Letter: Brexit will close businesses and put people out of work – East London and West Essex Guardian Series

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Michael McGough now admits that people are going to lose their jobs: Some weak businesses will close post virus, Brexit or no Brexit (Stop the scare stories, Opinion, July 30).

We all know that more will close in the case of a no-deal Brexit.

It will not be the fault of the employees of these businesses.

It may not be the fault of the people running the businesses if they fail due to the change in the economic environment.

This neo-Darwinian concept, survival of the fittest, takes no account of human suffering.

Darwin recognised changes which took multi-generations to happen. A company can close overnight but it will take years to establish a new one.

In the meantime countless people will be out of work, trying to exist - you cant call it living - on universal benefit.

It will be little consolation to them that the tax, which they no longer have to pay because their incomes are so low, is not going to a body which has fashioned our economy for forty years.

Chris Sumner

By email

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Letter: Brexit will close businesses and put people out of work - East London and West Essex Guardian Series

Rothesay Cleared To Shift EU Policies To Dublin After Brexit – Law360

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Law360, London (August 10, 2020, 5:42 PM BST) -- A London judge has cleared English insurer Rothesay to transfer 114 million ($149 million) worth of insurance policies to an Irish insurer to ensure the plans are administered after the U.K.'s transition out of the European Union becomes finalized.

High Court Judge Richard Snowden signed off on Rothesay Life PLC's plans to shift 400 life insurance policies, or annuities, to the Dublin-based Monument Insurance DAC under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

Rothesay and Monument signed the agreement in 2019 over concerns the English insurer would no longer be able to manage the plans after Brexit. The U.K. left the...

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Rothesay Cleared To Shift EU Policies To Dublin After Brexit - Law360

Anand Menon In case you’d forgotten: Will there be a Brexit deal? LRB 13 August 2020 – London Review of Books

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Just before the EU referendum in 2016, the American political scientist Andrew Moravcsik wrote in the Financial Times that Brexit should be seen as a kabuki drama stylised but meaningless posturing. Four years on, it is clear that nothing could be further from the truth. Even if the UK does manage to strike a deal with the EU, relations between the two have been fundamentally altered.

The Withdrawal Agreement, signed off and ratified earlier this year, settled the rights of EU citizens in the UK and UK citizens in the EU, as well as the UKs financial liabilities the Brexit bill. A protocol on Northern Ireland was also agreed. So that a hard border with the South can be avoided, Northern Ireland will continue to follow some single-market rules. This implicitly means putting in place what Boris Johnson had categorically ruled out: border checks. We can do a deal without checks on the Irish border, he declared a year ago. The government has since acknowledged that there will be minimal checks.

Northern Ireland aside, there is no agreement on any aspect of the future relationship. The prelude to the latest round of Brexit talks was Johnsons call for the injection of a bit of ooomph. Both sides supposedly geared up for an intensification of negotiations. But when the talks concluded on 23 July not much had changed: Michel Barnier, the EUs chief negotiator, said the two sides were still far away from an agreement; his UK counterpart, David Frost, admitted there were considerable gaps. Barniers gloomy forecast was that a trade deal was now unlikely.

Barnier hasnt sounded positive about any of the negotiations he has been involved in since the referendum. The two sides talk past each other, and make accusations of bad faith. The EU claims the UK has reneged on its commitments, in particular to the level playing field agreed standards on environmental protection, workers rights, taxation and state aid that was in the Political Declaration made at the same time as the Withdrawal Agreement. The UK government, meanwhile, makes clear its irritation at the EUs refusal to give the UK the sort of deal it has supposedly signed with other countries.

These claims are a mixture of fact and fiction. The Political Declaration was supposed to provide a model for the future relationship, but since then there has been a general election and the UK has a new government, which is entitled to a different view on the issue. The EU might respond that it was Johnson who signed the declaration; certainly his cavalier attitude to it hasnt made him seem any more trustworthy. Whats more, the notion that the government is merely asking for what other countries have been granted is misleading. Not least, it ignores the claims to special treatment that London is making. Unsurprisingly, the EUs trade deal with Canada had different priorities and didnt devote any space at all to, say, road haulage.

Behind the rhetoric, real sticking points and differences of principle remain. The EU at first seemed to expect to retain its current level of access to British fishing waters and was keen to avoid an annual discussion about quotas of the sort it has with countries like Norway. It now appears to be emphasising the need for a sustainable and long-term solution, and shows signs of accepting that this will mean less access for its boats. Barnier, though, complained on 23 July that Britain hadnt made any compromises and was still demanding the near total exclusion of European boats.

The level playing field is another major problem. It is not, as some in the UK have claimed, a last-minute trap sprung on London by Brussels. It has always been one of the EUs conditions. It is a demand rooted in self-interest: a large competitor economy on its doorstep represents a challenge. If the UK were given access to the EU market, it might succeed in undercutting EU firms. This is why Brussels is insisting on guarantees regarding UK regulatory standards; its also the reason it is insisting on stricter rules than it felt necessary to enforce with smaller and more distant trading partners such as Canada. But, as David Frost made clear in a speech in Brussels earlier this year:

It is central to our vision that we must have the ability to set laws that suit us So to think that we might accept EU supervision on so-called level playing field issues simply fails to see the point of what we are doing. That isnt a simple negotiating position which might move under pressure it is the point of the whole project.

The Political Declaration stipulated the need for robust commitments to ensure a level playing field in order to prevent distortions of trade. The EUs negotiating mandate states that any agreement should uphold common high standards, and corresponding high standards over time. This isnt incompatible with Frosts position. Both sides could agree to a non-regression clause, committing them to maintaining the standards they currently share, without any need to introduce a role for EU law or worse still from Londons perspective for the EUs Court of Justice. Another possibility is an agreement that allows unilateral sanctions if one side diverges on standards.

State aid a countrys provision of financial help to domestic companies or organisations, which potentially distorts competition and trade within the EU is the most intractable sticking point. In part, this is because the EU takes a hard line on the issue. Its opening position is that any agreement should ensure the application of Union state aid rules to and in the United Kingdom. Given that, as far as the UK government is concerned, the purpose of Brexit is to prevent the application of EU rules to the UK, it isnt hard to see the problem. Barnier has signalled some flexibility on this in recent weeks: We need, he said, to work together to come up with the appropriate toolbox to ensure fair, sustainable competition. But the Johnson government hasnt yet indicated what compromises it may be willing to make, or what its new competition policy might look like. For many supporters of Brexit, taking power back from Brussels wasnt supposed to be an end in itself, but a means to the end of rolling back the regulations imposed on the UK by Brussels. Indeed, one reason the EU has been so keen to tie the UK to level playing field conditions, and is so reluctant to believe the UKs repeated assurances that it has no intention of cutting regulatory standards, is that Brexiters have spent thirty years insisting that deregulation was the prize to be gained from leaving.

There is an additional complication here. Both Article 10 and Annex 5 of the Northern Ireland protocol make it clear that EU state aid rules will apply to the UK where trade in goods between Northern Ireland and the EU is concerned. This means that any UK-wide tax incentive provided to businesses would be subject to scrutiny by the European Commission. EU competition law will therefore continue to have some effect on the UK as a whole whatever is negotiated in the future relationship.

Despite all this, it would be unwise to bet against a deal being reached, for the simple reason that both sides want one. The EU wont sign a deal at any price, but the Commission and the member states would very much prefer even a limited agreement to no trade deal, if only to limit the scale of economic disruption. For the UK, the argument in favour of a deal is even stronger. Politically, there is more to be gained from signing a deal than from not signing one. Think back to last year. Johnson was hailed as a hero for as his cheerleaders would have it defying the odds and negotiating a new withdrawal agreement. In fact, he had done nothing of the sort: he signed up to terms that both he and Theresa May had previously rejected as unacceptable. In fact, because it removed the all-UK backstop that May negotiated, which was unpopular with many member states because it gave the whole of the UK access to the EU market without a commitment to abide by all its rules, Johnsons deal was actually more popular in Brussels.

