Four experienced Stanton Chase executives have stepped up to lead the Stanton Chase India team, bringing young dynamism and ensuring continuity in the region.

Amit Agarwal, Ashwini Prakash, Mala Chawla, and Sripad KN, Partners of Stanton Chase, have stepped up to lead Stanton Chase in India, to share ownership and leadership responsibilities across the country. The team represents the fundamental principles of the firm, such as global values, local understanding, and a strong client-first mentality. The four experienced executives play a hands-on role in searches, finding the top talent and best fit for clients. Their qualifications and experience with the firm revitalizes the Stanton Chase operating model in India.

Collectively, the four partners bring almost 60 years of executive search experience to the firm and to their valued clients. Their Pan-India, multi-sector experience connects their extensive networks on local, regional, and global levels. With their longtime involvement at Stanton Chase, they possess an in-depth understanding of the vision, mission, and ethos at the firm.

"This change speaks to our principles and values of Senior Partners and Consultants having a distributed ownership model with a client-first service excellence mentality. It is locally entrepreneurial, globally connected, and inclusively forward thinking," said Mickey Matthews, International Chairman of Stanton Chase. "Moreover, they are family and know our culture, share our values, and have the young dynamism to build and grow their client offering both in India, and globally through their deep relationships with Stanton Chase partners around the world."

Under the new leadership, the Stanton Chase India team remains committed to serving clients across the country with connectivity through their partners around the world. Stanton Chase currently has six offices of India, including Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Delhi, and Ahmedabad.

The four leaders cover all nine industry specializations at Stanton Chase: Professional Services, Financial Services, Supply Chain Logistics & Transportation, Consumer Products & Services, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Industrial, Natural Resources & Energy, Technology, and Government.

Given the breadth of their search experience and deep relationships in Stanton Chase, the team is executing a smooth and seamless transition to ensure continued excellence in client service delivery. Together, they have developed a strategy for growth into other major commercial hubs across the country.

Mickey Matthews underscored the importance of the new leadership. "Stanton Chase has always had a strong presence in India," Mickey said. "I am pleased to see the new direction this team is heading. They are building a world-class team with a deep understanding of the firm's culture and commitment to clients first."

The new India leadership team is open for business.

Allianz Deutschland AG, the global technology consultancy DataArt, the insurance analysts Franke und Bornberg and the strategy and management consultancy zeb are organizing a hackathon on March 24 – 25, 2017 for the insurance sector – the #_hackNEXT. The event will be held in Werk1 in Munich. Within 30 hours, interdisciplinary teams consisting of developers, programmers, designers and inventors will create new software solutions and business ideas. 

The teams will face three central challenges of the insurance sector:

Challenge 1: New customer experience 

Emotional, inspirational customer experiences and regular touch points are crucial for customers to become fans. Your challenge: how can insurance companies use digital solutions to generate customer experiences with real added value, thereby improving customers’ loyalty and readiness to recommend the product/service to others?

Challenge 2: Best agers – silver surfers 

No demographic group is growing as quickly as the generation of over 50 year-olds. Beyond traditional insurance solutions, interesting perspectives are opening up through smart homes, mobility, e-health and social networking and matching. Your challenge: how can insurance companies safeguard their position for this important and increasingly digital target group?

Challenge 3: Internet of things 

The Internet of Things (IoT) represents the next generation of the Internet. When the physical and virtual worlds melt, almost all objects will become intelligent and linked. This also assigns increasing importance to wearables. Your challenge: how can insurance companies use IoT-based business models and technologies to achieve an advantage for their customers?

Interested teams and start-ups can apply to participate for free in the #_hackNEXT hackathon at www.hacknext.de until March 5 at 10:00 PM. Information about the provided APIs, notes on scheduling, prizes and the rules for participation are also provided there. It is also possible to buy so called ‘Spy Tickets’ on the homepage for visitors who want to see the developed ideas and pitches on Saturday, March 25 2017.

It is Allianz’s, DataArt’s, Franke und Bornberg’s and zeb’s intention to establish the innovative hackathon format within the insurance sector. The event thrives in the dynamic interaction between participants of various backgrounds and expertise and from the exchange of participants with executives from the insurance sector.

iGTB, the Global Transaction Banking division of Intellect Design Arena Ltd, has signed a deal with Al Rajhi Bank, the largest Islamic bank in the world by assets, in order to implement a comprehensive digital transformation of its corporate and retail banking services in Malaysia. 
 
