LexisNexis® Risk Solutions, the global information solutions provider, and part of RELX, has announced the appointment of Steve Elliot as Managing Director of its UK Business Services business unit.

Steve joins LexisNexis Risk Solutions from resourcing and consultancy firm Huntswood, where he also served as managing director. He has 25 years’ experience providing financial crime and payment solutions to clients across financial services, gaming, utilities and payment firms.

Steve has previously held executive roles in risk management in the UK and abroad, bringing with him a strong set of credentials, including chairman of the ABI Anti-Fraud committee, where he introduced an online, global anti-counterfeiting system, leading directly to the removal of several hundred million pounds of fraudulent and counterfeit product trade advertisements. Beyond this, he also has experience of chairing a variety of leading industry groups, and has supported the development of global investigation and security standards. He was also Detective Inspector in the Royal Hong Kong Police force within the Commercial Crime Bureau, so brings experience of on-the-ground law enforcement too.

Steve joins the team with a clear mandate to drive strong domestic growth for LexisNexis Risk Solutions, and to maximise new opportunities for the business. He will be based in the firm’s UK office in Cardiff. 

Steve Elliot, Managing Director of LexisNexis® Risk Solutions Business Services UK said:

“I know LexisNexis Risk Solutions well, having encountered the team repeatedly over the past several years both as a product buyer and, more recently, as a bid competitor. The company has always been one to embrace change, and with increasing interest in identity solutions growing, now is a unique time to join the firm. I look forward to seeing the UK team achieve new successes and continue to provide market-leading solutions to our customers.”

Volante Technologies Inc., a global provider of software for accelerated end-to-end payments processing and financial message integration, today announced that Banco BASE selected Volante as a strategic partner to provide this Mexican financial group with end-to-end payment processing solutions for domestic and international payments.

Banco BASE specializes in payments and transaction banking services for corporations and medium-sized businesses in Mexico, and their foreign trade partners. As the result of a rapidly changing market, the advent of open banking and the desire to offer digital P2P and merchant services among others, Banco BASE needed the fastest path to innovation and a modern payments platform to strengthen its position as a regional leader.

To achieve these goals, Banco BASE implemented Volante’s VolPay for end-to-end domestic and international payment processing. Live since 2016, VolPay processes the bank’s domestic real-time payments in Mexico via SPEI, in Mexican Pesos and SPID in U.S. dollars; and cross-border payments, incoming and outgoing, via the SWIFT network.

Reaping the benefits from VolPay’s efficient, scalable and innovative payments architecture, low operating cost, and its ability to provide the bank’s customers with a superior experience, Banco Base expects to expand the VolPay implementation to cover domestic bulk MXN payments, and digital retail payments.

Prudencio Frigolet, IT and Operations Director, Banco BASE, said, “With a rapidly changing payments landscape, we were looking for a payments infrastructure solution that could deliver on our current domestic and international payments needs and support our future growth strategy. Since developing an in-house solution was not an option, we particularly appreciated Volante’s ability to work with us as strategic partners, collaborating on roadmap priorities and allowing us to make the most efficient use of our own resources. With Volante and VolPay, we are confident of the competitiveness of our corporate payments’ offerings today, as well as our ability to stay ahead of tomorrow’s emerging trends.”

Luis Melgarejo, VP, Latin America Operations, Volante Technologies, commented, “Our number one priority is to serve as a trusted partner enabling digital transformation and innovation in payments so our customers can create a superior experience. Our relationship with Banco Base demonstrates our ongoing commitment to providing financial institutions in Latin America with the same powerful, flexible payments technology that powers the world’s largest banks—tailored to local market needs. We are proud that we were able to help Banco Base maintain its leadership position, and that VolPay is delivering the efficiency and functionality they need to grow and stay ahead in their payments business.”

Assetz Capital is kicking off the new ISA season by boosting returns for new and existing investors with up to 2% cashback on all new investments. Terms and conditions apply.