Despite this, the simple fact of his having come up with a new agreement contributed significantly to the success of an election campaign centred on Johnsons ability to get Brexit done. So much of the current debate concerns the dangers of the failure to reach a trade deal that securing any agreement at all will again be seen as a triumph. This is just as well for Johnson. Given the time constraints and the current positions of both sides, its hard to imagine that any agreement will amount to more than a thin free-trade agreement encompassing tariffs and quotas for goods. Any deal likely to be secured by the end of October (the deadline set by Barnier to give the EU and the member states time to ratify it) would exclude a number of areas of current co-operation. The EU provides the framework for cross-national collaboration on issues from foreign policy to defence to operations dealing with terrorism and organised crime. It is hard to see agreement being reached on all of them in the time remaining. Continued discussion will be necessary either bilaterally with key member states (defence collaboration with France, for example), or with the EU well after the end of formal negotiations. If talks were to break down in the autumn, trade would revert to WTO terms, leading to disruptions at borders, higher prices, and possibly shortages. In these circumstances, it is hard to imagine how anything approaching constructive dialogue could take place.

Either a thin trade deal or no deal at all would have significant repercussions for the domestic economy. Any deal that involves the removal of tariffs and quotas will ease trade in goods. But it will not, even for manufacturers, mean a continuation of the status quo. EU rules of origin were described as amounting to a hidden hard Brexit in a recent report for the Food and Drink Federation and the National Association of British and Irish Flour Millers. The report notes that UK and EU food and drink manufacturers may find that the products they make with imported commodities for the current EU/UK market will not meet origin requirements for preferential trade between the two. They give as an example such ingredients as tropical fruits, which currently have no bearing on a products right to be traded freely between the EU and the UK, and French wheat used in a UK biscuit. Rules of origin will certainly complicate trade with the EU and, along with checks to ensure conformity with EU standards, will impede the free flow of trade across the UK-EU border.

These border checks will also mean that the just in time supply chains used by the car industry, for example, will no longer be practicable. Honda has estimated that a 15-minute delay at the border will add around 850,000 to its annual costs. HMRC estimates that customs declarations will cost businesses around 15 billion a year, while fulfilling rules of origin requirements will add another 5.5-6 billion. On top of this are the costs associated with ensuring compliance with EU standards costs in terms of the delays imposed by checks and the need to seek EU as well as national approval. The UK will no longer, for instance, be able to grant type-approval for cars confirming that they reach specified performance standards intended for the EU market.

Thats just for goods. Services make up 80 per cent of the British economy and 40 per cent of the UKs services exports go to the EU. Here, the impact looks likely to be even greater. To facilitate trade in services, governments generally have to agree to align their domestic regulations: passporting allows British financial services firms to operate across the Continent. Mutual recognition of qualifications means a British architect can get a job in Lisbon as easily as in Liverpool. Freedom of movement allows firms to send their staff to work in other member states. All these arrangements will come to an end on 31 December. As Frost intimated, regulatory alignment is anathema to a government that sees regulatory independence as a principal reason for leaving the EU. Ending freedom of movement was one of the central demands of the Leave campaign. The EU, meanwhile, has made it clear that it sees no reason to allow the UK to keep the bits of the existing system it finds useful such as the mutual recognition of qualifications while opting out of others. Documents recently published by the European Commission outlining preparations for Brexit make it clear that while Brussels will continue to allow the City of London access to European customers where there are possible risks to financial stability, its aim is that such business will sooner or later be based within the Union.

The modelling done by my institute, UK in a Changing Europe, estimates that the negative impact over ten years of the kind of deal currently being negotiated would be of the order of 6.4 per cent of GDP. This is in contrast to 4.9 per cent for Mays deal and 8.1 per cent for no deal. Our most optimistic scenario suggests that a Brexit deal will leave the public finances 16 billion worse off (49 billion in our most pessimistic scenario, about the same size as the budget for the Ministry of Defence, and more than twice the long-term increase in funding for the NHS announced in 2018).

The pandemic itself will of course have an enormous impact on the economy. And there are some who see an opportunity here. The scale of the problems caused by Covid-19 might help disguise the impact of Brexit. With supply chains already badly affected, a steep rise in unemployment widely expected, and the focus being on restarting the economy as quickly as possible, there couldnt be a better opportunity to mask the disruption caused by the end of the transition period. It may indeed make sense to bundle the private sector adaptations needed to cope with the pandemic together with those required to adjust to a new form of trade with the EU. Yet its something of a gamble. For one thing, Brexit will affect the economy differently from the way the virus has affected it. The retail and hospitality sectors have suffered the brunt of the impact of the virus, but sectors such as the pharmaceutical industry are the ones that stand to be worst hit by Brexit. Although some areas of economic activity, such as food supply chains, weathered Covid-19 impressively after early problems, the border checks imposed by Brexit may well achieve what the pandemic could not, and cause disruptions to supply.

Economic policy will be the single greatest concern of both the government and the electorate for some time to come, but Conservative MPs are far from united on the appropriate response. The new chancellor, Rishi Sunak, claims to be unencumbered by dogma, but his predecessor, Sajid Javid, has admitted being concerned about the level of national debt; and Andrea Leadsom, until recently Johnsons secretary for business, energy and industrial strategy, says that current levels of government spending make her uneasy. While the voters who propelled Johnson to power last December were mostly socially conservative Leavers, they werent in agreement about economic policy. Of the voters many of them in red wall seats who switched in 2019 from Labour to the Tories, 84 per cent believe there is one law for the rich, another for the poor, compared to 22 per cent of Tory Party members and 5 per cent of Conservative MPs. Asked whether management will take advantage of workers, 78 per cent of Labour to Tory switchers agreed; the figure for Conservative MPs was again 5 per cent.

Expectations in those new Conservative seats have been raised by Johnsons rhetoric about levelling up the country. Even if this ambition is sincere, its hard to see him making any progress with it. For one thing, Covid-19 will have an unevenly distributed impact on the economy. The parts of the country worst hit by post-pandemic job losses are likely to be in precisely those left behind areas with lots of low-skilled jobs in retail and manufacturing. And then theres Brexit. Here too there is likely to be a significant correlation between the scale of the economic impact on regions and their relative wealth. Some forecasts suggest that Leave-voting areas will be the worst affected by Brexit because their economies are disproportionately dependent on trade with the EU. Meanwhile, support for Scottish independence is up to 55 per cent. It may yet turn out that this is the consequence of Brexit that consumes the largest amount of the governments time over the next few years.

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Anand Menon In case you'd forgotten: Will there be a Brexit deal? LRB 13 August 2020 - London Review of Books

Scottish independence: Is it becoming as divisive and toxic as Brexit? – Asian Image

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A few weeks prior to the Scottish independence referendum in September 2014, I travelled on a train from Glasgow to London, with a Sri Lankan colleague.

Shortly into the journey, we overheard a lively argument coming from the table opposite, on whether Scotland should remain as part of the UK or not?

My colleague looked at me and stated if such a debate had taken place on public transport in Colombo or Kandy heads would have been cut off.

Six years ago, not a single shot was fired in anger when Scots decided against becoming an independent nation. The turnout was a record 84.6%. A generation of young people were politically engaged as 16 and 17-year-olds were also allowed to vote. The Scottish independence referendum was a festival of politics compared with the horror show of Brexit.

Although there was no civil unrest, it would be foolish to downplay the tension caused by giving the public the opportunity to answer - should Scotland be an independent country? This specific question had led to disagreements between friends, families, work colleagues, which to this day have not completely healed.

Interested observers around the world would have looked on with either astonishment or admiration that the UK Government, through the Edinburgh Agreement gave the Scottish Government the necessary powers for a legally binding referendum to take place.

Imagine the Indian or Spanish Governments following a similar example and agreeing for ballots to take place in Kashmir or Catalonia. Hell would have to freeze over before that happens.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) has been in power since 2007 and Brexit has given the Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, added justification to push for a second referendum.

