BNY Mellon  Wealth Management has received regulatory approval inHong Kong to launch comprehensive discretionary investment and wealth management services to high net worth individual investors.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management will bring a wide range of solutions-based services including strategic asset allocation, access to world-class investment management services provided by the corporation's robust multi-boutique structure, and active, personalized client discretionary portfolio management.

BNY Mellon is one of the largest wealth managers in the world with more than U.S. $187 billion in private client assets, as of September 30, 2014.  BNY Mellon was created by the 2007 merger of the 138-year-old Mellon Financial and the Bank of New York, which was founded in 1784 and is the oldest trust bank in the U.S. It has served clients in Asia for nearly a century.

The launch signifies a marked expansion of BNY Mellon's Asia-Pacific wealth management presence serving Asian families as well as U.S. citizens. Unlike typical money management services that are more transactional in approach, BNY Mellon differentiates itself by taking a longer and broader view of serving clients' overall wealth and investment planning needs. 

"Our expansion provides greater access to comprehensive wealth and investment planning services to the high-net worth market," said Larry Hughes, chief executive officer of BNY Mellon Wealth Management. "With the broad and deep capabilities of one of the world's leading investments companies, BNY Mellon offers holistic, solutions-based wealth management. Our focus on discretionary investment management, rather than transactional services, is integral to our comprehensive approach and differentiates us in the market."

"We continue to make significant investments in both our core businesses of investment management and investment services in Asia-Pacific," said Alan Harden, CEO of BNY Mellon Investment Management in Asia-Pacific. "Expanding on-the-ground wealth management services is a prime example of this long term commitment to the region. The Bank of New York Mellon is leveraging the trend of unprecedented wealth growth rates in the Asia-Pacific region by drawing from our broad global expertise to deliver wealth and investment planning solutions locally."

The Bank of New York Mellon is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation ("BNY Mellon" and NYSE symbol: BK).

*Through the legal entity of The Bank of New York Mellon, Hong Kong Branch.

Lombard Risk Management plc, a leading provider of integrated collateral management, regulatory compliance and reporting solutions for the financial services industry, sponsored the 8th annual collateral management forum, organised by Fleming Europe between 15-17th October in Amsterdam, where around 150 collateral business practitioners gathered to discuss key topical issues: regulation and optimisation included.

Elaine MacAllan, Head of Functional Development, COLLINE, sat on the Focused Panel Discussion on the 2nd day which was hosted by Chris Hunt, previously Global Head of Counterparty and Market Risk Operations at UBS.  The panel discussed:  Keeping up with higher standards for technology, processes and integrations; Margin optimisation, a function of collateral optimisation; Advanced risk management, activity monitoring and computation of intra-day margins on a real-time basis; and Finding the optimal strategy to comply with different regional legal requirements.

Elaine kicked off the panel discussion by highlighting the difficulty many institutions have in sourcing data of good quality. This is becoming increasingly important as we move towards real time single platforms where multiple data feeds are required in order for organisations to have access to an holistic view of their inventory and exposures. Providers also face challenges in developing solutions to meet regulatory issues when the regulators take a long time to finalise the detail, but the deadlines remain the same.

Elaine said: “Our team of collateral business matter experts are constantly monitoring the regulatory demands, and we work closely with our clients to incorporate relevant functionality to enable them to meet the regulatory requirements, but new features, however straight-forward, need specifying, developing and thorough testing before we can release them, and our clients also need to carry out testing. We therefore work towards the proposed deadlines, even though we appreciate that these may be delayed.”

Helen Nicol, Product Director, COLLINE, demonstrated the latest version of COLLINE (V13), which was released just last week and includes the following functionality:

• Regulatory Enhancements - supporting clients in meeting their IOSCO and Basel III regulatory commitments.
• User-definable Optimisation Rule Builder - used to create and combine optimisation rules for flexible scenario analysis and optimum allocation of collateral.
• Configurable Inventory Manager - providing real-time scenario analysis across financial products and business lines in order to best manage collateral inventory on a firm-wide basis.
• Enhanced Collateral Substitution Workflow - automating complex, time-consuming manual processes related to substitutions enabling managers to deal with high volumes more efficiently.

