CloudTrade, the leading provider of e-invoicing, e-order and complex data capture services, today announced that it will be launching a public cloud-based service to meet global demand for its unique document management solutions.The ongoing migration will help CloudTrade to meet growing demand for its services and leverage Microsoft’s cloud platform, Azure,taking advantage of a variety of benefits, such as secure geo location, geo replication and automatically scalable, server-less systems.

CloudTrade’s core platform, which is protected by lasting patents in Europe, the U.S. and Australia, uses unique rules-based technology with backward tracking search, to interpret, validate and extrapolate semantic meaning from documents of any type: including invoices, sales and purchase orders, advanced shipping notices and other complex, data rich documents.

Richard Develyn, CloudTrade’s CTO, says: “CloudTrade has been running private cloud solutions for several of our clients for a number of years. However, we have taken the decision to migrate to the public cloud, working with a functionally rich provider to support our continued global growth. Microsoft Azure’s public cloud maturity will enable our teams to quickly serve our global customer base with fast, reliable and secure services.” 

CloudTrade enables companies to evolve past their reliance on paper, and transact digitally with their trading partners, irrespective of size or technical maturity. CloudTrade is now one of the fastest growing e-invoice and e-document networks, connecting over 200 organisations to thousands of their trading partners, electronically, across numerous sectors and regions across the globe. 

Over the last year, CloudTrade has grown the business through new partners, including IBM, DXC (formerly Hewlett Packard Enterprise), SAP Ariba, BT, Cegedim, Opus Capita and SupplyOn, and from an increase in projects through existing partners. This corresponds to a 20% increase in partners, and a 30% increase in end-customers using the service.

David Cocks, CloudTrade’s CEO, says: “CloudTrade’s move to the public cloud will enable more businesses of all sizes to adopt our unique rules-based technology and analytics capabilities, wherever and whenever they need it. It will also ensure our customers can have the highest confidence in CloudTrade’s data resilience and security, and ensure our users remain compliant with the latest national data sovereignty laws and access restriction requirements.

 “The number of e-invoices and other documents being processed through and by CloudTrade’s platform have more than doubled over the last couple of years from 3 million documents in 2016, to a current run rate of in excess of 10 million. Transaction volumes are the key to growing our business and the fact that we have doubled these volumes over the last couple of years demonstrates our strong business growth. Our migration means we now have the tools at our disposal to deploy, monitor, scale and secure our solutions, while becoming an even more competitive, efficient and indispensable partner to our global client base.” 

IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO), a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions, today announced that MarkitSERV has introduced new, cloud-based technology for post trade processing of OTC derivatives trades.  Called TradeServ, the new platform launched in September for matching, confirming and clearing trades of non-deliverable forwards (NDFs).

32 banks and major asset managers are live with TradeServ.  More than 1 million cleared NDF trades have been processed using MarkitSERV this year (January through October), 80 percent more volume than in 2017 and nine times higher than 2016 for the same period.

TradeServ is a modern platform as a service (PaaS).  It uses microservices architecture and cloud infrastructure to make the platform highly flexible, scalable and reliable.  It provides customers with better access to trade data, easier integration and more continuous service upgrades in response to changing regulation and industry needs.  

IHS Markit will migrate FX options, spots and forwards to TradeServ in the first half of 2019.

“The broad connectivity and standardized workflow from MarkitSERV are integral to efficient derivatives operations and compliance,” said Bill Stenning, managing director for clearing, regulatory and strategic affairs at Société Générale corporate and investment banking. “With the introduction of TradeServ, the clearing of NDFs to multiple CCPs has moved to a modern PaaS which is an important step forward for the industry.”

“MarkitSERV has always been the innovator that brings progress to the OTC derivatives markets,” said Brad Levy CEO of MarkitSERV.  “Our success shows how markets embrace new technology when it is deployed through a trusted network.  Beginning in FX, TradeServ will enable us to be even more responsive to customer needs and make it easier for users to interact with their data and customize workflows.” 

