Digital distribution eliminates inefficient, paper-based processes, improves capital utilization and risk mitigation, and provides liquidity to support clients.

LiquidX, the global fintech solutions provider for working capital, trade finance, and insurance, today announced the launch of automated digital distribution technology for trade finance assets. With this launch, banks and asset managers now have a fully digital solution for programmatic, automated origination and distribution of trade finance assets, allowing them to scale, improve returns, and generate costs savings for their trade finance businesses.

Trade finance asset distribution allows banks, asset managers, and other trade finance funders to balance portfolios to meet capital requirements and manage concentration risk, earn returns on assets, and free up liquidity to further support customers. For banks seeking to deploy balance sheet, purchasing trade finance assets is an attractive means of generating new income sources and positive returns.

According to estimates, $400-$500 billion of bank-intermediated trade finance is distributed annually, predominantly through inefficient, paper-based processes. According to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), upwards of four billion documents are moving across the trade ecosystem at any given time, and the lack of digitization slows trade and hampers growth.

With LiquidX, Banks and asset managers can initiate single-click trading with their investor networks under existing agreements or to the LiquidX network of over 50 funders using the platform’s built-in legal infrastructure. This enables banks and asset managers to increase their trade finance volumes while eliminating manual processes that are a source of delay, inefficiency, fraud risk, and error.

“The ICC estimates that trade across the G7 could increase by $9 trillion in the next five years with digitization,” said Jim Toffey, CEO of LiquidX. “We are building the complete digital ecosystem that will allow trade to flourish and flow without manual impediments. Now banks and asset managers can originate, distribute, seamlessly access trade credit insurance, and generate better business intelligence – all on the LiquidX platform.”

Security and Risk Officer Microsoft Azure to Provide Expertise to Support Drawbridge’s Continued Growth

Drawbridge, a premier provider of cybersecurity software and solutions to the alternative investment industry, today announced the appointment of Edna M. Conway to the Drawbridge Board of Directors. Conway will leverage her extensive expertise in cybersecurity, compliance and risk management to support Drawbridge’s long-term vision and help position the company to meet evolving client and market requirements throughout its continued period of global hypergrowth.

“We are thrilled to welcome Edna to the Drawbridge Board of Directors,” said Jason Elmer, CEO, Drawbridge. “Edna has established herself as an exceptional cybersecurity and risk leader and brings immense in-depth market knowledge to her role on the board. Her guidance will be invaluable as we continue to enhance our software and deliver exceptional service to help our global clients secure their critical data and assets in today’s challenging threat and regulatory landscape.”

A sought-after cybersecurity industry influencer, Conway brings decades of experience and leadership delivering trust, transparency, compliance, risk management, sustainability and supply chain transformation to organizations. She currently serves as Security & Risk Officer for Microsoft Azure Hardware Systems & Infrastructure, where she is responsible for the security, resiliency and governance of the cloud infrastructure upon which Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud business operates. Prior to Microsoft, Conway served as Cisco’s Chief Security Officer, Global Value Chain, driving a comprehensive security architecture across Cisco’s third-party ecosystem. Earlier in her career, Conway was a partner in an international private legal practice and served as Assistant Attorney General for the State of New Hampshire.

Conway has received domestic and international recognition from such prestigious organizations as U.S. Presidential Commissions and NATO, acknowledging her for her role as the developer of architectures that deliver value chain security, sustainability and resiliency.  She was also appointed to the Executive Committee of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Task Force on ICT Supply Chain Risk Management.

“Drawbridge’s global client growth is a testament to the exceptional team the company has assembled and its unrelenting focus on delivering best-in-class software and support,” said Edna Conway. “At a time when cybersecurity, third-party risk and operational resilience are regarded as critical board room priorities, Drawbridge is ideally positioned to serve as a trusted partner to alternative investment firms. I am honored to join the Board of Directors and be part of a company that has such an unwavering focus on customer success and technology innovation.”

