The Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS), announces the appointment of Samantha Sheen as its Director of AML for Europe.

Highly regarded as a commercially astute international financial regulatory, crime and risk management expert, Samantha Sheen has developed a strong reputation for excellence at interpreting and applying regulatory strategies, developing robust organisational and procedural policy architecture and implementing global sanctions compliance.

No matter how consumers choose to pay, they want the experience to be fast, convenient, consistent – and profoundly simple. People know who, how much and at what speed they want their money to move – and the payment systems they use shouldn't require anything else.

NusPay chooses Microsoft Azure for its Next-Gen Digital Currency Platform.

Ian Moyse, recently named ‘Sales Director of the Year’ by the Institute of Sales & Marketing Management, has been appointed UK Sales Director at Axios Systems.

Ultra Payments (formerly Barron McCann Payments), a business unit of Ultra Electronics, is pleased to announce that its PayGate Payment solutions now offer a fully BACS compliant integrated DDMS module.

The DDMS module provides a number of features including:

·         Full compliance with DD (Direct Debit) guidelines – minimising indemnity claims

·         Automated DD processes and life-cycle management

·         Automated DD submission in a single solution

·         Full AUDDIS and ADDACS compatibility

UK-based Censeo Actuaries & Consultants has adopted RiskFirst’s PFaroe to enhance its defined benefit (DB) pension clients’ understanding and implementation of integrated risk management. PFaroe will allow Censeo to offer daily asset and liability valuations, as well as more sophisticated investment advice, facilitating more effective scheme risk management and clearer identification of triggers for de-risking.

Saxo Bank, the multi-asset trading and investment specialist announces that more than 55% of total revenue from private clients is generated from trades on SaxoTraderGO. Today, exactly a year after the launch of SaxoTraderGO, the platform is Saxo Bank's most popular platform across all client segments. Half a year ago, SaxoTraderGO was rolled out to the bank's white label partners and today more than 100 white label partners are live with GO, offering their end clients the platform in the 28 supported languages.

The herding mentality in finance is a recurring theme. We have seen it take place both during the dot-com boom and the mortgage crisis. Recently, it is fintech startups and the solutions that they develop which have attracted interest. Smart Contracts (SC) are a recent example of a solution that’s beginning to turn heads. One often hears SC associated with Blockchain, another big fintech buzzword.

Smart Contracts (SC) serve as a programmable layer that sits on top of a Blockchain. There are various ways to characterise the way SCs work, such as: