Ant Financial Services Group (“Ant Financial”) has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Co., Ltd. (“SPD Bank”) to support the bank’s digital transformation with Ant Financial's technological capabilities. The agreement is the third of its kind announced this month between Ant Financial and established banks, following partnerships with Huaxia Bank and China Everbright Bank.  

Actis, a leading global growth markets investor, today announced that it is building an Indian Non-Banking Financial Company focused on secured lending to Small and Medium Enterprises (“SMEs”) with a plan to fund the platform with up to US$220m of equity capital over a 5-year period.

India has a deep culture of small family businesses with over 30 million SMEs and the sector is experiencing secular growth in demand for credit. Profectus Capital will exclusively focus on lending to SME businesses operating in a dozen targeted subsectors.

Compass Plus, an international provider of retail banking and electronic payments software to processors and financial institutions,has announced that it has appointed Payhuddle Solutions, a payments consulting organisation, as the authorised distributor of its software products in India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. As part of the new strategic partnership, Payhuddle will be responsible for marketing, delivery and support of Compass Plus solutions in these countries.  

The recent PwC report into the impact of the drone industry on the UK’s economy, jobs, productivity and quality of life is both positive and welcome but what is more exciting is that this is just a small fragment of the wider drone picture. What many will not realise, but what is becoming widely accepted, is that the drone industry is shifting away from being an air focussed industry to one which is breaking down traditional environmental barriers to give rise to a new understanding of the term 'drone'.

Zichain, a crypto finance company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Alexander Borodich to its Advisory Board.

IHS Markit, a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions, today announced that MarkitSERV has expanded its global network of derivatives clearinghouses by connecting to Asigna, the clearinghouse for Mexican listed and standardized derivatives.

With the new connection, MarkitSERV provides standardized workflow and connectivity for matching, confirming and clearing Mexican peso TIIE 28 swaps.  Asigna, Compensación y Liquidación began clearing OTC derivatives in 2016.  Seven global and regional banks are clearing members at Asigna. 

DasCoin, the Currency of Trust and the store of value within DasEcosystem, is now listed on Coinmarketcap.com, the leading site for tracking the price movements of cryptocurrency.

Coinmarketcap is used by crypto experts and new adopters alike and is ranked as the 44^th most popular website in the US according to Amazon rankings.  DasCoin’s Coinmarketcap listing gives the coin and its associated ecosystem, heightened credibility in the sector.

TraiCon Events Private Limited is pleased to announce a collaborative partnership with eCharge.work AG to be one of the Premium Gold Sponsor at the “World Blockchain Congress- Bahrain 2018”. An initiative by TraiCon to further enhance the implementation of Blockchain technologies in Bahrain which is working in line to with countries vision of adopting Digital Currencies like Bitcoin amid a wider impetus toward a ‘Country Level’ adoption of Blockchain Technologies.

Securities finance industry veteran Rory Zirpolo has joined EquiLend’s business development team focusing on post-trade services in the Americas. He is based in New York and starts immediately.

Zirpolo has more than 30 years of experience in the securities finance industry on both the buy and sell side. Most recently, he was a managing director at institutional brokerage firm WallachBeth Capital. Previously, he held management positions in the securities finance businesses of Cantor Fitzgerald, Cowen, Kellner DiLeo and Credit Suisse. He is also a former board member of EquiLend.

Former Gartner analyst will drive TechInsights growing work in automotive technology applications including connected and autonomous vehicles.