Elliptic, the bitcoin analytics and security firm, today announced a breakthrough in bitcoin transaction monitoring and compliance. In an industry first, the company has launched ‘The Bitcoin Big Bang’, an interactive visualisation that plots the emergence and interconnectivity of the key players in bitcoin since its genesis in 2009.

MasterCard today announced the appointment of two Co-Presidents for the Asia/Pacific region – Ling Hai and Ari Sarker; as well the creation of two sub-regions – North East Asia and Australasia (NEAA) and South East Asia and South Asia (SEASA).

Mitek today announced that it has completed the acquisition of IDchecker, a global provider of cloud based identity document verification and facial recognition solutions.

Global advisory, fund administration and fiduciary services firm Maitland have received approval from the Financial Conduct Authority for its 100% acquisition of Phoenix Fund Services, a UK based company offering bespoke outsourced fund administration services to investment managers in the UK and offshore. The transaction is now complete with effect from 1 June 2015.

".bank” will launch into general availability on June 24 at 00:00:00 UTC for all eligible members of the global banking community. Managed by fTLD Registry Services, the private company owned, operated and governed by banks, insurance companies and their respective trade associations, “.bank”, is a new communications channel, fortified with enhanced security measures that exceed those of most existing and new gTLDs.  During the initial sunrise registration period, there were more than 700 applications made for “.bank” domains.

This morning, I took part in a fireside chat at the Goldman Sachs European Financials Conference. We discussed the potential for technology to lower costs and raise productivity.

How can technology help drive down bank IT costs?

1. Reducing hardware and software maintenance costs. Modern systems are better architected, with broader capabilities, than the legacy systems they replace, helping to consolidate the number of software applications banks run whilst reducing infrastructure overheads.

Singapore’s premier regulator is in the process of finalising the proposed revisions to the MAS 610 (Banks) and MAS 1003 (Merchant Banks) notices. Though the public consultation process concluded in February 2015, the new notices are yet to be issued by MAS. The impact of the proposed changes is expected to be significant and banks have been given 18 months to implement them, with 2 half-yearly reviews.

In a bid to end the uncertainty of unlimited hours charged to cases and make costs more transparent, the Government is introducing regulations requiring insolvency practitioners to provide upfront estimates of the cost of working on cases.  The new rules are set to come online at the beginning of October 2015. It is a move designed to end the uncertainty of unlimited hourly rates; make costs more transparent and also counter negative perceptions about a lack of openness in fee charging.

Positive Reception