Google Cloud and Commerzbank, a leading German commercial bank with a strong international focus, announced today that they are expanding their collaboration by entering into a five-year, strategic partnership. With the help of Google Cloud, Commerzbank will move a significant number of its banking applications to the cloud, a continuation of a comprehensive digital transformation strategy underway since 2017. Google Cloud will support Commerzbank on its journey to build a cloud transformation organization and to innovate new solutions for the bank’s customers.

Commerzbank is increasingly using cloud technology to bring new products and customer experiences to market faster, improve the performance of its systems and reduce operating costs. This is intended to accelerate the bank's overall digital transformation, which includes a goal of running 85 percent of its decentralized applications in the cloud by 2024. 

"In our new ‘Strategy 2024’, a multicloud approach continues to play a major role. We will benefit from Google Cloud’s extensive capabilities in infrastructure modernization, as well as from its know-how in data analytics and machine learning, as one of the pioneers of this technology. As we move to the cloud, Google Cloud is an important strategic partner," said Jörg Hessenmüller, Chief Operating Officer (COO) and member of the Board of Managing Directors of Commerzbank.

Google Cloud has been providing Commerzbank with cloud technologies and expertise since 2017. With this new, expanded agreement, Google will now offer the bank a deeper set of platform services to enable its digital transformation. Using Google Cloud will allow Commerzbank developers to follow a continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) approach, enabling them to make updates to code more seamlessly. This means that building and maintaining applications will be faster and easier, ensuring that end users have access to cutting-edge financial apps.

Commerzbank customers are already using the first application developed on Google Cloud Platform—the "Digitale Kontoanalyse,” i.e. the “digital account analysis”. This application provides multiple benefits for banking customers and Commerzbank employees, including:

• Digital account analysis, which enables the bank and customers to work together to process loan applications more quickly.
• Creation of accurate balance sheets of income and expenses for each customer account.
• Better tracking of historical financial data, so that customers can optimize their income and expenditures behavior over time.

“We are excited to work with Commerzbank to help the bank digitally transform. This partnership means that Google Cloud not only satisfies the high regulatory requirements of the financial sector but we also cooperate on industry-wide initiatives such as the Collaborative Cloud Audit Group to provide verifiable transparency against important compliance standards in the financial services industry,” said Daniel Holz, vice president, EMEA North Region at Google Cloud. 

The Collaborative Cloud Audit Group (CCAG) is a group of financial services firms in Europe that performs pooled audits of cloud providers like Google Cloud to ensure regulatory compliance of their material outsourcing operations. 

E-wallet provider STICPAY is signing a partnership agreement with CWG Markets, a leading financial platform trading provider.

The deal expands the choice for CWG’s customers to deposit and withdraw funds and conduct forex trades with STICPAY’s e-walletservices.

The e-wallet gives faster transfer payments than international bank transfers and users only pay deposit and withdrawal fees, with transfer fees covered by the merchant.

Forex trading, primarily corporate brokers, was 40% up in 2020 in day-to-day trading volume compared to the past decade. Additionally, retail forex (individuals) trading has grown owing to the high degree of accessibility of the sector and the need to generate alternative sources of income through the pandemic.

This latest deal is another step for London-based STICPAY in building-up its established customer base across European and Asian markets including Japan, China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. The fintech firm currently offers 33 wallets for both local fiat and crypto currencies, which include payment methods such as Visa and Mastercard, bank wire and local bank wire transfer in Asian countries.

CWG Markets provides international securities, contracts for differences (CFDs), commodities, global indexes, and other financial derivatives trading for global traders.

CWG Markets says: “STICPAY’s e-wallet will give our clients another fast and cost-effective way to transfer money while keeping the security they naturally expect. The deal will help improve our users’ experience, whether they are retail, forex traders, or corporate brokers.”    

STICPAY’s client service director James Bay says: “The partnership with CWG illustrates the trust leading global financial firms place in our delivery of payment services for their brand and customer base.”

The Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB), founded by the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA) to facilitate the allocation and maintenance of International Securities Identification Numbers (ISINs), Classification of Financial Instrument codes (CFIs) and Financial Instrument Short Names (FISNs) for OTC derivatives, has today opened a Request for Information (RFI) process to identify a reference data provider for provision of underlier identifiers for the Unique Product Identifier (UPI).

