Scottish regtech company, AutoRek, a leading software provider to global financial services firms, has been selected by the UK Government’s Department for International Trade (DIT) to showcase the best in British innovation during a US roadshow.

The DIT’s RegTech Roadshow takes place virtually 22-26 February 2021. It will provide ten innovative UK-based regulatory technology companies the opportunity to meet industry stakeholders, regulators and potential partners. They will also receive guidance and training from DIT partners on how to set up and grow a physical presence and hear from experts on the key challenges facing the US market and how their technology can help solve them.

AutoRek was chosen following a highly competitive recruitment process. To qualify for the roadshow, each company had to meet the following criteria set by DIT: 10 or more employees, a minimum annual turnover of £1 million, an enterprise ready solution, and an existing base of clients in the UK and US markets.

Commenting on the accolade, AutoRek CEO, Gordon McHarg, said: “Joining the trade delegation, with other leading regulatory innovators is an exciting and invaluable opportunity for AutoRek to demonstrate our services. We have proven success in the UK and are accustomed to working with global financial services firms and are looking forward to helping revolutionise the way US companies manage risk, compliance and regulatory change.”

Kunal Khatri, Director for DIT North America, said: “The UK has been at the heart of the global financial services innovation for decades, and in 2021 we will continue to lead the global FinTech and RegTech revolution. We’re excited to showcase the talent and expertise that UK companies have to offer. This roadshow is a great opportunity to deepen our bilateral engagement on financial services with the US and encourage private sector collaboration to make the world a safer, easier, and more equitable place to do business.”

AutoRek further strengthened its US offering by signing a partnership with iSoftware4Banks in November 2020. With AutoRek’s growing clientele - together with the nine other roadshow representatives, these companies combined service nearly every major top tier bank.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) was targeted by nearly a quarter of a million (238,711) malicious and unsolicited emails over the final three months of 2020, averaging around 80,000 email attacks per month.

This is according to official figures obtained by the Freedom of Information (FOI) act and analysed by Griffin Law, a leading litigation firm.

In the FCA’s response to an FOI request, they provided a breakdown of all email’s blocked by their system from the October to December 2020. A whopping 99 per cent of all blocked emails were defined as ‘spam’, which includes everything from unsolicited marketing to advertising emails. ‘Spam’ can also pertain to phishing emails – a malicious social engineering cyber-attack designed to impersonate a brand, service or individual, and steal data from its intended target.

2,402 emails potentially containing ‘malware’ were also recorded by the FCA. Malware email attacks often include malicious content designed to disrupt, take over or damage victims’ software or data, some examples include trojans, viruses, spyware, adware, and worms.

The month which saw the highest quantity of email attacks was November 2020, with the FCA recording 84,723 total malicious email, split by 83,892 spam email and 831 malware emails. October 2020 recorded 81,799 total emails blocked, but with a higher number of malware attacks (1,003) and a lower number of spam (80,696). Finally, there were 72,288 in the final month of 2020, just 568 of these making up emails containing malware, and the remaining 71,720 categorised as spam.

This news arrives less than a year after the FCA was criticised for accidentally revealing personal information of about 1,600 people in February 2020. This incident saw the FCA publish names, addresses and phone numbers in a document on its website, in response to a previous request for data under the Freedom of Information Act.

It’s worth noting that all known cyber attacks sent to the FCA were blocked, and over the course of the pandemic the FCA has regularly issued warnings about scam campaigns designed to trick individuals and businesses into leaking their confidential information, or send money to a wrong account.

Cyber security specialist Tim Sadler, CEO, Tessian said: "The scale of the phishing problem, today, is huge. Our own data showed an uptick in the number of social engineering and wire fraud scams in the last six months of 2020. Why? Because it's much easier to hack a human to hack an organisation than it is to hack a company's software. 

Cybercriminals, undoubtedly, want to get hold of the huge amounts of valuable and sensitive information that FCA staff have access to, and they have nothing but time on their hands to figure out how to get it. It just takes a bit of research, one convincing message or one cleverly worded email, and a distracted employee to successfully trick or manipulate someone into sharing company data or handing over account credentials. Businesses must make their people aware of how they could be targeted, especially when working remotely, and ensure they have the technology in place to prevent people falling for the scams."

