Latest news with #digitalrevolution
CNN
a day ago
- Business
- CNN
Driving Angola's digital economy
From rideshare to digitizing food delivery, Angola's budding start-up ecosystem is driving a digital revolution across the country and providing new services for a growing middle class.
Khaleej Times
17-07-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Shifting sands: The UAE is solidifying its global crypto takeover
The Middle East is not taking a back seat in the digital revolution. Once it banked on its natural resources like oil, today, it leads in the digital asset sphere. Europe and the USA are the spark that ignited the crypto adoption race, but it is Middle Eastern countries like the UAE that now hold the torch. The Western complexity The Western hemisphere has had crypto regulations for some time now, and authorities are updating digital asset regulations in 2025. However, unlike the UAE (with its well-thought-out planning), jurisdictions like the EU are running headlong into a quagmire. Markets in crypto-assets (MiCA), payment services directive (PSD2), transfer of fund regulations (TFR), and other rules meant to smooth out wrinkles are more of a hindrance. Carrying different requirements, sometimes these overlap, confusing an already complex environment. And member countries having their own internal regulations simply add more layers of uncertainty. In an industry where less is more, the UAE's course of action not only makes sense, but it has also helped the tiny nation lead digital assets and crypto innovation. Crypto industry gravitating towards the East Rather than take a stumble, learn, and improve approach, the UAE laid the foundations for a transparent, efficient, and effective framework back in 2017. Studying what other jurisdictions lacked, the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) was established in 2022. VARA is the first ever independent regulatory authority for crypto assets, with the most concise, user-friendly, and clear vision. Unlike the European approach, VARA offers legal clarity, strategically encourages a pro-blockchain environment, and integrates crypto into the mainstream financial system. While other major players like the EU only concentrate on regulating the industry (with complex and confusing rules), industry players are looking for better pastures. For many, the answer is the digital asset-friendly Emirates. First mover advantage Aiming to facilitate institutional investors and HNWI looking for crypto exposure, Dubai-based World Golden Gate (WGG) takes full advantage of VARA clarity. Understanding the benefits of a regulatory compliant platform early on, Dmytro Kostin, the founder of WGG, kicked off the licensing process before the mainstream industry followed. Under his vision, WGG is awaiting Stage 2 license clearance. While the final approval is pending, advancing into the second stage reflects WGG's compliance with VARA through a robust internal framework and understanding of how this can pivot the firm in the right direction. WGG acts as a principal trader, executing 80% of its clients' orders against itself. No counterparty risk, no public order books. Other features include on/off-ramping for fiat, enabling hassle-free purchase and sale of crypto. With non-custodial services and 1:1 backing, World Golden Gate aims to be a highly secure and transparent crypto brokerage service. Built with VARA's regulatory framework in mind, its operational model adds an element of trust that many others lack. The Emirates sees virtual assets not just as an industry that needs oversight, but as a technology that is being integrated at all levels. When a country starts using an innovation itself, it not only becomes a friendly place for entrepreneurs, startups, and the industry, but also a partner in the progress. Once behind Europe and the USA, the UAE now leads the digital asset sphere. In the midst of all this, World Golden Gate is prepping up to take the full regulatory-friendly environment of the UAE.
Khaleej Times
09-07-2025
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Charles Group, Patel Family Office Sign $1 billion real estate pact
Charles Group, one of India's fastest-growing diversified conglomerates, signed a $1 billion strategic agreement with the US- based Patel Family Office during the Global Wealth Conference 2025, hosted by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI) at London's historic Mansion House. 'This collaboration opens a new frontier for Indian-origin institutions to lead in the digital revolution,' said Jose Charles Martin, Chairman and Managing Director of Charles Group. 'We're committed to making real-world assets more accessible, transparent, and scalable.' The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was formally exchanged in the Egyptian Hall, witnessed by more than 40 global asset allocators, including over 20 sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) representing $5 trillion in capital. The signing took place in the presence of Lord Dominic Johnson of Lainston CBE, Former Minister of Investment, and Rt. Sir Brandon Lewis CBE, Former UK Cabinet Minister and Board Member, VEON. 'This partnership exemplifies how family capital can drive innovation that's both inclusive and institutional grade,' added Dipika Patel, Chairwoman of Patel Family Office. The deal marks the first transaction announced at this year's GWC, a milestone that organizers say signals how sovereign allocators and private capital are aligning around digitally-native, real-world asset (RWA) strategies. 'This is the kind of initiative we envisioned when we called for London to be the home of trusted digital innovation - A bold step in the right direction.' said Rt. Sir Brandon Lewis CBE (Former UK Cabinet Minister and Board Member, VEON). Under the partnership, the firms will co-develop a digital investment platform focused on real estate and infrastructure assets across UK, GCC, India and the SAARC region, with long-term plans to scale globally and explore strategic business investment opportunities in this space. The Technology infrastructure will be provided by a US based company. The agreement outlines a multi-pronged framework including: • A pipeline of real estate and hospitality projects in India and other emerging markets • The development of compliant, cross-border investment opportunities. Regulatory coordination across the UK, GCC, and SAARC jurisdictions • Tailored access channels for SWFs, family offices, and qualified institutional buyers. 'The future of capital is being written here - on-purpose, and on a global stage,' Lord Dominic Johnson of Lainston CBE (Former Minister of Investment) added. For Charles Group, the deal marks its formal global debut, signalling a new phase in the firm's evolution from industrial powerhouse to capital allocator. For the Patel Family Office, it affirms their growing role in shaping infrastructure and real estate investment frameworks.
