De-risking in trade finance: time to act
As financial authorities express concern about de-risking in correspondent banking, a similar phenomenon is emerging in trade finance, driven by the high costs of KYC compliance.
Compliance
BIAN unveils API-ready release to boost cloud banking ambitions
The Banking Industry Architecture Network (BIAN), a not-for-profit fintech industry body, has launched its latest release of its service landscape. Termed SL 6.0, the framework is designed to provide a “globally standardised and simplified” banking architecture structure, using a service-based architecture.
KYC Registry aligns with Wolfsberg DDQ
Swift is aligning its KYC Registry with the new Wolfsberg Due Diligence Questionnaire (DDQ) for correspondent banks. First issued in 2004, the DDQ was updated in response to regulatory pressure.
Securities markets: standing at the crossroads
Financial technology has the potential to radically transform the securities industry. The fast pace of change could lead to disintermediation, according to an Iosco study.
Regtech to the rescue
Regulatory technology (regtech) is often cited as the answer to the rising cost of compliance, risk and reporting duties at banks. Will it help financial institutions escape IT silos and enhance control over data?
Cybersecurity: into the data breach
Cybersecurity has become a significant issue as attacks are increasing. In the new payments ecosystem, where third-party developers can directly interact with banks’ customers, data privacy and security become paramount, according to the World Payments Report 2017.
ECB Guide: assessments of fintech credit institution licence applications
The European Central Bank (ECB) has published a guide to assessments of fintech credit institution licence applications.
Infographic: Common Reporting Standard (CRS) – a year on
Financial institutions face unprecedented data management and compliance challenges as they continue to grapple with multiplying CRS and FATCA related global tax transparency regulations.
Peer Mountain aims high with data trust solution launch
Luxembourg-headquartered start-up Peer Mountain has unveiled a peer-to-peer self-sovereign identity, compliance and commerce delivery solution as it seeks to exploit the Equifax data breach episode. The firm says it gives users control of their data across blockchain. Consumers can choose who can access the data without the need for third party involvement. Peer Mountain says […]
PSD2 – the tip of an Open Banking API iceberg?
It’s been over a year since I first blogged on the subject of open banking and it is fair to say, mainly driven through the regulatory pressures of PSD2 and the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) led UK Open Banking initiative, that across Europe, much progress has been made in moving the banking industry to adopt APIs.
DBS readies for IFRS 9 with Z-Risk Engine roll-out
Singapore-based DBS is deploying Aguais and Associates’ (AAA) Z-Risk Engine (ZRE) to generate future credit losses on the bank’s wholesale credit portfolio, as it complies with imminent IFRS 9 requirements. According to AAA, the new financial regulations, effective from 1 January 2018, call for banks and other lenders to deliver a regular, predictive point-in-time (PIT) […]
CFPB finalises small-dollar lending rule
After five years and more than a million comments on its proposed rulemaking, the CFPB has finalised its payday lending rules with the ability-to-repay test intact for many loan types.
UK’s New Payment System Operator appoints board
Following the recent appointment of CEO Paul Horlock, the UK’s new payment system operator has named its first five board members.
E-book: Principles of data wrangling
Through the last decades of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, data was largely a medium for bottom-line accounting: making sure that the books were balanced, the rules were followed, and the right numbers could be rolled up for executive decision-making. Attitudes toward data have changed radically in the past decade, as new people, […]
OCBC Bank, HSBC and MUFG in KYC blockchain breakthrough
OCBC Bank, HSBC and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), together with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), has become the “first consortium” in South East Asia to complete a proof of concept for a know your customer (KYC) blockchain. The parties say the development “raises the possibility” of using blockchain to make KYC “more efficient […]
CFPB Financial Well-Being Report Underscores Industry Opportunity
More than 40 percent of U.S. adults struggle to make ends meet, according to new data from the CFPB. While not great news on its own, the findings could help financial services providers design products directed at improving financial well-being.
UK regulator unleashes new hub for sweet asset management
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is setting up an asset management authorisation hub to support start-ups entering the lively market. In a speech at the “FT Investment Management Summit Europe 2017”, Megan Butler, executive director of supervision – investment, wholesale and specialist, FCA, says the hub will help start-ups as they move between pre-authorisation […]
The four things that will make or break bank risk management
What will make or break bank risk management? Victoria Chatterton, strategic director of RiskMinds, gives the lowdown.
Deutsche Börse selects SmartStream RDU for regtech hub
Deutsche Börse Group has signed for the SmartStream Reference Data Utility (RDU), to use its managed service and tools for Deutsche Börse’s upcoming Regulatory Reporting Hub.
UK watchdog approves Cardtronics purchase of ATM provider DCP
Cardtronics’ $460-million purchase of rival ATM provider DirectCash Payments (DCP) has finally been approved by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Back in May 2017, Cardtronics had to offer undertakings due to competition concerns, and initially didn’t. The CMA said at the time: “As Cardtronics has not offered these undertakings, the CMA will now […]
The rise of regtech down under
Could Australia give the UK a run for its money? Wayne Johnson, co-founder and CEO of Encompass Corporation, explores.
Webhelp acquires regtech firm GreenPoint
Webhelp, a Paris-based customer experience and business process outsourcing (BPO) firm, has acquired fellow French tech company GreenPoint.
