EBA Clearing, the European payment services provider owned by 62 European banks, has reported that its MyBank Mandate pilot scheme, which allows online merchants, public institutions and utility companies in Europe to collect SEPA direct debits online, has passed the first and second phases of testing before it launches later this year.
Denmark’s Saxo Bank has introduced futures spread trading onto its online trading and investment platform for retail and institutional clients, in a move the bank says will give investors access to a low-volatility trading style.
Greece’s Hellenic Exchanges Group, which runs the Athens Stock Exchange and Athens Derivatives Exchange, has chosen to buy services from the London Stock Exchange to help it cope with tough new European trade reporting rules.
Europe’s trade repositories have reported a largely smooth transition, following the deadline under EMIR on 12 February – but behind the scenes deep questions remain about the viability of the European Commission’s ambitious derivatives reform.
Orange and Visa Europe have launched a new mobile wallet service called Orange cash in the French cities of Caen and Strasbourg, making Orange the first mobile network operator in France to offer mobile contactless payments to its customers.
Revelations that Barclays customer data was being sold on the black market to corrupt City traders have caused the bank some embarrassment over the weekend– but the incident raises more questions than it answers, according to observers.
Chinese broker GF Financial Markets has joined the London Stock Exchange, hoping to capitalise on international opportunities – including the dramatic rise of London as a centre of renminbi trading.
European startup accelerator Startupbootcamp is preparing to launch a programme focused on the financial technology industry. Startupbootcamp FinTech, will be make its debut in London with support from banking group Lloyds and the Netherlands’ Rabobank.
European exchange group Euronext is planning to begin trading active open-end funds on its Paris market following a legislative decree in France allowing the funds to be traded on exchanges or MTFs.
A week before the final reporting deadline for the European Commission’s EMIR regulation, tech firms are making a last push to get OTC trade reporting up and running.
Switzerland’s SIX Financial Information has begun delivering FATCA tax information to the US Inland Revenue Service, ahead of the controversial extraterritorial tax’s reporting deadline in July.
Citi has begun lending services in Russian securities through its OpenLend platform, which the bank says will help investors to diversify into promising emerging markets.
Mobile money firm Monitise has acquired Pozitron Yazilim, an Istanbul-based mobile technology specialist, in a £24 million all-shares deal that highlights the growing demand for mobile financial services in the eastern Mediterranean’s largest market.
Transaction cost analysis has become a staple feature of equities trading since 2007’s watershed piece of European legislation MiFID. But that’s just the beginning of a journey that is increasingly coming to transform the way FX and fixed income asset classes are traded, according to Michael Sparkes, director of analytical products and research at broker ITG.
As Moscow modernises its corporate governance, legal institutions and financial infrastructure, new possibilities are opening up to foreign investors, says Tim Bevan, executive board member at BCS.
UK retail banks lag their international peers in helping their online customers make better financial decisions, according to new research published this week.
SIX Payment Services has apologised after a technical glitch caused a number of debit card transactions in Switzerland and Liechtenstein to be accidentally booked twice on 22-23 January. Following the disaster, SIX managed to reverse 99.93% of the double bookings, with the remainder due to be reversed individually in the coming days. On average SIX […]
Hong Kong-based carrier services firm PCCW Global has banded together with 16 other high profile international network operators, including China Unicom, Telecom Egypt, Etisalat and Ooredoo, to construct a high capacity submarine cable system between Asia, Africa and Europe.
Turkish bank Türkiye Finans Katılım Bankası is collaborating with US infrastructure company Opengear to roll out remote management technology for its bank branch network, which it says will help to cut costs and improve efficiency.
Russian online customs specialist firm Multiservice Payment System has begun using a new system designed by Swiss tech firm BPC Banking Technologies, which promises to make customs easier by combining a web portal with an e-declaration service via POS terminal.
January has been a good month for ETFs, with the launch of two new products aimed at making it safer and cheaper to trade – and easier to get the information needed to make trading decisions.
