The Bank of England's FinTech accelerator programme has introduced a new community forum for innovation talks and two new proof of concept trials exploring the use of AI and distributed ledgers. 

Fintech community members will be invited to meet with the Bank two to four times a year to share updates on trends and developments in the sector and participate in quarterly networking and knowledge-sharing events. The BofE community network currently consists of eighteen firm operating across the full fintech ecosystem, including startups, regulatory bodies, industry lobbies, legal firms and VCs.

Launched in June 2016, the central bank's fintech accelerator seeks to work in partnership with third party tech firms to help provide insights on new approaches to Bank operations and wider marketplace developments. 

The latest proof of concept trials to emerge from the accelerator include and AI-driven application from MindBridge, and a cross-border payments pilot with Ripple. MindBridge’s AI auditor detects anomalies in financial transactions and reports. "We are using it to explore the benefits of machine learning for analysing the quality of regulatory data input," states the Bank.

The engagement with Ripple will seek to demonstrate the synchronised movement of two different currencies across two different real-time gross settlement systems. It comes as the bank works towards a 2020 timeframe for the overhaul of the country's real-time gross settlement system.

"The aim is to show how this kind of synchronisation might lower settlement risk and improve the speed and efficiency of cross-border payments," the Bank says.

An earlier POC with Anomali on cyberthreat intellgience sharing led to an extended working relationship to explore the production of a working application for commercial deployment.

Fraud follows the channels of adoption, but as we get more connected, the easier it will become to prove our identity. This week the National Crime Agency and National Cyber Security Centre reported that a particular kind of security breach, ransomware, has grown significantly over the past year, with the popularity of internet-connected gadgets increasing the risk of attacks for consumers. 

Keiron Dalton, a digital identity expert from Aspect Software, suggests that the so-called Internet of Things has had a major impact on trust and security, and will continue to do so as more and more consumers adopt technologies such as fitness trackers, smart watchers and smart TVs. He said: “The more devices that are connected, the more challenging authentication and trust becomes as our digital lives are ever more distributed. Think of it this way – each device uses some of your personal data, and whether that’s an email address or full credit card details, pieces of our ‘identity’ are fragmented and essentially blasted off into the ether.”

Dalton believes that while organisations such as device manufacturers and the associated software providers must to do better in offering protection from ransomware and other takeover-style attacks. However, he said: “Our individual digital identities are growing at a rate of knots; either we run in circles patching vulnerabilities as the issue gets worse, or organisations with a duty to protect consumers from online threats (such as banks and mobile network operators) need to take advantage of the data assets that they have in the shape of all of these devices.”

Dalton commented: “It’s not just smartphones that are vulnerability hotspots - each connected device has an element of vulnerability that can be exploited. To be fair to the consumer, nobody considers the personal security risk when they run around with their fitness tracker on, especially as the data is being used for good reason. However, there is a massive opportunity for organisations. Since cyber-crime – and in particular fraudulent activity – always follows the channels of adoption, all of the data generated by each device could be used to glean new insight to protect us and remove friction from our digital lives.

ICS Financial Systems (ICSFS) is the world software and services provider for banks and financial institutions. It will showcase at the Sub‐Saharan Africa Islamic Finance Convention & Innovation 2017 in Uganda. The event is a new frontier of opportunity of Islamic finance expansion in the region, and will be held at the Sheraton Kampala Hotel, on the 6th of April 2017.

The purpose of the Sub-Saharan Africa Islamic Finance Convention is to build on the gathering’s position as a strong platform for the growth of the industry that will not only help to establish Uganda as an exciting investment destination but also enable the development of the broader Sub-Saharan market. The expansion of Islamic finance in the region concludes in providing new growth opportunities and propelling faster trade and economic growth in Sub‐Saharan Africa.

ICS Financial Systems will be showcasing its flagship, namely ICS BANKS ISLAMIC solutions in stand number 11. It provides a complete suite of banking business modules with a rich sweep of functionalities and features, addressing business needs and automating accounting processes, as needed, to improve a bank’s business performance.

ICS BANKS ISLAMIC has always been a pioneer in utilising the latest technology to serve financial institutions. In addition to its embedded Service-Oriented-Architecture (SOA), the system is deployed in a multi-tiered setup that runs on a web thin client. ICSFS provides fully integrated universal, banking applications that deploy solutions and a range of professional services to automate and streamline banking services. 

Sub‐Saharan Africa Islamic Finance Convention: a new conference and exhibition that is envisaged to become the most influential event focused on financial technology innovation in sub-Saharan Africa The purpose of the Sub-Saharan Africa Islamic Finance Convention is to build on the gathering’s position as a strong platform for the growth of the industry that will not only help to establish Uganda as an exciting investment destination but also enable the development of the broader Sub-Saharan market. 

Small businesses are regarded as one of the banes of being an enterprise. SMB's have their own kinds of challenges and their success majorly depends on the support received from the ecosystem or the visionary strengths of its management team.

