Financial services observers have expressed support for the UK Payments Council’s new roadmap – but serious concerns remain about the viability of the proposals, which are backed by the UK government as part of a drive to improve services for consumers.
Fixed income trading venue MTS is to launch a new platform called MTS Swaps designed for buy-side firms that want to have more control over how they trade interest rate swaps.
The financial services sector needs to be wary of payments solutions that may be solving phantom problems that are of little relevance to the consumer, according to speakers at the Experian payments conference in London on Tuesday.
A new joint project between Spanish financial services project Next Bank Madrid and Swift’s Innotribe innovation wing aims to unleash the potential of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American start-up companies in financial services.
Asset management firm BlackRock and Euroclear Bank aim to unlock the potential of the European exchange-traded fund market by making settlement for ETFs cheaper and more efficient.
As the first deadline for implementation of the Single Euro Payments Area approaches in February 2014, you could be forgiven for thinking that it is pretty much all over – or at least will be by October 2016, when the second deadline arrives. Don’t count on it, cautions Ruth Wandhöfer, global head, regulatory & market strategy, Citi Transaction Services.
ICE Clear Europe is to begin clearing for NYSE Liffe’s London derivatives market on 1 July, marking the end of NYSE’s migration from LCH Clearnet, and the beginning of ICE’s integration with NYSE Euronext, which it purchased in December for $8.2 billion.
Further uncertainty in the Eurozone has been prompted by unconfirmed reports that the European Commission is considering watering down the 11-nation proposals for a financial transaction tax – but any revisions may have to wait until September, following elections in Germany, according to sources close to the subject.
One in four customers in the UK is now using mobile banking services– and bank-driven systems are leading the way, according to new research by mobile payments specialist VocaLink.
Spanish banks La Caixa and Santander have partnered with telecoms firm Telefónica to create a joint venture offering mobile payment services and a digital wallet designed to relegate conventional payment methods to the history books.
SwissLife Banque Privée is to implement the Avaloq Banking System at its French operation, which was established last year.
Portugal’s central securities depository Interbolsa is to use Swift’s value added network to connect to T2S, the single European settlement platform due to roll out in 2015-16.
Europe’s post-trade infrastructure is undergoing significant change, driven by the implementation of the single settlement platform Target2-Securities and the forthcoming CSD Regulation. As a result, market participants need to review their current back office system capabilities.
Turkish bank Turkland has installed new core banking, CRM and treasury systems from Infosys – the first time a Turkish bank has implemented an externally developed core banking system according to the firm.
Ukraine’s Oschadbank has installed a remote banking service that it says will help it to create a single ‘payment ecosystem’ that covers cards, security, payments and transfers.
US post-trade services company the DTCC and Belgian settlement specialist Euroclear are planning to create a joint service that aims to provide better, safer collateral management for market participants.
Two different visions of the future of retail financial services did battle at the Building Societies Association annual conference in Harrogate this week , revealing a dilemma facing UK building societies.
The European Commission has published proposals designed to make it easier for European consumers to understand and compare the bank services they receive and switch bank accounts if they are not happy with their existing provider.
A legal framework for the standardised clearing of OTC derivatives has been established in Germany with the approval of standardised documentation by the German Banking Industry Committee, the Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft. The DK has published the framework agreement, called the CRV – Clearing-Rahmenvereinbarung – for use by German banks and their buy-side customers with immediate effect. The document […]
The UK financial services sector has asked new regulator the Financial Conduct Authority to do more to support competition, improve its communication with the industry and provide clearer and more predictable regulation, according to a the results of a survey published by the FCA today.
Russian broker Otkritie has gone live with the first phase of a new project to bolster its London and Moscow front and back office operations, including collateral management, replacing in-house systems with Calypso platforms.
Poland’s Warsaw Stock Exchange has been added to TMX Atrium’s trading infrastructure, one week after the exchange switched to its new UTP trading system built by NYSE Technologies.
Discontent with regulation cast a cloud over delegates on the first day of the TradeTech conference in London, as senior industry executives pondered on the politicisation of the debate and the perceived failure of regulators to deliver efficient markets.
Regulators in the UK are concerned that some European governments will force through regulations that will close off legitimate market practices such as algorithmic trading because they do not fully understand the markets, said a panellist at the TradeTech event in London. Tim Rowe, head of the trading platforms and settlement team at the UK’s […]
Russian broker Otkritie has chosen financial technology company SunGard to help launch a new direct market access service that should make it easier for investors to access Russia’s capital markets.
Bankers can seem a little bit schizophrenic when it comes to regulation – much of the time they complain about the sheer weight of the regulatory burden they face, but at other times they talk of regulation as an opportunity. It could well be that as they have finally realised regulation – and plenty of it – is inevitable, some banks have decided to make a virtue out of it.
The world is embracing digital technology in every area of economic and social activity, including those that appeared impossible to convert to a digital format completely, such as payments.
Anti-Money Laundering systems and controls continue to make news in the wake of the high profile failures of 2012. On 5 February, the proposal for the updated EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive was finally released. The proposal imposes a number of new requirements significantly increasing the scope and volume of firms’ KYC processes likely to be required by 2014.
Technology company NCR has introduced contactless ATMs in Poland that allow customers to withdraw cash without inserting a card, through a joint project with MasterCard and ING Bank Slaski.
Dutch bank ING has appointed Ron van Kemenade as its new CIO. Van Kemenade has 20 years of experience in the financial services and online sectors. Previously CIO of ING in the Netherlands, the promotion will see him CIO for the entire ING Bank. Van Kemenade joined ING in 2003 as Internet manager at Postbank […]
Benchmark manipulation and fallout from it is not new news, but the global drive to regulate benchmarks is. Europe has made the first move to controlling benchmark manipulation but global co-ordination is needed to create an approach that works for everyone.
Nordic bank Alandsbanken has chosen risk management tools from SunGard, which it says will help the bank to comply with new financial regulations. SunGard’s Ambit Risk and Ambit Performance products will be used by the bank to manage interest rate and liquidity risk and help the bank keep track of its balance sheet.
European payment processor Equens plans to offer a number of services to the Dutch business community to support them in the migration to Single Euro Payments Area formats
Banks in the UK and Ireland need to adjust to changing consumer behaviour as customers cut back on the amount of time they spend banking online and visiting bank branches, according to new research by Accenture.
Danish bank Ringkjøbing Landbobank has adopted a corporate actions tool from SmartStream Technologies, which it says should increase levels of automation and lead to a more efficient service for customers.
New rules and regulations for financial benchmarks following the Libor scandal will come into effect next Monday, says the Financial Services Authority, and will follow the recommendations of the Wheatley Review.
Russia’s Moscow Exchange has begun its migration to T+2 settlement, marking a significant milestone in the exchange’s efforts to attract international investors.
The shift to SEPA offers significant benefits to businesses – from lower bank fees on euro payments and direct debits to opportunities to streamline processes.
The European Central Bank says that the speed of adopion of direct debits in line with the Single Euro Payments Area standards is “unacceptable” and urged regulators and payment service providers to make greater efforts to push the instrument or risk damaging the reputation of the scheme.
As Europe’s new EMIR derivatives regulation takes hold, senior buy-side representatives have warned that new rules including EMIR and Basel III might actually exacerbate risks rather than reduce them.