To benefit from the cashback offer, users simply have to lend new funds through any of the peer-to-peer business lender’s investment accounts between 6^th April and 31^st May 2019.

All new funds that are lent during this eligibility period will receive an initial 1% in cashback provided they remain invested until 6^th October 2019. The cashback payment for eligible funds will then be paid directly into users’ cash accounts on 10^th October 2019.

Investors can also trigger a bonus 1% cashback if the newly lent funds are invested into any one of Assetz Capital’s IFISA-wrapped investment accounts and remain invested until the end of the tax year on 6^th April 2020. This further 1% cashback payment will be made to qualifying investors on 9^th April 2020.

Assetz Capital’s IFISA, which can be wrapped around any of its investment accounts with target returns currently starting at 4.1% p.a., has attracted more than £70m onto the Assetz Capital platform since its launch, earning investors more than £2.5m in interest collectively.

Stuart Law, CEO at Assetz Capital said: “Coming hot off the heels of another hugely successful ISA season for our IFISA, this cashback offer will provide a welcome financial boost for both new and existing investors keen to take advantage of the account’s already attractive target rate of returns.

“Our IFISA can help people build an investment strategy that works for them and, with the threat of inflation to investors’ funds still looming large, customers may need to weigh the potential investment risks of the IFISA against its potential rewards to deliver a fair return on their investments this ISA season.”

Compass Plus will be showcasing its TranzAxis Instant Issuance solution at Seamless Middle East 2019 – giving attendees the opportunity to see how they can deliver a fully personalised EMV payment card to their customers in a matter of minutes.

The demo, in partnership with Evolis, will take place at Compass Plus’ stand (C60) during Seamless Middle East on 10-11 April. In order to demonstrate the full capabilities of the TranzAxis Instant Issuance solution, Compass Plus has partnered with Evolis – a badge and card printing solutions provider.

The demonstration is open to all Seamless Middle East exhibition attendees.

2018 saw unprecedented advances in the investment and deployment of artificial intelligence capabilities within the insurance industry, and 2019 promises to be no different. With the Insurance AI and Analytics USA Summit kicking off in Chicago, May 2-3, we spoke to some of our speakers to gauge their thoughts on the challenges insurance carriers face in implementing AI, and how the summit will help insurance carriers address these issues through holistic, innovative and proven strategies.

“AI is impacting insurance at an unprecedented pace”, claims Bilal Parviz, Vice President Product Development at Arch MI, and “with innovative new players entering the industry and the traditional players trying to catch up,” says Manulife VP of Group Advanced Analytics, Eugene Wen, “the industry is going to experience further significant change.”

“It’s impossible to open a magazine without seeing hype about analytics changing every aspect of your life,” William Dubyak, VP Analytics for Product Development and Innovation at USAA agrees. “The Insurance AI and Analytica USA Summit is the optimal place to cut through the noise, hear the latest thinking from industry leaders in analytics, and compare the best practices with colleagues.”

Although good progress has been made to date, there is a definite sense that we are only at the tip of the AI-iceberg. In the eyes of Novarica VP of Research Consulting, Chuck Gomez, “each year, the topic of AI gets more interesting as emerging technology evolves and adoption rates go up, indicating that more can be accomplished with progress. While the subject of analytics has been around insurers for a while…there’s still a lot to learn about analytics centered around underwriting, claims and customer service. It is conferences like Insurance AI and Analytics that helps to further progress every year by bringing great thinkers and enquiring minds together.”

On a strategic level, Insurance AI and Analytics USA will address distinct applications of AI, with separate tracks focusing on Transforming Underwriting, delivering Customer-Centric Claims and Creating Outstanding Customer Experiences. Thomas Sheffield, SVP, Specialty Claims at QBE, who will speak on the Claims track, is particularly excited to explore the future of AI-powered claims; “From a claims perspective,” he says, “our next ten or twenty years will be defined by how well we embrace technology, artificial intelligence and the nearly boundless opportunities that arise from those advancements. The Insurance AI and Analytics USA Summit brings critical insights and guidance to professionals who are improving their own skills as well as those responsible for designing the future architecture for claims.”

