There's no denying that we're in the middle of a cloud craze but behind all the hype, does investment in cloud software really deliver a return? How much of the buzz around cloud is a promise of possible benefits, and how much of it is reality? To decipher what's tangible and what's pie in the sky, I've put together a list of five reasons why cloud adoption is important, according to the facts.

In today’s marketplace, businesses are becoming more dependent on technology to power its operations. With so many companies offering the latest in solutions which promise to improve efficiencies, streamline and automate processes and ultimately drive revenue for businesses, selecting the right solution for particular business needs can be very daunting if businesses are uninformed with the right information.

The insurance industry is struggling to meet the expectations of 21^st Century consumers, independent research has found. In a survey of 2,005 British adults, sponsored by GMC Software, 93 per cent of consumers stated that they want more choice in how they communicate with insurers, who are failing to use available channels, from letters and telephone to email and websites.

American Express unveils that its UK Corporate Cardmembers can now benefit from Apple Pay to tap and pay with compatible Apple devices.

Apple Pay helps American Express Cardmembers to pay with their Apple device at participating contactless merchants in-store and within participating apps, and to benefit from all of the protection and service offered by American Express.

Lloyds Bank, Halifax and Bank of Scotland customers will access to Android Pay, following Google’s announcement today that it is launching its mobile payments service in the UK.

UniCredit and Anthemis Group to launch a new joint investment venture. UniCredit EVO (equity venture opportunities) will be a dedicated initiative focused exclusively on identifying and investing in best-in-class financial technology startups. With an initial capital commitment of €200 million from UniCredit, the initiative will target mid stage startups and follow-on investments in more mature and established FinTech businesses, as well as early stage digitally native financial services startups working on more pioneering solutions.

This week’s closing date for the ESMA consultation, which sets out amongst other things a non-exhaustive list of transaction reporting examples as Level 3 guidance, is a keen reminder of just how much there is to be done for MiFID II. This hefty document, published in December last year, is a crucial step that will allow the implementation to pick up some pace over the coming months.

Chartis Research has recognised Wolters Kluwer  a Category Leader for the financial services industry in its FinTech Quadrant™ on International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) 9 Technology Solutions.

Hailed by legislators as the new framework to close loopholes, MiFID II will see OTC trading face new restrictions, most importantly in the form of the Systematic Internaliser (SI) and the new trading obligations. As the fog slowly lifts, it’s becoming apparent that these new restrictions could impact market structure in surprising ways. A more detailed analysis shows that ETFs, ADRs and other similar financial instruments will face comparable requirements to equity shares.

 Broadridge enhanced its Managed Data Service offering with the addition of several professionals with extensive experience in data management software.