FinScan Launches Sanctioned Securities Screening

FinScan, the Pittsburgh-based division of Innovative Systems, Inc. has released FinScan Securities adding sanctioned financial instrument screening to its AML and KYC solutions. 

Screening for sanctioned securities is an increasingly challenging requirement. Data identifying ultimate beneficial ownership is difficult to source and integrate and the number of securities and entities subject to sanctions continues to grow fueled by evolving political situations in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Asia. As a result, firms are required to monitor vast volumes of data to stay compliant. 

Executive orders in 2020 and 2021 (EO 13959 and EO 14032) extended sanctions coverage to indirect investments creating new obligations for asset managers, fund managers, index providers and the investment banks and brokerages that market the funds. Previously, buy-side firms relied on their sell-side service providers to screen their holdings to ensure they have not been issued by entities that are owned, managed by or otherwise connected to sanctioned individuals.  

The capital markets sector is highly attractive to criminals due to its complex and fast-paced nature, allowing rapid and easy movement of illicit funds across borders. This environment requires an advanced, comprehensive compliance solution to ensure adherence to constantly updating sanction lists and regulatory demands. 

As staying on top of regulations has become more onerous, so the penalties have become more severe with firms facing fines in excess of $1 billion for individual breaches. 

“Identifying sanctioned entities in the complex web of securities, structured products, and options has traditionally been highly challenging and reliant on manual processes. Even where organizations have managed to do this, the technology has not been available to organize and manage the results,” said Steve Marshall, Director of Advisory Services at FinScan, “FinScan Securities provides a complete, streamlined workflow from data analysis and clean-up to audit trails and reporting. As a result, time is saved, and risk is reduced by eliminating the need to rely on spreadsheets or manual reviews and alleviating the burden on IT departments to develop and maintain a homegrown solution.” 

FinScan Securities covers a range of jurisdictions and sanctioning authorities, including the UN, OFAC and regulators in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, the EU, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UK, and California with further additions in the pipeline.

Droit and FINBOURNE Partner to Produce Position Reporting Solution

Droit, a provider of computational law and regulation, is partnering FINBOURNE Technology, a provider of cloud-based investment data management software, to deliver an end-to-end position reporting solution. The integration embeds Droit’s Position Reporting product that delivers determination of reporting obligations based on consensus interpretations of requirements from Endoxa, a consortium of six global financial institutions, into FINBOURNE’s financial data management platform LUSID. This enables sell-side and buy-side institutions to manage disclosure obligations for long, short and takeover panel reporting.

The unified approach also ensures consistency around complex regulatory interpretations, regulatory clarity and accuracy of reporting. As part of the joint solution, Droit translates and processes detailed guidelines from all major global jurisdictions, automating the decision-making process for shareholder disclosure reporting eligibility. For complete accountability, a traceable audit record is generated for each evaluated position.

Bloomberg Releases Tool for Sustainable Investment Screening

Bloomberg has released a tool that helps investors assess portfolios, funds and indices based on sustainability criteria and thresholds customised by the user. Available on the Bloomberg Terminal and based on the company’s ESG data, the solution facilitates a transparent screening process and can be used for both making investment decisions and to help clients with regulatory compliance.

Users can input their investment preferences by selecting from a wide range of criteria and calibrating precise thresholds from three categories: sustainability targets, exclusion or ‘no harm’ criteria, and good governance requirements. The tool then calculates a percentage figure that shows how much of a portfolio, fund or index is aligned with the user’s criteria and provides a detailed list of all holdings to quickly detect any outliers.

Investors can also use the tool to check, based on their own definitions, if funds align with regulatory obligations including the EU’s MiFID II suitability rules and Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), the United Arab Emirates’ sustainable finance framework, the UK FCA’s forthcoming sustainability disclosure requirements, and future SEC guidance on ESG disclosures and fund labelling.

ZERO13 Collaborates with Industry Leaders to Launch First Digital Carbon Credit Platform for Renewable Energy

ZERO13, the GMEX Group company operating a carbon exchange, registry and aggregation hub ecosystem, has partnered with Decarb.earth, CarbonCX, and XTCC to introduce a digital platform for end-to-end digitally measured, reported and verified carbon credit distribution, trading, and settlement for renewable energy projects

ZERO13 is a cloud-native, infrastructure-agnostic, decentralised platform that streamlines workflows across various exchanges, participants, custodians, registries, and climate fintech services, integrating digital monitoring, reporting, and verification to provide real-time checks on carbon offset supplies and project provenance. It supports end-to-end distribution across diverse blockchains and APIs, facilitating effective trading and settlement, and overcoming the limitations of the traditional voluntary carbon market (VCM).

R3 and Quant Selected to Develop Prototype for UK’s Regulated Liability Network

R3 and Quant have been chosen to create the technology prototype for the UK’s Regulated Liability Network (RLN) experimentation phase, an initiative led by UK Finance and supported by EY. This project aims to establish a unified platform facilitating various financial transactions using tokenised and traditional commercial bank deposits. The RLN will serve as a central innovation hub for digital transactions, with confirmed participants including Barclays, HSBC, Citi and Visa, among others. R3 will leverage its Corda platform for shared ledger capabilities, while Quant will enhance money interoperability through its Overledger platform.