Conducting our research the Insurance AI and Analytics USA agenda, it was striking how many carriers cited difficulties in actually embedding the technology they recognize as so integral to their future success. To provide a clear, strategic implementation framework for carriers, Insurance AI and Analytics USA will feature real-world case studies from Hippo Insurance, American Family Insurance and QBE, amongst others. “Having the opportunity to hear real business cases and then asking questions that will provide meaningful impact to your organization is a valuable asset” says Chuck Gomez, and with over 25 hours of case studies, discussions and keynotes from over 40 expert speakers, attendees will leave equipped with the skills and insights to flourish in 2019 and beyond.

With over 200 attendees confirmed and another 250 expected, there has never been a better time to register you and your team at Insurance AI & Analytics USA. Group discounts are still available, and more information can be found on the event website: https://events.insurancenexus.com/analyticsusa/ or by getting in touch: ira.sopic@insurancenexus.com

Global Data Center, a leading provider of a cutting-edge data center facility in Israel, has completed the doubling of its facility in an investment of millions of dollars.

Most of the expanded area in Global Data Center's facility in Herzliya (near Tel Aviv) has already been filled with IT infrastructures of both existing and new clients of the company. The expanded area provides all the standards, services and levels of service provided by the facility's original area. The expansion of the data center's area by more than twice joins other measures that the company has taken recently, such as tripling the data center's business continuity space, allowing the company's clients to quickly move to work at the Herzliya facility in an emergency.

Global Data Center operates a secured underground data center facility built in compliance with the latest global standards. The tier-3 site provides hosting services for IT operations units, full business continuity and disaster recovery, as well as on-site and remote back-up, cloud computing services, on-demand control and operating services, and smart hands services.

Companies using the services of Global Data Center's facility include leading institutional organizations in Israel such as Harel Insurance Investments and Financial Services Ltd., Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd., IBI Investment House Ltd., alongside industrial firms. Global Data Center also hosts at its facility some of Israel's leading high-tech companies such as Infinidat Ltd., Zerto Ltd., SolarEdge Technologies Inc. and DSP Group, alongside multi-national corporations, government organizations and other entities.

Global Data Center was founded by Moshe Lasman in 2013 in cooperation with and the financial backing of Viola Group and Leon Recanati's Glenrock Investments. Lasman previously served as the head of the Outsourcing Department at IBM Israel and head of Global Services at HP Israel. Alongside Lasman, the company's executive team includes experienced managers from tier-1 companies in Israel.

Moshe Lasman, founder and CEO of Global Data Center, said: "the expansion of our data center is a significant milestone for us and good news for Israel-related companies and organizations which would like to host their IT infrastructure in a way that ensures business continuity, around the clock service, security, survivability and cost savings. Digital transformation, the critical role of data in business processes and the flexible model for consuming electricity and area drive organizations to receive services from high quality specialized vendors such as Global Data Center."

Lasman continued: "As a data center which has been active for five years without any fault, the expansion serves as a proof for the strong momentum we are experiencing, when large Israel-based organization have stopped hesitating whether their infrastructure should be hosted at an external facility, and just ask how and where the hosting should take place. We will continue to be an essential foundation for any large organization which aims to leverage the benefits of hosting its IT and communications systems at an accessible data center which complies with the most rigorous international standards and is equipped with all the required certifications and licenses."

Identitii Limited (Identitii, Company) (ASX: ID8), an Australian FinTech enabling the secure overlay of transaction level detail on top of financial messages using a private blockchain, has partnered with leading message transformation software provider Trace Financial Limited (Trace Financial).