Post-trade services company Traiana plans to connect to four trade repositories in preparation for the European Commission’s EMIR legislation, which requires trade reporting and clearing of OTC derivatives.
Clear2Pay is expanding its facilities in Scotland with the hire of 29 new staff, at its Dunfermline offices, bringing the headcount there to 50. The expansion is supported by a £250,000 Regional Selective Assistance grant from Scottish Enterprise. Kimball Felix, chief of staff at Clear2Pay, said, “In addition to our payments technology, we offer a […]
Russia’s securities markets have taken another step forward with the decision by Euroclear Bank to launch post-trade services for Russian corporate and municipal bonds on 30 January, via its relationship with Russia’s newly established CSD the National Settlement Depository.
While many large organisations have already planned and delivered their SEPA compliance, smaller and mid-sized firms have woefully underprepared for the deadline. Banks and payment organisations need to be prepared for a certain amount of confusion and resistance from UK customers who may not understand the reasons for the change, and may be reluctant to put the necessary changes into effect.
The European Central Bank has released statistics that it says show that migration to the Single Euro Payments Area “gathered pace strongly” in December and urged market participants not to relax in their migration efforts. Earlier this month the European Commission announced a six-month extension past the 1 February deadline by which time all payments […]
UK operator O2 has revealed that its O2 Wallet service, which closed last week, was a casualty of the pace of development in the fast moving mobile payments space.
Tuesday’s landmark deal between the European Parliament, Council and Commission on MiFID II will hurt long-term investors and may paint the regulator into a corner, according to Juan Pablo Urrutia, European general council at broker ITG.
Reforms to the way derivatives trade in the US and Europe are causing a conflict between consumer desire for bespoke solutions and regulatory attempts at standardisation – and the self-inflicted panic as the deadline approaches indicates the cost may be too high, according to a panel of senior capital markets representatives speaking at an event organised by the Futures and Options Association in London on Tuesday.
Switzerland’s Zürcher Kantonalbank has installed a performance monitoring system from latency management specialist firm Corvil to monitor the performance of its market making and FX business, including market data quality, transaction analysis and FX order flow.
Financial messaging cooperative Swift is looking to capitalise on the impending trade reporting deadline for EMIR, the European Commission’s new rulebook for derivatives, which comes into effect next month.
Seven startup financial services companies have been chosen by the FinTech Innovation Lab London for its annual innovation-focused competition, which is designed to give support and recognition to promising new ideas in financial services.
The London Stock Exchange has introduced a set of changes for its international order book, including a shift to T+2 settlement, a reduction in tick sizes and changed opening hours, ahead of upcoming EU regulations designed to harmonise settlement across Europe.
MasterCard has acquired Turkish payments provider Provus in a deal that the firm says will increase its processing presence in a “high growth” payments market.
Nearly two-thirds (64%) of UK current account holders would prefer to bank online or via a mobile app than via telephone or in-branch banking (29%), according to a recent survey by YouGov and business process specialist Genpact.
The EC proposes that banks and payment services providers will not be penalised for continuing to process legacy payments during a six-month “transition period” after the February deadline for SEPA migration.
Belgium’s Record Bank has introduced a new mobile banking platform that it says will help customers better manage their money in real time. The features of the new mobile banking service include SEPA payment abilities and the ability for customers to check the status, transaction history and details of their own account. Established in 2001, […]
Dutch bank ABN Amro has become a member of German derivatives exchange Eurex’s OTC Clear service, which clears interest rate swaps, as part of the bank’s compliance with EMIR.
HSBC has lost more customers since the introduction of the UK’s account switching service than any other major retail bank, according to figures published by advisory firm TNS.
The European Central Bank is to create a Euro Retail Payments Board to replace the Single Euro Payments Area Council and “help foster the development of an integrated, innovative and competitive market for retail payments in euro in the European Union”.