Finally, a special congratulations to Ms Elena Chaykovskaya, Head of the Financial Market Development Department at Central Bnk of the Russian Federation, who won the prize draw and a bottle of Dom Perignon vintage champagne.

Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, has announced that Tradeweb Europe, an affiliate of Thomson Reuters and a leading provider of electronic fixed income and derivatives marketplaces, has selected Thomson Reuters Accelus Org ID (Accelus Org ID) to complement its existing Know Your Customer (KYC) due diligence. 

“We have very strong customer due diligence processes in place and have expanded the resources available to our business by leveraging the service offered by Accelus Org ID,” said Simon Maisey, managing director, finance and business management at Tradeweb. “Accelus Org ID will support this effort by advising on client changes and performing required updates screening on our clients. We view Accelus Org ID as a great enhancement to our ongoing monitoring, and this service will ensure that our KYC information remains current and accurate.” 

Earlier this year, Thomson Reuters launched Accelus Org ID, an end-to-end client identity service that collects, verifies, screens, determines ultimate beneficial owners, and monitors a legal entity for change. The managed service is used for client on-boarding, conducting remediations and refreshing existing portfolios to a global standard. The service enables the end-client to provide identity information through a secure web-based portal and authorize the distribution to their financial institutions. Accelus Org ID provides a real-time "KYC passport" which represents a validated and screened identity, whereby simplifying the account opening process needed to conduct business globally.

“We are extremely pleased to be working with Tradeweb to help ease the burden of the increasingly rigorous KYC demands,” says Anna Mazzone, head of KYC Managed Services at Thomson Reuters. “Our independent and live solution will make a significant difference in enhancing the KYC due-diligence process.  Working with Tradeweb is a true testament to our continued dedication to transform the way the industry approaches KYC due diligence with an innovative, secure and efficient solution.”

Thomson Reuters and Accelus Org ID recently won ‘Best KYC and Client On-Boarding Solution’ at the second annual Data Management Summit Awards 2014, hosted by A-Team Group. The annual Data Management Summit Awards recognize outstanding products and services in data management and are voted on by senior managers from financial institutions and readers of Reference Data Review.

Accelus Org ID is secure and easily integrates with financial institutions’ existing internal systems. The service is centrally updated as new regulations come into effect and covers rules and regulations surrounding AML, FATCA, Dodd-Frank, EMIR and MiFID, supporting KYC compliance in the global capital markets.

Thomson Reuters has updated its patented, award-winning PPC's SMART Practice Aids Audit Suite to provide customers with a focused, integrated, and efficient internal control evaluation tool that is fully compliant with COSO's new Internal Control Framework.

PPC's SMART Practice Aids—Internal Control follows the new COSO Framework as it guides auditors through a risk-based and time-saving evaluation of their clients' internal controls over financial reporting.

The new COSO framework supersedes the original framework effective December 14, 2014 and has received significant attention from both the accounting profession and regulators. Since the original COSO Framework was introduced in 1992, there have been dramatic changes in business and operating environments, making businesses more complex, technologically driven, and global. The new COSO Framework reflects those changes and enhances and clarifies a number of concepts to make it easier to use and apply.

"The COSO Framework satisfies SEC and AICPA requirements to use a suitable, recognized framework for designing and evaluating internal control. It is the most widely recognized framework in the U.S. today," said Steve Lindsey, Director, Product Development - Audit and Accounting, with the Tax & Accounting business of Thomson Reuters. "With its patented top-down, risk-based approach, PPC's SMART Practice Aids—Internal Control provides auditors with an effective and efficient tool for evaluating internal controls over financial reporting consistent with the new COSO Framework."

