A-Team Insight Brief
SmartStream Closes Deal with Libyan Bank
Financial Transaction Lifecycle Management solutions provider SmartStream Technologies has confirmed that Jumhouria Bank, the biggest bank in Libya, has successfully gone live on its solution for the reconciliations of cash payments – the first of a two phase implementation to consolidate and automate the reconciliation process across its 170 branches to deliver real-time operational control. The SmartStream reconciliations solution is being rolled out to replace manual processes across Jumhouria Bank.
Westpac Provisions $900m for Record AML Fine
Australian bank Westpac has reportedly set aside $900 million to cover its “potential liability” in what could be the biggest corporate fine in Australia’s history, following accusations by AUSTRAC (the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre, a government financial intelligence unit set up to combat financial crime) of 23 million breaches of AML and counter terrorism finance laws, including the failure to properly monitor transactions arguably related to child exploitation in South-East Asia. The bank is also believed to have set aside $160 million to finance its response plan, including the scaling up of its financial crimes investigation unit. The case remains before the Australian courts.
ESMA and MAS Sign MOU on Singapore’s Financial Benchmarks
ESMA, the EU’s securities markets regulator, has signed an agreement with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) completing the process to allow the use of Singapore’s financial benchmarks in the EU. Under the MOU, ESMA and MAS will share information and supervisory activities on Singapore-regulated financial benchmarks. The signing of the MOU follows the European Commission’s equivalence decision recognising Singapore’s regulatory framework on financial benchmarks as equivalent to the requirements under the EU’s Benchmarks Regulation. The agreement and the equivalence decision will allow financial institutions in the EU to continue using, as reference rates in their contracts, both SIBOR and the Singapore Dollar Swap Offer Rate (SOR), which are financial benchmarks regulated in Singapore.
Equiduct Reports Record Trading Volumes
Pan-European retail trading venue Equiduct has reported a record turnover of €9.8 billion for the month of March 2020, an increase of 203% in comparison to March 2019. This strong finish to the first quarter saw new quarterly records set for the platform with a total turnover of €20.1 billion, representing a 109% increase compared to Q1 2019 with a 68.5% increase in market share. On 25 March, a new record for turnover in a single day was set, with more than €681 million traded on the platform. “We can observe a shift of trading activity to multilateral regulated markets such as Equiduct which provide greater depth of liquidity in a more robust environment,” said Wail Azizi, Head of Business Development.
Diginex Partners with Itiviti on NYFIX Connectivity
Itiviti has partnered with Diginex, a digital asset financial services and advisory company, to provide its global NYFIX connectivity platform to Diginex clients: enabling them to access to a FIX-based order routing network that connects 1,600+ buy-side, sell-side and trading venues across all asset classes. According to the announcement, the partnership was driven by demand from institutional investors, who wish to include digital assets in their portfolios, while utilising scalable connectivity based on FIX, the industry messaging standard.
Push Technology Secures £10m Series A Investment
Push Technology, a US-based provider of in real-time data streaming and messaging solutions, has completed a £10 million Series A round of financing. Maven Capital Partners led the round with participation from new and existing investors Guinness Asset Management and Stephens Capital Partners. The investment will assist the company to aggressively expand its sales and marketing efforts as well as broaden and accelerate product development. Maven’s Investment Director, Andrew Symmonds, and Guinness Asset’s Investment Manager, Ashley Abrahams, will join Push Technology’s Board of Directors.
Citi Commercial Adopts Kyckr’s Customer Verification Solution
Citigroup has extended its use of Kyckr, the world’s largest portal for customer verification, to its commercial banking division Citi Commercial Bank. It will use the firm’s API solution to access real-time, primary source data and documents during the client onboarding process, in a deal worth $300,000 over a 12-18 month period across 15 countries. Citigroup has been a Kyckr client since 2016 through its Institutional Clients Group and Trade and Transaction Services division.
DataGuard Secures $20 Million in Funding
Munich-based DataGuard, which provides GDPR-as-a-service, has successfully closed a $20 million Series A investment round led by One Peak Partners. The firm intends to use the funds raised to expand its business operations across Europe and North and South America, as well as to implement enhancements to its existing platform. Since its launch in 2017, the data privacy specialist has onboarded over 1,000 clients.
Railsbank Secures Visa Investment
UK-based API-based RegTech platform Railsbank, which helps developers and product managers to build, launch and scale financial services businesses, has raised additional funding from Visa and Japanese venture capital firm Global Brain, as well as signing a five-year partnership with Visa to expand in Southeast Asia. The firm, which also provides operations and compliance services to banks, recently opened a new Singapore office following a successful capital-raising round of $10 million last year.
DRW Adopts OpenGamma’s Analytics
DRW, a major global principal trading firm, will use OpenGamma’s analytics in its treasury function to manage derivatives margin. DRW chose the software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution as it seeks to expand its treasury capabilities in response to regulations such as Uncleared Margin Rules (UMR). The regulations require any trading strategy that uses leverage to optimize and be efficient with its use of collateral. OpenGamma’s solution will enable DRW to improve treasury processes by regularly evaluating alternative ways to put on new trades across both clearing houses and bilateral counterparties.