Although the decision to leave the EU was a UK whole vote, Scotland backed Remain by 62%. However Prime Minister Boris Johnson is adamant that he will not give the necessary authority for one to take place?Recent polls show that the majority of Scots favour independence.

How will a second Scottish independence referendum fare? Will it be a carnival of political engagement again or will it be divisive and toxic as Brexit?

Police Scotland has expressed great concern that any future independence debate could be hijacked by bigots.Moreover whilst immigration dominated the Brexit vote, such a subject was on the periphery during the Scottish referendum. However, there are some signs that such a topic could become more prominent if and when Scotland decides its future again.

The killing of George Floyd in the US placed the spotlight again on Sheku Bayoh who died in police custody in Scotland. According to his family racism was a factor in his death.

On two separate occasions in June this year riot police converged on to Glasgows George Square to separate Black Lives Matters activists and those welcoming refugees from members of the National Defence League who claimed to be defending statues. Nicola Sturgeon strongly condemned racist thugs and described the scenes from the heart of the countrys largest city as disgraceful.

Speaking at the Scottish Parliament the Justice Minister Humza Yousaf and Labours Anas Sarwar provoked a wider debate about the lack of ethnic minority representation in Scottish society. Both were at the receiving end of vitriolic online abuse.

The debate on immigration or race is not restricted to minority communities or EU nationals. Last month Nicola Sturgeon stated that the Scottish Government could close the border between England and Scotland to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Videos emerged online of a small group of pro-independence supporters, protesting close to the border, waving Scottish flags and displaying banners, reading keep Scotland Covid Free and England out of Scotland. On another video a protestor was telling visitors to stay the f**k away.

Opposition politicians described such scenes as disgraceful and ones that would damage the Scottish tourist industry. Others claimed that protestors were inspired by comments made by SNP politicians.

On social media Humza Yousaf wrote: If you are a racist you are no friend of mine and no part of the [independence] movement I belong to. Horrible, reprehensible and vile. Luckily these morons dont represent the Scotland I know and love.

More recently a former founding member of a grassroots independence group, All Under One Banner, claimed the movement had been damaged by anti-English racists.

Whichever side wins, should a second vote take place, is likely to find the country more divided with the prospect of unifying its people a very difficult proposition.

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Scottish independence: Is it becoming as divisive and toxic as Brexit? - Asian Image

Brexit checklist warns of inevitable red tape for exports and imports – Cambridge Independent

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Brexit - a trading impasse looms

Quietly, relentlessly, the UK appears to be being shepherded into crashing out of the European Union with no trading deal in place at the end of the year.

While the consequences of this process are still being largely successfully shielded from the general public, the business community cant afford to postpone the crucial decisions which need to be made - and whether there is a deal or not, these will still include tariffs, taxes and licenses, says Access to Export.

The Linton-based advisory company has prepared a Brexit International Trade Preparation Checklist for the Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce - and the terrible waste of time that Brexit has involved is laid bare in all its gory detail.

Even with a good deal in the EU-UK negotiations, Access to Export warns UK businesses will be paying tariffs to export and import goods both at the send stage and the receive stage from January 1.

Every companys situation will be different, says Access to Export managing director Chris Willers, so we have used our wealth of hands-on worldwide international trade experience to put together this comprehensive international trade checklist.

The checklist includes a series of questions that every trader should ask themselves. Each trader needs to be able to answer each question to ensure they are properly prepared for trade with the EU from January 1 onwards.

Access to Export was founded in 1999 and has an office in Linton and another in Southampton. The report took two weeks to compile, says managing director Chris Willers.

The Brexit International Trade Preparation Checklist summarises and crystallises a lot of the information being published by the government.

The report confirms that every single order will require contract-specific negotiations between the buyer and seller including on freight, insurance, customs export declarations, customs clearance responsibilities, payment and licenses.

The facts include:

- Goods will be subject to customs procedures

- Exports will be subject to duty and taxes at destination

- Import/export documentation will be required

- Import VAT will be payable

- Import tariffs may apply if there is no trade deal

From an international trading viewpoint it all depends on the outcome of trade negotiations between the EU and the UK government, says Chris. The UK government is trying to achieve a free trade agreement so goods can move as they did which means no incoming taxes but goods will still have to go through customs.

Are there any benefits to trading with the EU without being in the EU?

From an international trading perspective there arent really any trading advantages to Brexit, says Chris. We might manage to maintain the status quo in terms of having no import or export taxes, but what there will be is that goods entering or leaving the UK will have to go through a customs process where they dont at the moment.

Everyone is worried about a second wave at the moment, says Chambers chief executive John Bridge, but that might not be Covid-19, it might be Brexit.

Brexit is stark reality. People are beginning to understand what it means in terms of documentation. Its not just the UK there are businesses in France and Germany who are as concerned if no more so about interruptions.

Meanwhile the furlough scheme will cease at the end of October, andJohn Bridge OBE, chief executiveof the Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce, says it has already proved its value.

Its been really good, he says. HMRC set the scheme up quickly and the payments have been really prompt. It hasnt saved every job but its saved a lot of jobs.

On August 1, the government ceased paying 80 per cent of salary: it now pays 80 per cent of salary minus National Insurance and pension (a cut of around five per cent).

From September 1, the furlough drops off to 70 per cent of salary, with employers expected to make up the extra 10 per cent or more to qualify.

After October 1, the government pays 60 per cent of salary, also on condition that the employer tops that up to 80 per cent.

Theres a lot of people falling between stools and not getting any financial support, notes John.

The next Chambers meeting is on August 27, with the Minister for Employment, Mims Davies, as the special guest. Job challenges stemming from the pandemic and leaving the EU will be discussed. The minister will provide updates on government employment support initiatives, including Kickstart.

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Brexit checklist warns of inevitable red tape for exports and imports - Cambridge Independent

Bank of England cautiously upbeat on UK economy, banks and… Brexit – Euronews

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The Bank of England (BoE) has predicted that the economic downturn in the UK economy might be less severe than it thought at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

British banks also have enough capital to keep lending to businesses and absorb the huge losses likely to result from the pandemic, the BoE said.

There is also confidence regarding the impact of Brexit on the UK's financial services once the transition period expires at the end of the year.

The central bank says that in the event of no deal being reached between the UK and the EU, most risks to stability "have been mitigated". But it adds that "some disruption is possible", "further action is needed" and the full impact cannot be anticipated.

The relatively upbeat assessments come in two reports published by the bank on Thursday.

The BoE warns, however, that it could take a longer time for the economy to return to its pre-covonavirus size -- and that amid high uncertainty the banking system might struggle in the face of "severe economic outcomes".

The central bank opened the door to providing more monetary stimulus as Britain reopens after the pandemic lockdowns. Its Financial Policy Committee (FPC) warned that defensive action like scaling back on lending would be costly to both banks and the wider economy.

"It remains the FPCs judgement that banks have the capacity, and it is in the collective interest of the banking system, to continue to support businesses and households through this period," the committee said.

The BoE estimates that the economy probably shrank by 23% in the second quarter but is already recovering. Its prediction of a 9.5% overall contraction in the economy for 2020 was more optimistic than its forecast in May for a 14% drop.

However, it says the economy probably wont return to pre-pandemic levels until the end of 2021 as spending by consumers and businesses remains weak.

Committee minutes show there is concern about rising rates of unemployment, which it's feared could prove to be more persistent than expected. The jobless rate is forecast to rise to 7.5% this year, from 3.75% in 2019.

"The outlook for the UK and global economies remains unusually uncertain," the bank said in a statement. "It will depend critically on the evolution of the pandemic, measures taken to protect public health, and how governments, households and businesses respond to these."

"Weve got huge uncertainty and a very big downside risk," warned Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey.

The BoEs Monetary Policy Committee kept its benchmark interest rate at a record low of 0.1%.

Some analysts were surprised by the central banks assessments.

"The Bank of Englands overly optimistic updated economic projections leave the door wide open for more monetary stimulus later this year,'" wrote Kallum Pickering, senior economist at Berenberg bank, in a note that began with the headline "Verging on unrealistic".

