Linedata the global solutions provider dedicated to the investment management and credit industries, has launched a new version of its award winning fund accounting solution, Linedata Mfact.

Based upon client feedback and our continuous evaluation of market trends, Linedata Mfact offers a range of improvements designed to deliver increased operational efficiency and compliance with stringent regulatory requirements.The new release offers greater integration with Linedata’s business process management tool, Linedata Optima, which offers a rich set of customisable tools that sit across Linedata’s suite of Fund Services products. This increased integration is designed to automatically bring areas of potential concern and improvement directly to the users’ attention, without the need for detailed examination of reports, as well as providing an operational overview at a glance.Driven by a rapidly evolving regulatory environment, which has increased operating demands and costs, the latest version of Linedata Mfact delivers automated options processing, expanded STP integration with transfer agency systems, process consolidation, enhanced corrections handling and full scheduling of processing tasks. Reacting to recent regulatory changes for SEC registered money market funds, Linedata Mfact addresses amended reporting and data storage requirements.

Michael Galvin, Product Manager at Linedata, says: “Our clients find that regulatory and operational pressures can be relentless: our mission is to ease the pressure and react to their greatest concerns. Increased automation and seamless integration have been a major focus in this latest update to Linedata Mfact, allowing financial institutions manage more complex asset types and comply with their increased reporting and compliance burdens without incurring additional costs. This is built upon an architecture which continues to offer clear reporting and audit trail capabilities.”

Traxpay, pioneer in the automation and optimization of B2B financial transactions, and NORD/LB, one of Germany’s largest wholesale banks with extended expertise in the corporate and structured finance businesses and its subsidiary NORD/LB Luxembourg S.A. Covered Bond Bank, today announced a planned cooperation to support the bank’s digitalization strategy. With Traxpay’s Financing Platform NORD/LB will be able to streamline Supply Chain Financing (SCF) services through a direct plug-in to customers’ ERP systems. They will benefit directly through accelerated response times, transparency, flexibility, and administrative efficiency.

“Traxpay’s technology will help us support our corporate customers to optimize processes, and increase efficiencies in their supply chains by making use of the data and intelligence they already have within their systems. Digitalization in our sophisticated SCF transactions will allow for reduced administrative complexity and spending, faster response times, and a high level of flexibility in transacting with us and their trade partners.” said Olaf Hugenberg, Head of Corporate Finance at NORD/LB.

Having a broad track record and extensive experience in corporate finance products, NORD/LB is keen to provide its clients with contemporary technical means to enable efficient and easy-to-install solutions for working capital financing. The envisaged cooperation with Traxpay is an important strategic landmark for the bank, reflecting customer demand and securing future opportunities in a competitive market. The cooperation emphasizes NORD/LBs business approach to keeping processes as simple as possible and minimizing manual administration on the part of the client.

Traxpay’s Financing Platform provides banks, corporations, and B2B networks with a turnkey solution for digitizing supply chain financing transactions. Trading partners can connect their ERP systems easily not only to one another but also to banks backend systems, essentially automating communications between all parties. As such, complete invoice data is instantly available to accelerate all processes required for efficient SCF transactions. These services offer corporates a great deal of flexibility and advantages due to optimized working capital and cash flows, better liquidity, and minimized risk. Banks benefit from enhanced customer relations and minimal administration associated with managing their SCF product portfolios.

Markus Rupprecht, Traxpay’s Founder and CEO: “In a global business climate that is extremely competitive, corporations are continually seeking technologies to increase efficiencies and transparency into their complex value chains. Our cooperation with Nord/LB is a perfect example of how banks and FinTechs can work together to improve existing processes, create new revenue streams, provide superior customer service, all of which represent a differential advantage in today’s financial services landscape.”

ING has partnered with Whydonate, a Dutch startup for managing charity donations, to launch first contactless charity donation boxes. The pilot project will be started in 2017 in the Netherlands.

The idea of creating the contactless charity boxes was borne out of the global tendency that today fewer people have cash on hands or keep notes at their homes. In most cases, consumers prefer using plastic cards or NFC-equipped mobile wallets. The new product allows nonprofit and charity organisations to collect funds going door-to-door, the method that has suffered a downturn in recent years.

Highly-developed general merchandise and hospitality sectors make North America the largest region

Global POS Software 2016, a new study by strategic research and consulting firm RBR, reveals that North America accounts for 42% of the world’s point-of-sale (POS) software installations. The report, the first in‑depth international study of this dynamic market, shows that Asia-Pacific is the second largest region, followed by western Europe.

