News

Gordon Brown and Nicholas Sarkozy are to hold talks on the issue of hedge fund regulation as the pair to try reach a compromise on how the industry should operate in Europe.The British prime minister and French president are to meet today (March 12th 2010) in an attempt to hammer out a deal on the issue, reports the Financial Times.While the French wish to see tougher restrictions placed on the activities of such funds, including only allowing them to use locally-based banks to hold capital, the... more

 

JPMorgan is set to form a securities joint venture in China with First Capital Securities, it has been widely reported.According to sources close to the deal, a memorandum of understanding has been signed by the two companies to set up the unit.Such a move would represent a further investment in China for JPMorgan, which is already involved in joint ventures in the futures market and fund management sector in the country.While this particular agreement is yet to be confirmed by the US bank,... more

 

The downfall of Lehman Brothers has been partly attributed to some of the company's top executives in a new report.A one-year investigation into the collapse of the bank by court-appointed examiner Anton Valukas has resulted in allegations that Lehman Brothers put out misleading financial statements with the express permission of senior members of staff.It is also alleged that executives including Dick Fuld, the firm's former chief executive officer, used an "accounting gimmick" to hide around... more

 

Digiterre, the leading provider of software products and solutions for the investment management and energy & commodities industry, today announces that it has made two key appointments in its sales and marketing teams. Andy Dalby has joined as Business Development Director and Melissa Shone joins as Director of Marketing. Dalby was previously Head of Sales, Data Management for SunGard Energy Solutions and joins Digiterre to lead business development activity in the energy and commodities... more

Morgan Stanley has announced the launch of new electronic trading platform MS PORT. According to the investment bank, MS PORT utilises more than 70 risk metrics to enable investors to implement trade instructions across multiple portfolios more effectively.By comparing market impact, volatility and assets, traders should be able to reduce costs, achieve better execution and manage risk more efficiently when investing, the bank explained. Andrew Silverman, global co-head of Morgan Stanley... more

 

The majority of businesses in the UK are failing to utilise software asset management technology to help them adhere to compliance legislation, a new report has claimed. Findings from a study by the Software Industry Research Board (SIRB) revealed that 98.75 per cent of respondents did not view compliance as an objective informing SAM policies. Over half of respondents stated that acquiring as the least number of software licences as possible was a software management priority. Optimising... more

 

Investment bank Citigroup is offering up to $2 billion trust preferred securities (TruPs) as part of a strategy to repair the institution’s balance sheet. Buyers of the bonds are being offered a yield of 8.5 per cent in return for their investment, a figure lower than the 8.75 per cent originally marketed. Plans to sell TruPs were unveiled by Citigroup in December last year after it repaid more than $20 billion in securities to the US Treasury. The bank, which is 27 per cent owned by the US... more

 

Data surrounding up to 24,000 client accounts was stolen by a former technology expert from HSBC’s Swiss subsidiary, the bank has admitted. Hervé Falciani, an IT specialist at the Geneva branch, is thought to have committed the theft three years ago. The crime, which was discovered during 2009, affected accounts opened before October 2006, 9,000 of which have subsequently been closed, the bank announced. Alexandre Zeller, chief executive of the Swiss subsidiary, said: “We deeply regret the... more

 

Shareholders at Barclays have warned the bank may struggle to win support for its reported acquisition of a retail bank in the US. Antony Jenkins, recently-appointed head of Barclays’ retail banking unit, is thought to be outlining a strategy to be passed before the organisation’s board detailing the plans. Although no one from Barclays has confirmed a takeover of a consumer operation is going ahead, some investors have criticised the potential move. Jane Coffey, fund manager at Royal London... more

 

CJC, the leading independent market data consultancy, today announced an extension of its strategic relationship with Thomson Reuters. As part of the agreement, CJC will assist in the management of the software infrastructure behind Thomson Reuters Hosting Solution, which includes high performance direct market connectivity to worldwide execution venues, real time market data, and post trade capabilities. Thomson Reuters Hosting Solution provides a global network for resilient, scalable,... more

 

