The London Stock Exchange says that the launch of Turkish derivatives on its derivatives market represents part of the long-cherished goal of growing its derivatives business around the world. It also represents the exchange’s ‘open access’ policy.
The UK payment services market has been under the spotlight in recent months with the introduction of a new Payment Systems Regulator created with the intention, amongst other things, of opening up the industry to new and emerging payment service providers.
Russia’s central securities depository NSD has implemented back-to-back settlement technology for off-exchange delivery-versus-payment transactions with securities denominated in Russian rubles. The bank accounts and transactions may be in rubles, US dollar, Euro and Chinese yuan.
The Payment Systems Regulator, the new economic regulator for UK payment systems, today confirms the line-up of the Payments Strategy Forum it has set up to set the strategy for innovation in payment systems where the industry needs to work together.
Barclays has launched a cloud-based contingency payment service for corporates, which the bank says will help corporates to make payments even if they are unable to use their primary channel, for example during an internet outage. The deal comes as financial institutions and corporates increase their focus on risk mitigation.
European stock exchange BATS Chi-X Europe has created a new order book for auctions, which it says will help traders to make larger trades. The new book is set to go live on 19 October, and represents an effort to satisfy long-term traders interested in larger order sizes.
Figures from Link, the UK’s cash machine network, show that the number of ATMs in the UK reached 70,180 in July, passing 70,000 for the first time. ATM figures from July, show that the total amount withdrawn from cash machines in July 2015 was £11.3 billion, up 4% compared with July 2014.
As the SEPA deadline has come and gone, what will be built upon its advances towards digitisation and standardisation?
Target2-Securities, the European Central Bank project to harmonise Europe’s post trade infrastructure, has finally gone live in Italy – three months after Italy’s last-minute decision to drop out of the first wave earlier this summer.
More than £2.5 billion was spent in the UK using contactless cards in the first half of 2015 and this is likely to increase even more as the upper limit for contactless payments increases from £20 to £30 from today.
The UK payments industry and regulators should focus on four main priorities to ensure the country has a ‘world class’ payments framework, according to Payments UK.
Equifax, the consumer and business information specialist, has launched a new service providing real-time, integrated data on companies and the individuals who own and run them.
No one involved in the UK financial services industry could have failed to notice the recent increase in level of fines issued by the UK’s City Regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority. Mary Stevens, from risk and regulatory technology company Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, analyses what the fines mean for the industry.
UK digital-only bank Atom has chosen financial technology company IRESS to provide the basis for its mortgage platform. Atom received its licence in June and plans to launch later this year.
LCH. Clearnet is to begin offering clearing clearing services for Spanish securities executed on BATS Chi-X, Turquoise and Traiana from Monday 7 September 2015, subject to regulatory approval. The new service, which introduces interoperability for the market segment will operate under the existing Title V settlement framework until the revised dates have been published by Iberclear […]
MiFID II comes into effect in January 2017, which might seem a long way off, but you need to start preparations now if your institution is really going to benefit
The European Commission has adopted new rules that make it mandatory for certain OTC interest rate derivative contracts to be cleared through central counterparties.
Banks may need to revisit the way they handle data, in preparation of an upcoming agreement between the European Commission and the US authorities on data-sharing.
Swiss exchange group SIX and Swiss telecoms company Swisscom are planning to create a Switzerland-wide, universal mobile payment solution in collaboration with banks. The plan encompasses shopping as well as peer-to-peer payments.
So after the protracted and ongoing rollout of SEPA, along comes further EU regulation in the guise of the second phase of the Payment Services Directive (PSD2) with further challenges to banks impacting the provision of one of the core banking services – namely payments
Reports of the death of cash have dominated the 2015 news agenda. A variety of industry developments – from the launch of Apple Pay through to a Danish proposal to end the obligation of retailers to accept cash – work together to imply that paper notes and coins could soon lose relevance. All this is underpinned by apparently irrefutable stats from the Payments Council which reveal that cashless transactions have now overtaken the use of cash in the UK
Fintech association Innovate Finance has launched UK Fintech 2020, a manifesto that sets out goals for the UK to be a centre for financial services. These include calls for increased investment in fintech, efforts to attract more fintech firms and the creation of more jobs in the sector.
