Convergex, an agency-focused global brokerage and trading related services provider, today announced the appointment of Ann Neidenbach as its new Chief Information Officer (CIO). Ms. Neidenbach is a well-known technology expert with more than twenty-five years of experience in the global financial services industry. 
 

The Swiss bank is planning to open an innovation lab in Level39's high growth space, HighGrowth:42, to explore the role of blockchain technology in financial services.
The project marks the first time a global bank has focused its efforts on the blockchain, so publicly. UBS states it will also look into distributed ledger and smart contract technologies. 

UBS states that  the dedicated lab will enable the bank’s team to work alongside other experts managing complex data and risk assessment in volatile markets.

Ingenico Group and Intel Corporation announced a collaboration to combine Intel technology and Ingenico Group secure payment acceptance for the Internet of Things. The companies will jointly develop a mobile tablet that supports EMV and NFC payment functionalities, a standard required by banks to help prevent credit card fraud.  

EquiLend and BondLend, the securities finance industry trading and post-trade service providers, have launched Trade Match, which provides an automated way to compare pre-settlement, cross-product securities finance transactions.

Trade Match reconciles all the trade components of either the start or close leg of each trade type. Trade Match’s exception management reporting prioritizes the core pending settlement risk items for the users, helping them to reduce fails and rectify trade economic discrepancies on a real-time basis.

Skrill Group today announces that it has completed its acquisition of Ukash*.  This deal, which was announced in November 2014, extends the scale and reach of Skrill Group’s paysafecard, further enhancing its position as Europe’s most popular, proven and secure prepaid payment solutions for purchasing online.
 

 Black Mountain Systems, a software company that develops innovative data and process management solutions for asset managers and financial institutions, announced today that it has completed a majority recapitalization. The transaction was led by Black Mountain's management and funds managed by Stone Point Capital, which is a leading private equity firm focused on investing in the global financial services industry.

Avaloq, DBS, Leonteq and Numerix have signed a letter of intent for the implementation of an integrated multi-issuer investment products distribution system (“IPDS”). The cooperation will enhance the offering and distribution of structured investment products. Through this initiative, Avaloq connects the IPDS to the Avaloq Banking Suite, with DBS as the pilot bank. For the first phase, the new platform will focus on the Asia Pacific region.