The prize-linked savings app EverUp has chosen the Payments as a Service FinTech Modulr to power its payments infrastructure, including access to Faster Payments. 

The partnership means that EverUp will be able to offer its customers the UK’s first digitally native, prize linked money savings app, when it launches in January next year. EverUp hopes to rival other well-known saving vehicles with cash prizes such as NS&I’s Premium Bonds monthly prize draw.

EverUp customers will earn virtual coins based on how much they are saving and as they perform other actions, such as signing up, signing in, levelling up and inviting friends to join. The more they save, the more they will be rewarded with coins that can be used to play games, for the chance to win tax-free cash prizes. Customers never use their own money to play and can withdraw their  funds at any time, with no fees.

Modulr is one of the few non-bank payment service providers to become a directly connected participant of the UK’s Faster Payments Scheme, and it holds an account at the Bank of England so that funds are settled directly and held securely; providing reliability for EverUp and security for its customers, who have the assurance of knowing their money is safeguarded.

Giuseppe Caltabiano, CEO and Co-founder at EverUp, said: “While the financial industry has rolled out budgeting Apps and saving features that automate setting money aside, it can be hard for savers to give up short-term satisfaction derived from everyday spending. We replace delayed gratification with instant gratification by embedding instant games, lotteries and gamification into a novel, prize-linked money saving app.”

“Modulr’s fully scalable platform allows us to not only deliver on our customer promises now, but also supports our business ambitions, as we look to expand the product suite by adding innovative new prize-linked products and scale across Europe.”

Myles Stephenson, CEO at Modulr, said: “We are excited to be partnering with EverUp. Its innovative approach to saving will make it more rewarding for many and will enable other non-saving and unbanked households to take that first important step to saving. Unlike the traditional method of saving money, which takes time to yield results, a prize-linked experience instantly rewards efforts, powered by Modulr’s 24/7 payments infrastructure. We look forward to collaborating with EverUp to drive even further innovation in financial services.”

Through Modulr’s API-driven platform, EverUp can easily create individual money accounts* for each of its customers so that they can start funding their account and playing for free, straight away. Faster, real-time payment disbursements allow any winnings to be distributed automatically, while real-time payment notifications enable customers to track their savings progress and see credits against their accounts, instantly.

Modulr’s out of the box payments plumbing has given EverUp the ability to build easily and launch quickly, as well as the scope to scale faster - all from one powerful API platform.

Xiatech, a UK Headquartered system integration and data analytics specialist, has agreed a growth capital investment with Rockpool Investments. 

The strategic partnership, advised by the BDO Growth Advisory (M&A) team, will see Rockpool invest in Xiatech’s Single Data View© platform, a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution that provides companies with a real-time view of customer, inventory, product, orders and sales data, as well as an enterprise-scale integration hub, analytics and powerful machine learning capabilities, all hosted in the cloud.

The equity raise will enable Xiatech to deliver on its growth strategy to treble in size over the next four years. A move, driven by the widespread adoption of digital technologies that have been fast-tracked throughout 2020, has accelerated the need for Xiatech’s Single Data View© solution, the platform for companies looking to extend their reach by strengthening their digital, integration and data capabilities.

“The demand for real-time system integration, data and analytics has accelerated this year as the world has made the shift to digital ways of working,” said Jonathan Summerfield, CEO, Xiatech. “It means that having a clear, rapid and accurate understanding of the data within a business is now mission-critical as well as the ability to integrate systems in real-time. The growth capital we have secured as a result of this strategic partnership will better enable us to help businesses unlock their data, integrate their systems, and flourish as a result.  Built on the latest technology from our partners at Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud and Couchbase, we are continuing to evolve the Single Data View© platform as a highly scalable, robust and secure integration and data solution for our customers looking to drive Digital Transformation.”

The new capital investment will fuel a period of growth for Xiatech in 2021 and beyond. The business intends to redouble its expansion efforts into Europe and the US, particularly within strategic industries such as Retail, Travel, Hospitality, Betting and Gaming and Financial Services sectors where it is well established. Xiatech’s Single Data View© technology currently powers leading brands such as Reiss, FitFlop, G-Star Raw, Flying Tiger and Life Style Sports, established start-ups such as Jivebird and EdgePetrol and also Charities including the Woodland Trust.