TradeServ will expand to credit derivatives in mid-2019.  It will use blockchain-compatible technology to supply initial trade and trade lifecycle data to the replatformed Trade Information Warehouse (TIW) from The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), which will be delivered on distributed ledger.  When credit moves to TradeServ, it will mark the retirement of the DSMatch platform currently used to process FX and credit.

TradeServ also provides a framework to accelerate enhancements to MarkitWire, the MarkitSERV platform for interest rate swaps and equity derivatives.

“The architecture and technology we are deploying in TradeServ make our platforms much more agile and responsive to clients’ requirements,” said Claire Lobo, senior vice president and product head for MarkitSERV.  “We’ve built our new platform as a series of interoperable apps, so that when regulation changes or a new standard like SOFR is deployed in the market, we update specific apps which is much easier and faster than updating traditional software.”

Electronic trade confirmation transforms OTC derivatives markets and sets the stage for automating complete derivatives trade lifecycle

MarkitSERV has an almost twenty-year legacy of bringing technology and innovation to OTC derivatives markets. 

Beginning in 2002, electronic trade matching and legal confirmation introduced by MarkitSERV was revolutionary for automating what was an expensive, burdensome and error-prone, manual process. Before this advance, it was not uncommon for a major dealer to have months of unconfirmed derivatives trades on its books, a situation so fraught with operational and financial risk that it attracted the attention of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.  MarkitSERV was key in helping major dealers eliminate those backlogs and keep commitments made to the New York Fed in 2006.

MarkitSERV introduced electronic workflows for terminating trades (2004), novations (2006), trade allocation (2010), and novation consent equals confirmation (2010), becoming the first service to fully automate the complete trade lifecycle for derivatives.   While certain markets such as credit swaps have become virtually 100% electronically confirmed, the MarkitSERV platform also supports confirmation of non-standard or highly bespoke paper derivatives contracts.

Having a single platform covering all trade requirements for multiple types of OTC derivatives enabled banks and asset managers keep trade and risk systems up to date through APIs provided by MarkitSERV, user interfaces which provided position data and workflow tools to resolve trade breaks and otherwise settle their trades.

“MarkitSERV is the post-trade backbone of the OTC derivatives market,” said Ric Okun, executive vice president at PIMCO.  “For almost two decades, MarkitSERV has worked in close partnership with the industry to provide the network and tools we need to operate efficiently and reduce risk. Our ability to monitor counterparty risk and manage the derivative confirmation lifecycle is facilitated by integrating our systems with MarkitSERV.”

Clearing and trade reporting:  creating the network for global compliance 

The network created by MarkitSERV for trade confirmation facilitated other important transformations in OTC derivatives markets.  Beginning around 2004, the network became the conduit for voluntary clearing of interest rate swaps in the dealer-to-dealer market.  When Dodd-Frank, EMIR and similar regulations mandated clearing for multiple derivatives asset classes and required non-dealers to begin clearing, the MarkitSERV network and workflow expanded to connect 18 CCPs clearing rates, credit, equity and FX derivatives.  In 2017, more than 4.5 million cleared OTC derivatives trades were processed using MarkitSERV.

In similar fashion, the efficiency, reliability and connectivity provided by MarkitSERV is used by the industry to facilitate regulatory reporting and electronic trading of OTC derivatives.  MarkitSERV enables trade reporting in nine jurisdictions worldwide and connects users to more than 150 trading venues, including 30 SEFs, OTFs, MTFs and other types of venues mandated for trading certain types of swaps.

More than 3,000 financial institutions use MarkitSERV for post trade administration of credit, equity, foreign exchange and interest rate swaps as well as compliance with global derivatives regulations.  In 2017, the service processed an average of 130,000 transaction events per day.

