Integral, the technology partner trusted by leading banks, brokers, and asset managers to help them outperform their competition in the foreign exchange market, reported today average daily volumes (ADV) across Integral platforms totaled $34.5 billion in August 2019.  This represents an increase of 1.2% compared to July 2019 and 3.0% compared to August of last year.

No other platform reaches as many, as varied, and as comprehensive a set of FX products and participants as Integral OCX^TM.  Banks, brokers, and asset managers now share direct access to OCX and use this unique liquidity to win market share from their competitors.

OCX is directly cross connected with more than 250 liquidity sources supplying more than 3,000 market making streams in NY4, LD4, and TY3.  OCX’s award-winning advanced market design delivers the ultimate in execution performance by combining resting limit orders, market-making streams, and midpoint interest in a single integrated high-performance venue. 

Alibaba Cloud, the data intelligence backbone of Alibaba Group, launched a contest to increase awareness around cloud intelligence and how it can be applied to sport by even novice users. The contest runs from the 10^th of September to the 11^th of October and is open to contestants who have completed the basic course on Alibaba Cloud Academy.

Globally, the sports analytics market is set to grow to USD4.5 billion in revenue at a CAGR of 43.5 percent by 2024[1]. In the sport of cricket, broadcasters have been using analytics to better engage with audiences and teams, while club managers have been employing analytics to improve player performance, recovery, and nutrition.

Through the Cricket, Wickets and Analytics challenge, fans and technology enthusiasts can get closer to understanding how cricket is played through analysing sports data patterns. After completing the basic course on Alibaba Cloud Academy, which will expose users to analysis tools, participants will be given a data set of over 1400 international cricket matches along with an evaluation, that asks them to manipulate the data in ways that produce compelling results. Outstanding participants will be interviewed on their research, and further publicised on Alibaba Cloud Academy’s website and social portals. They will also be awarded with certificates and trophies. 

“Alibaba Cloud is committed to nurturing young talents in cloud computing and artificial intelligence. We have very strong technical knowledge and we want to pass on our knowledge to help grow a talent pool in cloud technology,” said Alex Li, Alibaba Cloud General Manager for South Asia. “We will continue to train talent through various channels, and build up an ecosystem with artificial intelligence that can bring greater good for society.”

Alibaba Cloud Academy runs more than 130 courses globally online and offline in nine languages. They cover hot topics including elastic computing, storage, database, networking, big data, cloud security and offer students practical solutions in real life scenarios, such as how to design discount coupon effectively using algorithms. 

Alibaba Cloud is the largest public cloud provider in Asia Pacific, and one of the top three providers worldwide, according to Gartner.

 Leading the industry with solutions protecting challenger banks and digital financial services offerings, NICE Actimize, a NICE (Nasdaq: NICE) business and the leader in autonomous financial crime management, was selected by Zenus Bank, San Juan, Puerto Rico, to establish a cloud-focused financial crime strategy for both anti-money laundering compliance and enterprise fraud protections with its AML and Fraud SaaS Essentials solutions. Zenus Bank, expected to open in the fourth quarter of 2019, was established to make it easy to access, send, receive, and store money in the United States from anywhere in the world without requiring US residency. 

Meeting end-to-end financial crime requirements in a cloud environment, NICE Actimize SaaS AML and Fraud Essentials is a robust, integrated AML-Fraud solution with a unified case manager and highly sophisticated, agile analytics. Essentials achieves best detection accuracy, a lower rate of false positives and high operational efficiency. Essentials is based on the same NICE Actimize solutions deployed in many institutions across the globe, packaged and delivered out-of-the-box on a cost effective, easily scalable Software-as-a-Service platform.

Zenus Bank will initially focus on such Essentials fraud capabilities as ACH, Wire, and Debit Card fraud; and in anti-money laundering, Zenus will utilize Suspicious Activity Monitoring, Customer Due Diligence, and Watch List Filtering capabilities.

“Beyond first-mover advantage, we are creating a new marketplace which will provide first-world banking products to most of the world’s population from outside their country of residence or incorporation. With such an ambitious objective, Zenus Bank has made safeguarding future customers and strict adherence to global regulatory compliance a priority in the early-stage development of its global banking services offerings,” said Mushegh Tovmasyan, Chairman & Founder, Zenus Bank. “Our mandate is to adopt a robust financial crime protections policy that utilizes a modern, cloud-based approach. With an industry leader like NICE Actimize leveraging its years of experience and advanced technology, we are confident that our customers will have an efficient user journey and will enjoy doing business with us.”