Donal Blaney, principal, Griffin Law, adds: “This is a worrying number of attacks on a government agency well equipped to protect itself. It suggests that the negative potential of spam and malware for the rest of us is massive. Obviously, we should all do as the FCA did here: ensure all devices are protected and be vigilant. Check and double-check before clicking, responding or providing personal data. On a larger scale, it’s time we went after the organised criminals behind this scourge on society. Phishing is not a victimless crime and we should be doing more to end it.” 

Bottomline (NASDAQ: EPAY), a leading provider of financial technology that makes complex business payments simple, smart and secure, unveiled expanded corporate treasury capabilities as part of its integrated Payments and Cash Lifecycle Platform. The platform empowers financial managers to optimize cash, liquidity and working capital with a unified solution combining payables, receivables, and treasury management, delivering greater visibility and control throughout the end-to-end cash lifecycle.

The integrated solution enables seamless management of a corporate’s banking, payments and cash management activities, reducing the complexity and inefficiencies associated with multiple systems, separate processes and fragmented data. Bottomline’s Payments and Cash Lifecycle Platform includes tools to initiate and manage payments, automate payables and receivables, conduct sophisticated cash flow forecasting and scenario planning, optimize liquidity and investment returns, and manage borrowing needs and banking relationships.

The benefits of the single-platform solution include a unified view of data from multiple transaction systems, which is enhanced by advanced analytics and machine learning. CFOs and Treasurers gain the intelligence and insights they need to inform real-time decision making, along with greater visibility, security and control over mission-critical processes. As a result, financial leaders are better prepared to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex business, regulatory and risk management environment.

As part of today’s announcement of an enhanced Payments and Cash Lifecycle Platform, Bottomline also announced a business combination with TreasuryXpress, a leading provider of cloud-based treasury management solutions for corporations and banks around the world.

“Businesses need simpler and more integrated solutions that offer better control and management of cash,” said Rob Eberle, CEO, Bottomline. “At the core of our innovation agenda, we are transforming payments and cash management processes to streamline and simplify the end-to-end cash lifecycle for businesses of all sizes, from SMBs to enterprises. An integrated payables, receivables and treasury management solution is an important innovation, for both corporates and the banks that serve them. Our combination with TreasuryXpress enables us to extend from our leading business payments capabilities to offer a uniquely comprehensive solution across the entire cash management lifecycle.”

"We’re extremely proud and excited to join Bottomline and contribute our unique product set and domain expertise to help address a large and important market opportunity,” said Anis Rahal, CEO, TreasuryXpress. “At TreasuryXpress, our founding vision was to serve the market with open and powerful treasury solutions that reduce complexity and add strategic value to financial teams everywhere. Combining with Bottomline’s sophisticated bank connectivity engine and expertise in payments completes this vision and opens the door for unparalleled innovation. We are confident our powerful and compelling joint proposition will make us a clear market leader.”

tZERO, a leader in blockchain innovation and liquidity for digital assets, announced today a technology integration with Tokensoft subsidiary, Tokensoft Transfer Agent, an SEC-registered transfer agent, to support issuers using Tokensoft’s digitization and transfer agent services. Following the integration, Tokensoft’s digital security technology will be interoperable with tZERO’s secondary trading technology, allowing securities of issuers utilizing Tokensoft’s services to seamlessly onboard and trade on the tZERO ATS, an alternative trading system (ATS) that is operated by tZERO ATS, a FINRA member broker-dealer, subject to tZERO ATS’s trading terms and due diligence.

tZERO CEO Saum Noursalehi stated: “We are excited to partner with Tokensoft and look forward to providing a more efficient and simplified process for these issuers to access secondary liquidity through the tZERO ATS.”

Tokensoft is a leading technology platform for blockchain-enabled securities that streamlines the compliance and transfer procedures in the securities market. The Tokensoft Transfer Agent has launched the first ’40 Act fund and the first IPO on the blockchain.

Tokensoft CEO Mason Borda said: “Our mission aligns with tZERO in advancing the adoption of blockchain in financial markets. We are excited to integrate with tZERO and provide our customers with a path for secondary liquidity on an industry-leading trading platform.”

tZERO is a technology firm with the goal of democratizing access to private capital markets. tZERO is a subsidiary of Medici Ventures, the blockchain-focused, wholly owned subsidiary of Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK).