CEO announcement coincides with IronX’s regulatory licence approval by the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and Public Token Sale 

IronX is delighted to announce the appointment of Dimitris Hatzis as their Chief Executive Officer effective immediately. The new Crypto Exchange, a joint venture between the Global Leader in Online Trading, the IronFX Group and the World Blockchain Giant, EmurgoHK, allows private and institutional investors to exchange cryptocurrencies, as well as trade forex, commodities, equities, and other tradable assets.

IronX is a fully regulated cryptocurrency trading exchange after being approved by the Estonian Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in September 2018. Previously, IronX sold 67.6 million tokens in a Private Sale by Invitation, with a market value of $22.3 million. Their Public Token Sale began last week, and this is exciting news for cryptocurrency enthusiasts who have been anticipating a Public Sale for months.

“By appointing Mr Hatzis as our new CEO, we have selected a highly experienced and knowledgeable market leader at a time when cryptocurrencies are on the verge of universal adoption” commented Markos A. Kashiouris, Founder and Chairman of IronX.

Speaking on the announcement, the new CEO, Dimitris Hatzis, said: 

“The pace of technological change is both unpredictable as well as exponential. Cryptocurrencies are impacting on every individual, country, and organisation in an unprecedented fashion, so IronX’s global role in trading them under a regulated umbrella has never been more important. In the capacity of CEO, I am looking forward to bring the highest level of disruptive enterprise and success to IronX, in the same way as I did at all my previous posts, combining leadership with execution and business development skills”.

Signicat, a leader in verified digital identity and electronic signature solutions, has today announced an electronic signing solution specifically for business to business interactions. The Signicat Business Signature product facilitates a flexible and secure business to business document signing process that minimises manual operations and keeps evidence of signature in the same document.

With the digitising of consumer markets, and the ability to sign legal documents online, businesses are increasingly looking to take advantage of the cost and time savings of electronic signatures. However, electronic signing in business to business transactions requires an additional level of security to ensure that the business is the correct legal entity and that the signatory is allowed to act on its behalf.

To support this, Signicat Business Signature allows document recipients to forward a sign order internally within their company to a single person authorised to sign, or to obtain multiple signatures when no single person is authorised to sign alone (sign and forward).

As well as the processes used to on-board consumers, the Signicat Business Signature includes additional checks of business registers ensuring that the business is the correct legal entity and the signatory is allowed to act on its behalf. The document is then signed using, for example, an electronic identity or eID (such as Norway’s BankID), a one-time password via SMS or scanning of ID documents.

The Electronic Seal functionality protects and preserves documents such as invoices, diplomas and certificates. By electronically sealing documents, Signicat Business Signature helps prevent fraud and ensures the document cannot be tampered with.

“Businesses are increasingly looking to take advantage of consumer technology to drive efficiency and to improve manual processes, and the move to e-signatures are a logical step. By doing away with physical documentation and enabling instant contract signing, Signicat is helping to enable digital transformation across Europe,” said Gunnar Nordseth, CEO, Signicat.

Electronic signing brings benefits including the assurance of signature validity through ID verification and signing authority lookups, capability for cross-border signatures, the option for signers to sign multiple documents in one process and the long-term verification of a signer’s identity. The solution is currently live in Norway and Denmark and is being rolled out across additional countries as business registry information becomes available.

Senior executives from leading global insurance companies will join Insurance Nexus for a live, free webinar on how carriers can integrate artificial intelligence (AI) across their operations to augment technological transformation.

When asked the question “do you believe that AI is transforming the insurance industry”, 94% of respondents to a 2018 study by Insurance Nexus, agreed that this is the case. Accordingly, the same survey concluded that 75% of European insurance carriers are currently investing in AI, with 64% of their Canadian counterparts the same. In respect of carriers’ drive to effectively utilize AI, Insurance Nexus are holding a webinar on Wednesday, November 14^th; “Turbocharge Tech Transformation: Integrate AI Across Insurance” (10:00am CT) will feature exclusive insights and strategy from some of those at the forefront of effective AI implementation in insurance; webinar moderator Stephen Applebaum (Managing Partner, Insurance Solutions Group) will be joined by Aviad Pinkovezky (Head of Product, Hippo Insurance), Alex Faynberg (Senior Vice President and Chief Actuary, Combined Insurance) and Fausto Martin (Founder, Fausto J. Martin & Company).