Commenting on the deal, Darran Green, Investment Director at Rockpool Investments, said: “This is an exciting time to be investing in technology, particularly in the areas of data integration and analytics where Xiatech specialises. We believe Xiatech has significant growth potential through offering software solutions that allow customers to leverage their data and accelerate their responses to a changing world.”

This injection of growth capital follows a sustained period of growth for Xiatech. It was a finalist in the start-up of the year at Retail Week’s Tech awards in 2017 and listed as one of the 10 most innovative data analytics companies by Analytics Insight last year.

“The now combined resources of Xiatech and Rockpool will further propel the growth of their core Single Data View© platform,” commented Paul Morris, BDO Head of Growth Advisory. “It combines best-in-class technology in the Big Data, Business Intelligence and Analytics space with capital that has a clear understanding of its potential.” 

In addition to strategic guidance from BDO, Xiatech received tax advice from Bates Weston and legal expertise from Mishcon de Reya’s Private Equity Team.  Nadim Meer, Head of Private Equity at Mishcon commented “Xiatech will go from strength to strength with the new partnership with Rockpool. It was a pleasure to help them navigate through the legal aspects of this transaction.”

For more information on the Xiatech Single Data View© platform or for more detail on the growth capital fundraise, please visit https://www.xiatech.co.uk. 

everyoneINVESTED and Objectway – a leading international player in Digital Wealth & Asset Management software – have entered into a partnership agreement that will enable them to leverage their ambition of providing professional asset managers and financial institutions with access to everyoneINVESTED's innovative digital investment technology. The first solution that Objectway will offer the international market is built around everyoneINVESTED's 'Profiler', a fast and user-friendly app for creating digital investor profiles. Thanks to this partnership, other everyoneINVESTED products and developments will in due course also be brought onto the international market – beyond KBC's core markets – by Objectway.

What is everyoneINVESTED?

Since the end of March, KBC Asset Management has been channelling its expertise in digital investment applications into a new, separate company called everyoneINVESTED. KBC Asset Management has built up a great deal of knowledge and experience in recent years on enriching the investment process by adding insights from behavioural economics. This has resulted in innovations in the area of investor profiling, positioning of investment products and the composition of personalised investment portfolios. everyoneINVESTED makes that digital investment know-how and the applications directly available to professional asset managers, brokers and large investment product providers located beyond the KBC group's home markets. Entering a partnership with Objectway is fully in line with this objective.

everyoneINVESTED develops software and applications that contribute to the digitalisation of investment processes. This enables clients of everyoneINVESTED to cater for their investors in a more targeted and efficient way and to facilitate the step to digital investing. In addition, everyoneINVESTED's offering also focuses on scalable, digital support for the advisory function.

Some examples of this are:

-          The Profiler: a digital and scientifically based app for investor profiling that is now being made available on the international market thanks to the partnership with Objectway;

-          The Page: an interactive web app that supports investment advisers in discussions with their clients about portfolio construction and potential investment results;

-          The Score: an accessible and effective app that provides an overview of how individual investment portfolios are aligned with an overarching investment strategy. The app helps ensure that policy is consistent and/or advice is tailored to individual needs.

Besides these solutions, which KBC also uses itself, everyoneINVESTED develops specific apps at the request of professional counterparties.

Luc Popelier, Chairman of the Board of Directors of KBC Asset Management, is enthusiastic about the partnership: 'Innovation is one of the driving forces of our group. In all entities, employees take initiatives to launch, challenge and develop innovative ideas into powerful tools that support our customers and KBC, enabling them to take a step further into the digital world. They are encouraged in this by our corporate values, which give them enough scope to be innovative. This is illustrated in no better way than by everyoneINVESTED. What's more, the experience and expertise they bring together benefits not just KBC and its stakeholders, but also the investor community as a whole, thanks to the partnership with Objectway.'

Jurgen Vandenbroucke, Managing Director of everyoneINVESTED, adds: 'Investing is still the least digitalised financial service and that's something that everyoneINVESTED wants to change. We don't see digitalisation as an end in itself, but rather a means to make investing more accessible. By combining technology with our know-how of investor behaviour, we can improve the way we approach, serve and inform the user, so that the process becomes much more than just automation. The partnership with Objectway enables us to leverage our ambition of getting everyone invested.'