Malcolm Calvert, a former partner in Cazenove, has been given 21 months in prison for insider trading.He had been found guilty of the practice earlier in the week following evidence given in court against him by his former friend Bertie Hatcher, who was also involved in insider dealing.Calvert is estimated to have made more than £100,000 ($150,520) from buying and selling around 420,000 shares in six different companies with the aid of information not made available to the wider public.As he... more

 

The deal to power the world’s largest ATM / POS networkOpus Software Solutions, a leading provider of software solutions to the payments industry has signed a $10 million deal with State Bank of India (SBI) to replace their existing ATM platform with electraSWITCH™. This deal with State Bank Of India (SBI) will power 25,000 ATMs, 500,000 POS devices and Kiosks and authorize 80 million debit cards by next year; and these numbers are expected to double (including ATMs) by 2014, making this the... more

Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) today announced that, following the success of the launch of its UK Nominations & Voting Service in 2007, Broadridge has added new features to the service to further enhance its offering to retail brokers.The UK Nominations and Voting Service was created by Broadridge in response to changes put in place by the Companies Act 2006, which was passed in order to enhance the rights of beneficial shareholders held in omnibus accounts under their broker's... more

Research validates cost drivers associated with accurate fee and revenue management are increasing and changingBonaire Software Solutions, LLC, a leading provider of financial services software solutions to investment managers, fund administrators, mutual funds, wealth managers, broker dealers and RIAs, announced that it has completed a proprietary market research study to establish a baseline and to capture trends related to operational efficiency and margins associated with revenue management... more

A recent Ernst & Young survey mentions FrontInvest as the preferred Private Equity software solution among European fund administrators. With a market share of 28%, eFront’s flagship solution is the leading European solution.The survey is the first of a series of periodic reports on the European Private Equity fund administration market. Its objectives are to get an insight into the issues facing Private Equity fund administrators and to identify emerging trends.The advisory firm demonstrates... more

Acquisition Offers Unmatched Solution for Fund Distribution and Fund Management in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA);Accelerates Growth of Advent’s International BusinessAdvent Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADVS), a leading provider of software and services for the global investment management industry, today announced Advent’s acquisition of Goya, a privately held Norwegian software provider. Under the terms of the agreement, Advent acquired all of the outstanding shares of Goya. Through this... more

Axiom Software Laboratories Inc, leading global provider of Regulatory Reporting and Risk Management solutions has announced today at the Axiom user group meeting the launch of its Liquidity management and Stress Testing module based on the proven regulatory reporting and data management platform, ControllerView® and IntegrationCenter™. In addition to regulatory and internal reporting, Axiom now equips financial institutions with stress-testing capacity to identify and manage quickly and... more

The Numerical Algorithms Group (NAG), a world leader in high quality computational software and high performance computing services to tens of thousands of users in major academies, Global 500 companies, and the world’s leading supercomputing sites among others, announces that it will mark its 40th anniversary in 2010 by expanding its student prize program, with a new awards intended to cultivate the next generation of numerical software talent worldwide. Stuart Feldman, Google VP Engineering,... more

ConvergEx Group, a leading provider of investment technologies and execution solutions to institutional clients worldwide, today announced that users of its order management system, the Eze OMSTM, now have integrated access to LiquidPoint’s latest options execution and routing technologies directly from the OMS blotter. As a key part of this enhanced offering, Eze OMS clients will be able to deploy LiquidPoint’s Liquidity Seeking Order, which provides a high‐speed and flexible connection... more

Citigroup may be earning as much as $20 billion a year from its core business by the end of 2012, according to a prediction from the bank's chief executive officer Vikram Pandit.Mr Pandit is set to use an upcoming speech to investors to predict that Citigroup can earn a yearly return of 1.25 per cent on its assets, reports the Financial Times.Citigroup's asset level stood at more than $1,300 billion at the end of 2009, with the bank estimating this will grow by around five per cent a year.Based... more

 

The US and Europe may be drifting apart on regulations surrounding hedge funds, Tim Geithner, the US Treasury secretary, has warned Plans are being drawn up in Brussels that are set to see tougher restrictions placed on the activities of hedge funds, with suggested rules including only allowing these investment vehicles to use locally-based banks.The proposals, drawn up chiefly by France and Germany, have already caused ruptures within Europe, with the UK believing it is an attempt to curb the... more

 