“Our extensive experience in AML compliance and fraud protections adapts well to the requirements of challenger banks - especially one such as Zenus, which is disrupting the industry with new and innovative approaches to global banking. We are pleased that Zenus identified that the Essentials software-as-a-service solutions will bring value to their organization,” said Craig Costigan, CEO, NICE Actimize. “NICE Actimize will continue to offer cutting-edge approaches to support the newest financial product categories as they grow and succeed in their unique approaches to financial services.”

NICE Actimize’s AML Essentials, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution manages a range of banking activity across the entire KYC-AML program that include processes for customer due diligence, enhanced due diligence, transaction monitoring, customer and message screening, and more. NICE Actimize Fraud Essentials is also a cloud-based solution that offers real-time fraud detection, cross-channel analysis, and multi-payment coverage, as well as extensive fraud alert and case management. NICE Actimize Fraud Essentials delivers a complete robust suite of fraud operations tools to help detect fraud perpetrated against multiple payment and transaction types.

For additional assets on NICE Actimize SaaS Essentials solutions:

• For information on NICE Actimize AML Essentials, please click here.
• For information on NICE Actimize Fraud Essentials, please click here.
• For a YouTube Video on NICE Actimize AML Essentials, please click here.

CoinCorner’s CEO, Danny Scott, commented:

“Apple revealed their latest line of products, unveiling the new iPhone 11 at their annual Apple event yesterday, however there was no mention of their plans for cryptocurrency, which they recently revealed they were “watching”.

The news that cryptocurrency was on their radar came as no surprise to us - we’ve said on many occasions that we expect to see more FAANG companies exploring cryptocurrency, especially following announcements from the likes of Facebook (Libra) earlier this year - but although Jennifer Bailey, VP of Apple Pay positively described cryptocurrency as having “interesting long-term potential”, we expect Apple to remain somewhat sceptical, bearing in mind that they don’t allow customers to use their credit card for the purchase of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies at the moment.

It's fair to assume that Apple are most likely exploring cryptocurrencies behind the scenes already - what company isn’t? - so it will come as no surprise if they announce “Apple Coin” in the near future. We certainly don't expect to see them embracing Bitcoin anytime soon - given the decentralised nature of Bitcoin (one of its fundamental features), we fail to see how it would fit into the notoriously centralised ecosystem of Apple products and services.

If Apple does decide to go down the route of creating their own cryptocurrency, they’ll quickly realise that as long as there is a central authority with control, there is no consumer demand or desire for it. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: it’s a waste of time and resources for these big companies to explore cryptocurrencies if all it means is that they are going to try and reinvent the (Bitcoin) wheel.

Apple may very well just be the next big name trying to use cryptocurrency as a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist”

Qumulo, the leading provider of enterprise-proven hybrid cloud file storage, today announced software advancements that enable enterprises to integrate modern file storage while seamlessly meeting organizational security and access standards already in place.  

“Qumulo’s software is designed from the ground up to help enterprises unlock the value of file data that is often spread across multiple data centers and in the cloud. Our distributed file system enables customers to have instant visibility to large, unstructured data sets and scale-across on-prem and the cloud,” said Ben Gitenstein, vice president, product management, for Qumulo. “Our software releases over the past quarter allow us to adapt, reprioritize, and respond as customer and market conditions evolve, and in turn deliver superior value for our customers in the form of new features.” 

“As unstructured file data volumes continue to grow dramatically, businesses can’t afford to waste valuable time waiting on software updates with new functionality to solve new challenges,” said Patrick Osborne, vice president and general manager, Big Data and Secondary Storage, at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. “The combination of Qumulo’s hybrid cloud file storage, together with HPE Apollo servers, provides large enterprises with reliable, high performance and cost-effective file storage at petabyte scale.” 

Global industry association, nexo standards, has today announced that its latest version of the nexo Retailer Protocol has now been published by the ISO Registration Authority and the Cards and Related Retail Financial Services Standards Evaluation Group, becoming the official ISO 20022 CASP – Card Sale to POI Protocol.

The nexo Retailer Protocol standardizes the communication between the sales system and the payments point of interaction (POI) – whether a physical terminal or the checkout part of an online shopping cart – significantly lowering the time and cost of system integration and maintenance and, in turn, freeing internal resource for innovation. By ensuring clearer separation between the sales system and POI, retailers can more easily adhere to security requirements such as PCI DSS. The standard also ensures the seamless operation between payment platforms while maintaining independence of any specific platform.