• New plans from the FCA will ensure a higher standard of consumer protection for users of financial services.
• Today’s consultation takes on board feedback from and engagement with the industry and consumer groups following initial proposals published in May.
• It sets out more developed proposals for new rules which will require firms to focus on supporting and empowering their customers to make good financial decision and avoiding foreseeable harm at every stage of the customer relationship.
• Firms will have to review their products and services against this new standard and the consultation period gives providers the opportunity to engage with the FCA as the details are worked through.

Comment below, attributable to Anne Fairweather, Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy:

"The FCA is right to zero in on the responsibility that the financial sector has in supporting consumers in their consultation on a new Consumer Duty.  This new approach, focused on consumer outcomes, is very welcome.

An ambitious deadline of April 2023 has been set but, paired with the iterative approach they’ve outlined in today’s announcement, there should be time to iron out wrinkles in the framework. As always with wide ranging reform, this will prove contentious in some quarters, especially with headline costs up to £2.4bn being quoted.

However, there’s a missed opportunity when considering the benefits of greater personalisation in communications. The power of data hasn’t yet been fully harnessed here – more could be done to support consumer understanding. The advice/guidance boundary gets in the way of our ability to engage our clients using targeted messaging and guiding them to better outcomes. 

The Consumer Duty offers the opportunity to look beyond the current, rigid advice boundary and instead judge the value firms provide based on the outcomes they drive for consumers. We’ll continue to make the case for the benefits that more personalised guidance could bring to the millions who are left unadvised in the current system.”

Colt Technology Services has today announced that, in partnership with the UK’s largest independent Full Fibre platform, CityFibre, it is enhancing the reach of its UK metro network in eight regional cities across the UK; Leeds, Bristol, Slough, Bracknell, Reading, Milton Keynes, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The partnership with CityFibre enables Colt to use an innovative access model to connect commercial buildings as on net locations, supporting fully managed Colt services. The extended metro reach allows Colt customers full ‘on-demand’ capabilities in these cities and establishes Edinburgh and Glasgow as the 53^rd and 54^th Colt Metro Cities.

The intelligent Colt IQ Network comprises of 29,000 on net buildings and over 900 data centres across Europe, Asia and North America's largest business hubs, and enables customers to expand their businesses globally with Colt.

Robin Farnan, Colt’s EVP Operations and Engineering, said: “As a company, we are focused on improving both our reach and costs across the UK. Working with CityFibre to enhance our metro offering, customers can now connect from a building in Edinburgh or Glasgow to New York or Tokyo, entirely on Colt’s IQ Network, drawing on our world class on demand capability. Being able to deliver that kind of global service really puts us in a very strong position to help customers work and grow internationally.”

Andrew Wilson, Head of Wholesale at CityFibre, said: “With CityFibre’s Full Fibre network rapidly scaling to reach 8 million premises by 2025, our city networks unlock the potential for Colt to create its own differentiated value and a world-class network experience. The opportunity for customers within the UK, and Edinburgh and Glasgow particularly, is exciting and we’re thrilled to be working with Colt on driving this global ambition for the UK.”

Recognised as a Visionary in the Gartner 2021 Magic Quadrant for Network Services, Colt also received Frost & Sullivan’s 2021 European Customer Value Leadership Award. The company has industry-leading Net Promotor Scores (NPS), reflecting Colt employees’ high motivation. 

For further information about Colt’s IQ Network, read here.

Flow Traders and MarketAxess Holdings Inc.today announced that Flow Traders has committed to become a name-disclosed liquidity provider in U.S. high yield corporate bonds, Euro-denominated investment grade and high yield bonds and emerging market sovereign bonds through the MarketAxess trading platform. Flow Traders is also actively contributing streaming prices as a market maker for U.S. high yield corporate bonds on the anonymous Live Markets™ order book. 

Following many years of providing anonymous liquidity through MarketAxess’ Open Trading marketplace, Flow Traders is now becoming a name-disclosed liquidity provider on the MarketAxess trading platform for global credit trading products. This ultimately allows institutional investor clients to select Flow Traders by name when submitting a disclosed inquiry, enhancing anonymous liquidity already provided through Open Trading. 