Zawya
09-07-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Charles Group, Patel Family Office sign $1bln real estate pact at Global Wealth Conference
Dubai, UAE / LONDON - In a landmark move aimed at bridging traditional real estate with emerging opportunities in infrastructure, Charles Group, one of India's fastest-growing diversified conglomerates, signed a $1 billion strategic agreement with the U.S.- based Patel Family Office during the Global Wealth Conference 2025, hosted by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI) at London's historic Mansion House. 'This collaboration opens a new frontier for Indian-origin institutions to lead in the digital revolution,' said Jose Charles Martin, Chairman and Managing Director of Charles Group. 'We're committed to making real-world assets more accessible, transparent, and scalable.' The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was formally exchanged in the Egyptian Hall, witnessed by more than 40 global asset allocators, including over 20 sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) representing $5 trillion in capital. The signing took place in the presence of Lord Dominic Johnson of Lainston CBE, Former Minister of Investment, and Rt. Sir Brandon Lewis CBE, Former UK Cabinet Minister and Board Member, VEON. 'This partnership exemplifies how family capital can drive innovation that's both inclusive and institutional grade,' added Dipika Patel, Chairwoman of Patel Family Office. The deal marks the first transaction announced at this year's GWC, a milestone that organizers say signals how sovereign allocators and private capital are aligning around digitally-native, real-world asset (RWA) strategies. 'This is the kind of initiative we envisioned when we called for London to be the home of trusted digital innovation - A bold step in the right direction.' said Rt. Sir Brandon Lewis CBE (Former UK Cabinet Minister and Board Member, VEON). Under the partnership, the firms will co-develop a digital investment platform focused on real estate and infrastructure assets across UK, GCC, India and the SAARC region, with long-term plans to scale globally and explore strategic business investment opportunities in this space. The Technology infrastructure will be provided by a U.S. based company. The agreement outlines a multi-pronged framework including: A pipeline of real estate and hospitality projects in India and other emerging markets The development of compliant, cross-border investment opportunities. Regulatory coordination across the UK, GCC, and SAARC jurisdictions Tailored access channels for SWFs, family offices, and qualified institutional buyers. 'The future of capital is being written here - on-purpose, and on a global stage,' Lord Dominic Johnson of Lainston CBE (Former Minister of Investment) added. For Charles Group, the deal marks its formal global debut, signalling a new phase in the firm's evolution from industrial powerhouse to capital allocator. For the Patel Family Office, it affirms their growing role in shaping infrastructure and real estate investment frameworks.
New York Times
07-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
In Digital Era, Supreme Court Insists on Vast Piles of Paper
In his year-end report in 2023, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. celebrated 'the digital revolution in the federal courts.' Electronic filing, he wrote, was 'rendering paper largely optional.' But not at the Supreme Court. In addition to requiring electronic submissions, its rules instruct litigants who are not prisoners or poor to file 40 paper copies of many documents, including petitions seeking review, briefs opposing them, briefs from the parties in the cases the court agrees to hear and the accompanying flood of friend-of-the-court briefs. And that is just the beginning of the court's elaborate requirements. The paper filings must take the form of handsome little typeset booklets printed on paper 'that is opaque, unglazed and not less than 60 pounds in weight.' The rules specify permissible fonts and margins, along with how the booklets are to be bound — 'firmly in at least two places along the left margin (saddle stitch or perfect binding preferred).' The booklets are, allowing for the subject matter, a pleasure to read. They are also redundant, expensive and wasteful. 'The court's rules impose significant and unnecessary costs to litigants and to the environment,' William J. Aceves, a law professor at California Western School of Law, wrote in a study published last month in The University of Colorado Law Review. He urged the court to do away with paper submissions, particularly for the first round of briefs, over whether the justices should hear a case at all. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