“The ISO 20022 framework is globally recognized by the industry as enabling interoperability both locally and across borders,” comments Robert Reheis, Co-Chair of the nexo Technical Steering Committee. “As an ISO 20022 accredited protocol, the Retailer Protocol will now follow the ISO maintenance process, which enables all organizations worldwide to provide feedback and suggest improvements to the protocol, ensuing its continued evolution to meet current and future retailer market requirements.

“More broadly, with the nexo Retailer Protocol, retailers can take back control of the transaction process, without the high costs of proprietary solutions,” continues Robert. “The protocol is rich in features such as cash back, reservation instalment and value-added-features such as loyalty. And, by utilizing standardized, fully interoperable protocol messages, retailers are freed from the risk of vendor lock-in and competition is promoted based on value-added services.”

nexo’s messaging protocols and specifications enable fast, interoperable and borderless card payments by standardizing the exchange of payment acceptance data between merchants, acquirers, payment service providers and other payment stakeholders. The protocols and specifications, which are developed by the association’s dedicated working groups,  adhere to ISO 20022 standards, are universally applicable and freely available globally.

InvestCloud, a platform for the development of financial digital, pre-integrated cloud solutions with $2 trillion+ in assets, today announced that Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. (NYSE:WHG), a leading investment manager to institutional investors, private wealth clients and financial intermediaries, has chosen to utilize the company’s entire suite of products.

Westwood will leverage InvestCloud’s platform to expand its digital capabilities, to enhance data aggregation and warehousing and improve trade-order processing and accounting functions. Westwood will also benefit from improved performance analytics and true multi-currency/multi-asset class portfolios across all business lines.

An average investment manager typically works with more than two dozen different applications, often including legacy technology that has little-to-no ability to integrate with other financial software. As digital transformation continues in the financial industry, clients will require an integrated, all-digital solution that not only solves their needs, but also provides anytime, anywhere information.

With InvestCloud’s modular and scalable software, Westwood expects to achieve an approximate 50 percent cost saving and reduce reconciliation time for all accounts by up to 80 percent. The company deployed InvestCloud’s Overlay, Leverage, Replace (1-2-3) methodology seamlessly and quickly, replacing legacy accounting systems. Anticipated results include the elimination of annual releases and the centralization of all systems in one easily accessible location that supports domestic and international clients.

InvestCloud’s financial digital solutions provide clients with intuitive financial platforms and an ever-expanding library of modular apps. The company’s Programs Writing Programs (PWP) approach is a ‘code generating code’ methodology that enables InvestCloud’s clients and third parties to build customized solutions.

“We chose InvestCloud because they are the only FinTech company that has solved the digital transformation needs of the investment management industry,” said Fabian Gomez, COO at Westwood. “We have a philosophy of ‘go digital or die’ and wanted to do this without creating a massive IT department. InvestCloud is a modern, innovative solution that will enable us to grow and retain our clients while ensuring we have better operational efficiency within a single ecosystem. With our installation complete, we have successfully modernized and future-proofed customer interactions.”

“Westwood’s selection of InvestCloud’s suite is a testament to how industry leaders can seamlessly manage all their accounting needs,” said John Wise, InvestCloud’s Co-founder, CEO and Chairman. “By using our platform, Westwood was able to bring all systems into a modern, all digital solution specifically designed to meet the needs of wealth and institutional asset managers. Westwood is at the forefront of the digital transformation practices, and deploying our platform is a crucial move to ensure wealth managers can respond to growing investor demands for leading-edge, highly personalized services.”

Westwood has US$15.4 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2019. As part of their digital transformation, Westwood will use the InvestCloud digital platform across multiple business lines, including the Westwood Funds® family of mutual funds, Institutional Asset Management and Wealth Management lines.

As part of the digital transformation, Westwood will use InvestCloud’s digital client communication platform Blue, portfolio analysis solutions with InvestCloud Black, digital warehousing through InvestCloud Orange, and trading and accounting apps with InvestCloud Green.

Fenergo, the leading provider of client lifecycle management (CLM) solutions for financial institutions, today announced that Luxoft, a DXC Technology (NYSE: DXC) company has joined its partner eco-system and become a Global Platinum Partner.

