, 3 October 2017
On-Line Training - Understanding FinTech

The current wave of innovation promises a revolution in the production and consumption of financial services.
Aptly combining the words “financial” and “technology” the FinTech revolution promises changes that will democratize financial services.
Part 1 - FinTech Basics
Part 2 - Financial Service Functions & Innovation Clusters
Part 3 - Blockchain, Bitcoin & Other Cryptocurrencies
The FinTech revolution holds much promise. This three part course is a basic primer to understanding FinTech in all its forms and guises and presented in conjunction with Illumeo by Citadel Advantage Principal Associate Stanley Epstein.
For Details & Registrations please click on the course title.
Part 2 - Financial Service Functions & Innovation Clusters
Part 3 - Blockchain, Bitcoin & Other Cryptocurrencies
The FinTech revolution holds much promise. This three part course is a basic primer to understanding FinTech in all its forms and guises and presented in conjunction with Illumeo by Citadel Advantage Principal Associate Stanley Epstein.
For Details & Registrations please click on the course title.
Labels:
Bitcoin,
Blockchain,
crypto-currency,
fintech,
Illumeo,
innovation,
on-line training
Sunday, 1 October 2017
FinTech for Non-IT Professionals (a 2-day course)
![]() |
Technology is changing finance |
This wave of innovation promises a FinTech revolution that will change financial services for ever. For consumers and business alike there is the promise of vastly improved financial services.
Consumers will get more choices and keener pricing. Small and medium sized businesses will gain access to new forms and lines of credit. Banks productivity will increase, transaction costs will come down, operational resilience will be better.
All this will lead to a more resilient financial system with greater diversity, redundancy and depth.
Most importantly financial services will become more inclusive, while people will become better connected, more informed and increasingly empowered.
If you want to keep up-to-date in the fast changing FinTech scenario you need to understand what it is all about. And if you are a non-IT professional you need this information presented in clear non-technical terms.
This two day unique training course offers a comprehensive introduction to FinTech for Non-IT Professionals, what FinTech is all about and how it is changing financial, banking and commercial systems and the world.
![]() |
Bricks & mortar don't matter anymore |
During the course we will explore FinTech components in terms of a wide range of issues, which include;
- Individual innovation clusters within each function.
- An analysis of the current state of business models and processes.
- Examining key innovations in terms of their characteristics and the implications of their use.
- Look at some current examples of actual innovations.
- Discuss potential outcomes.
- Where appropriate, we will include a case study.
Senior management, executives or directors within the financial services, banking, and insurance sectors, as well as those working in e-commerce, management consulting, or within a tech startup. Specific roles that would benefit include: tech entrepreneurs, senior business directors, managing directors (specifically CIOs and COOs), senior analysts, senior developers, business unit directors, bankers, product managers, senior software or app developers, business development managers, finance professionals, and digital strategists operating in the finance sector.
Teaching Method
This is a highly interactive course comprised of presentations, case studies, multidirectional discussions and comprehensive exercises.
Most importantly it will offer participants, opportunities to plan such work within small working groups, providing practice in the application of the techniques and tools generating active participation.
Learning Objectives
![]() |
Learn all about Bitcoin |
- Discover the full scope of FinTech.
- Explore the key FinTech development & implementation issues.
- Recognize the access issues for consumers and businesses.
- Discover how operational costs can be reduced and efficiency increased.
- Explore data sharing and transparency in the light of data security and protection needs.
- Explore actual case studies.
Labels:
disruption,
financial services,
fintech,
innovation,
training
Tuesday, 26 September 2017
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)