European Commodity Clearing AG (ECC) has introduced a new membership model - the Direct Clearing Participant Model (DCPM).

The new model will allow trading participants to have direct access to trading and clearing of spot markets without the requirement of a clearing member which enables a greater number of players, in particular the smaller participants, access to wholesale spot markets and further increasing depth of liquidity.

Moscow Exchange is making changes to the liquidity support programme for its Derivatives Market from 1 September 2016 by adding options on Brent crude futures.

This year has seen record levels of trading activity in commodity derivatives. Average daily trading in options on Brent crude futures has soared 58-fold year-on-year to 13 thousand contracts, with the number of active clients increasing ten times over.

The Middle East Banking Innovation Summit with IBM as Lead Sponsor has brought together some of the biggest names in banking and technology under one roof to discuss the banking technology roadmap in the Middle East. The summit held at Palazzo Versace witnessed over 450 senior delegates in attendance from the leading banks in the Middle East region and across the globe.

Bursa Malaysia Berhad (“Bursa Malaysia”) today launched Bursa Malaysia-i delivering the world’s first end-to-end integrated Islamic securities exchange platform that offers investors the choice to invest and trade Shariah-compliant products via a Shariah-compliant platform.

Bursa Malaysia-i incorporates the full range of Shariah-compliant exchange-related services including listing, trading, clearing, settlement and depository services, to underscore Bursa Malaysia’s leadership as the global marketplace for Shariah listing and investments.

Oval Partners, a San Francisco based private equity firm, announced today the acquisition of Phoenix based Laser Options Inc.  Laser Options is a business technology organization specializing in managed print services with a 23 year history of delivering exceptional customer service.  They maintain a full line of copiers, printers, and document management solutions providing support and services to companies based in the Southwest marketplace.

The EU’s efforts to regulate financial markets has opened new opportunities for global fintechoperators looking for universal standards to tap into the lucrative 28-country marketplace. While over-regulation can stifle growth, the fintechindustry, in pursuit of consumer trust, has a lot to gain from a clearly defined regulatory framework.

Silverfinch, the leading look-through and data distribution utility for client regulatory reporting, is hosting an inaugural dedicated PRIIPs event in order to explore and discuss the regulatory landscape and industry preparation.

The event, which takes place on Tuesday 13^th September at Gibson Hall in the City of London, will include panel debates with leading industry figures including The Investment Association, the ABI, EY and Club Ampere.

Building on yesterday’s discussion of the digital divide turning into a human divide*, I find it intriguing how we talk incessantly about financial inclusion and how technology will bank the unbanked.  It is our dream.  But is it just a dream?

The reason for thinking this is that poverty and inclusion is yet another area, like identity and clearing and settlement, where technology is not the solution.  It can assist in creating a solution, but it’s just part of the solution.  The first part – before the technology – is the willingness to  use the technology to create a solution.

Duo Security, a cloud-based trusted access provider protecting the world's largest and fastest-growing companies, has been named to The Cloud 100, the top 100 private cloud companies in the world, published by Forbes.