CEX.IO Limited (www.CEX.IO) announces extension of its regulatory permissions. Granted by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission, CEX.IO Limited has received the Money Lender License.

This license allows CEX.IO customers to instantly borrow funds against their cryptocurrency holdings without credit checks via the new CEX.IO LOAN service.

The digital asset-backed lending service provides much needed capital to various crypto market participants, including investors, traders, HODLers, startups, entrepreneurs, and large enterprises. At the same time, CEX.IO LOAN users can borrow any amount between $500 and $500,000 with flexible durations (ranging from seven days to one year) and a competitive loan interest starting at 14% to 8.4% per year.

With a 50% Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio, registered and verified CEX.IO customers can borrow funds instantly against their Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) assets. The cryptocurrency exchange's new customers have to open an account and complete the necessary Know Your Customer (KYC) checks before requesting a loan on the CEX.IO LOAN service.

After a successful request, the customer's collateral is placed in a secure cold storage. At the same time, CEX.IO Limited credits the loan to the borrower's user account in USD or EUR. The customer can then withdraw it to a card or bank account or use the sum to trade digital assets on the platform. Upon the full repayment of the loan's principal and interest, CEX.IO Limited automatically releases the cryptocurrency collateral back to the borrower.

Besides security, convenience, and accessibility, CEX.IO Limited considers regulatory compliance as one of its top priorities. For that reason, the cryptocurrency service has a number of licenses in multiple jurisdictions, including the United States, Cyprus, and Gibraltar.

Since last year, the company has been licensed as a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) provider by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission under Gibraltar’s highly reputable DLT regulatory regime. However, the extension to its regulatory permissions allows the firm to provide additional products and services to its customers all within a safe and well-regulated environment.

"Our new service makes cryptocurrency-backed loans accessible for participants of the digital asset market who require extra capital. With the new Moneylending license, CEX.IO LOAN can accomplish this goal, and we are delighted that Gibraltar's regulators and Government have shown their support for our LOAN service. Through innovation and an expanding ecosystem of licensed products, we are committed to creating value on the cryptocurrency market," Anton Chashchin, Commercial Director for the CEX.IO LOAN service, said.

"The crypto industry in Gibraltar has been growing substantially since we put the DLT Regulations in place. Given the pace at which the industry is evolving, it is no surprise that firms such as CEX.IO Limited are expanding their offering. It has been a pleasure for us to assist CEX.IO Limited in their expansion plans from a legal and regulatory perspective, which, thanks to the professionalism of all involved, has been a seamless task," stated Anthony Provasoli, Partner at Hassans International Law Firm Limited, which has assisted CEX.IO with legal and regulatory matters in Gibraltar.

As BNY Mellon continues to be at the leading edge of helping clients and partners navigate innovations in payments and the future of digital currencies, the Bank today announced the release of two research papers focused on the range of payment channels and capabilities that are being made available, and what their impact will mean for clients in the future. The reports highlight that innovations in payments and digital currencies will ultimately allow banks to make domestic and cross-border transactions faster, more frictionless, efficient, transparent and cost-effective; and also discuss how firms need to achieve interoperability among both old and new solutions to ensure streamlined transactions. 

Multiple Paths, One Destination, examines how industry initiatives and new technologies will ultimately enable money to be moved instantaneously, 24/7/365 and with full transparency. A Spotlight on Digital Currencies focuses on how digital currencies could change the payment model. It explores how the coexistence of digital tokens and fiat money could meet a broader array of client needs; and change how the industry looks at settlement speed, liquidity, reconciliation, risk, and potentially impact the role of correspondent banking and intermediaries.  

The first paper notes that continued innovations will collectively facilitate a new era of payments, with different rails, channels and solutions delivering enhanced capabilities and supporting a variety of client needs. It also notes that the expanding fintech market is acting as a catalyst for innovation by bringing industry players together through various collaborative approaches. Banks are also playing an important role — launching innovation centers to facilitate collaboration with fintechs and clients to optimize the collective offerings.

“Each new technology is acting as an important piece of the future state of payments,” explains Mike Bellacosa, Global Head of Payments and Transaction Services, at BNY Mellon. “So many exciting developments are occurring in the industry, but no single solution is currently delivering optimized payments.” 

