Digital core banking provider five°degrees today announces a partnership with Entersekt, an innovator in mobile-first fintech solutions. The agreement makes Entersekt’s state-of-the-art digital channel security platform available on five°degrees’ Open Banking Marketplace, which boosts collaboration between banks and technology companies for streamlined digital customer experiences, improved efficiencies, and trouble-free compliance.

Entersekt is a B2B2C fintech company based just outside Cape Town, South Africa. Its European headquarters are in Utrecht, the Netherlands, with additional locations  in Canada, Germany, Mauritius, the United States and the United Kingdom, among other places.

The collaboration between five°degrees and Entersekt will help the financial services providers meet challenges and unlock opportunities in Europe and further afield, strengthening their own positions within the global market for banking and finance software solutions.

Commenting on the partnership, Peter-Jan van de Venn, Executive Vice President, five°degrees, said: “Partnering with Entersekt is testament to our vision for the future of banking and finance so we are delighted to welcome the company as part of the our Open Banking Marketplace. Our marketplace is championing a culture of collaboration throughout the industry ,enabling us to provide a better customer experience via interconnected APIs.”

Schalk Nolte, CEO of Entersekt, said: “Our products are mature and scalable, with proven track records. At Entersekt we help tens of millions of end-users across the globe, securing 150 million digital transactions every month in 45 countries. We look forward to being part of five°degrees’ Open Banking Marketplace and are confident that our partnership will drive further innovation in digital service provision and help our mutual customers differentiate themselves from the competition.”

Mirada plc (AIM: MIRA), a leading provider of integrated software solutions for Digital TV operators and broadcasters, is delighted to announce it has won a new customer in Spain.  Mirada has started working for Plataforma Multimedia de Operadores for the development of its new OTT-based TV platform. Plataforma Multimedia de Operadores (the “Customer”, the “Operator”) is a new Spanish OTT enabler whose main shareholder is Procono S.A.U., and with secondary shareholders Opencable, ACUTEL and AOTEC.

The Customer is planning for Mirada to deploy a purely OTT solution across the Customer’s network to deliver content with a cutting-edge viewing experience to subscribers via Android set-top boxes, smartphones, tablets, laptops and smart TVs, and a purchase order to commence deployment has been received by Mirada. Once launched, the Customer’s subscribers will enjoy all the advanced features of Mirada’s Iris multiscreen technology, including unique tools for content discovery, personal recommendations, session transfer, cloud DVR and much more. The Customer, Plataforma Multimedia de Operadores, expects the commercial launch of this project to take place during Q1 2020 and to reach at least 600,000 subscribers eventually.

With Mirada’s new Iris launcher for Android TV Operator Tier, Plataforma Multimedia de Operadores will reap the benefits of providing all the features of the Iris multiscreen technology while also providing easy access for its subscribers to all the benefits of the Android environment and easy access to third-party apps available in the Google Play Store.

This project is in line with Mirada’s Bring-your-own-device (“BYOD”) strategy, which focuses on providing the Company’s Iris multiscreen technology across all major consumer electronics devices to serve the ever-increasing demand for content on all platforms.

Amelia Carrillo, CEO of Plataforma Multimedia de Operadores, commented: “For Plataforma Multimedia de Operadores shareholders, this project is totally strategic. We understand that with Mirada our subscribers are able to enjoy the best television experience available on the market, making the most of the TV content, with advanced features as catch-up, start-over, timeshift, VOD, NPVR, etc. and adding the content of the most important Streaming Platforms, and customer’s preferences, in one single recommendation system.  We are sure that Mirada’s solution is the key factor to become the fourth TV platform in Spain, unifying the historic cable industry under the same brand.”

José Luis Vázquez, CEO of Mirada plc, commented: “We’re delighted to announce our latest project, this time with the Spanish operator, Plataforma Multimedia de Operadores. It’s fantastic to see another company opt for our acclaimed Iris technology and also to see such interest in our solution for Android TV Operator Tier which we launched only recently. We are looking forward to working with our fellow Spanish company, Plataforma Multimedia de Operadores, and seeing what this great new partnership will bring for both parties.”

The Marco Polo Network, a trade and working capital finance network, is welcoming Mastercard as its latest member. The network – and its over 25 member banks – are working to unlock what the World Trade Organization has identified as a potential $1.5 trillion opportunity in global trade finance.