A requirement of the UPI (which will be available from the DSB from Q3 2022) is to support the use of multiple underlier identifiers and reference data elements. In order for the UPI Service to support the use of a range of underlier identifiers it is necessary for the DSB to identify a suitable provider of reference data.

Underlier identifiers are critically important, as they are one of the attributes used to define a UPI. At a given point in time, every reportable OTC derivative product should be identified by one distinct set of UPI reference data elements and their values. It is intended that UPI users will be able to submit a range of underlier identifiers, which will map to a single UPI code for any given OTC derivative product. The different identifiers representing the instrument, index, or reference rate for an OTC derivative should therefore be regarded as alternative representations of the underlier for the same UPI. Such reference data will be important in underpinning the UPI’s effectiveness. 

The DSB is opening an RFI today - 29th March - with the timeframe for clarifications to be sought from interested parties by the 9th April 2021 and the closing deadline for respondents being the 23rd April 2021. The DSB aims to finalise the selection process by the middle of the year. 

Emma Kalliomaki, Managing Director of ANNA and the DSB, said: “The UPI is going to be critical to the international markets allowing regulators to aggregate global data reportable to trade repositories. Having a reliable reference data source for underliers is vitally important. We are interested in receiving submissions from reference data providers who are able to satisfy the criteria set out in our RFI documentation.”

Details of the RFI will be available on request and the same timeline will apply to all candidates.  Parties interested in responding to the RFI, or with enquiries, please contact us using data-survey@anna-dsb.com. 

Significantly strengthening its capital markets capabilities and enhancing its position as a global Fintech leader, Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR), today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Itiviti Holding AB (“Itiviti”), a leading provider of trading and connectivity technology to the capital markets industry, in an all-cash transaction valued at €2.143 billion (approximately $2.5 billion) from Nordic Capital. 

“The acquisition of Itiviti enhances Broadridge’s position as a global Fintech leader,” said Tim Gokey, Broadridge’s Chief Executive Officer. “By extending our capabilities into the front office and deepening our multi-asset class solutions, Itiviti significantly strengthens our Capital Markets franchise and better enables Broadridge to help financial institutions adapt to a rapidly evolving marketplace. Itiviti’s well-developed footprint in APAC and EMEA will increase our scale outside North America and strengthen our ability to serve our global clients.

“The acquisition is also expected to deliver value to our shareholders in the form of stronger recurring revenue growth, higher margins and higher Adjusted EPS.  This incremental revenue and earnings growth positions us well to deliver at the higher end of our three-year growth objectives for recurring revenue and Adjusted EPS growth,” Mr. Gokey added.

Itiviti is a leading global capital markets technology service provider offering highly scalable solutions that financial institutions use to consolidate their trading infrastructure, driving significant cost savings. With offices in 16 countries, Itiviti serves 24 of the top 25 global investment banks and over 2,000 leading brokers, trading firms and asset managers across 50 countries. Itiviti’s suite of Trading and Connect solutions offer comprehensive tools to support both connectivity and adaptivity to changing market dynamics and regulatory demands. The solutions and services offered provide financial institutions the flexibility and functionality to serve any trading style across asset classes.

Itiviti CEO Rob Mackay stated: “Joining Broadridge represents an exciting next chapter for our business and team by creating a leading front-to-back capital markets technology and operations provider. The combination of our technology, solutions and people will unlock significant value for our clients and drive long-term growth for our combined business.”  

With a focus on front-office trade order and execution management systems, FIX connectivity and network offerings, Itiviti is highly complementary to Broadridge’s industry-leading post-trade product suite and other capital markets capabilities. This combination is expected to drive significant value to clients by enabling them to streamline their front-to-back technology stacks, increasing efficiencies, reducing risk and optimizing balance sheet utilization across equities, fixed income, exchange-traded derivatives, and other asset classes. With more than $900 million in combined calendar 2020 revenues, Broadridge’s Capital Markets franchise will be even better positioned to help its clients adapt to increasing electronification and algo-driven trading and to mutualize non-differentiating functions to reduce their total cost of ownership.