According to Entrepreneur 360 recognized Intelliber Technologies as one among top 360 companies and it is now considered as one of the Best Privately-Owned Businesses in America. Entrepreneur 360™ releases its lists through a magazine named as Entrepreneur magazine. This magazine includes a list of highly anticipated companies, which is also known as Entrepreneur 360™ list of companies, which comprises of Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America.

In this Second Annual Entrepreneur 360™ List, which was issued on 25th October 2016 comprises of 360 companies in which America's Best Privately-Owned Companies are showcased. According to this list Intelliber Technologies (Previously Intelliber) has been ranked 332nd Best Company in America in the 2nd annual list of Entrepreneur 360 Companies. This list is based upon comprehensive study where independently owned companies are ranked using exclusive algorithm and advanced analytics. This algorithm is fabricated on a scorecard, which is measured on the basis of four metrics innovation, growth, leadership, and impact, which reflects a true entrepreneurship. Entrepreneur 360™ looks for crazy business ideas and identifies 360 small business companies in America every year and.

GLAS, leading provider of finance administration services, has announced the opening of an office in Sydney, coinciding with the key senior hire of lawyer Kate White. The Sydney office expands the GLAS business in Australia following the opening of its Melbourne office in 2016.

Since entering the Australian market last year, GLAS has seen significant interest in its finance administration services from lenders, borrowers, issuers, and advisers across the loan and debt markets. Specializing in complex deals including loan and bond restructurings, GLAS has already taken key roles in major deals such as the Atlas Iron restructuring; the buy-out of SAI Global, where it acts as Facility Agent and Security Trustee over both First and Second Line debt (named as Syndicated Term Loan B/High Yield Loan Deal of the Year in the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association’s 2016 awards); and more recently Security Trustee for the complex Emeco restructuring, currently underway.

Barnaby Webb, Head of GLAS Australia, commented: “Since opening the office in Melbourne towards the end of last year, we feel extremely fortunate to have been given the opportunity to work on a number of high-profile Australian-based deals enabling us to demonstrate our unique offering. While firms providing similar independent Agent and Security Trustee services have been operating in the European and U.S. markets for a number of years now, it is a relatively new concept to the Australian market. We have been overwhelmed by the positive response received thus far.

We are very excited to have Kate joining us given her deep understanding of the local market and extensive network, as well as fulfilling our wish to replicate the operating model of our highly successful London business through the establishment of a dedicated in-house legal team to service our Australian offices, a key differentiator to other firms that have traditionally operated in this space.

Today’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Nordea Bank AB approved the income statement and balance sheet for 2016 and decided on a dividend of 0.65 euro per share. Accordingly, the record date for dividend would be 20 March 2017.

The Board of Directors and the President and Group CEO were discharged from liability for the year 2016. Pernille Erenbjerg, Maria Varsellona and Lars Wollung were elected new board members. The AGM authorised the Board of Directors to decide on issue of convertible instruments. Election of board members
Björn Wahlroos, Robin Lawther, Lars G Nordström, Sarah Russell, Silvija Seres, Kari Stadigh and Birger Steen were re-elected board members and Pernille Erenbjerg, Maria Varsellona and Lars Wollung were elected new board members for the period until the next AGM. Björn Wahlroos was re-elected chairman of the Board of Directors.
At the subsequent statutory board meeting Lars G Nordström was elected deputy chairman of the Board of Directors, and it was announced that the following persons are employee representatives: Kari Ahola (deputy), Toni H. Madsen, Gerhard Olsson and Hans Christian Riise.

Election of auditor
Öhrlings PricewaterhouseCoopers AB was re-elected auditor for the period until the next AGM.



Remuneration
The AGM resolved a remuneration to the board members amounting to 294,600 euro for the chairman, 141,300 euro for the deputy chairman and 91,950 euro for the other members. In addition, remuneration will be paid for board committee work on the compliance committee, the audit committee and the risk committee amounting to 48,650 euro for the committee chairman and 29,600 euro for the other members and for board committee work on the remuneration committee amounting to 36,050 euro for the committee chairman and 25,750 euro for the other members. Remuneration is not paid to members who are employees of the Nordea Group.
Fees to the auditor will be payable according to approved invoice.



Establishment of nomination committee
The AGM decided to establish a nomination committee that will present proposals to the next AGM concerning board members, chairman of the Board of Directors and auditor, as well as remuneration to these. The nomination committee will consist of the chairman of the Board of Directors and four other members who are appointed by the four largest shareholders in Nordea in terms of voting rights at 31 August 2017.



Issue of convertible instruments
The Board of Directors was authorised, for the period until the next AGM, to decide on issue of convertible instruments in Nordea. The authorisation means that the share capital may be increased by a maximum of 10 per cent of the share capital. The issue of convertible instruments by virtue of the authorisation may take place with or without preferential rights for existing shareholders and will be done on market conditions. The purpose of the authorisation is to facilitate a flexible and efficient adjustment of Nordea’s capital structure to the capital requirements.