Mastercard Track™, a B2B global trade enablement platform, and the Marco Polo Network are collaborating to provide more businesses with trusted access to Marco Polo’s trade and working capital finance solutions. Companies of all sizes will benefit from better visibility into trading relationships and easier access to financing options, beyond point to point relationships, to a global network of trading parties.

Launched in the fall of 2018, Mastercard Track unifies access to business identity information through a secure, permissioned repository of more than 210 million registered entities worldwide. Interoperating with leading business to business digital providers, Mastercard Track reduces the time it takes for businesses to identify, vet and onboard new trading partners – and simplifies the end-to-end payment process.

Better and faster access to critical information will work as a catalyst for businesses using the Marco Polo network – which is powered by the trusted Corda blockchain technology from enterprise software company R3 – to tap into working capital provided by global financial institutions.

“When there is trust, there will be trade”, commented Claire Thompson, EVP Enterprise Partnerships at Mastercard. “By connecting our Mastercard Track platform with a leading group such as Marco Polo we’re further lowering the barriers to access trade finance for business of all sizes globally. We’re excited about scaling a connected digital trade ecosystem together.”

“Adding Mastercard as our latest member is an important step for realizing our vision towards a more agile global trade environment”, said Daniel Cotti, Managing Director, Center of Excellence, Banking & Trade at TradeIX. “The scale and reach of Mastercard will complement and enable the large number of financial service providers who have pioneered the formation of the Marco Polo network over the past couple of years.”

“With Mastercard and Marco Polo joining forces, we can even better address some of the most pressing challenges that are holding back businesses wanting to trade globally”, commented Jacques Levet, Transaction Banking Head EMEA, BNP Paribas. “Better flow of information across the whole value chain has the potential to drive significant benefits for all network members.”

“The future of enterprise technology is in integrated systems which break down siloes and enable seamless interaction between services”, said David E. Rutter, CEO of R3. “That is exactly the promise of blockchain platforms like Corda across enterprise activity. Through this collaboration between the Marco Polo Network and Mastercard, I’m excited to see the opportunities to connect together and create more joined up, efficient and effective trade finance processes for both institutions and enterprises.”

trueDigital, the global financial technology company which has quietly been building out an end to end digital asset trading and settlement ecosystem for the traditional and digital asset markets, has announced that it has rebranded as Tassat. 

The new brand better represents the company’s values, and its focused, pragmatic and client-centric approach to delivering institutional-grade and compliant technologies.  

This is the latest in a series of strategic initiatives that reflect the company’s growth over the last year, specifically,  its continued commitment to delivering new digital payment rails, asset tokenization services and the imminent launch of new cryptocurrency derivatives products which will be listed on a regulated digital asset exchange. 

“Just as the digital asset market evolves, we evolve. Tassat better represents our products, our mature approach to creating an institutional ecosystem and our commitment to reinventing how the world transacts in the digital age,” said Thomas Kim, CEO of Tassat. 

CloudMargin, creator of the world’s first and only collateral and margin management solution native to the cloud, today announced the appointment of Karl Wyborn to the new role of Global Head of Business Development, effective immediately. Wyborn, a Managing Director and 24-year veteran of financial services with numerous senior roles in collateral management, has served as CloudMargin’s Global Head of Sales for nearly four years.  He will continue to report to Stuart Connolly, CloudMargin CEO, based in the London headquarters.

In the new role, Wyborn assumes responsibility for driving the firm’s new business development strategies to support revenue growth opportunities, and for engaging with partners, regulators, industry participants and other technology vendors to further cement CloudMargin’s role as a global leader in post-trade services.  He will work closely on a cross-functional basis with the firm’s sales, product and technology teams.

Connolly said: “As we have expanded on our global footprint, brand and market influence, it became clear that we needed a dedicated leader to identify opportunities for growing the business while interfacing with the external stakeholders that impact our firm and our clients. We are delighted that Karl has taken on this vital role as we start to accelerate new business opportunities materialising from our position as a critical provider of market infrastructure. Karl’s deep industry knowledge, outstanding experience and passion for CloudMargin’s mission will be a tremendous foundation for the position, particularly as we start to build the next generation of solutions to meet the ever-increasing challenges our clients and partners are facing.”

CloudMargin also intends to grow its sales operation and team over the next several months, Connolly said.