Ramon Balje, Head of Fixed Income EMEA, Flow Traders, commented, “The evolution in the corporate bond market continues to accelerate, mainly driven by developments in technology and the availability of higher quality data. Flow Traders is a strong advocate of bringing greater transparency, cost reduction and improved efficiency. Therefore, we’re thrilled to expand our offering by becoming an active liquidity provider on the MarketAxess trading platform.” 

Flow Traders are also actively contributing streaming prices in U.S. high yield to the MarketAxess Live Markets order book. Leveraging the anonymous all-to-all Open Trading marketplace, Live Markets provides a single view of two-way, actionable prices for the most active U.S. investment grade and U.S. high yield bonds, including recently issued debt, benchmark issues and news-driven securities. Live Markets gives institutional credit investors and dealers the ability to place resting live orders in the market and engage firm prices provided by dealers and investors with a single click. Flow Traders joins Barclays, Goldman Sachs and another streaming liquidity provider as dedicated market makers for Live Markets.

Matheus Pereira, Head of Fixed Income Americas, Flow Traders, commented, “We are delighted to become a name-disclosed liquidity provider on the MarketAxess trading platform. This is another proof point that market participants are looking to connect with alternative liquidity providers like Flow Traders. To expand our offering on MarketAxess further, we will also be contributing streaming prices for U.S. high yield corporate bonds to the Live Markets order book, another mark of our commitment to innovation.”  

Richard Schiffman, Head of Open Trading with MarketAxess, added, “Flow Traders is a true change maker, bringing new and important sources of liquidity to the market, and we’re thrilled to be working with them in all aspects of trading on our platform. Matched with our unparalleled global network and innovative Open Trading solutions, Flow Traders brings meaningful pricing capabilities to our global network of institutional investors and dealers.” 

Over $2 trillion of global credit was traded over the MarketAxess platform among over 1,800 active investor and dealer participants in the first three quarters of 2021.  Of that, 32% was traded via Open Trading in the same period.  The enhanced global liquidity offered through Open Trading drove estimated transaction cost savings^* of $445 million for both liquidity takers and liquidity providers in the first three quarters of 2021.  

*Estimated liquidity taker cost savings is defined as the difference between the winning price and the best disclosed dealer cover price. Estimated liquidity provider cost savings is defined as the difference between the winning price and then current Composite+ bid or offer level (offer if the provider is buying, bid if provider is selling) at the time of the inquiry.

The global payments company, SimplyPayMe, has integrated a software product through Smart Code Engine for credit card scanning in their mobile app. The integration enables SimplyPayMe merchants to receive frictionless, contact-free card payments through a software-based Point-Of-Sale (POS) system without having to manually type in numbers. 

The SimplyPayMe platform has been specifically designed and engineered for SMEs, and enables seamless payments, invoicing and simple business management solutions, all through your smartphone as well as some of the lowest transaction fees and fastest settlement times in the market. 

To perform payments, a customer simply needs to put the credit card in front of the device’s camera, the numbers will automatically scan, and all the necessary data will be entered in the payment form. Smart Engines OCR technology increases SimpyPayMe’s mobile app accessibility as the users are not obliged to look for a convenient angle or any special lighting conditions for better recognition. Smart Code Engine provides successful debit and credit card scanning even if cards are damaged or worn.

Smart Engines scientists develop Green AI-based OCR algorithms to capture data from credit cards issued according to the standards of VISA, MasterCard, Maestro, American Express, JCB, UnionPay, Diners Club, Discover, RuPay, Elo, Verve, VPay, Girocard, PagoBancomat, MyDebit, Troy, BC Card, Interac, Carte Bancaire, Dankort, MIR. GreenOCR® provides an automatic credit card scanning for cards of any type: embossed, indent, and flat printed, with horizontal or portrait layout, with digits printed on the front or backside. 

Credit card scanning is also supported in the real-time video stream and on photos. The software performs all calculations on the user’s device, ensures the client’s data privacy, and does not distribute it to third-party services.