"Relative to the obvious challenges ahead linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighted by the recent re-imposition of modest containment measures in major parts of the UK, the V-shaped recovery that the Bank of England continues to project seems unlikely, to put it mildly."

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Bank of England cautiously upbeat on UK economy, banks and... Brexit - Euronews

South Korean Highways Will Have Blockchain-Powered Toll Payments – Cointelegraph

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KEB Hana Bank, one of the biggest commercial banks in South Korea, reached an agreement with the state-backed highway operator, the Korea Expressway Corporation, to bring blockchain-based toll payments system across the nations highways.

According to D Daily, the project is expected to launch before the end of the year. The system will connect KEB Hanas smartphone banking app, Hana One Q, for motorists to arrange their toll payments, defer them, or even receive toll fee refunds.

The report states that both parties involved in the deal reached to implement the blockchain solution aim to remove the cash-based or credit card payments, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic that encourages them to offer contactless solutions.

The Korea Expressway Corporation and KEB Hana Bank want to use blockchain to share data to strengthen synergies along with the payment system project.

Kwang-Ho Lee, head of the sales division at Korea Expressway Corporation, commented on the announcement:

"We will continue to expand customized non-face-to-face (contactless) services to the public by applying blockchain technology, which is part of the Korean version of the digital new deal policy to lead the global economy after the coronavirus."

The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet & Security Agency approved the deal. KEB Hana also got a nod for its blockchain mobile electronic verification program from the same agencies last year.

Recently, the South Korean government unveiled its intent to invest over $48.2 billion in Blockchain and other Industry 4.0 technologies by 2025. The nations goal is to promote the digitization of all industries in the coming post-pandemic era.

Andong, a city in the Gyeongbuk province of South Korea, announced on July 7 that theyd been granted a permit to operate a free trade zone for industrial hemp.

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South Korean Highways Will Have Blockchain-Powered Toll Payments - Cointelegraph

China Registers Over 10,000 New Blockchain Firms This Year – Finance Magnates

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Despite the impact of COVID-19 pandemic across most of the industries globally, the blockchain sector in China is booming. According to decentralized data provider LongHash, more than 10,000 new blockchain companies were registered in China so far this year.

Only been seven months into the year, and the fresh registration figure is already third-highest, only behind the previous two years.

The Most Diverse Audience to Date at FMLS 2020 Where Finance Meets Innovation

China saw the setting up of the maximum number of blockchain companies in 2018 as the number hit 2019, but at the present growth rate, the number of newly registered companies will surpass that year, the crypto data platform pointed out.

In total, there are now 84,410 registered blockchain companies in China, out of which, only 29,340 are operational. Most of these startups are concentrated in the countrys Southeastern province of the Guangdong Province, following the southwestern Yunnan Province.

However, it is interesting to note that most of these blockchain startups had been set up with small capital as the report highlighted that most of these companies were registered only with 5,000 yuan (around $717). A few of these startups, however, has a registered capital of over 50,000 yuan ($7,175).

Though China banned cryptocurrency trading and initial coin offering in 2017, the blockchain industry showed no signs of a slowdown, rather it expanded significantly.

The Chinese government is also streamlining the regulations around the decade-old industry as earlier this year, the congress reviewed specialized blockchain development fund that proposed to encourage blockchain innovation, grow a variety of blockchain enterprises, and to cultivate several blockchain unicorns.

The country also recognized 224 blockchain projects involving some of the tech giants like Baidu and Walmart. The central bank of the country also pushing the launch of digital yuan and is also engaged in a few other blockchain-based projects.

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China Registers Over 10,000 New Blockchain Firms This Year - Finance Magnates

Coronavirus, Brexit, negative rates. What’s the biggest risk to my Stocks and Shares ISA? – Yahoo Finance UK

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Like me, you might be finding that the days are going slowly, but the months are flying by. To that end, were in August, with several risk events on the horizon through to the end of the year. Theyll impact our lives in different ways, as well as our investments. For most of us, that includes our Stocks and Shares ISA. Its the tool most of us use to house our stocks in the most tax-efficient way. With an allowance of 20,000 per year, its likely you hold most (if not all) of your stocks and shares within the ISA.

Your Stocks and Shares ISA has already survived the stock market crash in March. The risk event that caused this was the closing down of economies due to the coronavirus. With lockdown being enforced around the world, consumer spending dried up. This was compounded by a lack of social interaction and travel. With the exception of firms offering basic necessities, the pandemic negatively impacted revenue for most FTSE 100 businesses.

For most of April, the UK was registering new case numbers of at least 4,000 per day. This is now down to around 700 per day. This move lower has been well correlated with the FTSE 100 index rallying from the lows seen towards the end of the first quarter. So its logical to think that a second wave of the virus could pose a big risk for the stocks within your ISA. Yet, given that the second wave of the virus is not confirmed, I dont believe its the largest risk to my ISA for the rest of the year.

This turns me to Brexit. This is a very real risk, given that theres a hard deadline at the end of this year. The UK government have made it clear they want to get a deal done before December. As we saw at the back end of last year, the FTSE 100 is very sensitive to Brexit headlines. This is especially true when things come down to the wire.

One other risk that I think could start to come on investors radars soon is negative interest rates. Current rates stand at 0.1%, but with the economy struggling, there is a lot of chatter about taking rates below zero. This isnt unheard of; Europe has been in this situation of negative rates for several years. This could be a definite short-term risk to stocks within the ISA, as it gives the impression that the economy is really struggling. But in the longer term, this risk could turn into a positive. Firms will be able to borrow money at cheaper levels, and more people are likely to invest in stocks given the opportunity cost of holding cash.

You may disagree with me on the above risks, and the priority of them. Its very subjective! But the main takeaway from this is that you need to keep a close eye on your Stocks and Shares ISA. Not only this, but the volatility well likely see from any of the above risks materialising could present an opportunity to buy. Ive outlined one FTSE 100 bargain Id considering buying already due to the coronavirus here.

The post Coronavirus, Brexit, negative rates. Whats the biggest risk to my Stocks and Shares ISA? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

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jonathansmith1 has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

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Coronavirus, Brexit, negative rates. What's the biggest risk to my Stocks and Shares ISA? - Yahoo Finance UK

Fascinating Examples Of How Blockchain Is Used In Insurance, Banking And Travel – Forbes

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Blockchain technology promises to revolutionize many aspects of how we do business and, if you believe the blockchain hype (of which there is plenty), may even be as disruptive as the internet was before it.

Fascinating Examples Of How Blockchain Is Used In Insurance, Banking And Travel

Despite this, practical, real-world examples of blockchain technology can be a little thin on the ground and that makes it harder for businesses to envision how they might implement the technology in the future. In this article, I look at three industries that are realizing tangible benefits from blockchains, potentially leading the way for other industries to follow.

A (very) brief overview of blockchains

Ive written a more detailed blockchain explainer elsewhere, so I'll try to keep this overview brief. Blockchain technology promises a practical solution to the challenges of storing, managing, and protecting data. It provides a useful and highly secure way of authenticating information, identities, transactions, and more creating a super-secure record that can be updated in real-time.

A blockchain, therefore, is basically a way of storing data. To put it in more technical terms, its a form of open, distributed ledger (like a database), where the data is distributed (duplicated) across many computers. The ledger may be decentralized (i.e., with no one central administrator), and information may be authenticated via a peer-to-peer system.

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are perhaps the best-known examples of blockchain technology in action. But pretty much anything can be stored on a blockchain, from financial transactions and contracts to supply chain information and medical data. In theory, any process of recording, overseeing, and verifying information could be enhanced by blockchain technology.

Blockchain in action

It may seem like theres been a lot of hype about blockchain for several years without the technology really getting off the ground. But thats a little unfair. Its important to remember this technology is still in its infancy like the early days of the internet and we dont yet know the true scale of transformation that blockchain may bring.

