OKEx, the world’s largest futures cryptocurrency exchange, today announced the launch of USDT-Margined Futures. After a successful simulation beginning November 5, 2019, BTC/USDT Futures Contracts officially went live today, November 14, 2019, on the OKEx futures market. 

Banking Circle, the ground-breaking provider of financial services infrastructure has been shortlisted for three awards in the upcoming Card & Payments Awards. Banking Circle Virtual IBAN is up for the Best Service to Business award, and together with Ixaris Payments is shortlisted for Best Technology Initiative of the Year. In addition, Ixaris Payments and Banking Circle are shortlisted for Best Achievement in Payments Processing.

Ingenico Group, the global leader in seamless payment, today reported record breaking transaction volumes and payment authorization rates on its most successful Singles Day ever. The company outperformed last year with more than four times as many online transactions as 2018’s event and recorded its highest number of Transactions Per Second (TPS) ever. During the event, Ingenico’s Amsterdam-based ePayments division processed millions of payments seamlessly for leading Chinese-owned websites and marketplaces including AliExpress, Tmall and DHGate.

Standard Chartered’s innovation, fintech and ventures unit, SC Ventures, has participated in a Series A funding round for regtech Silent Eight.

Proposals by seven UK banks to levy a per transaction fee for for certain Faster Payment transactions as a means to provide a long-term, sustainable funding arrangement for the reimbursement of APP scam victims, have been knocked back by governing body Pay.UK following an industry-wide consultation.

Protiviti and the International RegTech Association (IRTA) have released the findings of a global market study they conducted to investigate the effectiveness of current ‘Know Your Customer’(KYC) processes. The study reveals an urgent need for more effective industry alignment to accelerate the digitizing of KYC processes and greater use of shared platforms.

Avaloq, the leading cloud platform and service provider for banks, wealth managers and investment firms, has successfully closed the acquisition of Zurich-based Derivative Partners AG, the number one independent information and data provider for structured products and derivatives in Switzerland. The deal was first announced in July this year. Derivative Partners will continue to operate as an organizational entity, with all staff retained. Detailed financial terms are not being disclosed.

Abacus Group, a leading provider of hosted IT solutions and services for alternative investment firms, is pleased to announce that four of its managers have been selected as finalists in the 5^th Annual Markets Choice Awards: Women in Finance, presented by Markets Media Group.

 Ledger, the global leader in security and infrastructure solutions for digital assets and blockchain applications, today obtained a crime insurance policy covering digital assets secured by the Ledger Vault platform.

Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. (NRI), a leading provider of consulting services and system solutions, announced today they will launch Shingan AD, a new service providing institutional investors with Japanese alternative data and data analysis on December 1^st, 2019

The use of alternative data in investment decision-making is growing rapidly. Sourcing, cleansing, and preparing large amount of data for analysis presents a big challenge for institutional investors who are looking for untapped alpha.