“We are excited to be working in partnership with Smart Engines. Their product allows us to enable and expand the services available to our SMEs and effectively offer a world-leading card scanning solution through our app. Our all-in-one business management solution with payments capabilities allows SMEs to save vital time and offers a quick and easy solution to combat existing challenges. We are proud to be using the fastest OCR solution in the market and look forward to seeing how this can help us to facilitate simplifying payments and business management for SMEs as we advance,” said SimplyPayMe CEO Kent Vorland.

“We are proud that our credit card scanning solution is becoming popular and helping more and more users to make payment transactions easily and securely. For us, cooperation with SimplyPayMe is an important confirmation that various financial organizations need high-quality and secure recognition technologies”, states Vladimir Arlazarov, CEO at Smart Engines, Ph.D.

• The acquisition will accelerate the deployment of personalised propositions at scale across the financial services industry, enabling up to 90% faster client onboarding.
• Appway’s award-winning low-code no-code workflow automation solution will extend FNZ’s position as the industry’s leading global wealth management platform and continues their investment in next-generation technology.
• FNZ is revolutionising the industry by giving financial institutions a single platform that integrates seamlessly with their business, empowers the entire wealth continuum and is consumable as a service.
• Combination to strengthen FNZ's position in the $239 trillion global wealth market.
• FNZ strengthens its Senior Leadership Team with the appointment of Hanspeter Wolf, CEO and Founder of Appway, as Chief Technology Officer of the FNZ Group.

FNZ, the leading global wealth management platform, today announced that it has agreed to acquire Appway, the leader in client onboarding and client servicing for financial institutions. This strategic acquisition gives FNZ significant technology expertise in enterprise-grade low-code no-code workflow automation with deep domain expertise across the entire wealth management value chain. Hanspeter Wolf, CEO and Founder of Appway, will become Chief Technology Officer of the FNZ Group and join the Senior Leadership Team, effective on the acquisition closing date.

FNZ’s success has always been based on understanding the needs of our customers and providing them the solutions they need to grow their business. With this acquisition FNZ continues to add significant next-generation technology to its leading global wealth management platform helping financial institutions around the world to accelerate innovation and rapidly deploy personalised customer propositions across the wealth continuum that are differentiated, scalable and that meet regulatory requirements.

“We are excited that FNZ and Appway are coming together to provide financial institutions with an unrivalled platform to accelerate their digital transformations, deliver significant operational efficiencies and improve the client experience,” said Adrian Durham, CEO, FNZ Group.

“Both our companies have a shared vision, relentless focus on customer success and a track record of innovation, and Hanspeter is an inspirational and seasoned leader with rich experience in the technology sector. We are delighted to welcome him and the talented Appway team into FNZ.”

Appway is a multinational company, headquartered in Zurich. The company’s award-winning solutions are trusted by leading financial institutions, including 10 out of 25 of the world’s largest wealth managers, to automate and accelerate their business-critical core processes and adapt to new regulatory requirements.

Hanspeter Wolf, CEO and Founder, Appway, said: “I could not be more excited about joining FNZ as the Chief Technology Officer and the value we will create together. The Appway low-code no-code workflow automation solutions are based on the deep expertise across the full wealth continuum and allow our customers to achieve up to 90% faster client onboarding times and a 10% increase in margins on average per onboarded client. Combining our solutions and the expertise of the Appway team with the strength, scale, and commitment of the FNZ Group will help extend our market-leading innovation.”

Dr. Matthias Allgaier, Managing Director at Summit Partners and Appway Board Director, added: “Both Appway and FNZ are leaders in their respective fields. I have been proud to work alongside Hanspeter and the Appway team since partnering with the company in early 2020. Over the course of the last two years, Appway has continued to deliver innovative solutions designed to revolutionise the customer experience for financial institutions. I’m looking forward to once again working with FNZ, where I previously served on the board. I believe this combined team and solution set will help their customers deliver revenue growth and improved operating margins through digital transformation.”