PPC's SMART Practice Aids—Internal Control is part of the widely-used SMART Audit Suite. It is fully integrated with PPC's SMART Practice Aids—Risk Assessment to optimize the audit planning process and drive efficiency, while also helping firms ensure full compliance with complex professional standards and regulatory requirements. PPC's SMART Practice Aids—Internal Control is part of the Thomson Reuters Checkpoint Tools line.

SunGard has released the results of a survey on actuarial risk modeling in North America, which highlights increased demand among insurance carriers for sophisticated solutions as traditional spreadsheet models lack the rigor and governance required by today’s actuarial practices.

The survey asked 40 North American life and non-life insurers to provide feedback on the key business drivers leading to change in how they make technology decisions. Respondents included actuaries, actuary department heads, chief risk officers and other senior executives.

Key findings of the report include the following:

·   46 percent said the chief actuary either makes the final decision or leads a selection committee to acquire actuarial modeling technology

·   More than 70 percent of respondents indicated that they would benefit from a single platform for both valuations and projections

·   40 percent indicated they are using spreadsheets or internally developed systems to perform financial projections, and 31 percent are using them to perform valuations

·   21 percent said they plan to enhance their actuarial modeling capabilities within the next 12 to 24 months

“Only half of U.S. insurers use formal modeling controls and over one third manually source data. Actuarial risk modeling is often done on spreadsheets, which has become more complicated over time with minimal documentation and automation, and a high degree of customization. With today’s evolving risk landscape, more interconnected and volatile financial markets, and tighter regulation, insurers have an opportunity to leverage configurable actuarial systems that can manage financial risk while minimizing operational risk.” – CEB TowerGroup research director Sam Stuckal

 “The traditional role of the actuary is changing from that of a number-cruncher to a trusted advisor and contributor to strategic decision making. This role change is in a perfect storm with regulatory pressures, causing insurers to place greater emphasis on data and process governance, risk transparency and compliance, and improving the speed, accuracy and efficiency of their actuarial modeling tools. By centralizing data, models and workflows, leveraging business intelligence, and adopting cloud-based solutions, insurance carriers in North America can better position themselves for profitability and growth.” – Bill Diaz, president of SunGard’s insurance business

Mellon Capital, the San Francisco-based investment boutique of BNY Mellon, has launched its Carbon Efficiency Strategy with $100 million in funding from The McKnight Foundation.  The strategy is designed to provide investors with lower carbon emissions exposure than the broad U.S. equity benchmark.

Mellon Capital developed the Carbon Efficiency Strategy in collaboration with Mercer, a global consulting leader in talent, health, retirement and investments. Imprint Capital, a registered investment advisor that works with foundations, families, and financial institutions, also contributed. The strategy invests in the broad U.S. stock market, underweighting inefficient carbon emitters, such as utilities over-exposed to coal generation, while overweighting companies with lower carbon intensities. Additionally, the strategy bars investments in coal mining and production companies.

Carbon intensity is defined as greenhouse gas emissions per unit of sales.

McKnight is a Minneapolis, MN-based family foundation working across multiple programs and geographies to improve the quality of life for present and future generations. The creation of the Mellon Capital Carbon Efficiency Strategy followed McKnight's June 2014 announcement of an impact investing commitment of $200 million to support transitions to a low-carbon economy and sustainable regional development in Minneapolis-St. Paul. McKnight's $100 million investment in the Carbon Efficiency Strategy is in addition to that previously announced commitment.

McKnight's President Kate Wolford said, "Innovative new approaches like the Carbon Efficiency Strategy give foundations leverage in choosing how to invest, and how we engage with businesses as shareholders. This supports McKnight's commitment to accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy."

"The goal of our Carbon Efficiency Strategy is to provide broad U.S. equity exposure, while minimizing investment in companies with inefficient carbon emissions and emphasizing companies that are committed to more efficient operations," said Gabby Parcella, chief executive officer of Mellon Capital. "We are seeing growing numbers of foundations, universities and other institutional investors across the globe interested in impact investing where they can address environmental challenges through their investment portfolios."