The transformation, set to begin this month, is designed to provide customers of Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corporation (Malaysia) Berhad, ARBM, with a much simpler but richer banking experience based on a comprehensive, front-to-back solution, freed from the physical limitations of branch-based banking. The move will allow ARBM to reach new customers across Malaysia efficiently through modern online, mobile and tablet banking applications, while the bank plans to retain the personal touch with a mobile sales force and pop-up branches.
 
ARBM Chief Executive Officer, Steve Chen, said “This digital transformation will give our clients a new level of control over their banking activities. It not only enables them to manage their accounts regardless of location, but also gives them access to new and enhanced services. We are excited to partner with Intellect, whose comprehensive solution for both our corporate and retail businesses make it an excellent fit for this important initiative which coincides with ARBM’s 10 years of operation in Malaysia. The move should also put ARBM on the path to achieve our goal to double transaction banking business yearly for the next three years.”
 
Intellect’s digital solutions will include a consistent and full-scope, internet, mobile, and tablet banking capability for ARBM’s corporate and retail customers, enabling clients and their relationships managers to act, transact and interact on the go and initiate products in real time. It assures a seamless experience across channels providing ease of banking and provides save-and-resume functionality that smoothly facilitates transaction from branch to mobile; and from device to device.  The Bank’s corporate clients will also have access to fully digitised customer on boarding and cash management services, as well as advanced liquidity services such as sweeping, pooling, intercompany lending and overnight investment sweeping.
 
Manish Maakan, CEO of Intellect’s Global Transaction Banking division (iGTB), adds, “Al Rajhi Bank’s digital transformation in Malaysia is an excellent example of our ability to zero in on the needs of both our clients and our clients’ clients. With the help of Intellect’s agile delivery and rapid deployment, our comprehensive set of digital solutions will give Al Rajhi the opportunity to rationalise its operations and expand its geographical reach, while at the same time putting highly sophisticated tools at the fingertips of its clients.”

ICS Financial Systems Limited (ICSFS), the global software and services provider for banks and financial institutions, announced that BOND Savings & Loans Ltd., which was recently awarded the fastest growing brand in the Savings and Loans industry, has officially selected the awards-winning banking and financial solution ICS BANKS® to be implemented in its Headquarters and all its branches in Ghana.

The CEO of BOND; Mr. George Ofosuhene stated;

“We are always seeking a strong and advanced technology partner that can assist us in offering tailored and innovative financial products and services that focus on providing value-driven exceptional services. We have selected ICSFS among many other vendors for its efficient track record in Africa and for its worldwide known reputation.” Mr. Ofosuhene also highlighted the importance of this partnership saying; “At BOND, we have a customer centric culture, our partnership with ICSFS will reflect our success in providing our customers with first class banking services, enjoying the Omni experience throughout our integrated channels.”

On this occasion, the Managing Director of ICSFS; Mr. Robert Hazboun commented:

 “We are delighted to be selected by BOND Savings & Loans, where it marks our second reference in Ghana. We are committed to deliver BOND our utmost advanced and developed financial services, in addition to the unlimited offerings and privileges that BOND will enjoy by choosing our Universal Banking Application ICS BANKS, BOND will also be able to compete in this digital era through our ICS BANKS SMB (Smart Mobile Banking) and ICS BANKS IBS (internet Banking System) and take advantage of our systems’ Omni-channel experience”. Hazboun added “We are looking forward to this partnership and have a vision of a wider bright future plan for ICSFS in the African continent”.

ICS BANKS provides a complete suite of banking 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 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. 

EquiChain, a London-based Fintech company with an Asia regional office in Hong Kong, announces its working prototype for capital markets.  The company plans to implement a full end-to-end ‘execution to custody’ (E2C) pilot in 2017, positioning EquiChain to deliver the full potential of distributed ledger technology (DLT).

The company also announces the closing of its initial funding round, secured from its board members, advisors and close stakeholders.

EquiChain has already established an impressive coalition of active supporters, including top global asset managers such as Henderson Global Investors and Legal & General Investment Management. Reflecting its focus on enhancing the investment viability of emerging and frontier markets, beginning with the Middle East, EquiChain is also supported by the Abu Dhabi Global Market, Bahrain Bourse and Qatar Stock Exchange.