Fenergo and Luxoft will collaborate to better enable global financial institutions to implement Fenergo’s platform and accelerate digital transformation. Their combined efforts will enable financial institutions to onboard clients faster and address compliance challenges associated with Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML). Fenergo’s partner ecosystem consists of 300 global organisations, of which just three are currently platinum partner members. 

Marc Murphy, CEO, Fenergo said: “We are thrilled to welcome Luxoft into our partner community. Their deep experience, industry knowledge and heritage of providing proven digital transformation and systems integration for the world’s largest enterprises make them an ideal partner for Fenergo and will enable us to scale our business at a greater pace.”

Luxoft will offer Fenergo’s client community members best-in-class, professional consulting services to enable the rapid systems integration and deployment of Fenergo’s platform and suite of digital capabilities. Luxoft enables digital business transformation, enhances customer experiences, and boosts operational efficiency through its strategy, consulting, and engineering services.

Dmitry Loschinin, executive vice president, DXC Technology, and president and CEO, Luxoft said: “Fenergo shares our vision to provide clients transformative digital solutions at scale by deploying best-in-class KYC, AML and digital onboarding capabilities with an outcome-based approach. Our partnership with Fenergo aligns with our strength and success in financial services, and presents new opportunities to grow our business, expand our partner ecosystem, and deliver exceptional value to our clients.”

DXC Technology completed its acquisition of Luxoft on June 14, 2019, building on DXC’s unique value proposition as an end-to-end, mission-critical IT and digital services market leader, and strengthening the company’s ability to design and deploy transformative digital solutions for clients at scale.

Itiviti, a leading technology, and service provider to financial institutions worldwide, today announced that SMBC Nikko London Capital Markets, a full scope IFPRU investment firm, has successfully replaced Bloomberg’s SSEOMS platform with Itiviti’s multi-asset OMS for high touch trading in London and extended its offering using Itiviti’s Middle Office solution.

Adopting Itiviti’s solution supports SMBC Nikko’s global operations through their cash equities desks in London, sales trading across Europe, US, and execution services in Asia. SMBC Nikko London can now receive order flow electronically from multiple counterparties and then route orders to their office in Japan for execution by the local trading desks.

Following deployment of Itiviti’s OMS solution, SMBC Nikko London has now further expanded on the relationship and implemented Itiviti’s Middle Office solution, which includes UL Middle, UL Books and UL Publisher modules. This allows SMBC Nikko London to maximize automation of post-trade workflows and centralize monitoring of bookings, allocations, confirmations as well as clearing.

“We have successfully migrated a number of SSEOMS clients and we’re committed to continue delivering on our promise to migrate clients as quickly and efficiently as possible,” said Lee Griggs, Head of EMEA North, Itiviti. “It’s an honor to work with SMBC Nikko London and we are look forward to expand our partnership with them globally by providing additional valuable solutions from Itiviti’s technology portfolio.”

“Adopting Itiviti’s high touch trading OMS platform in London has provided us with a more dynamic and bespoke system that can be configured for our needs,” said James Absolom, Head of Execution Services London, SMBC Nikko Capital Markets. “Itiviti was already part of our global systems stack, and thus the implementation and transition could be facilitated within a tight deadline. We look forward to continuing our relationship with Itiviti on our global execution workstreams while customizing and consolidating our current systems.”

Itiviti’s high-touch platform provides access to cross-asset orders from a global network of clients, together with a best-in-class OMS to ensure fast and reliable executions. It is used by more than 10,000 sales-traders worldwide to quickly onboard clients, manage orders in real-time through a shared order book, route execution to any venue, customize commission schemes and automate post-trade tasks to secure bookings and regulatory compliance.

BidFX, an industry leading EMS designed for the 5 trillion daily FX market, is pleased to announce that Jump Liquidity, one of the world’s leading proprietary trading firms, providing bespoke liquidity to counterparties, has joined BidFX as their newest liquidity provider.

BidFX CRO, John McGrath, commented, “With the rapid expansion of BidFX we are happy to see Jump Liquidity join our EMS in response to high client demand. Their tailored liquidity will enrich the liquidity provision of our platform and provide a bespoke solution for many clients “.

Jump Liquidity’s Head of Distribution, Europe Harry Kent commented “Jump is one of the largest market makers in FX central limit order books and ECNs and we’re excited to continue that trend in our direct business by becoming a new liquidity provider on BidFX for Spot FX, NDF and Precious Metals Trading.”