Published
- 07:00 am
NEC Corporation today announced the development of a prototype "hearable device" (earphone device) user authentication technology, aiming to achieve new forms of convenient, safe and secure computing.
The device is equipped with NEC's unique otoacoustic authentication technology, which recognizes the characteristics of a user's ear in order to enable hands-free authentication of an individual. This enables users to safely and securely activate their computing devices, without distracting their attention to key in a password.
In addition, the prototype's motion sensor can be used to estimate user locations, even in indoor environments where GPS signals are obstructed. This can help provide guidance to users who become lost in large facilities, such as shopping malls or airports.
Moreover, since the device is situated in a user's ear, it is subject to less shaking and noise when compared to wearable devices worn around the wrist or neck, enabling it to reliably obtain information. This also means it can recognize the orientation of a user's face, a change in posture, or activities such as walking or running. In the future, it is expected to track pulse rates and other biometric information.
This authentication device easily connects to a smartphone or other computing devices via BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) in order to access the Internet and to take advantage of a wide range of services, including map sites for city guidance. Moreover, the device consists of a microphone, speaker, and a 9-axis motion sensor, which is equipped with acceleration, gyroscope, and geomagnetic sensors.
In order to promote the development of a wide range of services for the device, NEC will publicly provide application programming interfaces (API) for its otoacoustic authentication technology and indoor positioning technology, in addition to providing device manufacturers with design specifications for the hearable device prototype.
"NEC is aiming to commercialize hearable platform services that combine individual authentication, indoor positioning, acoustic AR (augmented reality), vital sensing and other technologies by the end of 2018," said Tomonori Kumagai, General Manager, Business Development Division, NEC Corporation. "Going forward, NEC will accelerate trials in collaboration with service providers and device manufacturers, while proposing new approaches to computing that utilize these technologies."
- 09:00 am
Amsterdam Trade Bank (ATB) has embarked on a project with Misys to streamline its banking, treasury and trade finance operations – using Misys FusionBanking Corporate to maximise straight-through processing (STP), reduce the need for manual intervention, and significantly reduce total cost of ownership across all business functions.
The corporate banking platform also includes Misys FusionRisk - enabling bank staff to gain a single, up-to-date view of risk exposures and limits across all areas of the business to manage risk more effectively.
The technology is being deployed in a phased roll-out over the course of the year at ATB’s head office in Amsterdam. The bank will also take advantage of Misys FusionFabric. As well as providing connectivity between the Misys components, FusionFabric opens up integration possibilities with external systems and APIs - making it much easier for ATB to upgrade and incorporate new functionality moving forward.
Michel Hofman, Head of Business Technology and Change at ATB, said, “We’re re-affirming our commitment to Misys as our long term technology partner. The Misys technology roadmap and flexibility of the Misys Fusion software portfolio will allow us to deliver on the potential of connected corporate banking and to best serve our customers today and in the future.”
Nadeem Syed, CEO at Misys, said, “Our solution will help ATB to simplify and enhance its architecture, transforming its business by moving to an interconnected and digitised process to enhance relationship banking capability, while also achieving significant cost savings. The bank will also be able to respond more quickly to changing market requirements and grow its business. ATB will be a model for other banks to follow.”
ATB has been a Misys FusionBanking Equation customer for over 20 years. Misys FusionBanking Corporate delivers a complete, connected suite of solutions for corporate banking, covering digitalised front-to-back processing across trade finance, treasury services, payments, lending and cash management.
- 07:00 am
The Governors of the Global Economy Meeting welcome the publication of the FX Global Code, a single global code for the wholesale foreign exchange market, as well as the establishment of the Global Foreign Exchange Committee to maintain the Code in the future.
"The FX Global Code sets good practices for market participants to follow and will support a robust, fair and transparent market, underpinned by high ethical standards," said GEM Chair Agustín Carstens, Governor of the Bank of Mexico.
Central banks are strongly committed to supporting and promoting adherence to the Code. They confirm that they intend to adhere to the principles of the Code, and will expect the same of their regular FX counterparties, except where this would inhibit the discharge of their policy functions. Additionally, members of central bank sponsored foreign exchange committees will be expected to adhere to the Code.
Governors encourage market participants to evolve their practices to be consistent with the principles of the Code and to demonstrate their commitment by using the Statement of Commitment that was also published today. They also encourage the private sector, including associations and infrastructure providers, to raise awareness of the Code and to develop and establish mechanisms to support its adoption.