To ensure EquiChain’s capital markets platform maximises its potential in the years ahead, the company has established two industry working groups, one focusing on Institutional Investors, the other on Market Infrastructure.  These working groups bring together thought leaders from across the industry to ensure an effective and considered development of the platform while embracing current and future regulatory requirements.

Nicholas Bone, EquiChain’s Founder & CEO said: “The current securities transaction lifecycle is complex, costly, time-consuming and fraught with risk.  EquiChain will use DLT to redefine securities transaction flows creating a full ‘execution to custody’ capability. EquiChain’s core platform is an independent, flexible foundational technology that allows incumbent market participants to redefine their roles in the industry. EquiChain creates a verifiable, transparent and immutable flow of information, facilitating direct interaction and enabling the streamlining of market processes. EquiChain’s innovation will catalyse industry collaboration to define a new capital markets operating model.”

Bone continued: “Blockchain is particularly relevant for emerging and frontier markets, which are often perceived by foreign investors as being higher risk, while typically having less cumbersome existing infrastructure to accommodate. DLT gives such markets the opportunity to leapfrog existing solutions to deliver greater efficiency, liquidity and ease of access.”

EquiChain is also notable for its world class board which includes Peter Sands, former Group CEO of leading international bank, Standard Chartered plc, and Chief Technology Officer Hugh Madden, co-founder of one of the largest blockchain solutions providers in the industry, ANX International.

The EquiChain advisory board benefits from the deep experience of Markus Ruetimann, former Group COO of global asset manager, Schroders plc. EquiChain has also engaged Professor Eva Micheler, Associate Professor in Law at the London School of Economics, whose work focuses on the infrastructure underpinning financial markets. Sonia Rossetti, a banker and Chair of SWIFT UK National Member will bring her expertise in establishing industry standards, product development and a governance culture to EquiChain.

Peter Sands said: “The hype phase of blockchain is over. Now it’s time to deploy workable solutions that deliver tangible business benefits.”

Markus Ruetimann, Senior Advisor, commented: “Accessing frontier and emerging markets poses many operational challenges. EquiChain's solutions will make investing, trade tracking and data flows much more efficient and robust. This will make these markets more accessible for investment, whilst reinforcing local infrastructure.”

Hugh Madden said “EquiChain’s working prototype is a hybrid system which consolidates the currently siloed functions of a securities transaction such as an asset manager, custodian, broker, exchange and Central Securities Depository. EquiChain also allows the direct interaction and the exchange of value between market participants, without the current need for multiple touchpoints and the inefficient interaction of different systems. EquiChain’s use of cryptographic signatures reduces counterparty risk and prevents fraud, making blockchain-based transfers safer than other alternatives.”

Madden will serve as Chief Technology Officer and lead the technical direction of EquiChain.  He brings 17 years of experience in developing and managing institutional and retail financial technology operations, in addition to designing low latency trading platform architecture.

Bone said: “To the best of our knowledge EquiChain is the most developed solution bringing the benefits of DLT to capital markets.  We are thrilled by the positive support for EquiChain received so far from leading global asset managers, infrastructure and regulators. This is also a testament to EquiChain’s unrivalled management and technology teams, and our world class advisory board.”

MEGA International has opened a Sydney, Australia office, its ninth office worldwide. The international company, which develops software for business and IT transformation, now has offices on six continents. 

MEGA’s office are in countries where demand for business transformation software is strong and growing … Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Morocco, Singapore, the UK and the US. The company also has more than 50 technology, distribution and consulting/services partners around the world.

“Australia and New Zealand, as the two most populated countries in Australasia, are a very strategic regional market for MEGA,” noted Lucio de Risi, CEO, MEGA. “There are many large, complex organizations, with revenues in the billions, in this region. Our solutions very naturally provide tremendous value to those enterprises pursuing business transformation as the path to success in the global economy.”

By developing and growing the MEGA team in this region, the company can provide exceptional service and added convenience for existing and new customers.

The Sydney team will work with MEGA’s Singapore team to deliver consistent value to regional organizations with operations in Asia and Australia. And, for international businesses with multiple operations around the globe, MEGA’s offices across six continents insure a high level of quality support worldwide.

The new office is located at 20 Bond Street, Sydney NSW 2000.