In addition, Itiviti’s strong presence in APAC and EMEA will significantly expand Broadridge’s revenues outside of North America and enhance Broadridge’s international footprint in key markets. Itiviti’s blue-chip client base should also provide significant cross-sell opportunities across Broadridge’s product portfolio, further enhancing its long-term growth. 

Itiviti generated recurring revenues of approximately €210 million in calendar year 2020. Its subscription-like revenue model delivers growing and high-quality recurring revenues.  Upon closing, Itiviti will become part of Broadridge’s Global Technology and Operations segment and its senior management team, led by CEO Rob Mackay, will remain with the company to drive future growth.

“Itiviti has experienced a journey of growth and transformation during Nordic Capital’s ownership to become a world leading capital markets technology and infrastructure provider,” said Fredrik Näslund, partner at Nordic Capital Advisers. “We are immensely proud of the Itiviti team and it’s now time for them to take the next step with Broadridge, who is the ideal company to help capitalize on its next-generation technology platform and achieve even further growth and expansion.”

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Fiscal Year 2021.

Broadridge Positioned to Achieve Higher End of Three-Year Growth Objectives

Broadridge is financing the acquisition through a new $2.55 billion term credit agreement. Following the closing, Broadridge expects to maintain an investment grade credit rating and intends to reduce its leverage over the next two years. The Company plans to continue to follow its historical capital allocation priorities, including internal investments, funding a growing dividend, and pursuing additional tuck-in M&A.

The acquisition of Itiviti is expected to be accretive to Adjusted EPS in the first full year after closing and generate attractive financial returns for Broadridge’s shareholders. In addition, the acquisition is expected to contribute 2.5-3 points to Broadridge’s recurring revenue compound annual growth rate (“CAGR”) and 2 points to its Adjusted EPS CAGR over the fiscal year 2020-2023 time period. 

As a result, the Company believes it is well-positioned to achieve the higher end of the three-year 7-9% recurring revenue growth and 8-12% Adjusted EPS growth CAGRs that it presented at its December 2020 Investor Day.

TPAY MOBILE, the full-service digital payments platform for the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey, today announces senior leadership appointments for two newly created positions, capitalizing on its recent acquisition of Payguru and building on its commitment to simplify the complex processes that underpin cross-border mobile payment acceptance across MEA and Turkey.

Işık Uman has been appointed Vice President of Global Partnerships, Turkey and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). A founding partner and the Chairman of Payguru prior to its acquisition, Işık brings with him a wealth of experience working with mobile network operators (MNOs). He led the buy-out of Neomobile’s Turkish mobile payment business, which, under the Payguru brand in 2016, became the first Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) company granted a payment license by the Turkish Financial Regulator. Under his Chairmanship, Payguru became the leading alternative payment provider in Turkey, processing ₺500 million a year through its DCB and Bank Transfer services.

In addition, Payguru senior executive Onur Ergüney has been appointed Vice President of Gaming & E-sports at TPAY MOBILE. Onur brings with him over 10 years’ managerial experience across the gaming, digital entertainment, and telco sectors, specialising in payment systems, monetization, distribution network establishment, and product development. At Payguru he was in charge of business development strategies, international merchant relations and compliance. Prior to that, he worked with international companies including Game Sultan, Paytogo and MOL Turkey.

“The appointment of Işık and Onur in these roles underscores our commitment to accelerating our ambitious growth strategy,” comments Sahar Salama, CEO of TPAY MOBILE. “Işık and Onur are both proven entrepreneurs, having built and scaled Payguru, and bring with them unrivalled telco, gaming, and E-sports expertise. As we look to further scale TPAY MOBILE and our offering across MEA and Turkey, we are delighted to welcome them to our leadership team and look forward to leveraging their experience across our business.”

Işık Uman, VP of Global Partnerships, Turkey and SSA, comments: “After building a highly successful fintech business at Payguru, which I am very proud of, I am excited to join TPAY MOBILE as we embark on this next chapter together. TPAY MOBILE provides an incredible opportunity for the Payguru team to expand our innovative technology to the wider MEA region, where TPAY MOBILE has proven itself the leading player in the mobile payment space.” 

