FINCAD, the leading provider of valuation and risk analytics for multi-asset, multi-currency portfolios, today announced that it has added several key enhancements to F3, its powerful object-oriented valuation and risk platform. These enhancements benefit buy-side firms searching for alpha in a low-yield environment and pursuing multi-asset, multi-currency strategies.

 ICBC Standard Bank Plc (“ICBC Standard” or “the Bank”) announces the appointment of Jinny Yan as Chief China Economist, located in London and reporting to Guido Haller, Head of FICE Markets.  

Visa today announced the launch of Visa Checkout, a quick and easy payment service that enables Singaporean consumers to pay for goods online, on any device, in just a few clicks. This new service addresses the frustration experienced by many online shoppers by reducing the number of steps required to complete a purchase online.

 The SWIFT Institute announces the launch of a new competition targeted at university students. The SWIFT Institute Challenge 2016 asks students to address a real world challenge being faced by remittance senders, receivers and their banks, and is open to any UK-based recognised university, or centre of learning, with an interest in banking.

 ParFX, the wholesale electronic trading platform, today expanded the number of currencies offered on its platform with the addition of the Hungarian forint (HUF). 

In recent years, the Hungarian forint has become increasingly popular among the global FX trading community, with approximately 90% of Hungarian forint trades executed outside of Hungary’s domestic borders. According to the Bank for International Settlements, it is one of the 25 most actively traded currencies in the world.¹ 

SWIFT announces today that the Innotribe Startup Challenge for Africa is open for applications. For the second year running, the Innotribe Startup Challenge for Africa will be part of SWIFT’s African Regional Conference (ARC) held in Mauritius from 17-19 May. 

Third party risk management is making headlines and for some very good reasons. Why? Structural factors are forcing a complete rethink of current practices.  Financial institutions and third parties are each facing their own challenges as third party risk management receives greater focus than ever before. 

Factor #1: RELIANCE

Neonet, the independent agency broker and execution specialist, announces that it recently joined AIM Italia, Italy’s leading growth market for SMEs, as a member firm.
 
“As an independent agency brokerage, we constantly review our access to all available European liquidity.  Recent customer demand for access to Italy’s SMEs lead to our decision to become a member of AIM Italia”, said Tim Wildenberg, Chief Executive Officer of Neonet.  “We are delighted to offer our clients access to SMEs listed on AIM Italia.”
 

The PSD2 (Payments Services Directive 2) and Open API (application programming interface) standards in banking will come into force in the UK (and the wider EU) within two years. The UK Government is backing these initiatives with the aim to provide consumers with more secure, less expensive and easy-to-use financial services. These developments will affect both retail and corporate banking. But how will this drive innovation and competition in financial services, and where are banks in the race to take advantage of the new approaches?