Kurt Vanhee, Managing Director of Objectway (Continental Europe & North America), comments: 'We are delighted and proud to support our long-standing client, KBC Asset Management, and to work together with their wealth tech spin-off, everyoneINVESTED, in providing financial institutions with access to innovative digital investment technology through our ready-made, quick-to-deploy and easy-to-adapt solutions, and so enable them to embark on a high-quality digital transformation today.'

The COVID-19 crisis has accelerated the growth of e-commerce across Europe and with the closure of so-called “non-essential” shops, consumers have turned to online shopping. As a result, Black Friday sales volumes have reached new heights. Worldline, the European leader in the payment and transactional services sector and number 4 on a global scale, recorded a significant increase in e-commerce transactions during the two days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping season in Benelux and DACH regions.

Black Friday, a commercial retail event that originated in the United States, continues to grow in popularity each year. While Black Friday sales promotions were originally offered on in-store purchases, they are now also available online; this is how the ‘Black Friday effect’ has gradually become more visible in e-commerce. And with the current pandemic, the impact on e-commerce has been even stronger this year.

In Belgium, Worldline recorded an increase in online transactions of 40% during Black Friday 2020 compared to Black Friday 2019, and 105% compared to levels recorded on an average Friday. This was a new record and makes Black Friday the most popular day for online shopping in the country. In the Netherlands, the number of transactions showed an increase of more than 57% in comparison to an average Friday.

DACH region: In Germany, the number of online transactions grew by 50% compared to Black Friday 2019. The massive shift to online shopping may be seen as both an effect of COVID on consumer behaviour and the success of the promotional efforts of cyberspace merchants.  In Austria, where only grocery and other essential stores were open during the Cyber Weekend, Black Friday showed an increase in e-commerce volume by approximately 45%. In the two countries, the comparison to the last normal Friday, November 20^th, better illustrates the Black Friday effect: Germans spent around 45% more in online shops, in Austria it was 127% more.

Cyber Monday rounds off the Cyber Weekend

In Belgium, Cyber Monday is one of the most popular online shopping days of the year. Consumers want to find the best online offer on that day and therefore expect their favourite retailers to offer the ‘deal of the year’. Worldline saw an increase of 39% in online transactions on Monday 30 November compared to the same Monday last year, making it the 2^nd record-breaking day in the history for the country’s online payments.

DACH region: In Germany and Austria, the trend is visible but not that manifest yet, with e-commerce transaction growth rates of 16% compared to Cyber Monday last year in Germany.  Austria saw an increase of 12% in transactions during this peak shopping period.

Growing trend in e-commerce in 2020

Faced with the closure of a large majority of physical stores, many consumers, looking for alternative way of shopping, have turned to e-commerce.

Faced with these new purchasing habits and in order to be able to continue their retail activities, local shopkeepers are increasingly utilising e-commerce services. This has led to the growth of Worldline Click & Collect and Pay by Link solutions.

Roger Niederer, Chief Market Officer Merchant Services at Worldline, says: "The data speak for themselves and it is clear that if retailers wish to emerge from this crisis as winners, they must integrate digital solutions into their customer journey in order to pave the way for long-term and sustained growth. Worldline has put in place strong commercial actions and measures to digitalise its customers and thus enable local merchants to better position themselves in the growing world of e-commerce.”

* These figures reflect market trends for two-very specific days and should not be taken as a proxi for the month of November.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting, and business solutions organization, has launched a new transformative Digital Bank Guarantee platform, powered by the Quartz® Blockchain solution, as part of the Banking Service Bureau (BSB), operated by TCS for the digital banking industry in Israel. Bank Hapoalim, Israel’s largest bank that currently manages more than 30% of the total bank guarantees in the country, has signed up as the anchor customer for the platform.

TCS’ Digital Bank Guarantee SaaS platform runs on Microsoft Azure and helps banks digitally transform the end-to-end lifecycle of guarantees, including issuance, modification, termination, and invocation. Support for open APIs defined by various beneficiaries – such as government entities, corporates, SMEs and individuals – enables seamless sharing of data with them, eliminating the need for separate individual interfaces. The use of hyper-automation will help banks improve speed of execution, reduce fraud and manual errors, and enhance transparency, security, and data privacy.

This platform will function as a marketplace where both issuers and beneficiaries can manage their digital guarantees portfolio, including issuance, extension, and cancelation. Issuers that join the platform will enable their customers to benefit from this mutualized solution conforming to the Accountant General standard. Aggregators can also use it to offer their customers a managed platform for their digital guarantees, and corporates can directly connect to their internal systems.