Onur Ergüney, VP of Gaming & E-sports, TPAY MOBILE, adds: “Following the acquisition of Payguru I am thrilled to be joining the TPAY MOBILE leadership team. The opportunity to bring our experience of the gaming and E-sports sector in Turkey and introduce it to the wider MEA region, where TPAY MOBILE has established its presence, is incredibly exciting, and will bring new opportunities for both global and local developers to publish and monetise their games.”

MACROBOND Financial, a leading provider of economic and financial data and analytics, announced today that it has named Ian Hissey Regional Managing Director for Asia Pacific. Based in Hong Kong, Hissey will build on the company’s success in a region that has seen unprecedented demand for data and analytics and continue the expansion of its business into Japan and South Korea. 

Macrobond is the world’s most comprehensive source of economic intelligence for more than 4,000 finance professionals. It delivers instant access to macroeconomic and financial time-series data from more than 2,500 sources, combined with integrated analytics that enable users to find, analyse and visualise data, gain strategically relevant insights, and collaborate across their businesses.

“Asia is our fastest growing market and I’m delighted that Ian is on the ground there to help us capture the opportunities. His long experience in the financial data and analytics industry, combined with his deep local knowledge, will enable us to connect to new customers while better supporting existing ones across the region,” said Howard Rees, Chief Commercial Officer, Macrobond.

Hissey has previously managed teams focused on portfolio analytics and quantitative analysis in Australia and across APAC. Prior to joining Macrobond, he spent 12 years at FactSet, most recently in Tokyo, where he was responsible for the financial data and software company’s rapidly expanding Risk and Quantitative research business lines across  the region. 

Hissey’s appointment follows announcements of three new hires in the UK and US, and the recent opening of Macrobond’s Stockholm office. 

Ian Hissey, Regional Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Macrobond, commented: “The increasing demand for deep China and Asian economic data in APAC is providing Macrobond with strong growth in the region. Our high frequency data sets - such as locally sourced COVID data - was particularly helpful for our customers; the built-in power modelling and collaboration tools helped many of them cope with pandemic restrictions”.  

Hissey added: “We have made significant investments in acquiring data in Asia. As a result, we’ve gathered more than 100 clients across APAC and we expect that to continue to accelerate. I’m excited to bring Macrobond’s global perspective to even more customers.”

Commenting on how Macrobond’s wealth of Chinese data helps him do his job more easily, Paul Hsiao, Global Economist for PineBridge Investments in Hong Kong, said: 

“As a global economist I look at a wide amount of data in order to develop a compelling investment thesis. This includes economic indicators, financial markets metrics, as well as what really is going on in the markets, in order to deliver these insights to our portfolio managers, clients, as well as the investment teams”.

Hsiao added: “What really is important to me is data on the region - this includes data on China, which, for a very long time, has been difficult to obtain. I really appreciate primary pieces of information straight from the Chinese national statistics office, as well as alternative data that third parties, as well as super nationals, collect as well.” 

GFT, the global IT services and software engineering firm, announces Andy Lund's appointment as the Google Cloud lead for GFT across the UK and EMEA region. This follows a year of record Google Cloud growth which has seen the firm cement important relationships within the UK financial services arena and establish new client accounts across multiple industries, including manufacturing, retail and automotive. 

Andy is responsible for driving the GFT UK and EMEA Google Cloud relationship, delivering innovative cloud and digital transformation solutions and services to its fast-growing and increasingly diverse client base. Andy brings over 15 years' experience in software services, holding senior management roles in several major technology corporations and start-ups. His impressive and varied career includes the lead role for EMEA Partner Cloud and Hosting at Microsoft and Business Development Director for BT Global Services. Andy also spent over five years with Google Cloud, where he was a key contributor to the UK enterprise business's early growth. Alongside proven leadership credentials, he also has a wealth of international business experience, working for some of these firms across Germany, Spain, Russia, and Hungary. 

2020 was a standout year for GFT. Alongside strong revenue growth for Google Cloud services, highlights include: the first company in the UK to successfully implement Anthos, Google Cloud's hybrid and multicloud managed application platform, in a high-profile financial firm. In partnership with TIBCO, GFT is pioneering the adoption of high-performance computing (HPC) supporting grid migration, having led the installation of this highly transformative solution for a global financial institution. GFT is also experiencing a significant uptake of their expert AI consulting services and provides advanced data analytics and data management solutions, driving business transformation programmes for clients across manufacturing, retail, and financial services. Drawing upon GFT's unique cloud landing zone offering; the company has deployed landing zone projects, supporting accelerated cloud adoption programmes for a growing number of businesses.