General merchandise, comprising both speciality chains and mixed retailers such as Walmart, makes up half of the North American market, driven by high consumer spending. The region is also home to many of the world’s largest hospitality firms, including Yum! Brands, Starbucks and Marriott International.

China and Japan are the main POS software markets in Asia-Pacific and together account for 67% of the region’s deployments. Small format stores, such as 7-Eleven, represent a significant part of the grocery sector across the region, particularly in Japan.

Grocery retail sector plays a central role in Europe

RBR’s research also highlights the importance of grocery retail in Europe; the heavily concentrated sector, which includes supermarkets, convenience stores and pharmacies, accounts for 70% of the European POS software market. There are a limited number of large grocery players in each country, including Edeka in Germany, Système U in France, and Magnit in Russia.

POS Software Installations by Region, June 2016

Source: Global POS Software 2016 (RBR)

NCR is the world’s largest POS software provider, followed by Oracle and Toshiba

RBR has found that NCR has the largest number of POS software installations of any vendor worldwide, with Oracle and Toshiba close behind. NCR leads the global grocery segment, and is the largest vendor overall in both western Europe and the Middle East and Africa.

Oracle is the second largest POS software supplier worldwide, and ranks first in North America. It also leads the global hospitality and general merchandise segments.

Toshiba is the largest supplier to both Asia‑Pacific and Latin America. The vendor has a strong focus on grocery retailers and mass merchandisers.

Other leading international vendors include Diebold Nixdorf, which ranks second in EMEA, and Aptos, which has the majority of its installations in the North American general merchandise segment.

Japan’s Fujitsu and PCMS of the UK both have major customers in the US as well as strong positions in their home markets.

GK Software has the largest share in Central and Eastern Europe, while most users of software from Veras Retail, which acquired JDA’s POS software business in 2016, are in North America.

Shares of Global POS Software Installations, June 2016

Source: Global POS Software 2016 (RBR)

POS software fulfils an important role in omnichannel retailing

In this competitive and fragmented market, retailers are looking to POS software vendors to help them provide customers with a seamless shopping experience. Alan Burt, who led the research for RBR remarked: “In an omnichannel world, retailers increasingly understand that the in-store experience needs to echo and enhance their online capabilities; the POS application plays a key role in enabling unified commerce.”

Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, is supplying BNP Paribas, a leading European bank, with  Mobile Protector, a highly secure solution to protect Wa!, an innovative multi-brand, omni-channel mobile wallet that combines payments, shopping coupons and loyalty programs. Gemalto's Mobile Protector encompasses an SDK (Software Development Kit), and both a customer enrollment and an authentication server. The solution delivers comprehensive security for all mobile payments made using Wa!. The bank is currently piloting Wa! in France with Carrefour, the world's second biggest retailer with 12,300 stores across 35 countries.

Wa! enables consumers to enjoy the convenience of swift and secure payments using nothing more than their smartphone. Once the app has been downloaded, Gemalto's solution facilitates a simple enrollment process that is activated by a PIN code sent via SMS. Customers validate payments with their PIN code or their fingerprint. In addition, coupons and loyalty rewards can be claimed and redeemed using the same wallet, creating a comprehensive shopping experience that redefines the relationship between retailers and customers.

Gemalto's proven security expertise played a key role in helping BNP Paribas achieve the first ever approval of a mobile wallet by GIE-Cartes Bancaires, France's interbank organization. 

Mobile Protector offers outstanding user protection, reflected in its recent certification to the industry-recognized ANSSI CSPN software security standard. Building on the success of the Carrefour pilot, BNP Paribas expects to deploy Wa! in partnership with many more retailers looking to enhance their customers' experience.

"Gemalto provided a perfect fit for our mobile security needs, combined with ease of use," said Jacek Szpakiewicz, CEO of RMW¹. "The strong involvement of Gemalto teams throughout the project has enabled us to optimize the integration of the solution and the development of the application."

"Wa! is a multi-brand, multi-bank, omni-channel and fully secure payment solution that represents the future of the  mobile wallet for banks and retailers alike," said Philippe Cambriel, President for Europe, Mediterranean and CIS at Gemalto. "BNP Paribas has successfully turned this bold concept into reality, demonstrating how stringent standards of mobile security can be married to the smoothest possible customer journey."