“AI & Analytics is enabling carriers to better meet customer demands at scale across the enterprise, including Underwriting, Claims and CX,” said Stephen Applebaum, Managing Partner, Insurance Solutions Group and webinar moderator. “These technologies reveal insights with real impact.  Carriers are partnering with InsurTechs and other partner segments to accelerate their pace of adoption. We are excited to provide forums like this webinar for all participants to learn and network”.

There is little denying how necessary the implementation of AI is for insurance carriers. Given the percentage of insurance executives who agree that AI is “transforming” the industry, the prevalent opinion is that AI is the only mechanism that can prevent insurance falling into irrelevance as a service. As the twin proliferations of new technologies and customer-centricity have affected all industries, insurance has been increasingly singled-out as archaic and old-fashioned. Influenced by the offerings of the modern, digital behemoths like Amazon and Netflix, customers now expect seamless, personalized and easy-to-use services in all transactions. Only by effectively harnessing AI can insurance organizations hope to improve their customer experience to match expectations.

The webinar, “Integrate AI Across Insurance Operations to Turbocharge Tech Transformation”, is being run in association with Insurance Nexus’ upcoming sixth annual Insurance AI and Analytics USA Summit. The conference, which will welcome over 450 senior insurance executives from analytics and business teams, will take place on May 2^nd and 3^rd, 2019, at the Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel, Chicago, Illinois. For more information about the conference, please visit the website: https://events.insurancenexus.com/analyticsusa/

Contact:

Ira Sopic

Project Director

Insurance Nexus

T:+ 44 (0) 207 422 4363

T: +1 800 814 3459 ext 4363

E: ira.sopic@insurancenexus.com

After announcing their Fintech Innovation Program collaboration in July, Oracle and B-Hive are taking their next step to jointly launch a fast-tracked monetization ecosystem program for mature startup and scale-up fintechs, called Fintech ScaleUp. Registration opens today and the program will kickstart in January when Oracle and B-Hive will select 15 startup or scale-up fintechs in two program sessions that will take place in Brussels and London.

The program will be the first outcome of the new collaboration. Oracle and B-Hive aim to maximize business opportunities for mature fintech startups and scale-ups while minimizing the time in the market through a six-week, fast-tracked monetization program. The program drives fintechs to discover a joint business model with Oracle, earn a proof of concept and enter one of the existing monetization models on Oracle Cloud, where Oracle’s customers can get access to their products and services.

Oracle and B-Hive will select the most promising tech startup or scale-up fintechs who they believe have the highest potential to reach their goals of becoming a top-tier fintech company. The focus in the six-week program will be on open banking, fraud detection and data monetization. Interested fintechs can register by contacting b-hive.eu.

Oracle’s goal of monetizing and accelerating fintech innovation and B-Hive’s expertise in startups mentoring sparked the idea of such a program. Mark Smedley, Vice President of the Global Financial Services Industry Solutions at Oracle has big hopes for the program. “The goal of the Fintech ScaleUp program is to support fintech companies and help them become scalable and successful and provide them great sales opportunities in a short period of time. They will have access to Oracle client base of financial services industry players, be a part of Oracle Cloud’s extended ecosystem and make use of our cloud software. We will also provide mentoring and insights for the startups, with B-Hive’s help of course.”

The program will not only benefit the tech companies but the financial services companies as well. They will gain access to a variety of fintech companies that have found enterprise-strength solutions to some of the biggest challenges the financial industry is facing today.

