The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has unveiled the second wave of firms that have made it into its regulatory sandbox. As reported in 2015, the sandbox allows businesses to test out new products and services without “incurring the normal regulatory consequences”. The move is part of the FCA’s Project Innovate, which aims to boost […]
Singapore Diamond Investment Exchange (SDiX) has teamed with Kynetix and Everledger to trial the “first-ever” blockchain verification and record-keeping service for diamond trading. SDiX, Kynetix, a physical commodity digitisation firm, and Everledger, a supplier of blockchain and distributed ledger (DLT) infrastructure, have completed the first part of their proof of concept. The technology is designed […]
Fintech titan Finastra is turning to IBM to power its banking operations with cloud and cognitive technologies. As reported yesterday (14 June), Misys and DH Corporation (D+H) joined forces to create Finastra, the third largest financial services technology company in the world. With Finastra now officially alive and kicking, it’s wasted no time in showing […]
Swiss core banking software vendor Avaloq is prepared to tap into the potential of blockchain and Bitcoin over the next 12 months as it seeks to experiment and innovate more in these areas.
Global funds transaction network Calastone says it has “successfully” completed the first phase of its blockchain distributed market infrastructure proof-of-concept (PoC).
TradeIX has launched its TIX Platform, the “first open platform” for trade finance powered by blockchain. The platform provides banks, alternative funders, business-to-business (B2B) networks, technology providers and corporates with a way to finance trade-related assets. Like everyone else commenting on trade finance, Rob Barnes, CEO of TradeIX, says the market has “high-cost, high-maintenance, time-consuming […]
From Russian banks to Greek lawyers. Our latest blockchain and Bitcoin report rounds up the news into a quick and easy read. Russian news agency TASS reports that Bank of Russia, the nation’s central bank, will develop a national cryptocurrency. At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2017, the regulator’s deputy chairperson Olga Skorobogatova says: […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Swedish financial services group SEB has selected Canada-based CGI’s Trade360 solution for trade finance and emerging digital technologies, such as blockchain. CGI Trade360 is a cloud-based transaction platform and includes a portal for end-to-end transaction management, including regulatory compliance. SEB is the first bank headquartered in Europe that will implement the solution. Robert Pehrson, head […]
R3 and four Japanese financial institutions (FIs) have joined forces to use blockchain in a derivatives prototype test. Nomura, Daiwa Securities Group, Mizuho, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and R3 have tested a prototype developed using Corda, R3’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform based on blockchain, to streamline International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Master Agreement […]
DLA Piper’s John D. McGonagle speculates on what the rise of blockchain technology might mean for the future of banking, the feedback which the UK regulator FCA may receive from interested stakeholders, and some of the regulatory and legal hurdles which blockchain technology may need to negotiate in the near future.
A consortium of Spanish companies has created Red Lyra, the “first multisector technology platform in the world based on blockchain”. Lyra comprises fintech and non-fintech companies, professionals, and experts in blockchain. Its founding members include Banco Sabadell, Banco Santander, Bankia, BBVA, Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) and consulting firm Grant Thornton. In fact, just last […]
Spanish wholesale bank Cecabank and consulting firm Grant Thornton have created the first blockchain consortium in Spain. Called Blockchain Banking Consortium, the project intends to progressively develop the potential of blockchain in the financial sector, and according to the pair it presently comprises 33% of the Spanish banking sector. Luis Pastor, Grant Thornton technology and […]
The results from phase two of Canada’s plan for a blockchain-powered interbank payment system reveal that it still faces many obstacles. The Bank of Canada, Payments Canada, R3 and seven commercial banks, have disclosed their report from Project Jasper, an experimental wholesale interbank payment system. First launched in 2015, the results so far show that, […]
Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place!
Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group will start a venture next month to create new fintech businesses and catch up with its rivals, according to Reuters. As Banking Technology reported last month, Mizuho Financial Group, Mizuho Bank and IBM Japan teamed up to build a blockchain-based trade financing platform – and so edged commercialisation ever forward. So […]
BitPay, a 2017 Pay Award winner, said this week that it has released its BitPay Visa Prepaid Debit Card in 131 countries. The card “makes it possible for users to convert bitcoin into a spendable dollar, euro or pound balance” on the card in a matter of minutes, the company said.
Cut to the chase with this brief blockchain and Bitcoin round-up. Features Waves Platform, Everex and Bitcoin’s price surge. Moscow-based Waves has launched its Euro gateway, which will allow users of the platform to deposit and withdraw Euros directly from within the lite client, holding and trading them directly from their Waves accounts as WEUR […]
Blockchain consortium R3 has completed the first two of three tranches in its Series A fundraising round, securing $107 million in the “world’s largest distributed ledger technology (DLT) investment to date”. The consortia contest is heating up as this handy cash injection follows on from yesterday’s (22 May) announcement from the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) […]
Nasdaq and Citi’s Treasury and Trade Solutions (TTS) have unveiled a new payment solution for automating reconciliation using Chain’s blockchain infrastructure platform. The solution enables straight through payment processing by using a distributed ledger to record and transmit payment instructions. A number of payment transactions have been done including Citi’s automated processing of cross-border payments […]
The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) has seen a surge of interest in its plans to drive Ethereum blockchain technology best practices with the arrival of 86 new members. New faces include Broadridge, DTCC, Deloitte, Infosys, MUFG, National Bank of Canada, Rabobank and Samsung SDS. As Banking Technology reported in March, Banco Santander, BNY Mellon, Intel, […]
Citi has revealed the three winners from its Tech for Integrity Challenge (T4I) Demo Day in Dublin – all part of its plan to promote integrity, accountability and transparency in the public sector and beyond. Fintech developers from eight countries presented their working prototypes; and the “award recipients” from the Demo Day included: T4I Award […]
It was only two days ago since the last blockchain and Bitcoin round-up, but here’s more news to keep you in the loop. Features Ripple, BitGo, Abu Dhabi Global Market, R3 and Corion. Ripple has enjoyed a good start to the year with ten more financial institutions recently jumping onboard its blockchain network; and deals […]
IBM has launched its Blockchain Founder Accelerator to help enterprises and enterprise developers power up their blockchain networks. The programme provides one-on-one mentorship and support by network founders and technologists for business case development, network membership incentives, technical development, governance and legal issues. In addition, members of the Founder Accelerator will receive early access to […]
Payments compete for attention with “RegTech” while an overall lull in disruption suggests that fintech could be in the eye of a storm.
