The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) is conducting a survey of asset managers and asset owners on their climate-related financial reporting practices.
Victoria Bennett, FCIM, BSc(Hons)
Greater competition in retail banking is driving choice and lower prices for consumers and small businesses, despite the financial impact of the pandemic.
Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
Category Archives: Research
TCFD Survey: Climate-related Financial Disclosure (15mins)
TCFD | Feb 14, 2022
The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) is conducting a survey of asset managers and asset owners on their climate-related financial reporting practices.
The Task Force will publish aggregated survey results in its 2022 status report as well as a summary of TCFD-aligned reporting practices and challenges across asset managers and asset owners. This information should help asset managers and asset owners implement the TCFD recommendations and help a wide range of stakeholders understand the current state of asset manager and asset owner TCFD-aligned reporting.
We would appreciate if someone well-acquainted with your organization’s climate-related reporting would complete our 15-minute survey.
See: Canadian securities regulators seek comment on climate-related disclosure requirements
All responses will be kept confidential and will not be attributed to either you or your organization without permission.
We would be grateful to receive your response to the survey by Friday, March 25, 2022. Please feel free to contact info@fsb-tcfd.org if you have any questions.
Thank you for your support.
About the TCFD
The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures
(TCFD) works to improve and increase reporting of climate-related financial information. In 2017, the TCFD released climate-related financial disclosure recommendations designed to help companies provide better information and support more informed capital allocation. More than 3,000 organizations around the world have declared support for the TCFD and its recommendations.
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Ipsos Survey: Most Canadians Say (88%) We Need More Competition
Ipsos | Feb 8, 2022
Toronto, ON, February 8, 2021 – Most (88%) Canadians agree (39% strongly/49% somewhat) that we need more competition in Canada because it’s too easy for big business to take advantage of Canadians, according to a new Ipsos poll. Moreover, nine in ten (90%) agree (38% strongly/52% somewhat) that we need to take steps so that small and medium-sized businesses can compete with the larger players.
Canadians perceive clearly what the benefits of increased competition could be:
- Eight in ten (88%) agree (34% strongly/55% somewhat) that more competition between businesses means more choice for consumers and lower prices
- A majority (85%) agrees (29% strongly/56% somewhat) that more competition between businesses will lead to better quality products and more innovation in Canada.
See:
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Canada’s Competition Problem: 7 Reasons
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FCA review finds evidence of growing competition in retail banking
Some might argue that Canadian companies need domestic protection from too much competition in order to enable them to compete internationally.
Canadians are not sold on this point. Half (48%) agree (9% strongly/39% somewhat) that less competition within Canada means that Canadian companies are more protected so that they can compete with larger companies from other countries.
Canadians were asked whether they believe that certain sectors of the economy need more competition, or whether there is enough competition.
A strong majority of Canadians (72%) believe that the telephone and cable industry needs more competition, while fewer believe that big-box retail (51%), airline (51%), insurance (49%), grocery (40%) and banking sectors need more competition. Conversely, two in three (67%) believe that there is enough competition from banks, while fewer say the same about the grocery (60%), insurance (51%), airlines (49%), big-box retail (49%) and telecommunications/cable (28%) sectors.
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Giving block reports, Crypto philanthropy jumped nearly 16x in 2021
Cointelegraph | Prashant Jha | Feb 3, 2022
The average crypto donation size was $10,455, 82x more than an average $128 cash donation.
2021 was not just the year of institutionalization of crypto and new all-time highs — it also turned out to be the biggest year to date for crypto philanthropy.
According to research data from The Giving Block, the crypto donation volume rose to $69.6 million in 2021 compared to $4.2 million in 2020. Crypto donation volume spiked 1,558% or nearly 16x over the same period. The average crypto donations also saw a 236% increase, rising from an average of $3,109 in 2020 to $10,445 in 2021.
The data further revealed that the average crypto donation size was 82x larger than the average cash donation. The average donation in crypto was estimated at $10,455 compared to $128 in cash.
See: The risk of not participating in crypto is now outweighing the risk of non-participation
The monthly donation data revealed several interesting aspects about crypto donors. The report highlighted that the crypto donations were highest in the final four months of 2021. The donations volume also peaked with each month, where January saw a total volume of $300,000, while December’s total donation volume surpassed $20,000,000. 42% of the total crypto donations in 2021 came in the last two months.
The research attributed this increase to the bull market and the growing adoption of digital assets among the common public as well as nonprofit organizations. The research report revealed more than 1,000 nonprofit organizations were accepting crypto donations by the end of 2021.
Continue to the full article --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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How Crowdfunding Can Support a Post-Covid World
Bennett Milner Williams Consulting Ltd. | Victoria Bennett | Jan 27, 2022
We are all in the COVID sea, but each of us is on different ships. Companies that rely on face-to-face contact, such as accommodation and food services, have been negatively impacted, whereas online delivery has seen significant growth. The CFIB Small business recovery dashboard shows that as of 19th August 2021, 76% of small businesses are fully open, with 47% fully staffed and 39% at normal sales. The data doesn't show the massive variation within respondents, but it is fair to say, sales for small businesses are, overall, way down.