B-Hive’s Executive Chairman, Fabian Vandenreydt believes that B-Hive’s expertise in mentoring startups and Oracle’s powerful brand are an excellent combination that will guarantee the program’s success. “B-Hive Europe is delighted to contribute its fintech startup ecosystem management expertise to launch the first two workshops of the Fintech StartUp program. Leveraging Oracle platform and cloud expertise, and market presence in Corporates and FI’s will bring the best fintech scale-ups to the market as part of the Oracle Cloud Portfolio. This will offer additional functionalities to Oracle Cloud users and support fintechs in their go to market.” 

Glaston has refined its strategy for 2018–2021 to better meet its customers’ needs. While the core of the strategy remains unchanged, some refinements and adjustments have been made. 

What has been refined in the strategy? 

• We focus on our core Heat Treatment technologies and Services and evaluate divestment opportunities of non-core businesses.
• Emerging Technologies play a strong role in our development and brings growth potential. We continue to look for new emerging technologies and pioneering companies to develop and commercialize smart glass innovations. 
•  We will step up the level of digitalization and automation in our products and services for the benefit of our customers. The emphasis is placed on increasing the level of automation in new equipment and optimizing installation performance throughout the lifecycle, using data analytics and artificial intelligence. 
• The glass processing technology industry is fragmented, with many small players. We will explore M&A opportunities, especially in the areas of glass processing equipment, services and software. As a market leader, our role is to drive market development.

OUR STRATEGY: 

Strategic goal: Glaston is the industry’s innovative technology leader, realizing its customers’ highest ambitions in glass

Glaston’s purpose is to build a better tomorrow through safer, smarter, more energy-efficient glass solutions. The demand for environmentally sustainable and energy-efficient solutions, tightening safety standards as well as growing visual and functional quality requirements, increasingly affect the way our customers operate. With our unique portfolio of products and services, Glaston is in a strong position to respond to the demand for innovative solutions. In our strategy, we continue to focus on developing our core Heat Treatment technologies, while continuously seeking opportunities for new glass processing technologies within new, smarter and safer glass. Our extensive installed base and superior global service network, in combination with innovations within digitalization and automation, puts us in a unique position to fulfil the most demanding needs of our customers while at the same time supporting our profitable growth ambitions.

Supported by our flexible production and supply chain management, we continuously seek new ways to maintain high quality and cost efficiency. High investment in R&D and our focus on innovation and digitalization strengthen our position as the industry’s innovative technology leader. 

Heat Treatment technologies 

Strategic aim: Glaston is the global leader in technology and market share 

We will continue to focus on growth in our core business with the aim of remaining the leading Heat Treatment technology supplier in the industry. We have a clear focus on digitalization and increasing the level of automation in our products. We understand our customers’ businesses and tailor our offering and customer management to fit our customers’ needs.

Main focus areas in Heat Treatment technologies: 

• Profitable growth
• Increased digitalization and level of automation up to fully automated products
• Tailoring our offering and customer management to realize our customers’ highest ambitions in glass

Emerging Technologies 

Strategic aim: Glaston is a reliable solutions frontrunner

Demand for more energy efficient and environmentally sustainable glass solutions is strong, leading to fast developments within smart glass, very thin glass and glass applications in renewable energy such as solar energy. With these comes the need for strong technological, high quality glass processing technologies. Glaston Emerging Technologies is the most trustworthy expert in modern glass usage enabling the development and commercialization of innovative glass solutions with new emerging and innovative companies. The focus lies on affordable smart glass development through development of Smart Pane Unit lines, technologies enabling seamless glass processing of very thin glass as well as providing turnkey integrated line solutions to our customers. 

Main focus areas in Emerging Technologies:

•  We will continue to look for new emerging companies and together develop and commercialize new SPU line solutions, solar line solutions and thin glass solution. All of these require integrated lines which is Emerging Technologies’ expertise.