Corlytics apoints Stacey English to UK board
Corlytics appoints Thomson Reuters’ head of regulatory intelligence, Stacey English, to its UK board.
Equifax breach fallout far-reaching
The fallout from Equifax’s data breach, which compromised personal data of 143 million US consumers, continues with an investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Mastercard and Visa warning issuers that more than 200 million cards are at risk.
Semafone Appoints John Donaldson CFO
Semafone, a U.K.- and Boston-based provider of data security and compliance solutions for contact centers, has appointed John Donaldson to the role of chief finance officer, as the company prepares to build on its record growth in 2016.
BitFlyer competes for Japanese Bankers Association’s blockchain experiment attention
Tokyo-based Bitcoin exchange BitFlyer has been selected as a partner vendor to provide an experimental environment for the Japanese Bankers Association’s “collaborative blockchain platform”. BitFlyer’s proprietary blockchain technology – Miyabi – will be used and the platform is scheduled to begin operation in October. Miyabi is a private blockchain “exclusively” for enterprise users. The experiment […]
OCC Isn’t Ready for Fintech Charter Applications Just Yet
Acting Comptroller of the Currency Keith Noreika told FinovateFall attendees in New York this week that the agency is still in the exploratory phase of its fintech charter, according to news reports.
FCA ICO uh-oh
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority is warning consumers about the risks of initial coin offerings (ICOs). ICOs have proved very popular in the worlds of blockchain and cryptocurrency, which many funding stories flowing on a regular basis. However, last month, BBVA reckoned the fever for ICOs in blockchain must be cooled as the industry is […]
Santander revamps corporate client onboarding with Fenergo
Client lifecycle management (CLM) software vendor Fenergo has landed a deal with Santander Global Corporate Banking – to revamp its client onboarding process. Fenergo CLM will be rolled out to Santander’s operations in Europe, Asia and the Americas, across multiple business lines.
Payments: where have all the correspondents gone?
At the recent G20 meeting in Germany, Financial Stability Board (FSB) briefed leaders on its efforts to arrest the decline in correspondent banking relationships. FSB also presented the results of a survey of more than 300 banks in 50 countries, supplemented by Swift payments data, which showed that the number of correspondent banking relationships continues to decline globally.
MiFID II compliance: the essential confluence of regulation, compliance and artificial intelligence
With the July 2017 publication of its MiFID II Policy Statement, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has signaled the final countdown to the most sweeping changes of governance, protection and transparency for a generation.
Banks, are you a passive data donor or a proactive data seeker?
With the arrival of new regulations, there are two main options for banks: they can choose to become either “data donors” or “data seekers”. These two positions imply opposite approaches to the new banking market that is in prospect, and sharply contrasting mentalities.
Webinar: Lessons learned from the first year of CRS reporting obligations
Financial institutions face unprecedented data management and compliance challenges as they continue to grapple with multiplying CRS and FATCA (AEOI) related global tax transparency regulations. A year on from our first FATCA and CRS survey, Thomson Reuters and Banking Technology joined forces to survey the industry – to assess the challenges faced by financial institutions […]
How the new EU payments regulation will help prevent fraud
Scott McInnes, partner at international law firm Bird & Bird, discusses how the Second Payments Services Directive (PSD2) will affect companies and what requirements industry players need to know.
RegTech Firm Corlytics Adds Depth to Advisory Board
Corlytics, a regulatory risk intelligence firm, has named Peter Oakes and David Bundi to its global advisory board.
Why I believe the US State Department is wrong about mobile money in Africa
The US Department of State recently released a report that identified mobile money services as particularly susceptible to money laundering in Africa. It cites services like M-PESA and M-Shwari as “services [that] remain vulnerable to money laundering activities”.
SimCorp bags three wins in asset and investment management space
SimCorp is smiling as it’s secured three sweet wins in the asset and investment management space with C WorldWide Asset Management, Novo Holdings and FIIG Securities. Denmark-based C WorldWide Asset Management (formerly Carnegie Asset Management) has extended its Dimension licence agreement to include Data Warehouse Manager and will be replacing its current reporting solution with SimCorp Coric’s […]
Synechron teams with R3 for KYC project on blockchain
Financial services IT consultancy Synechron is working with enterprise software firm R3 on a distributed ledger technology (DLT) collaboration to develop a know your customer (KYC) solution. The solution will be built on R3’s Corda platform – that “operates in strict privacy in an open, global network”. The project aims to improve data collection, data […]
Cybersecurity progress will require speaking the right language
Elizabeth Denham, the UK’s information commissioner, made an astute point when she recently called for senior bank executives to get the same cybersecurity training as front-line staff, following the global WannaCry ransomware attack. But implementing the kind of comprehensive cyber defence strategy which includes such training will require a monumental culture shift at the top.
US Consumers Union calls for more prepaid regs; NAFCU wants them rescinded
Plagued by delays, threatened by US Congressional repeal and finally opened to further comment and changes, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) final rule on prepaid accounts now has some consumer groups calling for the bureau to “strengthen” consumer protections with additional changes, while one credit union association wants the rule rescinded. To refresh your […]
