Two online lending platforms – Spotcap and Credibly – have separately raised a total of £71.8 million in capital facilities, lending support to the sector’s prospects in the eyes of investors. Berlin-based, online lending platform Spotcap has raised €31.5 million (£23.8 million) in new funding led by international private equity firm, Finstar Financial Group, with participation from […]
The US division of RBC Wealth Management is working with BlackRock-owned digital wealth management provider FutureAdvisor on a pilot program for select clients in the United States. Called RBC Investor Gateway, the new service will provide RBC Wealth Management financial advisors with the opportunity to reach a broader range of clients through FutureAdvisor’s digital advice platform. […]
Emprise Bank, based in Kansas in the US, has selected FIS as its new core banking provider. The bank, which has $1 billion in assets and 37 branches, selected FIS on the basis of its need for high levels of support, and capacity to provide a single platform that would integrate a set of technologies. That in turn allowed […]
Market operator Nasdaq has seen revenues from its technology sales increase, with its Technology Solutions division, which makes up 27% of total net revenues reach $146 million in the fourth quarter of 2015, up from $4 million from the fourth quarter of 2014. The exchange’s Market Technology unit, which accounts for 13% of total net revenues, […]
Payments provider TSYS is predicting high single-figure growth following its acquisition of merchant solutions provider Transfirst in a $2.35 billion all-cash transaction. The deal, announced as TSYS reports its full-year 2015 results, will create a firm with that TSYS claims will be the third largest integrated payments provider in the US – according to a […]
US payments body Nacha has set out to dispel myths about the ISO 20022 financial messaging standard with a new white paper published as part of an education programme as the US looks to convert its ACH network to the standard.
An “Implementation Playbook” detailing the timeline, milestones and dependencies involved in migrating the US equities, fixed income and unit trust markets to a two-day settlement cycle has been published by the T+2 Industry Steering Committee.
Nasdaq’s first fruits from its enterprise-wide blockchain technology plan,the Linq share ownership platform, has attracted an initial group of users it was announced at the Money20/20 conference in Las Vegas this week.
The Clearing House has signed a letter of intent with VocaLink, the UK-based international payment systems provider, to help build and deliver core elements of TCH’s new real-time payment system for the United States.
Credit Suisse is facing allegations that its dark pool Crossfinder ripped off investors by providing unfair advantages for some participants while misleading others. The incident follows a long history of nefarious activity reported in various dark pools in recent years – and exposed the bank to charges of hypocrisy from market observers.
Banks may need to revisit the way they handle data, in preparation of an upcoming agreement between the European Commission and the US authorities on data-sharing.
Five years on from the Dodd-Frank Act being signed into law in the US, a number of outstanding issues for derivatives reform need to be resolved, according to a new paper by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.
Technology is equipping non-bank market-makers to move into the US Treasury Market, giving them analytics and speed to manage and hedge risk, while enhancing market liquidity. “Market makers have been deploying electronic tools at varying degrees over the past decade,” says Anthony Perrotta, a principal and head of fixed income research at Tabb Group, author […]
BBVA Group has entered a multi-year agreement with Broadridge Financial Solutions) for a post-trade managed service to support its institutional fixed income business in the US. Under the agreement, Broadridge will provide an integrated managed service to support fixed income and repurchase agreement processing, international clearance and settlement and investor communications services
US post-trade utility the DTCC has issued a series of recommendations on global data harmonisation, beginning with credit derivatives, as part of a grand push to harmonise 30 data fields across global trade repository providers and create a global data dictionary.
Clearing costs at Nasdaq’s new NFX futures venue will be half those on rival CME, the exchange claims. NFX is due to launch later this summer.
Global regulators are struggling to find the balance between recognising each other’s existence and learning to harmonise and coordinate their activities, and protecting domestic national economic stability. But people who can’t accept that there will be some differences in regulation between Asia, Europe and the US are not realistic, according to Timothy Massad, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
US post-trade utility the DTCC is reporting that almost half of the respondents in its most recent Systemic Risk Barometer Study cited cyber security as their top concern, making it the single largest fear and doubling its rating compared to just 12 months ago.
The US Federal Reserve hopes to have a report on how to create a faster payments infrastructure by the end of next year and has begun processing the 325-plus applications it has had from would-be participants in its task force for faster payments.
The UK Faster Payments experience is providing some guidance for the US Federal Reserve’s efforts to move beyond its slow ACH system, but it should take a different approach, according to a speaker at the Nacha Payments 2015 conference in New Orleans this week.