The collaboration underscores the strategic aims of R3 and Quant in addressing the complexities of regulated financial environments through advanced ledger and API technologies. The prototype will explore multiple use cases across retail and wholesale payments, including ecommerce and bond issuance, supported by technology partners such as DXC Technology and Coadjute.

T+1 and Voice Analytics to Feature at Symphony Innovate 2024 (NYC)

A-Team Group recently caught up with Ben Chrnelich, President and CFO of Symphony Communications to discuss how their Enterprise Collaboration and Workflow platform is helping firms prepare for T+1 – which goes live on May 28, and the significant uptick in e-comms messaging volume over their Federated Communications offerings. 

Both of these core offerings will be in focus at Symphony Innovate 2024 in NYC on April 18th.   

Bringing Insights to Trader Voice will highlight Cloud9 Transcription and Voice Analytics in Action with representation from Goldman Sachs and Capital One. 

As Chrnelich recalls; “Going into 2024, there were signs that capital flows were opening up. People were looking to invest in areas around RegTech and compliance technology. The seriousness of industry fines related to off-channel communication was definitely being acknowledged and addressed by the industry and regulated participants. We’ve seen the messaging volume on our federated offerings grow by almost 400% since Q1 of 2023.” 

Symphony Communications started in 2014 as an industry-backed consortium, to deliver a messaging platform for data security and compliance, and an open architecture platform to facilitate real-time cross-company and inter-company communication. The founding consortium members included BofA Merrill Lynch, BNY Mellon, BlackRock, Citadel, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, JPMorgan, Maverick, Morgan Stanley, Nomura and Wells Fargo. Today, the company’s solutions support over half a million users, servicing more than 1,000 institutions.

Corporater Unveils Business Process Management for Enhanced GRC and Performance Management (GPRC)

Corporater, a global leader in software solutions for Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) and Performance Management (jointly addressed as GPRC), is proud to announce the launch of a new Business Process Management Engine.  

First introduced in the Nordic market, this significant functional addition is now available globally. 

Digital GRC programs are being challenged by evolving regulatory requirements such as ESG, Cybersecurity, and DORA/operational resilience. At the same time, market innovations in cross-product and cross-border trading activity add to business process complexity. The convergence of governance, accountability, audit, and resilience sets the stage for Business Process Management (BPM) as a foundational and vital tool for the successful digital transformation of an organization’s GRC program. 

The new Business Process Management Engine (BPME) complements a comprehensive toolbox of existing features including risk quantification, Monte Carlo simulations, a flexible Forms & Survey engine, risk aggregation, and AI assistance that collectively enable enterprises to implement a holistic, easy-to-use, enterprise-wide GRC program. 

The new Corporater BPME offers a complete design-to-execution functionality delivering auditable, measurable business processes that comply with regulatory requirements, increase operational efficiency, align with organizational objectives, and support AI-powered integration with relevant GRC and Performance Management data. The net effect is an uplift in organizational agility, resilience, and overall business performance. 

“With the enhanced Business Process Management Engine, Corporater continues to set the standard for integrated enterprise GRC and Performance Management solutions,” said Owe Lie-Bjelland, GPRC Director at Corporater. “We aim to empower organizations to not only manage risks and compliance effectively across the enterprise but also enhance overall business performance through an integrated business-wide GRC program.” 

CJC Achieves Cyber Essentials Certification, Enhancing ICT Defence Capabilities

Crown Jewels Consultants (CJC), the market data consultancy and professional services provider, has attained the Cyber Essentials certification, underscoring its commitment to robust cyber defence mechanisms. CJC was assessed to have met the Cyber Essentials implementation profile, with ICT defences deemed satisfactory against a commodity-based cyber-attack.

The UK government-backed certification aligns with the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which aims to bolster the digital resilience of financial entities and their vital infrastructure against cyber risks. The certification process encompassed several critical areas, including secure configuration, access control, malware protection, patch management, and incident response.

Baader Bank Selects Broadridge for Regulatory Trade and Transaction Reporting

Baader Bank has extended its relationship with Broadridge Financial Solutions with an agreement to use the vendor’s regulatory trade and transaction reporting solution to ensure a more unified and comprehensive regulatory reporting framework. The bank already uses Broadridge’s front- and middle-office solutions for order management, trading and market connectivity.

Baader Bank offers asset classes including equities, bonds, derivatives, and funds/ETFs, as well as primary market transactions. The Broadridge platform will support the bank in fulfilling evolving requirements across multiple jurisdictions including MiFID, FinfraG, EMIR Refit and SFTR.

SteelEye Strengthens Presence in APAC by Incorporating in Singapore

SteelEye, provider of an integrated surveillance platform, has strengthened its footprint in Asia-Pacific (APAC) by incorporating in Singapore. This will enable closer collaboration with clients and regulatory authorities and comes at a time of heightened enforcement action by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), which over the past year fined four banks and an insurer for money laundering and market misconduct according to SteelEye’s 2024 Annual Fine Tracker.

Recognising the parallels between regulatory environments in APAC, North America and Europe, SteelEye is well-positioned to continue assisting financial firms in APAC to address compliance complexities. Matt Smith, CEO of SteelEye, comments: “Fortifying our presence in APAC underscores our commitment to providing unparalleled support to our clients in the region. By leveraging our experience, SteelEye’s trade and communications surveillance solutions can enable financial firms operating in APAC to meet their regulatory obligations effectively.”