Banks are struggling to stay relevant to a shifting customer base that is driven by technology and need to rethink their business models and value propositions to stay relevant to customers, according to a study by Anthemis Group and Claro Partners.

RSRCHXchange officially launches RSRCHX today, its online marketplace for buying and selling institutional research. Built in consultation with asset management institutions and research providers, RSRCHX radically modernises the way in which users interact with research and enables the buy side to comply with the MiFID II research unbundling requirements.

BCS Financial Group, the largest securities broker on the Moscow Exchange, has been granted access to Euroclear, the world’s largest international central securities depository, through BCS Prime Brokerage Limited.

By using Euroclear, BCS Financial Group will broaden its product offering, enhance its operational efficiency, reduce risks and optimise the costs of trading, settlement and custody services. 

BCS anticipates using Euroclear’s services in the European, UK (LSE IOB), US and Russian markets (local equities and government bonds).

SWIFT announces that GlobalTrade Corporation (GTC), a leading provider of innovative multi-bank trade finance solutions, is the first trade finance technology provider to integrate Alliance Lite2 for Business Applications (L2BA) with its multi-bank trade finance platform for corporates.

Ancoa, providers of contextual surveillance and insightful analytics for exchanges, regulators, buy- and sell-side firms, have successfully closed their Series A funding round last week, bringing the total investment to £4.145m. Investors include Buysse & Partners, LRM Capital, SmartFin Capital, Velocity Capital and Ancoa’s management team as well as a number of high net worth individuals and family offices. All investors are strongly committed to FinTech sector investments through the variety of their individual portfolios.

The portal has been created with widespread support and input from the intermediary sector and represents the first phase of its mortgage switching initiative that will see further development throughout the year.

A market first, the user friendly Product Switching Portal gives brokers clear and instant information to help them share new and existing products with homeowners in a matter of minutes.

Digital banking goes much further than just using online technologies. It lets people decide how a bank can solve
their financial challenges. It means banks can start advising customers on their needs in a consistent way and on
the customersʼ terms.

As part of its initiative to modernize Canada's core national clearing and settlement framework and infrastructure, the CPA is creating a shared vision for the future of payments in Canada based on research, a global perspective, and industry views.

 The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) has launched a new industry data project, aimed at developing an open-source standard derivatives product identification system that can be applied consistently and comprehensively across all derivatives facilities, including trading venues, clearing houses, repositories and other infrastructures.

Azimo, the digital money transfer service, today announced the launch of its mobile airtime service. Through a strategic partnership with TransferTo, a leading provider of international airtime remittance, the new service will enable Azimo’s customers to instantly send airtime to pre-paid mobile phones in over 100 countries: an addressable market of over 4.5 billion people.