More than 300 organisations have applied to participate in the US Federal Reserve’s task force for faster payments, Sean Rodriguez, senior vice president for industry relations at the Chicago Fed, said yesterday at the Nacha conference in New Orleans.
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has published a set of derivatives trading principles, which are part of an effort to get regulators around the world to harmonise their efforts at derivatives market standardisation. The principles include a call for greater flexibility on US swap execution facilities.
A new US bond trading venue with a mission to help electronify fixed income markets for investors using experience gained in the equity markets is preparing to launch in the US this quarter. Called OpenBondX, the venue was Created by former Lime Brokerage chief executive Alistair Brown and former colleagues, OpenBondX is an ‘all to all’ system open to the buy-side and the sell-side.
Like opening Pandora’s box, the emergence of swap execution facilities in US derivatives markets has brought unexpected consequences and problems as well as benefits. In some cases, asset managers are actively looking to avoid trading on the new platforms and even turning to other asset classes, according to a new report by OpenLink.
US Commodity Futures Trading Commission Commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo has condemned the CFTC’s implementation of swaps trading regulation reforms, describing its approach as highly over-engineered, disproportionately modelled on the US futures market and biased against both human discretion and technological innovation.
Banks in North America are ramping up IT spending on retail banking services and digital channels this year, with total IT spend expected to reach $64.8 billion by 2016, according to a new report by analyst firm Celent. The figures represent a 4.5% increase this year, as financial institutions increasingly turn to external software provider and specialists to bolster their abilities.
With so much attention on FATCA in recent times, the financial services industry could be forgiven for seeing it as the most obtrusive regulation ever imposed. This view will soon change. Once the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) comes into force, financial institutions will have far greater challenges to overcome.
US-based Webster Bank has introduced fingerprint authentication, using Apple’s Touch ID technology. The move comes as financial institutions increasingly seek to use biometrics as a tool to improve security.
US exchange BATS Global Markets is calling for an 80% reduction in access fees to the US stock market’s most liquid securities, on grounds that nearly a billion dollars in fees could be slashed without adversely affecting the market. In an open letter to the industry, the exchange also rejected what it calls a “grand compromise” on exchange fees and called for greater transparency and the avoidance of anti-competitive rules.
Digital and alternative currencies, including Bitcoin, can now be used for transactions in California, following the implementation of bill AB129 on 1 January 2015. The new bill is a step forward for cryptocurrencies which have faced tough opposition and scrutiny from global regulators. However, serious doubts about the safety of digital currencies have been voiced by banks.
The mega-chain goes mobile with many partners and a mobile app of its own with two key ingredients—convenience and loyalty.
The US is finally adopting EMV after an eventful 12 months in which barriers have been overcome. Merchant reluctance is diminishing, good progress is being made, and the ‘EMV train’ is now picking up speed, according to a new report by analyst firm Celent.
As the US moves to adopt EMV chip and PIN cards and mobile payments, authentication is becoming a serious concern, particularly for customer not present transactions – evidenced by the number of Money20/20 exhibitors focusing on the topic in contrast to the blockchain focus of much of last year’s event.
Online payments provider Optimal Payments has launched a new online checkout page, designed to help e-commerce merchants with indemnified alternative payments.
ATM maker Diebold has unveiled a new concept banking platform with four “experience zones” at the Money2020 conference in Las Vegas. The concept aims to demonstrate how banks can combine convenience, security and self-service with a low cost ‘footprint’.
Banks need to stop trying to exploit customers and start actually helping people, according to Brett King, chief executive at Moven. Instead of getting people to max out their credit card, a progressive bank should use smartphones and Big Data to help the consumer with the little things.
Financial market participants have criticised plans for the New York Stock Exchange to begin monitoring itself through its non-profit division, NYSE Regulation, describing the move as a “retrograde step” that will never work in practice. NYSE is currently monitored by FINRA, an independent organisation.
The US Federal Reserve Banks have begun planning for a faster payments system in the US, following research that found US consumers favoured such a system and would be willing to pay more for it.
Comerica Bank, the incumbent issuer of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Direct Express prepaid debit card program to distribute benefits to Social Security recipients, will continue in that role under a new five-year agreement, according to a blog post published today on the department’s Website.
Regulators in the US and Europe are stepping up investigations into dark pool activity, market abuse and manipulation of financial benchmarks following a spate of damaging incidents in recent months. Tougher regulatory oversight could have a significant impact on all three areas, according to a new report by financial services technology provider SunGard.
