Glue42 Partners with RocketFin on Behaviour Mining for Regulatory Requirements

Desktop solutions provider Glue42 has formed an implementation partnership with RocketFin Consulting to help the former extend its capabilities from classic interop into the world of business analytics, insight and process optimization in the field of regulatory compliance, particularly around MiFID II and CAT. Joint customers can expect improved support for common financial procedures and regulations, and extended capabilities from the Glue42 Insights product suite.

FCA Authorises Bloomberg Index Services as a Regulated Benchmark Administrator

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has authorised Bloomberg Index Services Limited (BISL) as a regulated UK benchmark administrator under the European Union Benchmark Regulation. BISL has conducted index administration since 2014, including serving as the administrator of the Bloomberg Barclays fixed income indices. In addition, it administers the Bloomberg Commodity Index, the UBS Bloomberg CMCI index, the Bloomberg AusBond family, Bloomberg’s BFIX, the Bloomberg Currency Indices and a number of strategy and custom index offerings.

EU Considers Including FX Spot Trading Under MAR

The European Commission (EC) is reportedly considering a move to bring foreign exchange spot trading in scope of the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR). As part of a regulatory review, the EC has asked ESMA to consult with the industry on whether FX spot transactions should fall under the three-year old market abuse rules. The consultation, which includes other proposed changes to MAR, will run until November 29, 2019, with a final report presented to the EC in early 2020.

Continuity Acquires TraceRisk Enterprise Risk Management Platform

Continuity, a US-based provider of regulatory technology and compliance management systems (CMS) for financial services organisations, has acquired Ohio-based TraceRisk, a provider of cloud-based enterprise risk management (ERM) solutions. With technical integration efforts now underway, Continuity becomes the first provider to connect the strategic aspects of enterprise risk management to the tactical oversight of compliance management on a singular, unified platform. TraceRisk Enterprise Risk Management was launched in 2012 as an affordable, easy-to-use set of solutions, including 150+ tailored risk assessments plus thousands of key risk indicators, designed specifically for financial institutions. TraceRisk will now operate as Continuity Risk Management Solutions.

Standard Charted Bank Launches Bearing Point Tax Solution

BearingPoint RegTech has confirmed that Standard Chartered Bank has successfully deployed the tax reporting solution FiTAX to fulfill its global reporting obligations. These include CRS (Common Reporting Standard), FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) and QI (Qualified Intermediaries) reporting.

SmartSearch Receives Growth Equity Investment from Marlin Equity Partners

AML specialist SmartSearch has received a growth equity investment from Marlin Equity Partners, an investment firm with a long track record of backing software innovation. SmartSearch enables organisations to carry out AML checks without requiring clients to provide identity documents, with individual AML checks taking less than 30 seconds and business checks taking less than three minutes to process. “SmartSearch’s robust regulatory compliance platform provides industry-leading accuracy rates and strong customer advocacy,” says Roland Pezzutto, a principal at Marlin. “With increasing regulatory scrutiny and the desire for seamless customer onboarding, SmartSearch is well-positioned to capitalise on the rapid shift toward digital verification solutions and we look forward to collaborating with an exceptional management team to support the company’s rapid growth trajectory.”

Clausematch Enters Italy with Banca Intesa Sanpaolo Partnership

Following a meeting at a FinTech Innovation Lab hosted by Banca Intesa Sanpaolo, the bank has implemented implemented the ClauseMatch platform within its Cost Management Office governance area. An advanced online document management and collaboration solution, the space is designed to optimise and streamline the process of creating and managing intra-group service contracts.

ACA Compliance Opens New Office in Birmingham

GRC tech specialist ACA Compliance has expanded its European presence with an office in Birmingham, UK. Key to the services offered from the new location will be ACA’s Analysis and Review Centre (ARC). The ARC helps to reduce the workload of Chief Compliance Officers (CCOs) and in-house compliance teams by allowing them to pass on executional regulatory responsibilities to ACA. According to Thomson Reuters, over a third (36%) of global financial services firms now outsource all or part of their compliance function.

SmartSearch Wins Equity Investment

RegTech software provider and AML specialist SmartSearch has received a growth equity investment from Marlin Equity Partners, a global investment firm with a substantial software funding track record. SmartSearch enables organisations to carry out AML checks without requiring clients to provide identity documents. Its automated verification approach allows individual AML checks to be processed in less than 30 seconds while business checks take less than three minutes.

It claims to be the only organisation in the UK with the ability to verify individuals and companies in the UK and internationally all in a single platform via a browser or API, with full Sanction, PEP and adverse media screening and then ongoing monitoring.

FSB publishes UPI governance arrangements

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published a report on governance arrangements for the Unique Product Identifier (UPI). The UPI will uniquely identify the product involved in OTC derivatives transactions reported to trade repositories. This will help authorities aggregate data on OTC derivatives transactions by product, allowing the effective use of OTC derivatives trade reporting data to help authorities assess systemic risk and detect market abuse. The Legal Entity Identifier Regulatory Oversight Committee (LEI ROC) will become the International Governance Body for the UPI and Unique Transaction Identifier (UTI). The UPI Technical Guidance should be implemented by Q3 2022.