​¹ RMW is the company that develops the Wa! mobile wallet

In November, Beta Systems Software AG entered into a sales partnership with SoftPlex, Inc. based in Tokyo. The IBM Premier Business Partner, who specializes in the configuration and maintenance of z/OS systems, will now implement IBM-based data center intelligence projects using products from Beta Systems.

SoftPlex, the latest addition to the Beta Systems network of sales partners, helps to set the perfect stage for an increased engagement on the Japanese market. The company, which has grown a loyal customer base in Japan over the years, sells software products and services for the IBM mainframe platform, specializing in RACF/security, output management and workload automation.

SoftPlex is already a partner of Beta Systems subsidiary HORIZONT Software, a workload automation and scheduling expert who provides products that facilitate the automation, documentation and analysis of mainframe-based IT processes in the data center.

Yasuhiro Kasai, Representative Director at SoftPlex: “The solutions from Beta System ideally complement this portfolio, allowing us to offer our z/OS customers a broader range of products. Japan has an evolved mainframe landscape, so there is ample need for output and log management, archiving, job control and other solutions that help companies optimize their data center operations.”

Walter Teichert, Director Partner Development at Beta Systems, adds: “Japan is a key target market for mainframe products, and system integrator SoftPlex has built a strong network there over the years – making them the perfect choice to help us grow our local presence over the coming months.” The cooperation with SoftPlex will serve as a gateway for Beta Systems’ greatly increased engagement in the Asia-Pacific region.

Reval’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution for treasury and risk management was recognized as the industry’s Best Treasury Management System in the 2016 TMI Awards for Innovation & Excellence, hosted by Treasury Management International (TMI) magazine. Judges also recognized Reval with an award for Best Bank Connectivity.

“We received several key testimonials from leading corporate treasurers, praising Reval’s approach to partnership and team work, and citing the technical robustness of its cloud platform,” says TMI publisher Robin Page. “We are delighted to recognize Reval once again for its innovation and its customer centric approach, awarding it the top accolade of Best Treasury Management System 2016, along with a further award for its bank connectivity solutions.”

Reval brought corporate treasury and risk management technology to more financial professionals over the past year with its focus on customer success and continuous innovation. Updates in its two major releases in 2016 included industry firsts and a formalized Bank Connectivity Service (BCS), offering expanded, secure connections to banks and third-party systems in the cloud.

“We couldn’t be more proud to be the system of choice for so many of the industry’s most forward-looking corporate treasury organizations,” says Jiro Okochi, who brought Reval to market in 2001 to transform the way companies manage treasury and risk. “These awards are testaments to our teams’ hard work and passion and the partnerships we develop with our customers to keep moving the industry forward.”

GoldenSource, the leading independent provider of Enterprise Data Management (EDM) and Master Data Management (MDM) solutions for the securities and investment management industry, has announced that the International Property Securities Exchange (IPSX) is taking on its cloud enterprise data management platform.

Subject to regulatory approval from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), when it launches in mid-2017 IPSX will enable the admission and trading of institutional grade commercial real estate assets. As a new exchange, IPSX is keen to run its operations with minimal technology infrastructure. IPSX therefore wanted a hosted platform that could effectively manage the various data domains critical to the effective and robust operations of an exchange enabled by workflow and supporting auditability. GoldenSource was chosen for its proven track record working with exchanges plus the breadth of data coverage, flexibility and availability of its platform on-demand.

The solution will store all IPSX’s various data sets including property securities and member firm information, market data and workflow process for the admission to trading. The exchange will also adhere to regulatory requirements, including the reporting of new listings and transactions to the FCA. On the admission of new securities, GoldenSource will handle the exchange’s data reporting for reference data.

Commenting on the agreement, Cyril Théret, CEO of IPSX, said: “We were looking for proven technology that could meet all the needs of a new exchange. The wide-ranging data that can be managed by GoldenSource made it a stand out choice. Also, due to the flexibility of a hosted platform, any IPSX administrator can identify and quickly add new data sets. This will become invaluable as the exchange grows.”

Neill Vanlint, Managing Director of EMEA and Asia at GoldenSource, added: “As regulations and cost pressures continue to mount, exchanges are constantly on the lookout for ways to establish more efficient approaches to managing their data. By having such a wide range of information centralised on a single platform, IPSX will have the best available operating systems and data management resources in place when it commences operations in due course.” 

Gresham Technologies plc (LSE: “GHT”, “Gresham” or the “Group”), the leading software and services company that specialises in providing real-time transaction control and enterprise data integrity solutions, provides the following trading update for the year ended 31 December 2016 (“FY 2016”).