Andy Lund, GFT Google Cloud lead, commented: "What a year, and what an exciting time to join a dynamic and forward-thinking company. The opportunities to build on our recent successes are huge. Recent IDG research indicated that only 41% of business applications are in the cloud. This is because for most clients, executing complex change programmes such as re-imagining business applications, infrastructure modernisation, and cloud migration are risky undertakings. GFT's unique experience and deep resource pool are in high demand and a compelling proposition for those who want to move quickly or have limited access to the right skill sets internally. I am very enthusiastic about the future and proud to be leading a highly creative and committed team dedicated to providing fantastic results for our clients."

Carlton Hopper, managing director UK at GFT, concluded: "Our clients have access to a talented group of some 350 Google Cloud certified engineers who are fully supported by an award-winning client-facing delivery team with a track record of success. GFT's focus on engineering and innovation in conjunction with world-class partners is why we are able to support the explosion of demand we are seeing from our existing and future clients."

HPD Lendscape, a leading international secured lending platform vendor, today announces a new partnership with InnovateHer, a values-led social enterprise focused on making the technology sector more inclusive, renewing the firm’s commitment to fostering female talent within its global team and the technology industry as a whole.

HPD Lendscape and InnovateHer will work together to help to attract and retain more women in the technology industry, where currently only 19% of the workforce in the UK is female, compared to 37% across all sectors. Currently, 30% of employees at HPD Lendscape are women, with the aim to increase this figure in line with this new partnership. As an ‘IncludeHer’ partner, HPD Lendscape will support InnovateHer with learning, community and network initiatives.

The partnership comes at a time where HPD Lendscape is actively recruiting new talent for its growing global business, including business consultants to help implement the company’s software solutions for its international client base as well as project managers to ensure delivery of projects ranging from three-months to large, multi-phase, multi-country implementations that can span 18 months or more. Additionally, the company is recruiting engineers to provide the continuous design, development and testing required throughout the software development lifecycle of various projects.

Ben Maffin, Agile Delivery Lead at HPD Lendscape, said: “It’s an exciting opportunity to bring HPD Lendscape and InnovateHer together as our company continues its global expansion. I've been following InnovateHer's work for several years now and pleased that HPD Lendscape’s engineering team is keen to get involved. We are currently running recruitment campaigns to attract new and diverse talent during this time of growth, and InnovateHer has a fantastic reputation and remit. I'm looking forward to working with Chelsea in hitting and exceeding HPD Lendscapes’s objectives in diversity awareness, networking and community initiatives.”

Chelsea Slater, Co-Founder and Director of InnovateHer, added: "The team at InnovateHer are incredibly excited to be partnering with a global technology leader like HPD Lendscape and are delighted to be working together to foster diversity, both within the engineering team and across the asset based finance sector. We look forward to working closely with HPD Lendscape to help provide opportunities to nurture UK’s female talent."

Confluence Technologies, Inc. (“Confluence”), a global technology solutions provider helping the investment management industry solve complex investment data challenges, today announced it has secured a long-term contract with a leading global fund administrator that will use Confluence’s Risk API solution to deliver fully-fledged risk analytics.  

The global fund administrator will use Confluence’s Risk API to build customized downstream reports for a large and growing number of client portfolios. The new client recognized the complexity of aggregating and managing the necessary data, and the importance of cleaning and controlling that data before calculating risk. As such, the firm turned to Confluence’s Revolution platform, as it provides access to on-demand risk analysis and integrates into its cloud platform, creating a scalable and efficient method for reporting. With broad asset class coverage and scalability, the leading global fund administrator can now use Risk API, part of the Revolution suite, to create a more efficient, timely and cost-effective reporting workflow.  

The engagement demonstrates Confluence’s ability to provide scalability without compromising on the underlying risk model. Risk API allows clients to lower their operational costs while providing them with the flexibility required to construct custom solutions for their clients.   