"We overweight environmentally efficient companies because we believe they may realize a competitive advantage," Parcella said.

Mellon Capital, a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, incorporates an engagement approach into the strategy through investor initiatives and shareholder resolutions. Mellon Capital is also a signatory to the CDP Climate Change, Water and Forestry programs, which works with market forces to motivate companies to disclose and reduce their impacts on the environmental and natural resources and is a respondent through BNY Mellon's program response, which earned a prefect disclosure and performance score for both 2013 and 2014.

Compass Plus, an international provider of innovative retail banking and electronic payments software to processors and financial institutions, has announced that it has successfully completed the implementation of its open development payments platform TranzAxis with Klarna, a leading European online payment provider. Klarna makes online payments easier and safer, enabling consumers to purchase goods using just their email address and postcode, cutting out the need for passwords.

The TranzAxis platform, which was implemented in just six months, will lay the foundation for Klarna’s global expansion. It was selected as the platform that best suited the innovative culture within Klarna, enabling the online payment provider to utilise their own existing R&D capabilities to develop and launch new services quickly and cost-effectively. Due to its flexible and agile nature, TranzAxis offers the payment provider a future-proof option for their system development.

The project, which went live on 1 July 2014 with the launch of Klarna’s first UK merchant customer, included the integration of third party systems as well as the launch of Klarna’s pay after delivery service, which gives consumers the opportunity to pay for goods after they are delivered. TranzAxis manages all Klarna accounts and settlement with merchants, acquirers and banks.  

“Klarna's mission is to simplify buying and to make Klarna the world's favourite way to buy. To facilitate this we need to be able to go to market with new products quickly, while never jeopardising quality and stability. We want to be adaptive to customer needs and market trends, while keeping the core robustness of a bank. We have chosen to use TranzAxis as transaction engine for our global expansion as we believe this will enable us to move fast to new markets while never risking losing core stability,” says Yuval Samet, Chief Product Officer at Klarna.

“Today’s consumers expect a fast, easy and convenient way of making purchases online. Klarna’s offering is at the forefront of the industry providing a unique and simplified payment process,” said Andrey Chirkov, Senior Vice President & Chief Global Sales Officer at Compass Plus. “By working closely with the highly skilled team at Klarna, we have ensured the smooth and quick entrance of the company into one of the most competitive markets in Europe with a very innovative new product. Klarna is an impressive partner and has helped establish TranzAxis as a platform that can truly deliver in the alternative payments arena, opening new horizons in the ever evolving payments industry.”

Fidessa group plc (LSE: FDSA) has been judged Best Execution Management System at the Financial News Awards for Excellence in Trading & Technology. Presented at a gala dinner in London on Wednesday, the award is testament to Fidessa's ongoing programme of development of its Investment Management System (IMS).
A key part of Fidessa IMS – an integrated workflow platform covering the entire investment lifecycle – the firm's multi-asset Execution Management System gives asset managers total control of the execution process and provides connectivity to more than 800 brokers, broker algorithms and global cross-asset DMA destinations.
Commenting on the win, Richard Hooke, Buy-side Product Director at Fidessa, said: "We’ve worked extremely hard and invested heavily to ensure that our solutions continue to meet the needs of market participants. With a customer base that spans a wide range of firms, from large institutional managers to boutique hedge funds, we deliver the reliability and functionality that they require in today's complex and cost-conscious marketplace. This award is testament to that and we're delighted to have been recognised by the industry in this way."
Fidessa IMS provides the buy-side community with sophisticated portfolio management, real-time position management, compliance, order management, routing and execution capabilities. Delivered via a unique combination of software and managed services, it provides an optimised cost-of-ownership model.
The Financial News Awards for Excellence in Trading & Technology are independent and fee-free, drawing on anecdotal information from analysts, sell-side and buy-side firms, exchanges, clearing houses and industry experts, as well as empirical data, to draw up a shortlist. An independent panel of more than 50 judges comprising established industry veterans and experts votes on this shortlist.