Not many things in life are certain, but in the financial services industry it’s obvious to all participants that regulators are continually tightening the national and international governance, risk and compliance requirements. The ultimate aim for firms in 2020 is to stay one step ahead of the evolving regulatory regimes. In addition, Brexit now looks set to further shake up the regulatory mix and compliance regulations for those in, or trading with, the United Kingdom.

Regulatory compliance cost banks US$100 billion in 2016

Form3, the leading cloud-native, payment technology provider have announced that they will provide direct access to the SEPA Instant payment scheme for Ebury. This will be the first solution in Europe that allows direct scheme access for non-banks like FinTech’s and regulated financial institutions, while using Barclays as their liquidity provider.

MDOTM, the fintech startup that uses artificial intelligence to develop investment strategies to support banks, wealth and asset managers, keeps on growing, expanding its team with Axel Maier who joins as Global Business Development Strategist.

A majority (55%) of banking and wealth management professionals view Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics and automation as the most significant developments that will shape the future of the global financial services industry. According to new industry research¹ by Swiss fintech Avaloq, additional key developments include the increasing use of more open and collaborative platforms (cited by 34%), and the rise of distributed ledger technologies and cryptocurrencies (26%).

Lothian Pension Fund, the Edinburgh-based local government pension scheme provider, has completed the implementation of the Charles River Investment Management Solution (Charles River IMS) to help strengthen its investment processes and provide capacity for expansion of its third-party services.

Today, TKP Pensioen and core-banking provider Ohpen announce their cooperation in the DC pensions sector. With this move, the pension administrator is looking to realise its ambitions in this area, while for Ohpen the partnership will allow it to enter the pensions market. Both parties expect a great deal from this win-win situation.

Bankify, a Finnish fintech company, and Nets, a leader in the payments industry, have entered into a strategic partnership that enables Bankify’s customers to consume Bankify’s services through Nets’ Open Banking platform. Under the terms of the partnership, Nets customers will also have easy access to Bankify’s portfolio of microservices via the platform. 

Finastra is investing further in Israel with a new office in Kfar Saba, just outside Tel Aviv. The office, which is home to over 330 employees, offers more space for the Finastra team to grow as the company strengthens its position in the country, and provides an ultra-modern workspace to inspire creativity and facilitate collaboration.

Last year, the European Commission published a series of amendments to the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (“EMIR”).