Wyborn said: “I jumped at the chance of this role when it was offered. The opportunity to leverage my prior experience in Sales, Marketing and Product to be able to help shape the future strategic direction of CloudMargin holds enormous appeal for me. Moreover, this is such a critical and exciting time for the industry at large and so soon after we signed our partnership with AcadiaSoft.”

Wyborn joined CloudMargin in 2015 as Managing Director, Global Head of Sales after an 18-year tenure in London and Hong Kong at JPMorgan Chase, where he was promoted to Managing Director in 2012.

His most recent role at the bank was Head of Sales and Relation Management for Clearing, Custody and Collateral Services for the EMEA region. Prior to that, Wyborn served as JPMorgan’s Asia Pacific Regional Head, Securities Clearing and Collateral Management. From 2000 to 2007, Wyborn was Global Head of Sales, OTC Derivatives Collateral Management.  He was Head of European Settlements, Securities Clearance when he first joined JPMorgan Chase in 1996.

Just prior to joining CloudMargin, Wyborn was Managing Director, EMEA Head of New Business Development and Relationship Management for NetOTC, a market utility for the non-cleared OTC derivatives space.

MDOTM, a fintech startup that develops AI-driven strategies and quantitative models to support banks and asset managers in their investment decisions, continues to grow with Andrea Caletti and Paul Holleran joining to manage Business Development. In accordance with the long-term development strategy, the two professionals will focus on European and UK institutional investors to speed up its international scale-up.

Andrea Caletti boasts more than ten years of experience in the investment industry, beginning as a trader in Banco Popolare, before moving to Barclays to focus on distribution networks, and finally becoming a manager in Epic SIM.

Paul Holleran possesses vast international experience within the financial services industry and managing business development across Asia and Europe, working for a number of international organizations including most recently Torstone Technology, a company focused on post-trade solutions for securities and derivatives.

Tommaso Migliore, CEO and Co-Founder of MDOTM: “I am very proud of the arrival of two very talented professionals such as Andrea and Paul. Their experiences combined with their strong knowledge of financial markets will play an instrumental role in closely following our clients and their needs as well as boosting our international expansion.”

Solactive announces that Deka, one of Germany’s leading asset management flagships, chooses Solactive as the index provider of choice for three new benchmark ETFs. The respective ETFs track two fixed income indices from the corporate and sovereign space as well as one equity index, which incorporates the thirty largest German stocks. The ETFs are primarily targeted to institutional investors looking for highly liquid ETFs by offering full physical replication and no securities lending.

The indices building the underlying of Deka’s new ETF range are derived from Solactive’s major index families covering global equities, global government bonds, and global corporate bonds. The Deka Germany 30 UCITS ETF tracks the performance of the thirty largest German companies by market capitalization. The ETF is aimed at investors who believe in Germany’s innovation potential and robust economy in the long run. The Solactive Germany 30 Index, a precise rule-based index, provides the underlying.

The Solactive Euro Corporates 0-3 Liquid EUR Index serves as the underlying for the Deka Euro Corporates 0-3 Liquid UCITS ETF. The index mirrors the performance of Euro-denominated, short-term corporate debt, which can be used as a substitute for cash. To achieve this goal, Solactive only includes highly rated (Investment Grade) European issuers with sufficient liquidity (large amounts outstanding) in the market. Furthermore, to keep the exposures to interest rate changes at a low level, the index only includes securities with a maturity of no more than 3 years.

Lastly, Deka releases its Deka US Treasury 7-10 UCITS ETF utilizing the Solactive US Treasury 7-10 Year Q Series USD Index as its underlying. The index tracks the performance of US Treasuries, one of the largest and most liquid capital markets in the world, only including bonds with a maturity between 7 and 10 years. While the interest rates within the Eurozone remain negative – the entire German yield curve was below zero recently – investors receive 1.6 % p.a. on 10-year US Treasuries. This opportunity is a particularly attractive option for investors who hold USD exposure or are willing to take the exchange rate risk.

Timo Pfeiffer, Head of Research at Solactive comments: “Deka’s new pure beta ETFs are a distinct representation of the respective markets, focusing on institutional players in Germany. We are very proud to intensify our relationship with Deka, one of the leading players in the German market, and provide them with the benchmark indices for their new line of ETFs.

Georg Kayser, Institutional Sales at Deka comments: “Especially when reproducing classic market beta, it is important to offer institutional customers fully transparent and coherent investment solutions; and for the release of the ETFs, Solactive convinced us with its strictly rule-based approach. Apart from this fact, Solactive offers prime service and flexible solutions, making us long-standing partners for years already.”