These industries, however, are investing heavily in blockchain technology and showing how blockchain could be put to very practical use across a wide range of sectors. Lets take a look.

Blockchain and insurance

We already know from Bitcoin that blockchain is great at facilitating transactions, but it can also be used to formalize commercial relationships through smart contracts. This promises to revolutionize the insurance industry by helping to automate processes, facilitate smooth claims, and cut insurance fraud.

For example, Insurwave is a blockchain-based marine hull insurance platform. The result of a collaboration between companies like A.P.Moller-MaerskGroup, ACORD, and Microsoft, the platform was projected to facilitate 500,000 automated transactions and handle risk for more than 1,000 commercial vessels in its first 12 months. Insurwave provides vital real-time information to insurers and insurees, including ship location, condition, and safety hazards. So if a ship enters a high-risk area, the system detects this and factors it into insurance calculations.

In another example, Nationwide insurance company is trialing a proof-of-insurance blockchain solution called RiskBlock that would allow law enforcement and other insurers to verify insurance coverage in real-time.

Blockchain and banking

With blockchains reputation for making secure transactions easy, it makes sense that the banking industry is exploring many blockchain uses. In particular, blockchain is being rolled out as a way to validate identities and detect fraud, in line with Know Your Customer (KYC) rules.

Blockchain-based startup Bluzelle worked with KMPG and a consortium of banks in Singapore, including HSBC, to develop a KYC platform. The project showed that not only could blockchain cut the risk of ID fraud, it could also cut costs by 25 to 50 percent, by reducing duplication and providing a clear audit trail.

Elsewhere, Barclays has launched a number of blockchain initiatives for tracking financial transactions, compliance, and fraud. The company is so convinced of the merits of blockchain; it's described the technology as a "new operating system for the planet."

Blockchain and travel

The travel industry might seem a surprising companion to insurance and banking. But, if you think about it, blockchains way of facilitating peer-to-peer transactions could prove a major disruptor for the travel industry. The popularity of Airbnb shows how consumers are more than happy to cut out the middleman and go straight to hosts for accommodation. With blockchain, you dont even need an intermediary platform like Airbnb to facilitate the transaction the blockchain would handle it all. So, if I were in the travel business, Id be watching blockchain very closely.

Perhaps thats why hotel aggregator GOeureka is using blockchain to increase transparency and cut costs by giving users access to 400,000 hotel rooms with no middleman commission costs. TUI Group is also investing in blockchain technology, with an eye on eventually eliminating the need for intermediaries like Expedia.

Elsewhere, blockchain is being used to reduce some of the common bugbears around traveling, like waiting in line at passport control and customs. Consulting firm Accenture has collaborated with the World Economic Forum to develop the Known Traveler Digital Identity System. The blockchain-based system collects and stores identifying information from frequent travelers, which helps improve the flow of data between travelers and customs officials, while reducing lines at the airport.

Although it may take years for blockchains to become commonplace, these examples show how blockchain can be used to automate business processes, provide better value for customers, improve data security, and more. Watch this space as other industries follow suit.

Blockchain is just one of 25 technology trends that I believe will transform our society. Read more about these key trends including plenty of real-world examples in my new book, Tech Trends in Practice: The 25 Technologies That Are Driving The 4th Industrial Revolution.

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Fascinating Examples Of How Blockchain Is Used In Insurance, Banking And Travel - Forbes

‘It’s environmental vandalism – they’re spoiling the countryside’ – Kent Online

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Plans to store piles of earth in a field next to the site of a post-Brexit lorry park have been described as "environmental vandalism" by angry residents.

The Department for Transport wants to put soil on land alongside its newly-acquired 27-acre plot in Ashford as it continues to work on the controversial holding area project for up to 2,000 trucks.

Bosses say they plan to keep the height of soil stockpiles to a minimum, but frustrated neighbours say storing earth in the field near Junction 10a of the M20 is not welcome.

The government sent a letter to residents on Friday explaining the Sevington works, which will see part of the hedgerow in Highfield Lane removed to create an access point.

But parish councillor Stewart Ross, who lives nearby in Kingsford Street, says bosses are "spoiling the countryside".

"It's environmental vandalism," he said.

"They are dumping it on what is effectively a virgin field - crops are growing on it at the moment but it will be no use to man or beast once they've put poor quality soil on it.

"The worry is that it is the thin end of the wedge."

Residents living in Mersham have long feared the land which separates the village from the lorry park site would be developed.

Mr Ross, who has lived in Mersham for 35 years, added: "The land is not in Ashford Borough Council's Local Plan and we want assurances from the government that the land will not be developed.

"I think there is general concern about what is going to happen because the government seems to be ploughing on without any real consultation.

"The communication has been very poor.

"You would have thought they would hold a public meeting to relay to residents what they are planning to do, but there has been nothing like that at all.

"It has all been done very stealthily."

On Saturday, the Village Alliance campaign group launched a petition calling for a green buffer zone to be created on land between Mersham and the lorry park site part of which is where the government now wants to store the topsoil.

The group is urging Ashford Borough Council (ABC) to use its strategic gap in perpetuity policy, which protects ancient settlements and countryside from encroachment.

But in the letter sent to residents on Friday, Haroona Chughtai, deputy director of the 'future EU roads relationship', said "there is no planned development" for the land, which is to the east of the lorry park.

He said: "However, you will start to see movement of vehicles and machinery over the coming months on that parcel of land starting from Wednesday in a limited capacity as the Department for Transport intends to store topsoil from the western parcel on it temporarily, limited to 12 months.

"The department is very conscious of any potential visual impact that storing a significant amount of earth and therefore our plan is to keep the height of soil stockpiles to a minimum wherever possible.

"To transport the material from west to east, the plan is to crossover at certain sections of hedgerow running down Highfield Lane.

"We are not yet in a position to do so due to ecological reasons, and so in the meantime this will be achieved by using the turning circle at the northern end of Highfield Lane through an existing access from the west field to the east."

When built, the DfT is planning "two primary uses" for the Sevington site - a temporary lorry holding area in case there is disruption at Dover and as a border control post to check truckers have the correct paperwork.

Bosses say they won't need to submit a planning application to Ashford Borough Council, but will use a Special Development Order (SDO) instead, which allows the Secretary of State to grant planning permission.

To sign the Village Alliance's green buffer zone petition, visit bit.ly/31GtkkU

Signed petition forms can be left at Mersham Village Stores, The Royal Oak or the Farriers Arms until Sunday, August 30.

If you need your form collecting, or any further information, phone 07732 382624.

Signed petitions can also be sent to thevillageallianceTVA@gmail.com

If residents have any queries about the planned works at the MOJO site, they should email RoadsEUExit@dtf.gov.uk

How is Brexit going to affect Kent? For all the latest news, views and analysis visit our dedicated page here

Read more: All the latest news from Ashford

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'It's environmental vandalism - they're spoiling the countryside' - Kent Online

Europe is finally coming to terms with Brexit – Spectator.co.uk

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An article in the Dutch, left-leaning newspaper Het Parool led with the headline Despite Brexit, multinationals prefer London over Amsterdam or Paris this week. The piece reports that the feared exit [of companies] from Great Britain is not happening as expected, and highlights the fact that Unilever decided to:

Reportedly, the opportunity offered by Londons capital markets trumps any risks resulting from Brexit, an element that could also play a role in Shell possibly moving its headquarters from the Netherlands to the UK.

The article goes on to point out that despite relocations by some major companies (such as Dyson, Honda and Panasonic) firms have not rushed to leave Britain. At least 1,441 companies have even recently moved to the UK, according to official statistics published in November.

Goldman Sachs has recently decided to build a new 1 billion headquarters in London and city firms are less worried about Brexit, having spent millions of pounds on precautions for any negative consequences. Before the pandemic, the IMF issued a prediction that the UK economy would outpace the eurozone for the first two years after Brexit, concluding that despite the risk of no deal, Great Britain remains a magnet for capital, even in the eye of a storm.