IBM and Chile’s Santiago Exchange, the largest in the country, have teamed up to introduce blockchain across the country’s financial sector. The agreement makes the Santiago Exchange the “first stock market in Latin America” to apply IBM blockchain within its short selling system for securities lending. Built by IBM and Santiago Exchange, the solution is […]
Indian IT firm Wipro has developed nine blockchain-based solutions for banking financial services and insurance (BFSI), manufacturing, retail and consumer goods industries. The solutions were defined, designed and co-developed with Wipro’s clients in its blockchain innovation lab. In terms of fintech and insurtech, these concepts include trade finance and P2P insurance for the “sharing economy” […]
Quickly following on from the cash flow glow of 15 May, here’s another fintech funding round-up. Features Additiv, BZ Bank, Symphony, BNP Parabis and IOTA. Zurich-based digital finance provider Additiv knows how to stay healthy as it has secured its first capital investment funding round of CHF 21 million ($21.3 million). The round was headed […]
The world moves fast, so you need a fast read. A round-up of key events in the blockchain and Bitcoin arena. Featuring Coinsilium Group, SatoshiPay, Aragon, ShapeShift and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Blockchain accelerator Coinsilium Group reveals that SatoshiPay, a “nano-payments” company in which Coinsilium has a 12.08% equity interest, has added PayPal as a new […]
Anyone that picks up any business publication has no doubt read about blockchain. Conceptualised around the same time as the financial crisis in 2008, blockchain as originally conceived served as a digital ledger to publicly record cryptocurrency transactions and execute contracts.
SAP has launched a blockchain platform – “ready-to-use blockchain technology” – in the SAP cloud.
SAP has made a raft of announcements (and promises) at its annual Sapphire conference in Orlando, Florida. Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP, says the company continues to be committed to its “empathy” strategy unveiled last year and the time is now for “the urgency of action”. The vendor has unveiled its new SAP Leonardo platform […]
Brevity and celerity. It’s our latest fintech funding round-up for a quick fix – featuring Axoni, Citi, MarketInvoice, Banco BNI Europa, Alibaba and Qupital. Distributed ledger technology (DLT) provider Axoni has revealed that Citi has joined its Series A funding round, bringing the total amount raised to over $20 million. Citi joins a group of […]
Whether it’s blockchain, lending or core banking – everyone likes a bit of cash. Our latest funding round-up – featuring Coinsilium Group, Coindash, Kreditech, PayU and Finxact. Blockchain accelerator Coinsilium Group has completed its investment of $75,000 in Coindash, which is developing a social trading platform for cryptocurrency investors. Coinsilium will also receive an entitlement […]
Good days and good times have come to Australia’s fintech scene with the 2017-18 Australian budget bringing in some useful initiatives. Some of the positives include open financial data reforms, reduced barriers for banking licences, an expanded regulatory sandbox and digital currency tax cuts – all welcomed by Fintech Australia, a national industry association. Australian […]
Hong Kong’s government has come under fire for perceived failings in the further development of fintech in the region. The Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) today (9 May) has released two research reports that look at the fintech scene in Hong Kong and it urges the government to step up the action. Chairperson of the […]
No need to pace yourself. Here’s a quick blockchain and Bitcoin round-up. Featuring Infosys Finacle, Commercial Bank of Qatar, Adel and Blockpool. Infosys Finacle and the Commercial Bank of Qatar have completed a pilot on the “first ever” cloud-based blockchain network to process international remittances. The bank, along with its subsidiary Alternatifbank (ABank) in Turkey, […]
Innotribe, Swift’s innovation arm, has named the ten firms who will compete in its Start-up Challenge Africa. The start-ups will pitch their products in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on 17 May 2017 during Swift’s African Regional Conference. Innotribe evaluated close to 100 applications received for the third edition of the Startup Challenge in Africa. The applications […]
Quick steps to quick news. Hot on the heels of Wednesday’s (26 April) blockchain and Bitcoin round-up, here’s another one. Featuring Emercoin, IHS Markit, Santiment and Coinsource. “We have crossed the Rubicon, getting rid of the last instruments which affect the health of the Emercoin network. Whether this was the right step or a mistake […]
JP Morgan Chase has finally bid farewell to the R3 blockchain consortium as it pursues its own interests. As Banking Technology reported in November, JP Morgan was understood to be in the “leave” camp as it opted out of a fundraising effort for R3. R3 had initially planned to raise $200 million from its members […]