Samsung is set to launch its upcoming payments service Samsung Pay in Europe within months, following a deal with MasterCard which will see Samsung Pay rolled out across the region through MasterCard’s Digital Enablement Service.
A new venture plans to create a multi-asset, multi-currency institutional payment and settlements infrastructure based on blockchain technology. Called SETL, the venture is backed by Peter Randall, former chief executive at Chi-X, the multilateral trading facility that is now part of BATS, and Anthony Culligan, founder of peer-to-peer bitcoin trading site Roolo.
The Plato Partnership, a consortium of asset managers and broker-dealers working to build a non-profit equities trading utility in Europe, has chosen the London Stock Exchange’s Turquoise subsidiary as its preferred partner, and the two companies announced they are exploring a “commercial collaboration”.
More than a million people switched their current account to a rival bank in the year leading up to July 2015, according to new figures published by UK payments system Bacs. The numbers represent only a minimal increase on the year before – undermining hopes that making switching easier would lead to dramatic improvements in the competitiveness of UK retail banks.
Santander has launched a group money management app called KiTTI, which is a virtual ‘cash kitty’ that allows groups of people to create a collective pot of money using a mobile app and a prepaid contactless MasterCard.
Ten financial services startups have been chosen by startup accelerator Startupbootcamp FinTech to participate in its annual London program, which seeks to find the best new companies in financial services and bring them to market. Notable themes among the finalists include Bitcoin and the blockchain, big data, algorithms, cloud computing and social networking.
Nearly half of UK consumers say that faster payments are a factor in their choice of back account provider, with 45% saying that the offer of faster electronic payments would encourage them to switch their bank account provider.
Recent studies suggest that banks in the UK are rebuilding their reputation among consumers and investments in mobile and digital are at least in part responsible –though trust remains fragile and other studies highlight concerns over pricing and transparency. Customer satisfaction across all sectors in the UK has flat-lined over the past six months, but some that regularly attract scrutiny – including banking – have shown signs of improvement,
BNP Paribas has become a direct participant in CHAPS, the UK’s same day high-value electronic payment system, the 22nd bank to join in this role. More are expected to join by the end of 2016. As a direct participant, the bank can directly send and receive irrevocable, guaranteed sterling payments with same day finality, rather than through a third-party.
UK banks rank bottom in a nine-country survey of how well banks match up to customer expectations in terms of rewarding customer loyalty and helping them manage their finance. Overall, the UK banks rank third, behind the US and Germany.
The Payment Systems Regulator, the new economic regulator for UK payment systems, has appointed Ruth Evans as the chair of the Payments Strategy Forum. Evans is currently chair of The Authority for Television on Demand, the independent co-regulator for the editorial content of UK video on demand services.
Apple Pay has launched in the UK without the participation of HSBC and Barclays, two of the UK’s largest retail banks.
A new global innovation centre in Madrid promises to illuminate the uses of Big Data for banks and financial institutions. Built by EY (formerly Ernst & Young), the centre is part of a $500 million investment in analytics by the company.
Boat Services now supports the post trade publication of Russian OTC trading, by including stocks listed on the Moscow Exchange. The addition covers more than 300 Russian security instruments, including common and preferred stocks.
advances in technology, and particularly consumer demand, are driving change and making the payments environment an interesting place to be in the years ahead
More than 30% of all suspicious transaction reports in the European Union are triggered by the use of cash, according to Europol, with the €500 note – not widely used for payments – still in demand.
Over the last decade the financial markets industry has experienced significant regulatory upheaval. We have witnessed a new approach to supervising financial institutions, with regulators moving from a “light touch” approach to an “interventionist” one
The UK’s Payment Systems Regulator has published a series of papers describing its work on the creation of the Payments Strategy Forum, the body it is creating under independent leadership to bring together regulators, industry and users.