1 The Code does not impose legal or regulatory obligations on market participants or substitute for regulation, but rather is intended to supplement local laws, rules and regulation by identifying global good practices and processes.
Harpal Sandhu
Founder and CEO at Integral
The Code could very well be the regulatory catalyst for growth across global currency markets. see more
Gé Drossaert
Group Chief Commercial Officer and Member of the Board at Fidor
For consumers, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) affords them a number of additional protections regarding their data and really gives them a say in how this data is managed and used see more
- 07:00 am
Liquidnet, the global institutional trading network, today announced the appointment of Stephen Grady as Non-Executive Director of Liquidnet Europe. Stephen will bring more than twenty years of experience in managing trading functions.
Commenting on Grady’s appointment, Mark Pumfrey, Head of Liquidnet EMEA, said: “We are looking forward to Stephen joining as Non-Executive Director and providing strategic counsel to Liquidnet as it continues to expand its business across the EMEA region, with an overall focus on augmenting global membership.”
Recently appointed as Head of Market Structure and Strategy at Ipreo, Stephen was global head of trading of Legal & General's investment management arm since 2012. Prior to that he was Head of Global Dealing at Barclays Wealth, responsible for buy-side trading team for the active asset management division and sales trading for small institutions and individual clients. Previously, Stephen was based in Paris with Fortis Investments as Head of Global Dealing. Stephen graduated from the University of New South Wales and holds a BA degree in economics and economic history.
“I am excited to be joining Liquidnet at a time when markets are facing far-reaching changes and I’m looking forward to contributing to Liquidnet's continued success in innovating and improving liquidity for its members and, ultimately, the whole marketplace,” commented Grady.
- 09:00 am
On May 19, the Czech capital hosted the largest conference on digital currencies and blockchain – Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference Prague. 15 speakers from 8 countries (300 participants in total) discussed the development of cryptocurrencies, blockchain projects in Fintech and Govtech, as well as legislative challenges.
Business & community
Open blockchain systems for business were discussed during the report of the CEO and founder of Waves Platform, Sasha Ivanov (Russia). The presented service is designed for digital values emission, assets trading using blockchain, and crowdfunding. The speaker covered such issues as network scaling, optimization of a block size and improvement of the whole system efficiency.
Ronny Boesing (Denmark), the CEO at decentralized conglomerate Openledger, talked about trading, investment and crowdfunding on the basis of this platform.
The challenges of the business community were covered by the owner of Euro Tech Startups and co-founder of Adel, Gabriel Dusil (Czech Republic). He reported about the formation of a professional community and blockchain ecosystem.
The issues related to the development of digital currencies in the banking sector and regulatory policy of the European Union were revealed by the independent expert, specialist in e-payments in the Single Europe Payment Area (SEPA), Ugo Bechis (Italy).
Blockchain in employment sector
Alternative application of the blockchain, in recruiting and job searching was covered by the head of BitWage, Forbes columnist, Jonathan Chester (USA). The company, which he heads, is the international service for searching remote work and employees that also allows employers to pay salaries in bitcoins without complex technological innovations.
The audience learned how blockchain helps to verify the resume and check applicant's reputation, as well as how to avoid unnecessary transaction costs when paying salaries to remote employees.
Data protection
The report of the Crypviser representative, Sergey Sidorov (Germany) was dedicated to the protection of information and confidentiality. He talked about the weaknesses of communication channels, the main ways of interception of data and the ways to automate information transfer with the help of blockchain.
Mining
A separate topic of the conference was mining of crypto-currencies. This section featured the reports of such experts as the representative of Genesis Mining, Rodrigo Balam (Germany), who presented a comparative analysis of home and industrial mining, and the participant of Bitcoin Foundation Ukraine, Andriy Dubetsky (Ukraine). Andriy spoke about the profitability of today's mining and the variety of mining hardware.
Blockchain in energy sector
Decentralization of the energy infrastructure was covered in the presentations of the co-founder of MyBit.io, Ian Warrall (Czech Republic) and one of the founders of SolarChange Assaf ben Or (Germany). The audience learned about the development of renewable energy systems and shifting to the new types of energy with the help of blockchain.
Ian Worrall also focused on the interaction of blockchain and artificial intelligence, as well as on the advantages of decentralization.
Blockchain against corruption
The independent developer Oleg Kudrenko (Ukraine) spoke about the anti-corruption potential of the blockchain technology. He gave arguments for the fact that corrupt officials must be replaced by the decentralized services.