Dov Kotler, CEO, Bank Hapoalim, said: “We have always been an early adopter and pioneer in the usage of new age technology and us signing up with TCS is another trend-setting initiative, which we believe will soon be emulated by other banks and insurance firms in Israel. Rolling out new technology such as Quartz Blockchain to digitize bank guarantees will help our customers with simpler, easier, transparent and optimized processes. With this solution, we will be extending our client base to include corporates, SMEs and individuals who will soon be able to access their digital bank guarantees across its life cycle through APIs and an intuitive web portal.”

N Ganapathy Subramaniam, COO, TCS, said: “Quartz Blockchain has the power to enable ecosystems that transform how business transactions are done today. The digital bank guarantee project in Israel is a landmark initiative that leverages Quartz Smart Ledgers to create a unique and elegant solution that brings together market players around a secure distributed ledger for bank guarantees. This project, delivered through our Banking Services Bureau, is the first of many such ecosystems that we will be participating in globally, for digital financial documents.”

The blockchain-based Digital Bank Guarantee platform from Quartz is an example of digital transformation refining the end customer experience across ecosystems, as multiple issuers, banks, insurers, government bodies, SMEs and individuals will benefit from access to a SaaS-based platform that provides data privacy, immutability, traceability and real-time processing. The Quartz solution will create a dedicated blockchain node for issuers through which the digital guarantees will be transmitted securely. This end-to-end solution will serve as a blockchain ecosystem that can support additional use cases over time, not only in the region but also globally.

Quartz – The Smart Ledgers

Quartz, The Smart Ledgers, is a startup incubated by TCS, and provides foundational technology, tools and business components for creating distributed ledger solutions across varied industries.

Built on the core principles of Coexistence, Integration and Interoperability, Quartz enables existing systems to coexist and integrate with blockchain platforms and other messaging networks. With data masking, privacy and anonymity--the premise on which the solutions are designed--organizations can focus on enhancing their core competitive strengths in an environment of utmost security.

With Quartz, you can also facilitate the creation of a complete distributed ledger ecosystem for stakeholders in your value chain. Quartz caters to organizations across Industry segments including Financial Services, Banking, Supply Chain, Energy & Utilities and eGovernance.

To know more about Quartz, please visit: https://www.tcs.com/quartz-blockchain-solutions.

Nutanix (NASDAQ: NTNX), a leader in private cloud, hybrid, and multicloud computing, announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Rajiv Ramaswami as President and Chief Executive Officer, effective Wednesday, 9 December, 2020, and as a member of the Board of Directors, effective Monday, 14 December, 2020. Ramaswami will succeed co-founder Dheeraj Pandey, who previously announced his plans to retire as CEO of Nutanix upon the appointment of a successor.

Ramaswami is a seasoned technology industry executive who has held senior executive roles at industry leaders including VMware, Broadcom, Cisco, and Nortel, after having begun his career at IBM. Ramaswami has an impressive, 30+ year track record of building and scaling businesses in cloud services, software, and network infrastructure. In his most recent role as Chief Operating Officer, Products and Cloud Services at VMware, Ramaswami co-managed VMware’s portfolio of products and services. During his tenure, Ramaswami led several important acquisitions and was playing a key role in transitioning VMware toward a subscription and SaaS model.

“Rajiv is an accomplished leader with a track record of delivering a high-growth portfolio of products and services,” said Sohaib Abbasi, Lead Independent Director of Nutanix. “Rajiv distinguished himself among the CEO candidates with his rare combination of operational discipline, business acumen, technology vision and inclusive leadership skills. The talented Nutanix team, under Rajiv’s leadership, is well-positioned to drive sustained growth, to improve efficiency and to advance leadership in the emerging hybrid cloud infrastructure category.”

“I’m thrilled to be joining Nutanix at this transformative time for the company and the industry,” said Ramaswami. “I have long admired Nutanix as a formidable competitor, a pioneer in hyperconverged infrastructure solutions and a leader in cloud software. Working closely with the Board, the management team, and the more than 6,000 talented Nutanix employees around the world, we will build on Nutanix’s strong foundation of continuous innovation, collaboration and customer delight. Together, we will capitalise on the significant opportunities ahead and deliver on the company’s next phase of growth and value creation.”