Women have been disproportionately affected by COVID
McKinsey has been sharing their weekly view on the impact of COVID. Their analysis has shown that although women make up 39% of global employment, they have experienced 54% of overall job losses. Women have been disproportionately represented in industries that have declined due to COVID. Much of the job creation focus has been in male-dominated industries such as communication and construction.
The National Angel Capital Organisation’s (NACO) 2021 report on Angel Investing highlighted the research in Crunchbase's 2020 report. It found that 20% of global startups were woman-founded, but women were less likely to seek and receive financing than men (32.6% vs. 38%). Businesses owned by men are more likely to receive venture capital, angel funding and other forms of leverage such as trade credit and capital leasing. Concerningly, Crunchbase 2020 data shows that the proportion of dollars to women-only founding teams declined, to 2.3%, compared to 2.8% in 2019. Underrepresented organizations, including Black and Indigenous founders, also receive less capital.
See:
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3 Trends in 2022 Predicted to Shape Investment Crowdfunding
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How Covid has kickstarted Canadian fintech
The reduction in investment in women-only businesses is worrying since women have been disproportionately affected by COVID. The negative impact for women in business during this time has been exponential in nature. It is a double whammy.
I recall speaking at the Global Crowdfunding Conference in 2016 on the increased success for women and underrepresented organisations through crowdfunding. The PWC data supported these findings a year later, with 17% of male-led campaigns reaching their finance target, compared with 22% of female-led campaigns. Overall, campaigns led by women were 32% more successful at reaching their funding target than those led by men, data seen across multiple sectors, geographies and cultures. ESMT's data in 2019, again, backed this up.
If you are curious, the drivers for success include the ability to tell stories that engage potential investors and the ability to multi-task, as it is not one tool that leads to an investment. These skills are often seen well expressed in women.
COVID has changed business permanently
COVID has accelerated change. We've had a lifetime of social change in less than two years. COVID-driven change has opened up opportunities, and if I can say the overused phrase, the opportunity to pivot and create businesses that meet people's new needs. 92% of small businesses have pivoted in at least one way, but many have pivoted in multiple ways. Only 8% did not pivot their business at all to adapt to the current environment.
The biggest challenge for small businesses has been the lack of skills for the new approach. Followed by a scarcity of funds to make the changes needed to survive, thrive or grow.
Crowdfunding’s role in raising capital in a post COVID world
Crowdfunding can play a crucial role to address the capital gap for businesses. We need to raise awareness of crowdfunding in companies looking to pivot and capitalise on the new opportunities—investment in new businesses and investment in women-led, black, and indigenous founders.
Just as we discussed the different journeys each of us has had in the COVID sea, we've also seen different financial impacts. Households in Canada have increased their net savings due to government support and reduced spending. At the same time, the comfort in online financial transactions has increased. Crowdfunding breaks the barriers so that all Canadians, not just the wealthiest, can invest in companies. This releases capital to invest in businesses to help them pivot and capitalise on the new opportunities.
See: Fintech Fridays EP56: How We Raised $426 million Using Rewards Crowdfunding
The capital available for crowdfunding was already pretty buoyant. The transaction value in the Canadian Crowdfunding segment is projected to reach US$23.1m in 2021.
- Transaction value is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2021-2025) of 1.61% resulting in a projected total amount of US$24.6m in Canada by 2025.
- Even though Canada is a relatively large player in the alternative finance space, our Southern neighbour, the US, still leads with a projected $1.2b in total transaction value in 2020. Even with our new harmonised regulations, due in September, Canada's regulations lag behind the US, but that is a separate article.
Our two most recent contracts are with visible minorities, one is a women led and indigenous business. Both are excellent businesses that meet a need in the marketplace. Through crowdfunding they will benefit from growing their awareness and customer base. Crowdfunding has also opened up access to capital for both companies.
Governments have spent a significant amount of money to sustain people and businesses through the COVID crises. But it hasn't been enough to build new businesses and create jobs to replace those lost. The taps will start to be turned off soon. The capital available through crowdfunding can be used to build business and employ the most impacted. I hope the provincial securities commissions and the government will leverage the new harmonised regulations to encourage new companies and new investors.
About the Author
Victoria Bennett, FCIM, BSc(Hons)
Victoria is an NCFA ambassador and Principal of the crowdfunding agency, Bennett Milner Williams Consulting Ltd. She founded The Crowdfunding Hub to provide broader access and support to organisations raising capital through crowdfunding and is a passionate believer in the democratisation of capital through crowdfunding.
