Author: Wamala Sipirian

Emirates NBD has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with American Hospital Dubai and the Mohamed & Obaid Almulla Group to establish an employee banking and financial wellness framework for staff across the partner organizations. The agreement is designed to combine financial education, banking support and employee onboarding services. It reflects a broader trend in the UAE banking market in which financial institutions use corporate relationships to expand their retail customer base while offering employees access to workplace-focused banking services. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The announcement also did not specify the number of employees covered,…

Equifax UK has launched Automated AML Watchlist Monitoring (AWM), a compliance tool designed to help regulated businesses continuously screen customers against sanctions, politically exposed persons (PEPs), relatives and close associates (RCAs), and adverse media sources. The launch comes as UK financial services, insurance and gaming companies face continuing obligations to conduct customer due diligence and monitor relationships for potential money-laundering and financial-crime risks. Equifax developed the product in partnership with data provider NOTO, combining automated screening with a centralized case-management dashboard. The development reflects a broader shift in AML compliance from periodic manual reviews toward technology-enabled, continuous monitoring. For regulated…

International work experience can influence both professional development and personal growth. Living and working in another country exposes people to different workplace practices, cultures, languages and social environments while requiring them to adapt to circumstances that may be unfamiliar. For students, recent graduates and established professionals, an international experience can also add a broader dimension to a career profile. Depending on the role and destination, working abroad may provide exposure to international customers, multinational teams, new technologies, different management practices and overseas markets. The value of international experience, however, depends on the nature of the work and what an individual…

Working in the United States as a foreign national generally requires immigration authorization tied to the type of employment, the applicant’s qualifications and, in many cases, the U.S. employer or organization involved. The U.S. immigration system contains several employment-based visa categories. Some allow temporary employment, while others are designed for foreign nationals seeking permanent residence through employment. The appropriate category depends on factors including the occupation, nationality, employer relationship, qualifications, investment activity and intended duration of stay. Understanding the distinction between temporary and employment-based immigrant visas is an important first step for people considering a move to the United States…

Introduction Graduating from college without professional work experience does not necessarily prevent a person from entering the workforce. Many entry-level positions are designed around transferable skills, academic knowledge and the ability to learn on the job rather than years of previous employment. For recent graduates, the challenge is often identifying positions where limited professional experience is not the primary hiring requirement. Administrative support, customer service, marketing, laboratory work, finance, writing, sales and other fields can provide starting points for a professional career. The source material behind this article identifies 24 entry-level occupations that college graduates can consider with little or…

Introduction Where a worker lives can have a significant effect on employment opportunities, earnings, career mobility and the overall quality of working life. For people considering relocation within the United States, comparing cities requires more than looking at the number of available jobs or average salaries. Indeed Hiring Lab’s Best Cities for Work research evaluates 228 U.S. metropolitan areas with populations of at least 200,000 using six measures: job opportunity, compensation, job quality and security, career mobility and dynamism, work-life balance and flexibility, and economic opportunity. The resulting list places a number of smaller and mid-sized metropolitan areas alongside major…

Introduction UK Shariah-compliant home finance provider StrideUp has reduced pricing across its Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) and Multi-Unit Freehold Block (MUFB) Buy-to-Let Purchase Plans while increasing the procuration fees available to mortgage intermediaries. The pricing changes, effective from 1 August 2026, apply to both two-year and five-year fixed rental terms. Brokers submitting cases directly are eligible for a 0.75% procuration fee, while intermediaries placing business through a network or club can receive 0.80%. The changes come after StrideUp expanded the size of properties eligible for its specialist financing. The company doubled its maximum HMO size to 12 bedrooms and…

Introduction Trading infrastructure has become increasingly distributed as financial institutions combine on-premises data centres, cloud environments and multiple geographic locations. The expansion creates opportunities to improve capacity and resilience, but it also introduces a fundamental engineering challenge: ensuring that interconnected systems interpret the same market events in the same way. For institutional trading platforms, differences of only small amounts of time can affect risk calculations, profit-and-loss reporting and regulatory processes. At the same time, the systems supporting execution, order management, risk controls and post-trade processing must continue operating when individual components fail or markets become unusually volatile. Gaurav Tiwari, CFA,…

Introduction Float, a card-linked instalment platform, has reported its first month of trading data in the UK following its July 2026 launch. The company said 75% of its initial UK merchant cohort processed transactions on the day they went live, while the remaining 25% recorded transactions within 10 days. The platform reported a UK average order value of £676 and said purchases made through Float have generated order-value increases of up to 133%. The company cautioned that the UK dataset remains smaller than its global dataset, limiting the extent to which the early figures can be generalized. Float’s model differs…

Introduction Revolut has applied for a Swiss banking licence from the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), opening a regulatory process that could change how the fintech serves customers in Switzerland. The application remains under review, meaning the company does not yet hold a Swiss banking licence. The company says it plans to invest more than CHF 150 million in Switzerland over the next five years. The proposed investment would support local product development, employment and the creation of an independent Swiss banking structure. Revolut says it already has more than 1.3 million customers in the country. The application comes…