Acquisition of own shares in securities operations
The AGM decided that Nordea might purchase own shares on an ongoing basis in order to facilitate its securities operations. The holding of such shares must not at any time exceed the lower of either 0.1 per cent of the total number of shares in Nordea or 10 per cent of Nordea’s excess common equity tier 1 ca

"Accelerate" is the theme of the 2016 Integrated Annual Report of ING Groep N.V. (IAR) that is published today, together with the Annual Report of ING Bank N.V.

The theme demonstrates the accelerating pace of change in technology and other areas that are impacting our customers' lives and their expectations from financial service providers. It also expresses how we, as digital leaders in banking, are accelerating the Think Forward strategy to ensure we continue to provide customers with a differentiating experience. 

Similar to previous years, the IAR is an integrated report, which combines ING's financial and non-financial performance in 2016. As sustainability forms an integral part of our strategy and is embedded in our business, our sustainability information is provided in the IAR. The IAR includes a look at how we aim to create value over time and how the Think Forward strategy addresses the challenges, risks, and opportunities ING faces in a fast-changing world.

In 2016 the number of customers choosing ING for their banking needs again increased and has grown by around 3 million to 35.8 million since we launched the Think Forward strategy. The number of primary relationships - customers with a current account with recurring income and at least one other product - grew eight percent to 9.7 million, close to our 2017 ambition of 10 million customers. Our net core lending to customers grew by almost EUR 35 billion and savings entrusted to us rose by over EUR 28 billion. We also enjoyed number one Net Promoter Scores (NPS) in 7 of our 13 retail markets, a key indicator of customer satisfaction. These strong relationships with customers helped to drive ING's robust commercial and financial growth in 2016.

Reflecting a digital first approach, the IAR and the Annual Report of ING Bank N.V, are available on a special annual report landing page on ING's website ing.com. This page includes all relevant downloads, a create-your-own-report download tool, and an accessible and engaging overview of the key figures and highlights of the year. The 2016 ING Annual Report is also available free of charge in print at ING's global headquarters.

ThinkMarkets is a leading provider of forex and CFD trading, who has enhanced its payment offering with the launch of PayPal. The new payment solution enables ThinkMarkets’ global user-base to deposit and withdraw funds through PayPal’s international network.

With the addition of PayPal as a funding method, ThinkMarkets’ users will be able to deposit funds into their trading accounts on the MetaTrader 4 and ThinkTrader platform in a quick, efficient and secure way.

Commenting about the new offering, Nauman Anees CEO and Co-founder of ThinkMarkets said: “The inclusion of PayPal to our vast offering of payment services strengthens our global reach and enables ThinkMarkets’ to offer a more diverse & competitive solution for its clients.”

PayPal, a leading payment provider, allows users to send and receive payments electronically in a secure manner. PayPal’s solution, complements the existing financial infrastructure of bank accounts, credit cards and merchants and creates a global real-time payment solution.

“We’re bridging the gap and streamlining the time it takes for our clients to trade with us,” explained Faizan Anees, Managing Director and Co-founder of the derivatives provider.

ThinkMarkets’ users, from certain eligible countries, benefit from its streamlined account on-boarding process and can apply for a live trading account in minutes. The firm has invested significantly in its core infrastructure, with a fully integrated and inter-operating website, back-office and compliance verification software that enables automated processes, and thus approved account holders are able to deposit funds instantly through the use of PayPal.

ThinkMarkets users’ will be able to access PayPal and other funding options, such as e-wallets, debit & credit cards and others through the firm’s dedicated client account management system, ThinkPortal. The simple & easy-to-use portal allows users to manage & administer all aspects of their account. In addition, clients can use the payments module to deposit and withdraw directly, to and from, their trading accounts.

“Our vision has always been to offer a seamless solution for the FX trading community and this new offering reinforces our key focus of; “automation and digitalisation,” added Nauman Anees.

Baymarkets Technology AB (Baymarkets), a leading Nordic provider of FinTech and RegTech solutions to the global financial services industry, announced today the appointment of Per Andersson as Head of Sales and Business Development. His arrival brings 20 years of experience of building and managing businesses in the FinTech sector and he joins Baymarkets’ management team with immediate effect.  

Per was previously Head of Sales at Pantor Engineering, recently acquired by Goldman Sachs, and at Orc Software, now Itiviti.

Per commented, “I am looking forward to working with the team to continue the growth of a business built on a close cooperation and interaction with our clients creating highly efficient services based on the Baymarkets technology platform". 

Peter Fredriksson, CEO, Baymarkets Technology AB commented "Baymarkets is taking the next step in our evolution. Built on a solid foundation we are continuing to expand our client base as well as our product solutions and we are very excited to welcome Per to our management team".