The partnership will provide banks with an easier, more secure and cost-effective way to migrate to ISO 20022 financial message standards. The combined solution will enable the translation of SWIFT MT messages to ISO 20022 (MX) messages without the risk of truncation or loss of data providing a secure, trusted and auditable way for banks to collect, index and retrieve data from the original payment message.  

With a joint focus on sales and marketing, the partnership will target SWIFT member banks, numbering more than 11,000 in over 200 countries, undertaking the complex migration to ISO 20022 and who are looking to reduce the significant cost of converting their existing payments technology systems.

“Migrating from the current message formats to the new ISO 20022 standard presents a number of challenges for banks,” said Nick Armstrong, Identitii CEO. 

“Information dropping out of the payment message, and the significant cost and amount of time this is expected to take banks, is a major roadblock. Our partnership with Trace Financial provides banks with a faster, economical solution to migration, with the added benefit of a secure, unalterable and auditable record of information using Identitii’s Overlay+ platform.

“It is the combination of Trace Financial’s best-of-breed translation service and the additional data integrity delivered by Overlay+, that enables banks to make the move to ISO with more confidence,” Mr Armstrong said.

“The adoption of ISO 20022 is an important step in reducing the number of formats currently being used by financial institutions globally,” said Keith Donovan, Trace Financial Managing Director. 

“Migration isn’t a choice for SWIFT members as SWIFT announced it will turn off the old message formats in 2026. But banks do have a choice between a lengthy and high cost rebuild of existing systems or adopting an approach that enables them to quickly translate any message format into ISO 20022.

“Overlay+ and Transformer are the perfect partners for banks looking to make the move to ISO today. It’s a win, win for banks,” Dr Donovan said.

Under the agreement, Identitii will integrate Trace Financials’ Transformer into its Overlay+ platform. The combined solution will enable the translation of payment messages from the existing MT format to ISO 20022, and will provide enhanced data security and integrity, ensuring no information is lost in the process due to the Overlay+ information exchange layer.

The integration will enable Overlay+ to enhance the SWIFT payment rails with data and documents related to the purpose, origin and beneficiary of a payment at the time a payment is made. 

Saxo Bank, the leading Fintech specialist focused on multi-asset trading and investment, and Brown Advisory, a leading global investment manager with a long history in sustainable investing, announced a cooperation to launch a new digital investment portfolio, Ethical Selection in the SaxoSelect universe. 

Saxo Bank’s clients will be the first retail clients outside of the U.S. to get access to invest in Brown Advisory’s Ethical Selection portfolio that offers an attractive and cost-effective way to invest in a sustainable, all-cap, 30-40 stock portfolio comprising of U.S. listed companies.

Brown Advisory’s applied research goes beyond negative screening and evaluates every company's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) attributes at a level deeper than just simple negative screening. The selection process maintains a strong focus on companies that use sustainability drivers to add value to shareholders. The team combines this analysis with their proven active portfolio management capabilities to deliver a best-in-class, core, Ethical Selection strategy to clients. 

Brown Advisory is an employee-owned independent global investment management firm serving private clients and institutions. Brown Advisory manages approximately $71 billion in client assets in 37 countries from eleven offices worldwide. 

SaxoSelect is a fully digital and automated trading and investment service that enables clients of Saxo Bank to invest in pre-selected portfolios. Brown Advisory’s solution complements the existing BlackRock, Morningstar and Nasdaq portfolios.

In SaxoSelect, clients have full visibility over each of the stocks in their portfolio and crucially they will own the actual stocks selected by Brown Advisory. Positions are followed in real time in a fully transparent investment environment directly on Saxo Bank’s platforms. The portfolio will be automatically rebalanced in guidance with Brown Advisory’s research.

Kim Fournais, CEO and founder of Saxo Bank comments:

“We are delighted to partner with Brown Advisory and bring their expertise in ESG and impact investing in the hands of our clients.