The Group expects to report revenues for the year up 16% on the prior period to £17.2 million including £0.3 million from C24 Technologies Limited (“C24”) following the acquisition in October 2016, and adjusted EBITDA* up approximately 39% to £3.8 million, in line with market expectations.

Clareti revenues are expected to be up approximately 42% to £7.5 million (36% organic growth, 6% from C24);

Clareti software revenues are expected to be up approximately 40% to £4.7 million (32% organic growth, 8% from C24);

Clareti software recurring revenues are expected to be up approximately 57% to £2.9 million (43% organic growth, 14% from C24); and

The Group’s closing contracted annual run-rate of recurring Clareti revenues is expected to be up approximately 94% to £4.6 million (44% organic growth, 50% from C24).

All other parts of the Group performed in line with expectations.

During FY 2016, the Group signed eleven new Clareti Transaction Control (CTC) clients across various industry segments in the US, Europe and Asia Pacific, and several existing customers extended their use of, and investment in, the technology.

The integration of C24 into the Group has progressed in line with plan and is now substantially complete. Since acquisition, the Group has signed two new Clareti 24 Integration Objects OEM agreements.

The Group closed the year with cash at £7.2 million and remains debt-free. The Group’s working capital inflow closed ahead of expectations, benefitting from strong customer cash collection in the last quarter of the year. The Group’s financial position is expected to remain strong throughout 2017 and beyond.

The Group expects to report results for FY 2016 in the week commencing 13 March 2017.

Ian Manocha, CEO, commented: “The Group made significant progress in 2016. We signed eleven new CTC customers including two cloud subscriptions, and four wins were in the increasingly important US market. New customers were signed in banking, investment management, spread betting and insurance broking where we have existing CTC customers, and we signed our first customer in the commodities industry.

“During the year, we opened our flagship Innovation Labs, completed our first Clareti-led acquisition, established our Clareti Loan Control joint venture business, and developed several new partnerships to drive sales.

“The Group continues to invest in innovation and in building routes to market to further increase our momentum in 2017. We remain focused on our goal to establish a leadership position in the provision of enterprise data integrity solutions, and we remain confident in the prospects of the Group.”

*Earnings Before Interest, Taxation, Depreciation and Amortisation adjusted to add back share-based payment charges and exceptional items.

IHS Markit, a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions, today announced the launch of Markit│CTI Tax Solutions for Section 871(m) to address compliance obligations for US equity derivatives. Brown Brothers Harriman and other financial institutions participated in the design phase of the solution and signed on as early adopters.

Section 871(m) issued by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) aims to establish up to a 30% tax withholding on foreign investors related to dividend equivalent payments for US equity derivatives. US equity linked instruments, indices, structured notes and convertibles will need to be pre-screened to determine if they are subject to Section 871(m) and may require withholding. Beginning January 1, 2017, all US equity derivative dividends will need to be pre-screened but only those with a delta of one or higher will be subject to withholding. Further clarifications for what will be in scope for 2018 will be assessed by the IRS and announced at a later date.

“Section 871(m) is one of the most complex tax regulations, causing major operational and compliance challenges for firms,” said Cyrus Daftary, Co-Head of Operational Risk and Regulatory Compliance Solutions. “Tax has traditionally been a back office function focused on withholding and reporting but these new requirements will result in new tax implications for the front office. By working with our early adopters, we have created a holistic, centralized solution to streamline the compliance process and ease the regulatory burden.”

IHS Markit’s holistic Section 871(m) solution is part of a suite of data and tax offerings to assist buyside and sellside firms and fund administrators in complying with 871(m) obligations. The solution builds on the expertise and integration of Markit|CTI Tax Solutions, Markit DeltaOne, MarkitSERV, Markit Corporate Actions, Markit Dividend Forecasting and Markit PrimeOne. In addition, the offering leverages the Markit DeltaOne SOLA platform to establish the qualification status of indices and exchange traded products based on official composition, dividend and position data. This information can then be easily consumed via the SOLA database or standard flat file distribution.

In line with the regulatory requirements, the solution also enables firms to conduct a pre-trade impact analysis and determine whether or not a particular derivative instrument would fall in scope. If an instrument is within scope, the solution calculates the amount subject to withholding and the withholding tax rate for a specific counterparty. All of the eligibility data is stored in a centralized repository and can be extracted for Form 1042-S reporting.