Risk Office from Fiserv delivers positive client experience, 30 percent average fraud savingsFiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), the leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, today announced that its Risk OfficeSM credit and debit card investigative and consultative service experienced a 400 percent increase in new clients in 2009. Risk Office from Fiserv provides clients with expert direction and optimal risk management services designed to protect, detect and respond to... more

CIMCON Software Inc., the Pioneering Market Leader in Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) solutions for End User Computing (EUC), today announced that Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Banking has selected the SOX-XL suite of tools for spreadsheet and database monitoring and controls.At the core of Societe Generale's universal banking business model, the Corporate & Investment Bank is a well-diversified and leading player with 12,000 professionals present in over 40 countries across... more

Aspire Performance Reporting Service Now Deployed for 12,000 Financial Advisors and Nearly Seven Million ClientsBroadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) today announced that financial services firm Edward Jones has implemented Broadridge's Aspire? Performance Reporting service for its nearly seven million retail clients. More than 12,000 Edward Jones financial advisors can now use Broadridge's Aspire Performance Reporting to deliver premium performance reporting to all of their clients -... more

Through a unique combination of three business lines - research, consulting and benchmarking - Cutter Associates works closely with asset managers to improve investment processing and make them more competitive. CutterBenchmarking has now developed Operations Metrics in close conjunction with clients in North America and Europe. Operations Metrics is a quarterly survey providing participating firms with a clear and concise quantitative approach for assessing processing efficiency in... more

New accreditation is SWIFT’s highest level of recognition for SWIFTReady Connectivity providers Akshay Software International Inc. is pleased to announce that its SWIFT Service Bureau, operated in partnership with Financeware Comércio & Serviços Ltda. of São Paulo, Brazil., has been awarded the SWIFTReady Connectivity – Best Practice label in recognition of its full compliance with the 2010 criteria. Best Practice is SWIFT’s highest level of accreditation for SWIFTReady Connectivity... more

An Easy-to-use, Scalable and Extensible Treasury Solution With Rapid Deployment CapabilitiesInfosys Technologies Ltd. today announced the launch of Finacle Treasury-in-a-Box(TM), a rapid implementation framework for an integrated front, middle and back office treasury system. Built on best-of-breed open technology platforms, providing high scalability, flexibility and straight-through-processing capability, Finacle Treasury-in-a-Box(TM) allows banks to get started with minimum scoping effort and... more

New proposals to regulate transactions surrounding derivatives including credit default swaps (CDS) need to be introduced, a finance regulator in the US has claimed. Gary Gensler, chairman at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said that bank use of CDS should be restricted to prevent derivatives of this ilk from being used to reduce levels of regulatory capital. Mr Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs executive, told Bloomberg that new rules should be introduced to stop banks from... more

 

CAC Europe, the UK subsidiary of CAC Corporation (TSE: CAC), a leading Japanese business technology company, today announced that, as of 1 April, it is appointing Honami Matsutani to spearhead the company’s business development and to establish a new consulting unit specialising in organisational transformation.A veteran of the City technology market, Honami has over 20 years’ experience of developing financial software businesses and consulting practices, including Elmbridge Financial... more

New government proposals in the UK could lead to the numbers of bankers on the highest pay packets being revealed. Lord Myners, City minister, made the comments as part of a speech at the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association. The minister called for banks to reveal how many staff members receive £500,000 per year and then further disclosures at rising £500,000 brackets. Under the proposals, names of employees would not be disclosed, just the number receiving a certain amount... more

 

US banks including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan have been urged to avoid re-purchasing shares or raising dividends until financial stability is fully restored, a newspaper report has claimed. A source close to the matter told the Financial Times that US banking regulators have urged bigger financial service providers to wait until the health of the economy is back to full strength before redistributing funds. The Federal Reserve, the Treasury and a number of government agencies have urged caution... more

 

Bravura Solutions Limited (Bravura) - a leading global supplier of wealth management applications and professional services, has successfully completed the implementation of Babel, a straight through processing (STP) solution for J.P. Morgan Asset Management in the United Kingdom (UK).J.P. Morgan is a long-term Bravura client, having previously implemented the Rufus global transfer agency solution. The most recent project employed Bravura’s Babel application to process trades for life funds... more

