The IMF and the international financial institutions are preparing reforms of the international monetary system, which must also take into account the double injunction of efficiency (thus of modernity and openness to the world) and of acceptability (thus respect for sovereignty). We have already drawn our readers’ attention to Christine Lagarde’s very important speech last November concerning the creation of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). It is now time to return to this discourse and examine it in the light of the subject that interests us today, namely the future of European private banks. First of all, it is important to note that the proposed revolution involving the digitisation of state currencies is a long-term one since, according to the experts, this solution should not be deployed before 2025-2030. Transformations of this degree take a long time, of course. Moreover, since this speech, there has been a change in attitude concerning cryptocurrencies: Benoît Cœuré, known to have called cryptocurrencies “devils” in November 2018, has now decided, along with his peers, that cryptos do not actually threaten financial stability. Since then, surprise, surprise, cryptocurrencies have taken off.If the big increase of the end of the year 2017 was the result of a real popular success, [...]

The momentum for change is simply breath-taking, as we shall see in this next issue of the GEAB: the invention of new financing systems, the restructuring of the digital world, [...]

Why him? Mukesh Ambani is not an emerging and promising young beginner. On the contrary, the 61-year-old has already made his mark as an Indian business magnate at the head [...]

Since the 2014 Newport Summit, NATO has been proud to have obtained from member states a reaffirmation of the famous principle of 2% of GDP allocated to military spending. But [...]

Investing in silver is not something that all retail investors will immediately consider. The reasons often given for holding back are the high volatility together with some uncertainty as to [...]

We live in an exciting time when elation over long-awaited change is mixed with fear of the risks involved. Our anticipation concerning the reorganisation of the Middle East through the [...]

Bullion and Jewellery For centuries, gold coins and jewellery have been used as small-scale private investments and, for many people today, they remain a good place to start. It must [...]

In terms of trust, gold has a unique profile: it is the only ore that is generally believed to be precious enough to maintain its value over time. Unlike diamonds, [...]

Everyone seems to agree on a soft landing for 2019, if with rather gloomy figures. Landing the Plane is the Goldman Sachs title of their analysis for 2019, although some strategists are [...]

Uncovering false evidence is one of the missions of the GEAB team. At a time when the European Elections campaign is slowly starting to take off, bringing the migration issue [...]

Four major issues have put the central banks and tax administrations on alert: The decentralised character of blockchains: Most blockchains work thanks to a global network of stakeholders, including developers, [...]

Have you noticed that all the efforts to regulate debt, derivatives, banks etc., made following the subprime crisis and meeting with varying degrees of success over the last ten years, [...]

Everyone agrees that, as announced by the International Energy Agency and OPEC, the next peak oil will be around 2025 (2030 for McKinsey), all sectors of production included, whether conventional [...]

If we first look at the number of driving forces, there are a large number, and although some are well known and clear, others are more obscure and less well [...]

The latent financial crisis, the invention of a new world monetary system, the world being shared between China and the United States, American military withdrawal, European disintegration, civil wars and [...]

For most of recorded history, gold has been the central sign and store of wealth and the more abundant silver has been the coinage of the people. This continued as [...]

The French presidential campaign of 2017 saw a truly historic moment with the televised debate between Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron. The debate revealed two main things: the emptiness [...]

On February 15 we drew a parallel between the US-Chinese "trade" negotiations and the historic treaties on world-sharing, such as Tordesillas or Yalta, ideas which now seem to interest some [...]