Published
- 03:00 am
Simudyne, the artificial intelligence-powered simulation platform, today announced that it has entered into a strategic relationship with Barclays. The arrangement will accelerate the delivery of identified proofs of concept using Simudyne’s AI technology to simulate complex worlds and models, as a means of better managing risk.
The contract is the culmination of Simudyne’s participation on the Barclays Accelerator, powered by Techstars. Simudyne’s CEO Justin Lyon, presented the company to over 250 partners, Banks and VC Funds on Demo Day 3 May 2017.
The Accelerator was a huge success for the company, as they also signed a client sharing partnership agreement with Microsoft, and became the only AI powered simulation platform certified to run on Cloudera, the market leading platform for machine learning and advanced analytics.
Dr Richard Harmon, director, EMEA Financial Services, Cloudera, added “We know our clients require simulation software to model their big and complex data sets, and we are pleased to partner with Simudyne. We are introducing our customers to Simudyne’s highly valuable, robust simulation software to enhance our platform.”
Justin Lyon, CEO of Simudyne, said “Banks choose us for two reasons. First, they can run our software on their own systems so their data and models remain with them. Second, they don’t have to train people as we use technology that they are already familiar with. Our partnerships with Microsoft and Cloudera are so important to our customers because it tells them that we are secure and scalable.”
“These new partnerships take us one step closer to achieving our mission, to simulate all important decisions. We’re excited about what the future holds, and look forward to other banks and financial institutions realising the potential of our platform.”
The 90-day Accelerator programme has also supported Simudyne in building on their work with The Bank of England and Oxford’s Institute of New Economic Thinking, to simulate the likely consequences of decisions in complex markets, such as the UK housing market and the US corporate bond market.
Lee Murphy
Founder and CEO at Pandle
We all want to be financially responsible. However, for many people, dealing with finances is a chore best left for tomorrow. see more
- 03:00 am
Huddlestock Limited, in London, is doing a carve-out and acquiring all IPR from Islero AS, a Norwegian Fintech company. Islero established in 2015 in Trondheim, was became enrolled in Innovation Norway’s Tech City Accelerator in 2016, and was subsequently part of Level39.
“Both being Norwegian companies, we think this consolidation will support the growth and development of the Norwegian Fintech Ecosystem, and show that collaboration is key to be able to succeed in a myriad of start-ups”, says CEO’s of Huddlestock and Islero, Murshid M. Ali and Frede Fardal in a joint statement.
- 02:00 am
Ipreo, a leading global provider of workflow solutions and market intelligence to financial services and corporate professionals, announced that it has hired Stephen Grady as Managing Director, Head of Market Structure and Strategy.
Grady comes to Ipreo with more than 20 years of industry experience, most recently at Legal & General Investment Management, where he was Head of LGIM's Global Trading team. Prior to LGIM, Grady was Global Head of Dealing and Sales Trading at Barclays Wealth. Previously, Grady was Head of Global Dealing for Fortis Investments based in Paris. He will be based in London.
"Having had the opportunity to work closely with Stephen over the past few years, I can't think of anyone better prepared to help us execute on our mission of connecting participants in the primary capital markets," said Bill Sherman, EVP, Head of the Global Markets Group at Ipreo. "We're delighted that Stephen sees the opportunity that Ipreo presents and excited to have him join the firm."
- 08:00 am
To support the growing need for cross-border payment efficiency and flexibility, Transpay has enhanced its B2B/B2P currency capabilities to support the global operations of its enterprise clients.
Transpay enables businesses to complete mass payouts to more than 120 countries, in over 60 currencies. Through its proprietary network and robust technology solutions, Transpay serves leading e-commerce marketplaces, affiliate marketing platforms and payment service providers.
Now, businesses have the ability to fund their Transpay accounts in 11 settlement currencies, including Singapore dollar (SGD), Hong Kong dollar (HKD) and Australian dollar (AUD), in addition to customary origination currencies like United States dollar (USD) and Euro (EUR).
For businesses which operate in these currencies, this eliminates the need to convert funds prior to settlement, making payments faster and more cost-effective.
“Globally, marketplaces and digital platforms often pay double conversion fees when sending bank wires, first from converting into USD or EUR and then to the local currency of the receiver,” says Joe Tumbarello, CFO/COO, Transpay. “Transpay is eliminating these fees to ensure that businesses operating in their local currencies are getting maximum value from each transaction.”