Notably, the article adds that:

The presence of Prime Minister Boris Johnson is reassuring, despite his actions during the pandemic that are a cause for concern. As opposed to his predecessor, Theresa May, he does get along with business. He is opposed to regulation and for free trade. Multinationals now also fear theLabour party less, since the moderate Keir Starmer was chosen as its leader.

Analyses like this demonstrate that mainland Europe is now finally coming to terms with Brexit, based on facts on the ground.

There is, however, an import caveat: it still matters what kind of trade arrangement the UK agrees with the EU before 1 January. Will the UK manage to reconcile regulatory and trade sovereignty with maintaining access to Continental markets? Will it manage to compensate the unavoidable loss of a degree of market access with competitive measures, such as the creation of freeports? We need to wait to find out.

An outstanding question in the ongoing negotiations is to what extent the EU will drop its insistence on level playing field minimum standards for UK regulations, in return for continued market access to UK businesses. A ban on state aid is part of the level playing field, but the EU has just signaled some flexibility on this.

Given the way the EU Commission often reinterprets tax breaks as state aid, this is a welcome development. A compromise could be the creation of a dispute resolution mechanism on any state aid granted to UK companies, instead of obliging London to follow EU rules straight away. This concept should perhaps also be applied to market access more generally. The UK could agree that after December, it will continue maintaining all EU rules it has taken over in domestic legislation, but pledge to notify the EU every time it intends to issue divergent regulation. This concession should of course depend on the EU granting a lot more market access than it has offered so far.

In this way, cliff edges, tariffs and economic damage could be avoided at the end of the year. Involving the EU in the British legislative process could also help inform UK lawmakers about how they can minimise the loss of market access when diverging from EU regulation. When it comes to chemicals, the UK government may simply opt to shy away from different standards for chemical products, due to the importance of the EU market. While on digital innovation, the UK may decide it isnt worth constraining British innovators with GDPR and other similar innovation-killing regulatory straitjackets, and diverge from the EU.

In July, the UK compromised by accepting an overall governance framework, rather than a patchwork of sector-by-sector deals, and the EU side moved at least according to Brexit negotiator David Frost on the role of the European Court of Justice. If the two sides manage to sort their level playing field issues, only fisheries access remains as the last big sticking point. An EU diplomat has told Reuters that fisheries won't wreck the whole thing, which is probably right, if only because the UK wouldnt be able to consume all the fish it is entitled to catch in its own waters.

With all of this out of the way, both the EU and the UK can then focus on recovering from the massive and ongoing damage inflicted by the pandemic.

Now that Europeans are finally coming around to the idea that Brexit wont be the complete disaster many of them originally predicted and that post-Brexit Britain wont be the desperately dependent and helpless island they envisioned, they should be more willing to engage in the talks.

Pieter Cleppe is a non-resident fellow of the Property Rights Alliance, based in Brussels. @pietercleppe

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Europe is finally coming to terms with Brexit - Spectator.co.uk

The next Tory rebellion could be on Brexit as some MPs turn against withdrawal agreement – iNews

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Boris Johnson seemed to have ended the Conservative partys agonies over Brexit last year by negotiating a new withdrawal agreement with the EU, and winning the backing of every single Tory MP at least once a rump of rebellious Remainers had been purged.

The hardline Brexiteers who brought down Theresa May over fears her Brexit deal would leave the UK in Brussels orbit indefinitely, could have been expected to kick up a fuss over her successors replacement agreement. While it ditched the backstop arrangement they so hated, it was full of other provisions previously opposed by Eurosceptics, such as a hefty divorce payment.

Whats more, the new withdrawal agreement creates a border in the Irish Sea with customs and regulatory checks on goods crossing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, a provision loathed by the Democratic Unionist Party which was closely allied to the Tory Brexiteers throughout the May era.

Nonetheless, not a single member of the European Research Group voted against the deal, instead hailing Mr Johnson as a political hero for persuading the EU to revisit the original deal. During the general election campaign they took to social media to boast of the oven ready agreement, and after the Conservative victory it was duly passed into law.

Only now, six months after Britain legally left the EU, have MPs begun to kick up a fuss. Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith said this week: Whilst the UK wants to have a good trade relationship with the EU as a sovereign state, the EU has different ideas. They want our money and they want to stop us being a competitor. The withdrawal agreement we signed last year sadly helps them. He pointed specifically to provisions making the UK responsible for part of the EUs loan book, which he claimed could land the Treasury with a 160bn bill.

Last month the Centre for Brexit Policy issued a report, endorsed by veteran backbenchers Bill Cash and Owen Paterson, demanding the wholesale replacement of the withdrawal agreement which it called a poison pill. The think-tank is led by John Longworth, a businessman and ex-MEP who was so enthusiastic about Mr Johnsons deal he left the Brexit Party and joined the Conservatives in order to endorse it.

The irony of senior Brexiteers turning on a deal they once enthusiastically welcomed is palpable, and has been the cause of schadenfreude for some Remainers who are still licking their wounds. But it raises the political stakes for the Prime Minister: after clashing with backbenchers over China and Covid-19, he could find it increasingly tricky to offer any concessions to Brussels in trade negotiations this year, fearing a rebellion from the same people who doomed his predecessors premiership.

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The next Tory rebellion could be on Brexit as some MPs turn against withdrawal agreement - iNews

Germany urges UK to be more ‘realistic’ over Brexit – RTE.ie

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The UKneeds to be more "realistic and pragmatic" in Brexit negotiations with the European Union, Germany's European affairs minister told AFP in an interview.

Expressing deep disappointment over deadlocked negotiations over Britain's future relationship with the bloc, Michael Roth said he was "disappointed that London is shifting further and further away from the political declaration agreed between us as a reliable basis for negotiations".

"I would like those responsible in London to be more realistic and pragmatic. The Brits are known for the latter," he said.

More than four years after the UK voted in a referendum to leave the EU, and after tortuous divorce talks, the two sides are negotiating on all aspects of their ties, from trade to security, from 2021 onwards.

The two key stumbling blocks are access to British fishing waters and the EU's demand that the UKtie itself closely to the bloc's state aid, labour and environmental standards to ensure it does not undercut the EU's single market with poor-quality goods.

The EU says a deal needs to be done by October to allow time for ratification by the end of the year.

Both sides have said the talks may be stalling.

Latest Brexit stories

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Germany urges UK to be more 'realistic' over Brexit - RTE.ie

How will Blockchain affect Medical Billing and Coding? – Healthcare Tech Outlook

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FREMONT, CA:Blockchain has steadily worked its way into modern lexicon and thanks to the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies. But managing digital money is not the only thing blockchain is capable of. Businesses of every size and shape have started implementing this technology. The medical billing industry is no exception, and there are some intriguing applications of blockchain to the process of medical billing and coding. The nature of data matters not for blockchain can offer a way of decentralized recordkeeping and managing. It provides both transparency and security of transactions.

Medical billing facilities face many challenges, and one of them is the complex levels of medical coding that leads to unintentional billing inaccuracies, such as process duplication or incorrect information filings. Blockchain can lower the errors by showing proof of transaction completion, thereby reducing the risk of a second billing for the same service. In addition to unintentional billing errors, there are cases of fraud too. Patients, providers, and insurance companies are all capable of conducting billing fraud. Blockchains decentralized record-holding structure helps with proper payment processing. It provides visibility into all actions and transactions performed. With all billing data recorded inside the blockchain, there is a reliable source of data for claims adjudication. When there is less billing fraud, care costs can stay reduced.

Blockchain systems can also serve to streamline the process of billing itself. When combined with computer-assisted coding methods, the billing process will be optimized. Automation of billing process keeps all accounts up-to-date, working faster than non-automated methods. The reduced level of labor can lower billing costs, and faster processing allows care providers to reduce delays in collecting payments. Data breaches within medical billing lead to millions of lost money for care providers. With improved security through blockchain, providers will lose less money, allowing for better allocation of funds. Blockchain allows for a level of security that meets all compliance standards.