“Rajiv is the right leader at the right time,” said Nutanix Co-founder Dheeraj Pandey. “With a future-proof business model, a loyal and expanding customer base, and a strong technology portfolio, I look forward to seeing Rajiv take the helm to lead this incredible team. This is the decade to watch for a company that so values simple, secure, and seamless. On a personal note, it has been a privilege to serve our customers and partners, working closely alongside Nutanix employees.” Dheeraj Pandey will step down from the Board effective Monday, 14 December, 2020, to ensure continuity through Nutanix's upcoming Annual Meeting of Stockholders.

OpenFin, the operating system (OS) of finance, announced today that it secured a strategic investment from SC Ventures, the innovation, fintech investment and ventures arm of international banking group, Standard Chartered. The capital will accelerate new product development and brings OpenFin’s total funding to date to $50 million (USD).

OpenFin’s web-based OS has become the de facto standard in financial services for powering next-generation application and desktop experiences by creating interfaces that make the financial desktop simple and intuitive.  Built on Google’s Chromium engine, OpenFin OS simplifies app distribution, unifies the digital workspace and enables seamless communication and workflow between apps. The software is now used at more than 1,500 banks and buy-side firms across nearly 250,000 desktops in 60+ countries.

The latest round of capital will be used to expand OpenFin’s product and engineering teams focused on building new user interface components of OpenFin OS, including OpenFin’s new desktop-wide Notification Center.

Standard Chartered adopted OpenFin’s technology earlier this year to accelerate their internal and client-facing technology transformation strategy across multiple areas of the bank starting with the financial markets business. Traders now have access to easy workspace management and automated workflows which are intuitive, user-friendly and help increase productivity.  OpenFin OS will see a significant increase in usage across Asia, Africa and the Middle East as a result of Standard Chartered’s diversified client geographies.

Standard Chartered joins a distinguished group of OpenFin investors, including Bain Capital Ventures, Barclays, DRW Venture Capital, HSBC, J.P. Morgan, NYCA Partners, Pivot Investment Partners and Wells Fargo Strategic Capital.

“In the financial services workplace of the future, employees need increasingly specific tools to collaborate and serve clients effectively,” said Alex Manson, SC Ventures. “We are thrilled to partner with OpenFin as they create such an environment, allowing for personalized design of the workspace and hence transforming the way we think of how conventional financial markets applications are delivered to the user.”

“We are incredibly excited to welcome Standard Chartered as a customer and investor,” said Mazy Dar, Co-Founder and CEO of OpenFin. “The pace of innovation at such a large financial institution has been truly astounding.  We look forward to a close collaboration as we work to modernize the industry’s app infrastructure.”

Ninth Wave, the leading enabler of secure data connectivity between financial institutions and third-party FinTech applications, announces a collaboration with Vantaca, a FinTech software provider helping community association management companies and financial institutions across the country engage and empower the communities they serve.

In an on-going effort to provide Financial Institutions (FIs) with the most comprehensive suite of seamless third-party integrations that their customers demand, the collaboration between Ninth Wave and Vantaca will allow FI customers to natively connect with the Vantaca platform. Vantaca joins Ninth Wave’s growing list of connected applications, where FIs can now offer Vantaca’s software platform to their Property Management / Homeowner Association (HOA) clients.

Vantaca’s community management software solution delivers real ROI for association management companies through accelerated business growth and end-to-end transparency at every touchpoint. They have onboarded more than 100 leading management companies and over 1.5 million homes nationwide are served through their software. Vantaca’s software solution provides their customers with mobility, up-to-the-minute data, reporting, analytics, and an embedded banking solution all in one platform, providing association management companies the ease and convenience of seamlessly accessing and transacting on their data.

As FIs seek to enhance the value of their HOA offerings, connectivity via The Ninth Wave Platform will allow Vantaca users to complete payments, fund transfers, and submit account balance inquiries without leaving Vantaca’s platform. The Ninth Wave Platform is a single, comprehensive open banking solution that enables financial institutions to securely and efficiently share permissioned data with a wide array of third-party applications including FinTechs, personal financial management, financial planning and wellness tools, accounting and ERP solutions, data aggregators, and other consumer and business solutions.

Ben Currin, Vantaca’s CEO, states: “Ninth Wave shares our vision for a fully connected banking experience. This collaboration allows us to accelerate this journey for financial institutions and our shared customers nationwide.”