Transpay’s additional funding currencies help to support businesses in growing industries as they expand cross-border, by addressing the inherent challenges of multi-currency mass payments. For example, as the e-commerce industry in Southeast Asia is expected to surpass US$25 billion by 2020, payments account for the biggest challenge for the e-commerce companies that proliferate the region, according to a Frost & Sullivan study.
“These expanded offerings reinforce our commitment to simplifying mass cross-border payouts,” says Samish Kumar, CEO, Transpay. “As payments is at the core of operations for every business, Transpay is boosting the efficiency of global money movement.”
- 01:00 am
Dash, the rising alternative to bitcoin, is now live on Panamanian-based broker and wallet Coinapult, allowing individuals and businesses to easily and instantly buy and sell the digital asset against 20 national currencies.
Coinapult’s organic partnership with Crypto Capital, owners of an international money transmitter license, provides a seamless bridge for regulated crypto to fiat conversion for millions of people around the world wanting to buy or sell the popular altcoin, even New Yorkers.
Dash VP of Business Development Daniel Diaz said, “We have been interested in Coinapult and Crypto Capital for a long time, and were just waiting for the right time. This integration is massive for current and future Dash users because they really solve the question on how to buy and sell Dash in an easy and safe way using fiat. You get a digital currency on/off ramp that is directly connected with a fully functioning money-transmitting platform similar to online banking. You get your own segregated account with Crypto Capital, which is fully integrated with Coinapult, and you wire funds from your current bank to your Crypto Capital account. Rather than wiring funds to a third-party exchange directly, you are in control of all the accounts involved in the wire transfer process. With less risk and less friction holding and storing value on Dash becomes safer if you add to this the fact that Dash has fast and inexpensive transactions, you get a great overall user experience.”
While Dash’s 2017 rise has been well documented, with its market cap up 8x and its trading volumes up 5x (from January 1 to May 3), the integration with Coinapult is expected to further increase demand.
CEO of Coinapult, Gabe Sukenik said, “Giving the Dash economy access to Crypto Capital via Coinapult could be a significant step forward for the liquidity of Dash for bank-settled fiat currency. Even in the midst of significant banking difficulties for bitcoin companies broadly, Crypto Capital has continued to service individuals and businesses that need access to bitcoin-friendly international wire settlement. Dash users now can directly buy or sell Dash in fiat, using Crypto Capital and Coinapult.”
Coinapult and Crypto Capital’s alliance extends to bitcoin users too, and it's accepted fiat currencies include USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, JPY, CNY, HKD (Hong Kong Dollar), TRY (Turkish Lira), CZK (Czech Republic Koruna), and the PLN (Polish Zloty). Coinapult’s user base has increased 300% in the past 18 months.
Diaz added, “The way it works is you need to open an account with Coinapult, you immediately get a working Dash wallet you can deposit Dash to. On the other hand you also need to open an account with Crypto Capital, being a money transmitter you go through a straightforward KYC process and when you are done you officially get your own account with online access. Then you just link your Coinapult user with your account and can start depositing money to your Crypto Capital account and transfer it instantly to Coinapult to buy Dash. The money in your Crypto Capital account is always available to you to wire out using your online platform. They service users in the US and even in places like New York so we are very excited for users that will now have a great option to buy and sell Dash in a friendly way.”
Dash’s integration onto Coinapult comes at the same time the team makes several key hires. Dash has hired six more C++ developers, each with incredible backgrounds, who earned full time positions against a talent pool of over 50 applicants, several interview rounds and multiple code reviews. This brings the development team to over 20.
- 08:00 am
MarketInvoice, the world’s largest peer-to-peer online invoice finance marketplace, has joined the UK FinTech Financial Crime Exchange (FFE), a joint initiative by think tank RUSI and risk consultancy FINTRAIL, launched today.
The FFE will promote an increased understanding of financial crime issues faced by the FinTech industry, ensuring that their organisations are not misused for financial crime purposes.
The FFE brings together FinTech firms who have agreed to collaborate, by sharing best practice and pooling information on financial crime typologies to protect their customers and strengthen their sector’s ability to detect and counter the global threat of financial crime, including money laundering, terrorist financing, bribery and corruption, tax evasion and market manipulation.