More investors want their portfolios to better reflect their personal beliefs and realise that it is through their investments they can have the biggest impact on the world. Our investments give us a strong voice and unique opportunity to influence and deliver real impact in the world we live in, and Brown Advisory’s track-record demonstrates that ESG factors can also be a solid driver of positive financial returns.”

Tim Hathaway, Portfolio Manager for the Ethical Selection strategy, and Henry Francklin, Head of Nordic Distribution, commented:

Henry Francklin: “As demand for sustainable investing continues to grow, we are excited that Brown Advisory will be collaborating with Saxo Bank to offer The Brown Advisory Ethical Selection strategy on the SaxoSelect platform. This partnership builds on Brown Advisory’s long history and commitment to sustainable investing, leveraging our deep bottom-up fundamental equity research and sustainable investment team. Similarly to Saxo Bank, we believe that ethical investing does not have to be a trade-off between values and returns.”

Tim Hathaway added: “Our collaboration with Saxo Bank will allow investors access to a concentrated portfolio of high quality businesses. The Brown Advisory Ethical Selection strategy incorporates a multi-step ESG analysis that goes beyond negative screening, to create a concentrated portfolio of high-conviction names that we believe should provide attractive risk-adjusted returns over time. Put simply, we consider sustainable investing to be smart investing, and we believe that investing through this lens we can drive both attractive returns and positive contributions to our society.”

The annual service fee for the portfolio is 0.75 percent.

Initially the Brown Advisory Ethical Selection portfolio will be available to institutional and SaxoSelect clients serviced out of the Denmark, Singapore, Central and Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

Refinitiv announced today new research findings that confirm the use of machine learning is pervasive across the financial community and is critical to its success in the future. Ninety percent of the c-level executives and data scientists surveyed have already deployed machine learning, while all of the c-level participants said it is core to their business strategy.

However, respondents acknowledge that poor-quality data impedes their ability to fully leverage machine learning and artificial-intelligence technology, with 43% citing this as the biggest barrier to adoption followed by a lack of data availability (38%). Despite being a technology area that’s seen a recent ‘war for talent,’ challenges around data quality were ranked ahead of access to talent, which was highlighted by a third of the respondents.

This information was compiled for the inaugural Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML) Survey by Refinitiv, featuring in-depth interviews of nearly 450 financial professionals across North America, Europe and Asia. Its findings confirm how far the industry has evolved since 2017 research that indicated technology companies were the primary adopters of artificial intelligence (AI) and only 28% of financial-services firms were deploying it.^[1] 

Other key findings from Refinitiv’s new research include:

• 90% of financial firms are using machine learning, either in multiple areas as a core part of their business (46%) or in pockets (44%); the 10% of firms that have not yet deployed machine learning are experimenting with it
• 75% of firms are making significant investments in machine learning
• 62% of c-suite respondents plan to hire more data scientists in the future as banks and asset managers seek to give themselves a data and technology edge over competitors
• The main applications for using machine learning were in risk use cases (82% of respondents), followed by performance analytics and reporting (74%), with alpha generation in third place (63%)
• AI/ML adoption is primarily driven by extracting better quality information (60%), increased productivity and speed (48%), and cost reduction (46%)

“Machine learning and artificial intelligence are often described as emerging technologies, but the fact is they are already being widely applied across financial services,” said Tim Baker, global head of Applied Innovation at Refinitiv. “Whether it is an increasingly complex regulatory environment, the need to find new sources of alpha, or winning the fight against financial crime, the industry is turning to data and technology, and data scientists are increasingly important as the alchemists charged with turning big data into insight.

“We see a future of accelerating innovation fuelled by wider availability of powerful cloud-based artificial intelligence and machine learning tools dramatically lowering entry barriers and thus changing the competitive dynamic across the industry. But no financial institution will be able to use the technology successfully unless the underlying data is machine ready.”

To learn more about the Refinitiv AI/ML survey, please visit: https://refini.tv/2G8jbnD.