According to George Anderson, Ninth Wave’s CEO: “Vantaca is very forward thinking and as a result, they offer the industry’s leading community management system. The addition of Vantaca to the Ninth Wave managed application catalogue (we call it the Fintech Registry™) demonstrates continued progress towards our goal of delivering value to FI’s and helping their customers grow their business.”

Hong Kong and its banks facilitate the scamming of thousands of Europeans. The European Funds Recovery Initiative (EFRI) was joined by a group of more than 30 Europeans that became victims of highly sophisticated and devious boiler room scams. The fraud is currently coming from China, especially from its financial center in Hong Kong. The scammers abuse the reputation of the Asian financial metropolis.

In the past years, the financial damage in Europe caused by this fraud scheme is estimated to be beyond EUR 100 million. Countries affected by this financial fraud are Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Switzerland. 

No proper Know Your Customers Due Diligence

Hong Kong is an active member of international AML/CFT organizations, having been a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) since 1991 and a founding member of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) since 1997. However, Hong Kong banks do not carry out proper Know Your Customers Due Diligence and do not monitor ongoing transactions for suspicious transactions as required by the FATF KYC/CFT standards.

Facilitators for fraud scheme

With being a gateway between mainland China and the rest of the world and a known prospering investment place for Chinese technology companies, Hong Kong has set the grounds for immense fraud activities at the expense of unsuspecting Europeans for many years now. Hundreds, if not thousands of Europeans have been transferring millions, if not billions, of their life-time savings to Hong Kong banks, trusting in a safe and developed banking environment.

The ease of forming companies in Hong Kong, of accessing to mainland Chinese who sell their identities and the ease of opening accounts at reputable Hong Kong banks are obviously facilitators for this fraud scheme. Moreover, the negligent handling of the money laundering laws and compliance rules by the involved Hong Kong banks makes scamming possible.

Lured by fancy brokerage websites and allegedly highly experienced brokers that present compelling investment opportunities, European retail investors deposit material amounts with Hong Kong – based trading companies for investments in promising Asian technology companies.

Fake companies

Hong Kong company builders are used to administer the fake promising Chinese technology companies, to set up and to administer the fake trading companies, supposed to handle the acquisition of the shares in the promising Hong Kong investment opportunities.

Shell companies that were registered years ago, get redressed as promising technology companies with upcoming IPOS or shares of these companies being on sale. Sophisticated websites and fake reviews in reputable online media pretend to be a successful technology company operating in Hong Kong.

Examples are:

Trading companies show the following characteristics:

• The majority of these trading companies are newly founded. The setup and registration process was done by only a limited number of Hong Kong company builders.
• More or less all of them have registered offices in the relevant Hong Kong company builder´s offices.
• The registered managing directors and nominee shareholders are mainland Chinese with no residency in Hong Kong.
• The trading companies have no employees.
• The business purpose as registered in the commercial register of Hong Kong does not match with the obvious activities of these trading companies – exclusively acting as illegal payment service providers.
• Quite a number of the trading companies have been dissolved by now. The bank accounts were emptied and the money was sent offshore.
• Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre, the relative ease of forming a company and its geographic location expose it to the misuse of legal persons.

Overview

More than 30 European victims, all registered with EFRI, transferred more than 8 Mio EUR to 55 Hong Kong registered trading companies, with 49 different Hong Kong bank accounts and 6 bank accounts in other jurisdictions:

Red flags in the process:

• Serial opening up of bank accounts for shell companies organized by Hong Kong company builders.
• Material wire transfer amounts, sometimes more than EUR 200,000, from European retail investors.
• Some transfers made by the victims had incomplete bank account numbers, while the transactions were still completed without any inquiries by the receiving banks.
• Victims have alerted the Hong Kong supervisory authorities, the Hong Kong criminal authorities and the compliance departments of the banks involved. 

“Boiler room accounts usually have a lot of small deposits coming in from various countries. Money is removed from accounts in cash withdrawals. Those transaction patterns could indicate a money laundering technique called ‘smurfing’. This is where customer due diligence processes come in. Banks should check what type of business the customer has before opening an account. They should continue monitoring the customer's business. Criminal complaints against the scammers and the banks have been filed in the home jurisdictions of the European victims, in Hong Kong and Singapore. As the victims are eager to get hold of the scammers and to find out more about the role of the banks, they are prepared to pay a considerable reward up to USD 150.000 for any whistleblowers handing over valuable information,” says Elfriede Sixt.