This article is featured in NCFA's digital magazine, Fintech Confidential (Issue 4). Click to read the latest thought leadership, insights and trends about Fintech in Canada:
Checkout NCFA's digital magazine, Fintech Confidential (Issue 4) --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Trust Over IP Foundation Publishes V2.0 Introduction and Design Principles
Trust over IP Foundation | Jan 24, 2022
When it was launched in May 2020, the ToIP Foundation summarized its mission in a single 20-page white paper called “Introduction to Trust Over IP”. This paper was based on an article called The Trust Over IP Stack published in the December 2019 special issue of IEEE Communications Standards Magazine called The Dawn of the Internet Identity Layer and the Role of Decentralized Identity.
Introduction to ToIP V2.0
Our primary goal with this second-generation white paper was to make the vision and mission of ToIP accessible to a general audience—literally anyone who cares about the future of the Internet and how we can deal with the myriad security, privacy, data protection, and data sovereignty issues that have emerged as “the world’s greatest information utility” passes its first half-century of growth.
See: US consumers agree trust in protecting assets is essential before they’ll share their bank credentials
Our second goal was a “plain English” explanation of the overall structure of the four-layer, two-half sided ToIP stack using new graphics based on the wonderful interactive version developed by Peter Stoyko of Elanica.
Our third goal was to provide a more complete introduction to the ToIP Foundation as a collaborative organization devoted to the design, development, adoption, and promotion of the ToIP stack—a guide to helping prospective members understand how and why to engage.
It is available as a PDF document here and on the homepage of the ToIP Foundation website.
Design Principles for the ToIP Stack V1.0
To establish a truly interoperable decentralized digital trust layer for the Internet as a whole, meticulous attention must be paid to the design of the ToIP stack. Given the tremendous growth of the ToIP Foundation—from 27 original founding member organizations to over ten times as many today—it was critical to form a strong consensus among the new members about the principles governing this design.
See: PwC Report: Canadian Digital Trust Insights 2021: Cybersecurity comes of age
Another key reason to establish design principles for the development of a system is summarized in this quote from the start of the document:
The goal of any design principle is to provide guidance to the designers of a product, service, or system so they can take advantage of lessons learned from the success or failure of previous designs. Design principles represent accumulated wisdom that falls in between the generality of scientific laws and the specialization of best practices.
Continue to the full article --> here
Download 35 page PDF Intro to ToIP V2.0 --> here
Download 63 page PDF Design principles for the ToIP Stack V1.0 --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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Deloitte: Financial Markets Regulatory Outlook 2022
Deloitte UK | Jan 25, 2022
Our annual assessment from Deloitte’s EMEA Centre for Regulatory Strategy explores how major regulatory trends will affect the financial services industry across EMEA in the year ahead, and how leaders can anticipate and respond to them effectively.
The 2022 edition of the Financial Markets Regulatory Outlook identifies ten cross-sector themes of strategic significance, and takes an in-depth look at three related spotlight topics - credit risk, regulatory divergence and the future of regulation.
See: more industry research and reports
Report Themes (or watch video)
- Transition to a sustainable economy
- Climate-related risk management
- Innovation
- Operational resilience
- Revising the capital framework
- Market Structure
- Value for Money
- Financial Crime
- Governance
Continue to the full article --> here
Download the 60 page PDF report --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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FCA review finds evidence of growing competition in retail banking
FCA | Release | Jan 20, 2022
Greater competition in retail banking is driving choice and lower prices for consumers and small businesses, despite the financial impact of the pandemic.
In an update to its 2018 strategic review of retail banking, the FCA found that, while still strong, there are signs large banks’ historic advantages are starting to weaken, driven by digital innovation and changing consumer behaviour. The economic environment – in particular sustained low interest rates – has also constrained banks’ financial returns.
See: When Big techs and fintechs own banks
The share of personal and micro-business current accounts held by digital challengers rose between 2020 and 2021, while the largest banks saw their share fall. This trend occurred even as large lenders lent proportionately more to microbusinesses during the pandemic.
Evidence suggests that intense competition, partly driven by the increased use of brokers, has benefited mortgage borrowers through lower interest rates, though these make it more difficult for smaller lenders to compete.
Kate Collyer, Chief Economist at the Financial Conduct Authority, said:
'Competitive pressures and innovation are starting to deliver for retail banking customers, with greater choice, lower prices and more convenient ways to bank. But changes that may benefit many of us can also be a risk to those in vulnerable circumstances, which is why we have put in place guidance on the closure of branches and ATMs. We are also consulting on a new consumer duty to set higher expectations for the standard of care that firms provide.
FCA reforms to the credit market are also having an effect, with lenders’ yield – a measure of financial return – for unarranged overdrafts falling sharply in response. Measures put in place by the FCA to support borrowers financially affected by the pandemic also resulted in a drop in yield on authorised overdrafts.
See: Canada’s Competition Problem: 7 Reasons
Adoption of digital innovations by banks and their customers, accelerated by the pandemic, has also improved service quality and satisfaction, particularly for mobile and app-based users. Further improvements through innovation are likely to be enabled by initiatives that allow the sharing of consumer data in secure and convenient ways.
Continue to the full article --> here
Download the 28 page PDF report 'Strategic review of retail banking business models' --> here
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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