Violating sanctions can be deadly for a business. Compliance is the answer, but how can corporates – traditionally less regulated than their banking counterparts – ensure this?

While there have been several major sanctions violations making the news in the past few years, the bulk of these stories have been focussed on banks, mainly as they are more heavily regulated than private companies.

Have you already heard the newsbreak about First Pilot Blockchain Network that was launched by Infosys Finacle for Emirates NBD and ICICI Bank?

Let us tell you – Emirates NBD is the first in UAE and ICICI Bank is the first bank in India who launched their pilot blockchain-based network for international remittances and trade finance.

This edition of Financial IT magazine brings to you a continuation of the recent discussions we have had with some of the brightest minds in the fintech industry at SIBOS 2016 in Geneva. This issue also promises a strong collection of inspiring articles that address the hottest topics of the Money20/20 conference currently taking place in Las Vegas.

1. Thou shall consider that Fintech is a complex ecosystem comprised of many disciplines often overlapping one another. Insurance, payments, currencies, cybersecurity, encryption ... the list goes on and on. Do not be afraid to explore and go beyond your area of expertise. This is the best way to think outside the box and expand your thought process.

Visa  announced that Visa Direct continues to gain momentum as a faster payments solution through key partnerships with FIS and Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ: JKHY) for person-to-person (P2P) payments, and Stripe, Hyperwallet and Ingo Money for faster business and government disbursements.

Western Union’s B2B unit has won the prestigious Payments Innovation of the Year award for their WU®EDGE™ platform. The award was presented at the 2016 Payments Awards, held yesterday evening at the London Marriot Hotel Grosvenor Square.

Joseph Rupp has been appointed to the board of directors of Cass Information Systems, the nation’s leading provider of transportation, energy, telecom and environmental invoice payment and information services.

Financial innovation company R3 and twelve of its consortium member banks have trialed Ripple’s distributed financial technology and the potential for its digital asset to scale liquidity and reduce the costs and inefficiencies of interbank cross-border payments.

Competition amongst exchanges was a defining theme in MiFID I, but when it comes to best execution and trading venue fee structures, MiFID II might reverse some of that.