Demo zone
Together with the conference, there was an exhibition of crypto equipment, software and related services.
The products were presented by HashCoins, the hardware manufacturer, Waves Platform, the service for holding crowdfunding campaigns, Solvena, the crypto-currency broker, Crypviser, the encryption system developer, Polybius Bank. the innovative bank, and several other brands.
Organizer of the event is Smile-Expo, the company that holds blockchain conferences in five countries: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Sweden, Russia and Ukraine. The next events for decentralized economy supporters will be held in St. Petersburg on June 22 and Stockholm on September 7.
- 05:00 am
Nasdaq, Inc. and Depósito Central de Valores (DCV) today announced a new landmark agreement to bolster the technological infrastructure of Chile's central securities depository (CSD).
"We are very satisfied with our thorough, year-long vendor partnership process in selecting the Nasdaq platform, which will replace the core system of the DCV," said Fernando Yáñez, CEO of DCV. "We believe with the implementation of this new system, we will have more opportunities for growth and diversification in our current services, as well as strengthening our day-to-day operations."
Under the agreement with DCV, Nasdaq will deliver its CSD Solution, which will allow for:
- Seamless trade and instruction management, settlement, custody, corporate event management and registry capabilities;
- Full coverage for all types of securities and multi-currencies (including UF, i.e. inflation indexed non-deliverable currency);
- Support for smooth, fault-free settlement with optimization algos, as well as potentially provide facilities to securities lending and borrowing accounting;
- Enabling full STP and based on global standards and market practices, while reducing operational complexity.
"As a partner with the DCV on transforming their technology to a next-generation platform, the Nasdaq Financial Framework's open nature will support the future growth and demand of their business, as well as requirements from partners and regulators," said Lars Ottersgård, Executive Vice President and Head of Market Technology, Nasdaq. "By leveraging the Nasdaq Financial Framework, DCV's new technology will allow for standardized, unified operations, messaging and data infrastructure coupled with unparalleled flexibility and cost efficiency. DCV can also integrate its own business functionality, as well as other third-party offerings, helping to meet their own unique needs."
Nasdaq's exchange technology, including trading, clearing, CSD and market surveillance systems, is in operation in over 89 marketplaces across the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, the Middle East and the Caribbean.
- 01:00 am
IHS Markit, a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions, today announced the launch of its Outreach360 platform available on Counterparty Manager. Outreach360 is designed to address specific MiFID II regulatory rules including the need to manage and share documentation as well as address regulatory outreach and repapering between counterparties. The platform also supports outreach for KYC (Know Your Customer), tax and global regulatory data including due diligence questionnaires.
Outreach360 provides a single, standardized way to streamline bilateral communications and efficiently manage counterparty outreach campaigns. It enables firms to centralize information by creating, sending and receiving notifications in one place. Users can also track the progress of their outreach efforts with real-time status updates on a customizable dashboard. In addition, a full audit history is available on any information exchanged, including legal contracts, terms of business repapering and due diligence questionnaires.
The IHS Markit Outreach360 platform leverages the existing network of information within Counterparty Manager, which serves over 9,000 corporates and buy-side firms and over 100 banks.
MiFID II presents sweeping changes in European financial regulation and will affect firms broadly over the next year leading up to its January 2018 deadline. According to a recent study conducted by IHS Markit and the
- 04:00 am
Intellect Design Arena Limited, a digital technology product provider across Banking, Financial Services and Insurance, has signed a 10 year deal with one of Australia’s “Big Four”, to implement its integrated trade finance, treasury and retail remittance solution for the Bank’s corporate and retail customers in one of its offshore regions.
The solution encompasses a modular, SOA enabled, web-based and platform-independent architecture that will replace a legacy system which is more than two decades old. This will streamline the Bank’s back-office processes to facilitate straight-through processing across all the business divisions. The solution is expected to be able to provide 360 degrees of visibility around workflow for the Bank’s separate teams in trade finance, retail remittance, and treasury, where operations often intersect. Crucially, the Bank will be able to pass these efficiencies onto its customers.
The Bank has also entrusted Intellect with the solution’s maintenance and technical support – beginning a 10-year relationship between the two firms.
Anil Verma, Executive Director of Intellect, says: “This landmark deal with one of Australia’s leading banks to implement our digital solution covering a large functional arena of Trade Finance, Treasury, and Retail Remittance is a testament to our architectural ability and product design. We look forward to a long and successful partnership.”