“A key element of BNY Mellon’s digital strategy is to offer frictionless access to these innovative solutions through our open-architecture API enabled platforms,” says Saket Sharma Chief Information and Digital Officer for BNY Mellon’s Treasury Services. “Each innovation – whether its SWIFT gpi, real-time payments, blockchain, or artificial intelligence – brings its own value and has a role to play in an enhanced client experience.”

To learn more from one of our experts, or to download copies of the reports, visit: www.bnymellon.com.

Aria Systems, the leader in helping enterprises grow subscription and usage-based revenue, today announced an expanded cooperation with Worldline, the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry and #4 on a global scale.

Aria customers benefit from an enhanced set of features and capabilities for their specific needs in subscription commerce through Ingenico (part of Worldline since late 2020). Merchants can more effectively mitigate fraud, reduce failed or delayed payments, and offer customers an increased number of payment options, including ACH and direct debit in the UK.

"Aria partners with the most respected payment processors in the world to ensure that our clients have access to the best and most secure payment capabilities," said Tom Dibble, President and CEO, Aria Systems. "As a result of our expanded integration with Worldline, Aria clients have even more options for processing payments, all of which are seamlessly integrated into the Aria platform."

"Enterprises seeking to generate and scale digital offerings need a modern billing and monetization platform along with robust global payment processing capabilities," said Nathan Salisbury, Vice President, Channel Partnerships, Digital Commerce at Worldline. "The combined capabilities of Aria and Worldline can meet any digital businesses' needs and support significant subscription revenue growth on a global scale."

Avaloq, a global leader in digital banking solutions, core banking software and wealth management technology, has won this prestigious award today for the third time after 2017 and 2019.

Showcasing ‘best of breed’ providers in the global private banking, wealth management and trusted advisor communities, the WealthBriefing Swiss Awards recognize companies, teams and individuals that demonstrated innovation and excellence during 2020. The awards series, this year in its eighth annual edition, is organized by London-based ClearView Financial Media. ClearView publishes the international Family Wealth Report group of newswires, along with research reports and newsletters, while also running a global thought-leadership events programme.

For the 2021 programme, the award’s judges commented on the strength of Avaloq’s submission, highlighting the evidence the firm provided on reversals and efficiency as well as the emphasis on the importance of both data integrity and speed. In addition, the ‘feedback loop’, which provides for the continuous improvement of ‘straight-through processing’, coupled with Avaloq’s market-leading data model were especially robust.

Juerg Hunziker, Avaloq’s Group CEO, said: “It’s very encouraging to start 2021 with this prestigious award in our home market, Switzerland. Avaloq is committed to drive innovation in digital banking globally, building a value proposition that meets the highest service and transactional demands of our growing list of clients across the world. Indeed, we have become a fundamental partner for our clients, helping them to out-compete and grow in a fast-changing, dynamic wealth management sector.”

ACA Compliance Group (ACA) announced today that Anthony Bennett has joined ACA Mirabella, part of ACA Compliance Group, as head of sales and client development.

Anthony brings a 20-year career in financial services to the position. He moves to ACA Mirabella from a consulting role held at Capco since 2019, where he established their Prime Brokerage consulting division. Before that he was head of Prime Brokerage at KPMG. This was preceded by prime brokerage roles at HSBC and Société Générale, where he was Managing Director. He started his career covering hedge fund clients in the front office at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

Taking up his new role last month, Anthony commented: “I am delighted to have joined such an established and reputable regulatory hosting business and look forward to working with ACA Mirabella’s highly-regarded team and extensive client base. I’m especially excited to be working with our network of service providers delivering solutions for the clients they introduce."

Ron Weekes, CEO of ACA Mirabella and Partner of ACA Compliance Group, added: “We are delighted to have Anthony join the team. He strengthens ACA Mirabella’s network sales model and helps us reach more clients. ACA Mirabella has a very exciting and dynamic future ahead, and we welcome Anthony on-board to help realise that.”

Established in 2004, ACA Mirabella provides regulated hosting services to the discretionary management and advisory sectors and manages more than $20B in assets. The firm has over 100 client relationships, supports more than 200 individuals registered as Approved Persons at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and has built a team of 40 professionals dedicated to its hosting solutions.

Through being authorised by the FCA, ACA Mirabella has provided regulatory hosting for discretionary managers, investment advisers/arrangers, placement agents and local marketing offices in the UK since 2004.