The UK FinTech sector is at the forefront of the global FinTech revolution, contributing £7b to the UK economy. This coincides with a growth in the risk of financial crime driven by the expansion of digital channels and the increasingly interconnected nature of global finance and business.
As the UK continues to lead the global FinTech revolution, UK FFE members are taking a proactive and robust stance against financial crime and the negative impact it can have on customers, communities and the financial services industry. Through collaboration members are sharing information on typologies and leveraging advanced technology to deter, prevent and detect criminality.
Anil Stocker, CEO and co-founder, MarketInvoice commented: “Fintech businesses are using tech solutions to address today’s problems. We use AI and Machine Learning in our day-to-day business, ensuring UK businesses receive meaningful working capital quickly which they need to grow. In this endeavour, we must also have the capabilities to tackle financial crime. We look forward to collaborating with FFE members to ensure high standards and to secure the industry’s defences.”
- 02:00 am
Rival Systems (Rival), an award-winning provider of trading and risk management software, and Lime Brokerage (Lime), a Wedbush Company, today announced an integrated solution combining Rival’s front-end trading and algorithmic strategy development software with Lime’s low latency execution services. The new offering, available immediately, enables Rival’s clients to access all U.S. equity markets and a wide range of dark pools via Lime’s exchange gateways and extensive equity memberships. The integrated solution further enhances Rival’s capability to provide clients with a comprehensive platform for trading futures, equities and options.
Rival Systems CEO Robert D’Arco said: “We’re always looking for ways to bring best-of-breed technologies together to quickly meet our clients’ needs. By integrating Rival Trader and Rival API with Lime’s exchange gateways, our non-broker dealer clients have a fast and cost effective way to access the equity markets. Clients can leverage the integrated solution to efficiently execute equity hedge orders, trade synthetic equity spreads and easily integrate equities into their automated trading strategies. We look forward to working with the Lime team in providing mutual clients with the best technology available in the market.”
Tony Huck, President and Chief Operating Officer at Lime Brokerage, said: “Rival brings to this partnership a powerful front-end trading system with sophisticated options analytics and order entry capabilities, and superior access to the futures and options markets. By integrating Lime’s broad connectivity to the equity markets through a low latency gateway, we can deliver a vast array of seamless trading technologies to our respective clients.”
- 02:00 am
Emirates NDB, a leader in the regional banking industry, unveils the launch of “Cheque Chain”, a technological advancement that will embed blockchain technology into cheques to strengthen their authenticity decrease potential fraud. The implementation of the Cheque Chain initiative is scheduled for the second half of the year.
The first stage of the initiative will see the printing of the unique QR (Quick Response) code, on every page of newly issued cheque books, this way reducing risk of fraud. In the following phases, the QR code will register each cheque on the bank’s blockchain platform. It is essential in order to ensure that once the cheque is received and cleared under the bank’s ICCS technology, the bank staff will be able to verify the cheque’s identity and have its source accessible all the time.
In addition to that, a string of twenty randomly selected characters will be added on MICR band of the cheque page using non-MICR ink. The MICR band is a character-recognition technology used mainly by the banking industry to ease the processing and clearance of cheques and other documents. It is found at the bottom of cheques and other vouchers and typically includes document indicators like bank code, bank account number, cheque number, cheque amount etc.
The Cheque Chain initiative is the beginning of a significant strategy by Emirates NBD to integrate blockchain technology into existing products and services, with the objective to implement global-best digital security systems in line with the digitalization of its products, processes and services. Going forward, it will also be possible to validate the cheque at source either through self-service or at presenting bank using the QR code.
Abdulla Qassem, Group Chief Operating officer commented: “Having established our leadership in the UAE banking sector in exploring the potential of blockchain technology, we are delighted to be the first bank in the country to utilise this remarkable new technology to strengthen and upgrade our internal processes. The launch of this initiative is also in line with our commitment to customers to prevent fraud and ensure the security and safety of their transactions at all times. Cheque Chain will bring an added layer of security to our cheque clearing system, and ensure that each cheque issued will be verified under the bank’s system with its own unique QR code providing significant improvement in cheque security.”
Robert Gothan
Founder and CEO at Accountagility
The number of C-level job titles in the boardroom seems to be growing more and more each year, with positions like CHRO, CTO and CMO now present in several organisations. see more