As blockchain technology works its way into the norm, the medical sector will likely start to see more ripples through the billing and coding realm. The exact future of blockchain in medical billing still uncertain, but it is sure to make significant impacts on medical billing and coding procedures.

See also:Top Blockchain Technology Solution Companies

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How will Blockchain affect Medical Billing and Coding? - Healthcare Tech Outlook

CBD blockchain tracing: new levels of transparency and accountability – Health Europa

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In a bid to drive higher levels of transparency and accountability in the EUs CBD industry, the Cannabinoid Association of the Netherlands (CAN), a consortium of Dutch cannabidiol (CBD) producers, has launched CanCheck.org, a free-to-use online CBD search tool that enables consumers to trace CBD products from the shelf to seed, with every link along the supply chain verified by blockchain.

This industry-led initiative comes amid ongoing confusion about the EUs classification of CBD as a novel food, which saw food standards agencies (including the UKs FSA) requesting producers to complete a lengthy and costly application process in order to keep their products on shelves into 2021.

The European Commission has since revised its approach by indicating that the Novel Food Regulation 2015, which introduced the definition of food from the General Food Regulation 178/2002, is no longer applicable to extracts of the cannabis plant, meaning CBD cannot be legally classified as a food and isnt, therefore, governable by the Novel Foods Regulation. As such, the Commission has unofficially put a pause on proceedings while it deliberates its next course of action.

It remains unclear how the UK will react to these developments as it prepares to come out of the European Union and structure its own regulatory environment.

Speaking to the Westminster Food & Nutrition Forum, the FSAs CEO Emily Miles called for closer collaboration with industry to address the challenges of the food system.

CANs blockchain-powered tracing tool is an example of best practice and illustrates how a world-leading CBD regulatory environment can be built in the UK, protecting consumers, and supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Any CBD product bearing the CAN Quality Mark can be traced and its contents verified using the tool. The CanCheck system also contains consistent and clear product composition analysis conducted by accredited laboratories that guarantees:

Accurate levels of CBD, CBA-A, THC (<0.05%) and THC-A (<0.05%)

The absence of contaminants

A full spectrum composition

The CAN Quality Mark guarantees products are correctly labelled, meet strict quality requirements and come from EU approved hemp varieties. Such high levels of transparency will safeguard consumer trust and support the growth of those producers who comply.

Founding CAN member HempFlax, Europes largest industrial hemp processor, is the first to have CAN-certified products on shelves. As the white label supplier to Jacob Hooy, one of the UKs best-selling CBD brands, HempFlaxs CBD oil and capsules represent a significant portion of the UK CBD market and can be found at Holland & Barrett, in-store and online.

Simultaneously, the European Industrial Hemp Association (EIHA), Europes foremost coalition of the industrial hemp-processing industry, recently announced plans to invest 3.5m in CBD and THC testing.

Mark Reinders, CEO of HempFlax, a founding member of CAN and a board member of EIHA commented: By using todays blockchain technology to trace the production of hemp-derived cannabidiol products from shelf to seed, CanCheck will give consumers peace of mind when choosing their CBD products online and in-store. Full traceability, in combination with a strict quality control regime such as CANs, is the only way to ensure product quality and protect consumers. We hope to see this level of transparency adopted by CBD producers worldwide as a trustworthy and accountable natural CBD market begins to take shape.

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CBD blockchain tracing: new levels of transparency and accountability - Health Europa

SEC Looking to Buy a Blockchain Forensics Tool That Analyzes Smart Contracts | News – Bitcoin News

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking for a blockchain forensics tool to help it analyze smart contracts.

In a call for bids to software companies on July 30, the regulator said that the tool must be able to analyze and detail code within blockchains and other distributed ledgers.

It is also looking to identify contract changes performed with administrator passwords, in addition to issues like whitelisted and blacklisted addresses. It also wants to know how token sales funds are disbursed.

The SEC noted that the tool would support its efforts to monitor risk, improve compliance, and inform Commission policy with regard to digital assets.

Firms have until August 13 to submit their proposals. Only companies classified as small businesses those with a value of $30 million or under are being considered for the tender, it said.

SECs desired analysis tool gives it ability to track the movement of crypto transactions more closely, particularly those contracts in the multi-billion-dollar decentralized finance (Defi) industry.

The Commission, which recently awarded a contract to blockchain analytics firm Ciphertrace for its crypto-tracking capabilities, is obviously aiming at becoming a better player in a digital asset industry where it has always been on the backfoot.

According to a notice published in July, the Ciphertrace deal is limited to blockchain forensics and intelligence targeting Binances native coin BNB and all the tokens on the Binance network.

The SEC has had running battles with several crypto companies that include Telegram. Initial coin offerings (ICOs) have also proved to be a sore point for the regulator.

What do you think about the SECs plans to tightly monitor crypto transactions? Let us know in the comments section below.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons

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SEC Looking to Buy a Blockchain Forensics Tool That Analyzes Smart Contracts | News - Bitcoin News

The Successes and Failures of Blockchain in the Data Center – Data Center Knowledge

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The Bitcoin boom may be behind us, but blockchain technology continues to impact the data center colocation industry. Although many of the grandiose visions for running blockchain-related workloads in colocation centers didnt survive the Bitcoin bust, colocation vendors continue to work closely with the blockchain community.

Heres a look at the state of blockchain within the colocation ecosystem, and what the intersection between blockchain and colocation may look like over the long term.

Related: Optimizing Colocation Infrastructure Strategies

Circa 2017, when blockchain technology was being hyped as the solution for everything from trash collection to spacecraft management, much was promised about the potential of blockchain to disrupt, or at least improve, data centers. Blockchain could enhance data center security, we were told. It would enable better capacity planning for infrastructure. It could deliver more reliable data backup.

Like many other blockchain initiatives, these visions for the application of blockchain technology to the data center mostly didnt pan out. They remain intriguing ideas that were never translated into technology.

Related: How Colocation Providers can Gain a Competitive Advantage with Converged Infrastructure Solutions

That was probably due in part to an excess of ambition on the part of blockchain entrepreneurs, who may have overlooked the challenges of implementing next-generation blockchain solutions within a decades-old industry. But it was also likely the result of the general headwinds that have developed in the blockchain space over the past couple of years, as the value of cryptocurrencies plunged, security issues abounded, and large numbers of blockchain startups turned out to be scams. Had the blockchain space as a whole continued to flourish beyond the heady days of late 2017 and early 2018, when the price of Bitcoin peaked and there seemed to be no problem that blockchain could not solve, its easier to imagine the more ambitious blockchain-based solutions for data centers having come to fruition.

Thats not to say, however, that blockchain initiatives within the data center industry have completely failed. Within the colocation ecosystem in particular, blockchain remains alive and well, with colocation providers continuing to cater to companies that want to use colocation facilities to run blockchain workloads.

The relationship between blockchain and colocation stretches back quite a ways. As early as 2014, when Bitcoin was still on the verge of becoming known among the public at large, colocation vendors started accepting payment in Bitcoin. Some of these data center providers later suffered setbacks, when the Bitcoin shakeout came.

Its easy to understand why colocation companies were eager to cater to the blockchain community: They wanted to attract the business of individuals and companies in need of colocation space for running blockchain mining operations. Blockchain mining, which typically involves compute-intensive software hosted on specialized hardware, consumes vast amounts of electricity. The hardware also tends to be quite loud, and it exhausts a lot of heat.

All of these characteristics make blockchain mining hardware a prime candidate for placement in colocation centers, where the equipments owners dont have to worry about noise and heat disruptions. They may also benefit from the lower energy costs that colocation providers can sometimes offer.

Not surprisingly, then, using colocation facilities to host blockchain hardware remains the main use case for blockchain in the data center industry. Colocation vendors like H66 and Compute North specialize in offering colocation space for blockchain mining.

The larger vendors no longer appear to be focusing on blockchain workloads as intensely as these niche providers. However, Equinix has developed a large volume of content about how blockchain may be used in the data center industry. In particular, the company has invested in portraying its Cloud Exchange Fabric (ECX), a software-defined network interconnection platform, as a critical resource for organizations that want to incorporate blockchain-based workloads into distributed or hybrid cloud architectures.