Services

Strategic aim: Glaston leverages its’ extensive installed base and global service organization for next generation services

Today, most of the service work is performed by the customer. We see strong untapped potential in combining our extensive installed base and global organization with innovations within digitalization and automation for the benefit of the customer. Emphasis is placed on optimizing installed base performance throughout the lifecycle, using data analytics and artificial intelligence to support customers’ business decisions. This differentiates us from the competition and puts us in a unique position to fulfil the most demanding needs of our customers. 

Main focus areas in Services: 

•  Leveraging untapped potential from existing unique lifecycle services, large installed base and extensive service network 
•  Development of next generation digital services and an ambition to develop a service platform in cooperation with partners
•  Divestment of non-core, pre-processing and tools businesses. The businesses represent a minor part of Glaston’s current operations with estimated net sales 2018 of less than EUR 10 million and around break-even profitability

AREAS OF EXCELLENCE: 

Our strategic success is dependent on three areas of excellence: customer experience, digitalization and operational efficiency. 

Customer experience

We want to help our customers achieve their goals and align our offering, way of working and organization to serve their needs. We provide the best customer experience in the industry. By continuously enhancing our customer focus and by creating a more customer-centric mindset and operations, we continue to improve our customer experience and thereby our operations. 

Digitalization

Today, business decisions rely more and more on data and data analytics, which drives the need for better data access and transparency. Glaston develops the level of digitalization and automation in its products and services to enable new data-driven business models. By doing this, we help our customers optimize their operational efficiency and business processes while at the same time providing us with new business opportunities. 

Operational efficiency for growth

We focus on activities that add value and benefit our customers. We develop our operational efficiency and project management skills to ensure product quality and delivery accuracy. Operational efficiency supports future growth. 

OUR FINANCIAL TARGETS, PUBLISHED IN 2016, REMAIN UNCHANGED: 

• Annual growth of net sales exceeding market growth (CAGR)
• Comparable operating profit margin (EBIT) above 8% at the end of the period
• Return on capital employed (ROCE) of more than 20% at the end of the period

In addition, Glaston seeks growth by exploring M&A opportunities, especially in the glass processing industry equipment, services and software areas.

OUR DIVIDEND POLICY REMAINS UNCHANGED: 

According to Glaston’s dividend policy, Glaston’s objective is to distribute annually a dividend or return of capital amounting to 30-50% of the company’s comparable earnings per share.

When determining the amounts and dates of payment of any future dividends or returns of capital, the Board of Directors always takes the company’s financial position and future outlook into consideration. In addition, the dividend policy takes into account growth targets in line with strategy as well as financing requirements for growth.

Glaston’s strategy and focus areas for 2018-2021 will be discussed more in detail at Glaston’s Capital Markets Day held in Helsinki on Friday 9 November.

The TALL Group of Companies, the UK leader in the provision of secure paper and electronic payment solutions, has been appointed as authorised sales partner by TCS iON, a strategic unit of Tata Consulting Services (TCS). This strategic partnership is to enhance the coverage of TCS iON Digital Records Platform across UK, Ireland and a nominated list of African regions.

TCS iON’s extensive experience in the education and assessment segment will provide the strength to TALL Group’s evaluation and identification products. The TALL Group, a Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2018 recipient already enjoys an established position in the university sector, primarily delivering secure and fully personalised degree certificates.

iON Digital Records Solution helps universities leverage IT to smoothly manage the end-to-end certificate issuance process. This encompasses activities ranging from digitising student records, issuing and printing student certificates, performing digital verifications- all in a secured, organised, and a cost-effective manner. 

The solution digitises student records using digital encryption technologies to provide on-demand digital verification processes, issue certificates, and ensure strict data security and integrity. 

Martin Ruda, Group Managing Director of the TALL Group of Companies, said: “This announcement further underpins the TALL Group’s investment in digitised platforms, enabling the organisation’s strengths in data management and security, and the alignment of secure print output with high value, data driven services. This agreement with TCS iON represents the latest in a long line of strategic technology partnerships with industry-leading organisations, including Experian and Digital Check, and we look forward to a successful and profitable relationship over the coming years.”