Retail banks have been issued a warning by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) about continuing weaknesses and failings surrounding their financial crime controls.

• 182m securitised derivatives traded in Q2 2021 compared to 98m in Q2 2020
• First half volumes increased 146% year-on-year
• Most traded underlyings were OMX 30, DAX 30 and S&P 500

Spectrum Markets, the pan-European trading venue for securitised derivatives, has released its latest Quarterly Business Update, revealing continued positive momentum as its business matures.

Alfa Capital, one of the largest asset management companies in Russia, a member of the Alfa Group Consortium, selected an AI-based solution from Smart Engines for scanning new clients’ IDs to boost its remote service. Smart ID Engine software product enables Alfa Capital to significantly simplify data entry in their mobile app.

Before delving in, it is important to first establish what Integrated Surveillance is. For some firms, it means stitching together different data sets in order to improve alerting. For others it means managing global rules and all of an organisations’ surveillance obligations through a single platform.

The number of banks identifying payments data monetisation as a key strategic priority has doubled in the past two years.

• 70% of fintechs are using AI today, and the technology is predicted to dominate the market by 2025
• 90% of fintechs use APIs and they are currently the most widely used emerging technology
• “Fintech Five by Five” explores five core technologies that will have the biggest impact on the sector in the next five years

Engineered by SETL, Verafide allows organisations, networks and individual users to simply and securely issue, hold, verify and share digital ID and credentials 

Verafide, a verifiable credentials technology provider for issuers, holders and verifiers of digital credentials and ID, today announced the launch of their platform on the SETL enterprise blockchain.  The open source solution enables any community, network or organisation to set up and maintain a digital credentials ecosystem.

Fashion tech start-up closes Series C to consolidate leadership positions across Europe

Perwyn, a family-backed private equity and growth capital investor, is pleased to have led a $30m Series C funding round in Lookiero, the online personal shopping service.  

An Interview With Sergey Khotimskiy, First Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, Sovcombank.

Financial IT: Please tell us a little about Sovcombank’s history. Please also explain what is its current business (retail banking, corporate banking, investment banking etc.) and what is its key competitive advantage?