In other words, Equinix promises that its networking solution will allow companies to build a distributed network of blockchain devices or applications -- some running in colocation centers, others in the public cloud, and others on-premises -- that is not constrained by network performance or reliability issues.

For now, its unclear whether anyone is actually using ECX for this purpose. But its nonetheless easy to see how this type of offering adds to the appeal of colocation facilities for organizations that want to run blockchain applications. If you can offload your blockchain hardware to a colocation center while still enjoying a high-performance network connection between the hardware and the rest of your architecture, you have one fewer reason to deal with the hassle of running blockchain workloads on premises.

In short, the most exciting applications for blockchain technology within the data center industry have not come to pass, and they probably never will. But the link between colocation providers and the blockchain community remains strong when it comes to running blockchain miners. Meanwhile, there is a growing opportunity for colocation vendors to offer solutions for incorporating their facilities into distributed networks or hybrid clouds that host blockchain workloads.

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The Successes and Failures of Blockchain in the Data Center - Data Center Knowledge

Does your Startup Really need Blockchain? TechGraph – TechGraph

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To Blockchain or not to Blockchain this is one big question that has been on the minds of startup founders inrecent times. From supply chain monitoring to equity management and cross-border payments, Blockchain has been making its way into multiple areas.

Startups, to meet their growth goals, are jumping onto the Blockchain bandwagon to generate buzz, convince investors, and raise new rounds of funding.

Many startup founders approached us with a common question in the recent past- IsBlockchain the right fit for my startup? That triggered me to help them witha decision tree that will enable pragmatic decision-making in this direction. However, the number of startup founders reaching out to us with this dilemma kept increasing of late, which inspired me to write a detailed article on this.

Whether to adopt Blockchain for your startup is not merely a technological decision but also a business decision. Being the frontliners ofdecision-making, it is crucial for foundersto not fall for the hype but diligentlyanalyze if adopting Blockchain isright from the business perspective even in cases where a well-defined problem exists.

While Blockchains unique properties have forced startup founders to think of it asessential and transformative technology, the business benefitstands firm as a vitalconsideration in this decision. This article will cover both technology and business perspectives that founders need to consider while evaluating Blockchain.

Decision Tree: Evaluating the Technology Fit

Though many research papers feature decision trees to evaluate Blockchain use case feasibility with respect to technology, here is a simplified version of the framework-

Real-LifeUse Cases

For a better understanding of the decision tree,let me take you through some of the real-life use cases across different verticals-

Cost-Benefit Analysis:Evaluating the Business Fit

Every startup founder, who is planning toinvest in Blockchain, should assess the ROI that will come from its implementation. You might be adopting Blockchain as a necessity or a differentiator for your product, but evaluation should always be done from a revenue generation perspective.

You might have to come up with cost-benefit analysis as per your business, but I will help you with an example to better understand the approach. Lets consider the case of food retailers mentioned above, wherein we would compare the high-level costs with different cost components.

Development Cost

If development efforts for building anMVP with traditional centralized system approach were around X man-months, the efforts would be 30-40% higher in case of a Blockchain-based approach, primarily for building Blockchain-based eco-system components. Usually, a Blockchain developer would cost you at least 1.5 times more than developers working on widely used technologies. This would make the development cost of Blockchain2X higher than the tradition application development cost.

Infrastructure Cost

To evaluate the infrastructure cost, lets assume the transaction volume of a few hundred transactions per second (TPS). If for a traditional solution the infrastructure cost is about X per year, it would be the same for a Blockchain-based approach. This is as per an assumption that nearly 8-10 nodes are part of the consortium. It boils down to one inference- Instead of a single party managing all the infrastructure nodes, every member of the consortium should own the node.

With the increasing transaction volume, the traditional approach can scale horizontally; however Blockchain-based solutions face the Scalability Trilemma. This is a famous term coined by Vitalin Buterin that, in layman terms, is akin to the phrase you cant have everything. Businesses should clearly understand which aspect among the three- decentralization, security, and scalability- they intend to optimize and if that is in line with their value proposition.

Other Costs

A few other business efforts required in case of Blockchain-based solution include setting up the consortium, convincing the plausible members regarding benefits of joining the consortium, and expanding it to a level where it can be claimed as safe.Besides, it might also include devising legal rules and regulations to resolve conflicts.

When talking about benefits, a Blockchain-based approach can certainly enable business processes automation using smart contracts. The approach not onlyimproves theoverall process efficiency but also reduces operational costs for the businesses. This report [2] says that using Blockchain canminimize wastage of goods, which can result in savings of nearly 450K Euros annually.

This value far exceeds the initial investment and operational cost that goes into a Blockchain-based solution. When the consortium further grows, the Blockchain-based automation protocols would enable business communities to define industry-wide standards.

Summary

Though it might not have garnered the importance that it deserves, evaluating the feasibility of Blockchainis highly recommended for startup founders. This article aims at busting the Blockchain hype and encouragingin-depth evaluation from an intersection of business and technology perspectives.

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Does your Startup Really need Blockchain? TechGraph - TechGraph

Blockchain In Capital Markets ‘On The Cusp’ Of Acceleration – Markets Media

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Todd McDonald, co-founder of enterprise blockchain software firm R3 , said the use of blockchain in capital markets is on the cusp of some really exciting developments.

Todd McDonald, R3

McDonald told Markets Media: We need to ensure the technology is simple to use for institutional investors and that its why the collaboration with Nasdaq is important. They have experience running a regulated exchange and we are providing something additive to what is out there already.

In April Nasdaq announced a long-term collaboration agreement with R3. The exchanges Market Technology business will use Corda, R3s enterprise blockchain software, to build full trade lifecycle solutions for digital assets marketplaces.

Johan Toll, head of digital assets, Market Technology at Nasdaq, said in a statement: R3s Corda platform will fit well into Nasdaqs technology ecosystem and partnership strategy and allow us to harness the power of scalable design and a new level of interoperability.

Nasdaq said the R3 collaboration will advance the exchanges efforts in helping digital assets marketplaces strengthen transparency standards to align with their capital markets counterparts as they evolve their businesses.

Cathy Minter, chief revenue officer at R3, said in a statement: Financial institutions are becoming increasingly aware of the huge potential for servicing the needs ofdigital assets. We can help them accommodate these assets with solutions that are designed for more secure, reliable and regulated environments.

In June Nasdaq launched the Marketplace Services Platform which allows users to build new marketplaces across the trading lifecycle, from execution through to settlement, custody and payment, by using cloud-based plug and play components.

MarketPlace Services includes a Digital Assets Suite which is agnostic to the underlying digital ledger technology, is multi-cloud and will also be accessible for marketplaces in Microsofts Azure. Nasdaq is working with Digital Asset, R3 and Symbiont to deliver technology through the Marketplace Services Platform to meet the diverse needs and unique models of tokenized and digital assets marketplaces.

Magnus Haglind, Nasdaq

Magnus Haglind, senior vice president and head of product management, Market Technology at Nasdaq, told Markets Mediain July: We are working with firms such as R3 and the digital asset space has matured as vendors are moving into the next phase. We hope the number of partnerships will grow and create a broader ecosystem.

McDonald also pointed to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporations two projects to explore the benefits of digitalization in the public and private markets as being significant.

In May the DTCC unveiled two digital projects. Project Ion will explore accelerating settlement using distributed ledger technology and tokenized securities. Project Whitney is a prototype focused on exploring the potential for asset tokenization and digital infrastructure to support private market securities, from issuance through secondary markets.

McDonald continued that the two key metrics for measuring Cordas progress are volume and value. He said: The level of progress is ramping up and tokenization is an area of big growth.

He said the need to work remotely as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated progress.

The pandemic has shone a light on digital transformation which is in name only and incumbents have accelerated plans, added McDonald.

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Blockchain In Capital Markets 'On The Cusp' Of Acceleration - Markets Media