Deka’s ETFs started trading on September 3^rd, 2019, at Deutsche Börse Xetra.

Specialist RegTech provider Shield is proud to announce that it has opened a London Office, as demand grows for its award-winning cross regulation compliance platform amongst financial institutions in The City and across the capital.

Since launching in 2018, Shield has caught the attention of institutions operating in the major financial hubs around the world, for its ability to provide a complete solution for electronic communications compliance needs, including its eComms Surveillance solution. Founder and CEO of Shield, Shiran Weitzman, states: “As a key financial hub, London is one of the most important markets for Shield, and now is the right time to open a dedicated office.”

The timing of the opening is also significant as Shiran adds: “At a time of uncertainty for the UK in the face of Brexit, we wanted to make a commitment to the financial institutions that reside and operate here. Joining our Tel Aviv R&D center and Copenhagen office, our London office will provide sales and support to Shield’s expanding clients and business partners base across the UK and will be led by Shield’s Business Development Manager, Mrs. Shira Rottner.”

Shira comments: “Regulation and legislation such as MAR and MiFID II and the looming ePrivacy, has rendered the ‘old way’ of manually monitoring compliance obsolete. The reason financial institutions are finding the Shield proposition so compelling is because we are offering an intelligent, automated and cost effective alternative.”

“Our platform is easily integrated with eComms and business systems to provide a trusted solution across the entire data lifecycle, from secure capture to analysis and flexible yet comprehensive investigation.” Shira continues: “Regardless of the rules that financial institutions must adhere to, today or tomorrow, we ensure they have a fully future-proofed regulatory compliance solution capable of rising to the challenge.”

Shield will once again be exhibiting at the RegTech Summit 2019 on 3^rd October at etc.venues St Paul’s London. 

 TAB (The App Business) welcomes Judopay to its partner ecosystem, to unlock effortless mobile payments and take advantage of the radical shift in consumer behaviour towards mobile purchases. Judopay will join the partner ecosystem that TAB draws on to deliver frictionless checkout and payment experiences for clients. 

The partnership will unite the technical capabilities of two of the most disruptive companies in mobile technology, both leaders in their respective markets.

TAB, an outcome-led technology partner, enables some of the world’s most ambitious organisations to respond to accelerating industry change. TAB’s client list boasts the likes of RBS, M&S, Ford, Shell, Santander, Tesco and more.

By creating bespoke payment flows, Judopay makes sure more payments happen. No longer is the integration of a Payment Source Provider just an afterthought when developing an app or a website. Now, regardless of the size and scale of the product, or how many customers it will serve, the payments process plays a fundamental role in improving the customer experience. 

TAB and Judopay work with market leaders looking to launch new propositions or radically improve how their core business functions. This new partnership will give TAB teams a smart route to enable frictionless mobile payment experiences. By observing customer behaviour during the checkout process, Judopay’s smart technology aims to simplify payment processes. That could mean reducing the number of taps required for a quick, easy checkout experience that meets the needs and expectations of today's consumers or increasing security to ensure larger transactions are safe and non-fraudulent.

Leading merchants now see mobile-enabled payment as a critical enabler to serve customers with ease and convenience. Today 67% of all online shopping (e-commerce) takes place on phone or tablet. From web, to apps, to in-store; mobile transactions are powering new propositions and more frictionless customer experiences.

TAB and Judopay see an exciting opportunity to take a data-led approach to improve the mobile payments experience. Judopay is leading this data-led revolution in consumer behaviour and checkout experience, providing mobile payments solutions for a number of the world’s biggest brands, including KFC, together with some of the UK’s fastest-growing challengers. Meanwhile, TAB helps organisations across sectors create best-in-class digital experiences to serve millions of customers. From much-loved consumer brands like Tesco, M&S and B&Q, helping them harness mobile to create exceptional in-store experiences, to enabling RBS and ING to build simple and secure banking solutions.

The partnership comes into immediate effect, enabling TAB and Judopay’s clients to overcome the typical challenges of creating seamless, user-driven mobile payment journeys.

Jeremy Nicholds CEO at Judopay said: 

“We’re delighted to be working with TAB. TAB lives, breathes and embodies mobile. And so do we. The company builds innovative mobile-first products for a host of well known, sector defining brands and we can’t wait to enhance the great work they’re already doing by offering their customers simply the best mobile payments experience.”