In 2014, ACA Mirabella opened a Maltese subsidiary registered with the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) and expanded ACA Mirabella’s presence in Europe with the ability to provide a full-scope AIFM with MiFID add-on permissions. Subsequently, in 2019, ACA Mirabella established Mirabella Malta Advisers Limited and added a Tied Agent solution to its Malta offering, which provides clients with access to EU clients and investors.

ACA Mirabella is part of ACA Compliance Group, with more than 3,000 clients worldwide and a global team of around 600 professionals including over 80 former regulators, past CCOs, and senior fund governance, risk, and compliance practitioners.

Anthony Bennett can be contacted at AnthonyB@mirabella.co.uk or +44 (0)20 7042 0500.

On January 22nd, Trilo (Trilo Group Ltd.) powered the first ever Point of Sale (POS) payment using Open Banking at Naama Studios. The customer simply had to scan a QR code in order to make a £170 payment. In return for using Trilo, the customer also had a 1% donation made to the UK-based charity, Forward Trust, on their behalf. With this landmark payment, merchants across the UK can now offer their customers the chance to pay directly from their bank account by simply scanning a QR code.

Trilo brings Open Banking to the wider retail market, enabling both online and POS payments through one network. Trilo has removed transaction fees entirely, replacing them with a scalable subscription based on the number of monthly active customers. Unlocking revenue otherwise held in card fees enables merchants to now further invest in their business and their customers.

Trilo focuses on consumers, enabling ubiquitous mobile based payments with no app needed, while consumers earn a reward, the Boost, every time. With the Trilo Boost, Trilo empowers merchants to reward their customers every time they pay. This helps convert consumers away from cards, and gives merchants the ability to improve their customers’ experience which increases sales and retention.

At the heart of Trilo’s values is its ambition to help fix the environment. One of the Boost options offered to merchants and consumers is the possibility to plant a tree for every transaction made. To do this, Trilo has partnered with Eden Projects to reforest the planet, one tree at a time. Trilo also plants a tree for each new merchant that joins the network.

“It’s so significant and exciting to power the first ever POS Open Banking payment with Trilo, something previously thought not possible! With this we’re one step closer to helping every merchant and consumer leave cards and card fees behind, and even better giving consumers a Boost whenever they shop,” says Hamish Blythe, Founder & CEO at Trilo. “Bringing Trilo to life is amazing, and seeing customers and merchants use Trilo, leaving cards behind is incredible. In light of the recent movements by Mastercard to increase their transaction fees, the timing couldn’t be more important to help businesses big and small move to Trilo.”

“Working Trilo will improve our business payment processing and present new opportunities to connect with our customers, while rewarding them. The partnership is a natural fit for us given our commitment to using innovative technology throughout all elements of our business, be that to offer our tattoo removal service, or process payments,” says Jared, Founding Director at Naama Studios.

Features and benefits of Trilo include:

• No more card fees: Trilo has scrapped transaction fees, instead operating a simple subscription of 20p per active monthly customer.

• Customer rewards: Customers get a reward (the Trilo Boost) whenever they shop,

such as money off, goods, a tree or a charitable donation.

• Environment first: Merchants do not need any plastic or hardware to accept Trilo, while being able to plant a tree whenever a customer pays. A tree will also be planted for every new merchant who joins Trilo.

• Unlimited payments: Consumers can spend as much as they would like as often as they like. The merchant will never be charged a penny more to get paid and receive their money within minutes.

• Simple setup: Merchants can begin taking Trilo payments in minutes by either logging in on their tablet or phone, or by connecting to the Trilo API. No hardware or software is needed.

• Increasing sales and customer retention: Merchants reward their customers with the Boost, a rewards platform integrated into the core of Trilo. The Boost enhances the customer experience leading to increased sales and customer retention, with virtually no extra work for the merchant.

• Contact-free: The customer simply scans a QR to pay. No more handing over a card or cash. This enables Socially Distanced payments, with the customer standing well back from the payments terminal.

Trilo is available across the UK today, enabling both online and offline businesses to move away from cards and their associated fees and reward their customers in the process.

Working with SMEs and some large retailers to begin with, Trilo will continue rolling out across the UK in 2021, before expanding its sights to Europe in 2022. For more information, please visit https://www.trilo.io or email hamish@trilo.io.