It is a difficult time for European banks, with looming events such as Brexit posing significant risk to financial stability. Coping with change will require banks to become resilient to its impact by embracing a customer-led strategy, evolving with market trends and intelligently piloting emerging technologies. But if executed correctly, banks can go beyond coping and use disruption as a catalyst to thrive.

The 2019 Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) annual report, released in July, revealed, as expected, the need to reinforce the UK’s financial markets by making it hostile to money laundering criminals. Approximately £100bn^[1] is laundered through the UK every year and over the last several weeks a severe clampdown has taken place across the UK to stem the destructive plague that is money laundering.

MiFinity, a global payments provider, today announced the launch of a new consumer focused cross-border money transfer service to UnionPay card holders in mainland China.

This service allows consumers to send money from the UK and Europe back into mainland China via the UnionPay network. With over 7 billion cards issued accumulatively, UnionPay is the market leader in China.

Here are some of the key benefits for consumers:

In its history, humanity produced 7.8 billion tonnes of plastic until 2015, roughly one tonne per person alive today. After its usage, plastic partly gets “revived” as a PET bottle or even in a T-Shirt. While this process remains the best-case scenario, large amounts of plastic are flushed into the ocean where it may become eaten by aquatic animals, eventually ending up in humans’ stomachs. According to a study from WWF, each person consumes five grams of microplastic each week, which is the exact quantity used to produce one credit card.

Avaloq, the global fintech leader, has appointed Imad Abou Haidar as the firm’s new Head of Asia. Imad joins from London-headquartered software firm Finastra, where he was Managing Director for the Asia-Pacific region based in Singapore. The appointment coincides with Avaloq releasing details of its 2019 Singapore Community Conference to be held on 5 September at The Westin Hotel.

Victoria Park Plaza, London. 4^th December 2019

Drawing on the disruptive force of technology, GovMoney is a brand-new conference exploring how the finance sector can provide quality public services and value for money with tools fit for the 21st century.

The UK’s leading payments conference, PayExpo, is back once again, bringing the world’s leading fintech, banking, retail and gaming experts together for the seventh year running.

Taking place on 8-9 October at the Business Design Centre, London, this year will see more than 2,000 strategists, disruptors, innovators and implementers gather to connect and discuss the future of business, regulations and the technologies shaping each spotlighted sector.

Following the banking crisis in 2008, the Parliamentary Commission for Banking Standards (PCBS) recommended the creation of a new framework focused on increasing senior management accountability. Based on this recommendation, Parliament passed legislation in December 2013 that prompted the primary regulators of the financial services sector, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), to implement a Senior Management and Certification Regime (SM&CR).