Your Monday morning coffee briefing from TFG. The Office for National Statistics estimated that 433,300 people in England had COVID-19 in the week ending 16 October, up from 336,500 the previous week. Across Europe many countries including Ireland, Italy, Spain, France, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Greece are under restrictions, curfews or lockdowns following surging infections. The OECD predicted that globally, immigration will fall 46% this year due to COVID-19 restrictions and economic weakness. [/box]
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Services trade drops 30% in Q2 as COVID-19 ravages international travel
Global trade in services in the second quarter of 2020 plunged by a record 30% year-on-year, with the travel sector particularly hard hit by COVID-19 and associated restrictions. Declines in services trade were recorded across all regions and most services sectors except for computer services, which was buoyed by a shift towards remote working and a rising demand for digitalization. Read more →
British manufacturers ready for life outside the EU
The Business in Britain report of 200 large manufacturers found that 81% of businesses have made the necessary preparations for operating outside the bloc. Of the fifth (18%) still unprepared, 83% said COVID-19 had distracted them from putting in place the measures to protect revenues. Read more →
UK and EU to resume talks in final push for post-Brexit trade deal
The EU and UK will embark on an intensified final phase of Brexit talks on Thursday after Britain agreed to lift its block on negotiations, prompting the pound to stage its biggest rally since March. Negotiations had been on ice since last week because of UK prime minister Boris Johnson’s decision to demand a “fundamental” rethink from Brussels before allowing further discussions. Read more →
Spending review dropped amid Covid uncertainty
UK chancellor Rishi Sunak will replace a planned three-year spending review with a one-year allocation due to significant uncertainty over the economic outlook. Mr Sunak announced roughly £11bn in new measures to support the economy, noting that the outlook had deteriorated since his previous announcement in September. Read more →
UK And Japan Sign Historic Free Trade Agreement
The UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) could boost trade between the UK and Japan by over £15 billion and drive economic growth in the long run. The signing of this FTA, and its subsequent ratification, will not only strengthen the UK economy but also help us to build back better from Covid-19. Read more →
Bitpanda and Raiffeisen Bank International partner up to bring blockchain-interoperability to the banking industry
Bitpanda, the leading investment platform, with their blockchain-interoperability project Pantos, announces a partnership with Raiffeisen Bank International AG to implement their technology on RBI Coin, an e-money solution. Pantos’ aim is to enable token projects to be independent of a specific blockchain. Read more →
R3 acquires e-titleTM’s electronic Bill of Lading solution
R3 announced an agreement with E-Title Authority, a Singapore-based software developer, to acquire its legal and technological framework for digitalization of Bill of Lading, the central title document underpinning trade operations globally. The acquired framework will be used to roll out an electronic Bill of Lading (“eBL”) solution Powered by Corda, R3’s leading enterprise blockchain platform. Read more →