“Fund administrators today are looking for solutions that account for their risk, performance and attribution needs in the most streamlined ways possible,” said Todd Moyer, Confluence’s President and Chief Operating Officer. “Our groundbreaking Revolution platform uses best-of-breed technology across regions and asset classes to provide a seamless and efficient experience for our clients. We’re looking forward to partnering with this global fund administrator and contributing to their overall success—and to the success of their own investor customers—by offering an unparalleled level of operational efficiency.”  

Revolution is a cloud-based platform, offering vital analysis of portfolio performance, attribution, risk and compliance. It helps clients reduce costs, improve client communication and control investment decisions.

Financial crime is big business. In fact over £1.6 trillion in illicit funds are laundered globally every year, through a range of complex transactions and against a backdrop of destructive crimes, from fraud, cyber crime, terrorist financing, bribery and corruption to the more hidden crimes such as trafficking in drugs, arms, people or wildlife.

Fraud costs businesses £3.9 trillion a year, whereas nearly £1.5 trillion is lost globally due to corruption. Financial crime of all types threatens all of us on an individual level, but it can also cause massive business disruption, rattle our economy and endanger national security.

Who hasn’t been the victim of those malicious text messages asking us to hand over personal details? It is so easy to do and can be deeply embarrassing and hard to admit, even to our nearest and dearest. The same is true for businesses who can be caught out by sophisticated invoice frauds, or have their staff or customer data stolen and sold for nefarious purposes on the deep or dark web.

Worryingly, things are not getting any better. According to an annual poll conducted by Themis, over half of businesses surveyed said they had been exposed to some form of financial crime over the past year, and 70% felt the threats had actually increased in this time period. It seems criminal organisations have spotted a loophole and are using the pandemic for their gain.

On Tuesday 23rd March, Themis announced the winners of their annual anti-financial crime awards, celebrating the sung and unsung heroes who are working day in day out behind the scenes to fight financial crime and protect people and businesses from the harmful impacts that serious and organised crime and criminal actors can have on people, businesses and our national interests.

Nominations have been coming in over the last 6 months from members of the public and across a wide range of organisations across the private and public sector. To ensure fairness and transparency, the winners were decided by an independent panel of judges from The University of West of England, BIE Executive, RedCompass, SnowDrop, Fiserv, The Senate, Evolution AI, Glasswall and the London Institute of Banking and Finance.

The winners of the 2021 awards are:

• Lifetime Achievement Award - Dame Sara Thornton, UK Independent Anti Slavery Commissioner

• Trailblazer Award - Blair Glencorse, Founder of the Accountability Lab.

• Anti-Bribery & Corruption Award - David McHembere - Head of Ethics & Integrity at the Kenya Ports Authority.

• AFC Innovation - JOINT WINNERS

  • Nick Dale, SuperIntendent - West Midlands Police

  • RedCompass Labs

• MLRO of the Year - Josie Preston, Group MLRO EMEA at Caesars Entertainment EMEA

• Public Sector Pioneer - Andrew Wallis OBE, CEO Unseen

• The Speak Up Award - Martin Woods - Independent Financial Crime Consultant

• Strides Against Money Laundering - Professor Nicholas Ryder, University of West of England

• Fraud Prevention Award - Sujata Dasgupta, Global Head - Financial Crimes Compliance Advisory, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd.

• Prevention of Illegal Wildlife Trade - Chinali Patel, International Illicit Finance Policy lead at British Consulate General Hong Kong

• Corporate Culture Award - Frank Adamson, Caesars Entertainment

• Combating Modern Slavery - AllianceBernstein

Matthew Deacon, Themis’ CTO commented on the awards: “21st century criminals are often scarily tech-savvy. They will use a whole range of different innovative tools and techniques to steal and hide our data, our identities or our hard-earned money. They’ll create deep fakes, deploy ransomware and exploit cryptocurrencies.;

What does this mean for us in financial crime prevention? It means we need to innovate tirelessly and creatively to ensure we remain one step ahead of the criminals.”

Dickon Johnstone, CEO of Themis added “It’s been such a challenging year for many, so we are really glad to be able to celebrate these amazing champions of our industry, who so often go unsung, or unmerited at the expense of business targets.”