FNZ provides a complete integrated technology, transaction and custody platform to wealth managers, banks, insurers and asset managers in 18 countries across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Trusted by more than 150 major financial institutions, FNZ has over $1.5 trillion in assets under administration, which represents the combined savings and investments of over 20 million customers.
The transaction is due to be completed by early Q1 2022. Terms of the agreement are not being disclosed.

Certero, a leading innovator in the field Unified IT Hardware, Software, SaaS and Cloud Asset Management solutions, today announced that they have once again raised the bar with their security credentials, becoming Cyber Essentials Plus Certified.

This is the highest level of certification offered under the Cyber Essentials scheme, and is on top of Certero already being ISO 27001 Certified for Information Security Management.

This gives customers the assurance of a truly secure SaaS-hosted option for ITAM, SAM and Cloud Asset Management solutions and services, delivered by a single, trusted partner. Certero believe that demonstrating a commitment to the highest possible standards and professionalism is key to generating trust with customers, as CEO John Lunt explains:

“At the end of the day, we’re not just delivering value through our solutions and technology-led services, we are entering into a serious position of trust with our clients”.

“Too many vendors in our industry have exposed their clients to security risks through the lapse governance and under-investment in fundamental internal security. We don’t think that is how you should do business”.

John Lunt, Certero CEO continues:

“It can be hard to really know how professional your vendors are behind the polished façade, which is why we’re proud that not only are we customers highest-rated major SAM solution vendor on Gartner’s Peer Insights, but we also have the evidence in these credentials, that we are doing everything we possibly can to achieve and sustain the highest possible standards for your and our mutual cybersecurity”.

For the fifth consecutive year, Muinmos has been included in the annual RegTech 100 - a list that recognises the world’s most innovative technology solution providers with products and services in compliance, risk management, information security and financial crime.

A panel of analysts and industry experts voted from a longlist of nearly 1,200 companies produced by RegTech Analyst, a specialist research firm. Sixty new companies entered the RegTech100 for 2022 and the finalists were recognised for their innovative use of technology to solve a significant industry problem, or to generate efficiency improvements across the compliance function. Being chosen for the fifth consecutive year is a testament to Muinmos’ focus on continual product development, reinforcing its position as a RegTech pioneer and industry leader.

Muinmos was selected for being the only RegTech solution on the global market to provide complete automation and centralisation of the entire onboarding process. With its unique product set which includes a Regulatory Onboarding Engine, KYC/AML and risk management modules, Muinmos uses algorithmic rule-based AI, machine learning and neural nets to help financial institutions onboard any client type in under three minutes and remain fully compliant as regulatory parameters change.

Remonda Kirketerp-Møller, Founder and CEO, Muinmos comments, “Being selected for the RegTech 100 for the fifth consecutive year is a major achievement and we are thrilled that in an increasingly competitive landscape, Muinmos continues to stand out for our world-class products.

“We continually invest in product development to address two significant issues for compliance teams - how to provide clients with an exemplary and efficient onboarding experience and how to stay compliant when operating across multiple jurisdictions, particularly in a world of increasingly complex and ever-evolving regulatory requirements. More and more financial institutions are seeing the need for automation in order to address these challenges and we are delighted that, as we celebrate our most successful year to date, we have impressed the judges by being selected for the RegTech 100 for 2022.”

The RegTech (regulatory technology) industry has experienced rapid growth over the last two years as financial institutions dealt with rising tide of regulatory changes and rules updates brought by remote working and increased use of digital channels post Covid-19. As a result, RegTech spending by banks and other highly regulated institutions is projected to exceed $130bn by 2025. Not surprisingly, this year’s process to identify the 100 RegTech innovation leaders was more competitive than ever.

RegTech Analyst director of research Mariyan Dimitrov said, “Banks and other financial institutions are investing heavily into AI capabilities to automate highly manual regulatory tasks, support digital onboarding processes and monitor for fraudulent activity. The RegTech100 list helps them filter through all the vendors in the market by highlighting the leading companies in sectors such as identity verification, risk management, communications monitoring, information security and financial crime prevention.”

A full list of the RegTech100 for 2022 and detailed information about each company is available to download for free at www.RegTech100