Truphone, the world’s first global mobile network, today announced the appointment of Ralph Steffens as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), while former CEO, Steve Robertson has been appointed as Executive Chairman and CEO of Strategic Partnerships. Steffens has nearly 20 years’ experience in the industry. Steffens’ last assignment was with Indian telecommunications company, Reliance Jio Infocom as `President and Chief Operating Officer’ based in Mumbai, India.

FXCM is a leading online provider of foreign exchange (forex) trading, Contracts for Difference (CFDs) and related services, announced today its new partnership with German broker FXFlat.

"FXCM is pleased to partner with FXFlat, a dominant player in Germany," says Brandon Mulvihill, Managing Director of FXCM PRO. "The numerous awards FXFlat received in 2015 and the years prior speak to the quality of this new venture. This is an important step towards FXCM's strategic expansion into the German market.”

Fidessa today announced that Maybank Kim Eng has deployed its equities order management and execution platform as their Asian trading solution for global clients.

With Asia being such a fragmented marketplace, many firms have ended up running different local systems for each market, which presents a real challenge when they want to offer a seamless regional trading service to customers.

SWIFT announces a 10 percent rebate on 2015 messaging fees, returning approximately EUR32 million to SWIFT users around the world. The rebate will be paid in March 2016.

CBIZ today announced that it has acquired the non-attest business of Millimaki Eggert, L.L.P., ("Millimaki Eggert") of San Diego, CA, effective January 1, 2016.  Concurrent with the transaction, Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. announced the acquisition of the attest business of Millimaki Eggert.  CBIZ, Inc. and Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. operate an alternative practice structure.  The two companies are separate and independent legal entities that work together to serve clients' business needs.

Sky, Europe's leading entertainment company with more than 21 million customers, is using Cisco(R) (NASDAQ: CSCO) video software solutions to power its next-generation home entertainment system, Sky Q.

Available in 2016, Sky Q is a family of advanced products, connecting wirelessly to create a new ecosystem that makes it easier than ever for customers to access their favorite TV.

Sky Q will bring a wider range of entertainment to the big screen, and will allow customers to:

FinTech Ventures Fund, announced today pursuant to National Instrument 62-103 The Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issues that it has acquired ownership of 8,878,905 common shares ("Common Shares") of IOU Financial Inc, pursuant to a Share Purchase Agreement dated December 31, 2015, between FinTech and Qwave Capital.

Blockchain and T2S

While T2S went live in the middle of this year, only a handful of CSDs, including ourselves and Italy’s Monte Titoli have actually joined. The project has been subject to repeated delays, and some have even speculated that it risks being compromised by fast evolving disruptive technologies in 2016, such as blockchain. Blockchain has been identified as a potential threat to T2S as it could revolutionise clearing and settlement.

Startupbootcamp InsurTech, the leading accelerator focused on Insurance innovation, announces new partnerships with LV= and Swiss Re. Startupbootcamp InsurTech welcomes them on board to provide the expertise, exposure channels, APIs and access to a network of industry professionals that most early-stage insurance startups would not otherwise be able to access.

Throughout 2015, many in our industry would no doubt have agreed that MiFID II was fast becoming the single most important EU legislation initiative. With the unofficial – but likely – delay until January 2018, the impact of MiFID II remains far-reaching, but at least this may allow for a more orderly implementation. As the new year begins, it’s time to review some of the other EU initiatives that will likely gain more attention in 2016.