Largest independent Brazilian brokerage integrates the Progress Apama Algorithmic Trading Platform following demand from clients for custom strategies Progress Software Corporation (NASDAQ: PRGS), a leading independent enterprise software provider that enables companies to be operationally responsive, today announced Link Investimentos, the largest independent brokerage house in Brazil and undisputed leader on the BM&F Bovespa, is now using the Progress Apama Algorithmic Trading Platform. The... more

Princeton Financial® Systems Solution automates the complete reportingPrinceton Financial® Systems (PFS), a leading solution provider to the global investment industry, reports a successful project completion. The Landesbank Berlin (LBB) and the Landesbank Berlin Investment GmbH (LBB-INVEST) have chosen the fund-specific data management platform DVS Fund Warehouse (DVS) together with PFS’ reporting solution DVS Publisher Suite for their fund reporting. They went live with both solutions as... more

Major growth driven by international expansion, continued focus on research & development and investment in peopleSophis, a leading provider of cross-asset, front-to-back portfolio and risk management solutions, today announced that it has risen from joint eighth to fourth place in the annual IBS Sales League Table. The Top Five placement of Sophis follows its appointment by 26 new clients in 2009, bringing the total number of clients worldwide to over 130. For the first time in Sophis’... more

A former partner at stockbroker Cazenove has been found guilty of insider trading in the UK.Malcolm Calvert made around £103,883 ($155,448) from insider information – using knowledge that was not made public to buy and sell around 420,000 shares in six different companies.The prosecution of Cazenove trader involved evidence being given against Calvert by his former friend, Bertie Hatcher, who had also been involved in the dealings.Hatcher has been fined £56,098 for market abuse by the... more

 

Fitch Solutions, a division of the Fitch Group, says CDS market concerns on the prospects for developed market sovereigns have eased in the past two weeks, mainly driven by the announcement of Greece's revised austerity package on 3 March. “There appear to be diverging views on the future prospects for the Oil and Gas sector among CDS market participants”Fitch's developed market sovereign CDS liquidity index fell from 8.39 to 8.55 during the period 23 February to 5 March (the lower the... more

An executive at BNP Paribas has warned that the French bank cannot impose any further pay cuts without seeing the departure of its top-performing traders.Francois Villeroy de Galhau, head of retail banking at BNP Paribas, stated that the firm paid its bankers three times less in cash last year than the amounts they received prior to the onset of the financial crisis, reports Bloomberg.He added that if European policymakers imposed tougher regulations on banking pay without similar agreements in... more

 

Axel Weber, the president of Bundesbank, has attacked the proposals to establish a European Monetary Fund (EMF).The idea of establishing an EMF, which would be modelled on the International Monetary Fund, was floated by German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble earlier this week.He stated that such an agency could help prevent a repeat of the current debt crisis that is occurring in Greece.However, the idea has been shot down by Mr Weber who described such a move as the "instutionalisation of... more

 

Barclays is looking into plans to buy a large US retail bank, it has been reported.Company insiders told the Financial Times that discussions about the possible acquisition of an unnamed financial institution in America are ongoing.It was stated that Antony Jenkins, the new head of Barclays' retail banking activities, is already in the process of drawing up a strategy paper regarding a potential acquisition to present to the board of directors at the company within the next two or three... more

 

Pamela Marnell, head of product management for SunGard Financial Systems, said, “In talking to our customers, we’ve heard three universal business challenges that need to be met in 2010: delivering transparency, increasing efficiency and leveraging networks. Increasing regulation and compliance, and investor demand for stronger risk management, calls for improved transparency across the organization and into business silos. The ubiquitous need to do more with less, better align costs and... more

Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), the leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, today announced that Lilly Straith has been named director of sales for the community banking and credit union markets for Revenue Enhancement Solutions. In this role, Straith will help community financial institution clients with strategic planning for deposit transformation and business growth,including Regulation E “opt in” optimization, new deposit products, and solutions to meet consumer... more

 

Trade360 is a web-based customizable software-as-a-service to help banks participate in the trade and supply chain finance revolutionCGI Group Inc. (NYSE: GIB; TSX: GIB.A), a leading provider of information technology and business process services, is pleased to announce CGI Trade360™, the new brand name formerly known as Proponix360™, to serve as CGI’s web-based customizable Software-as-a-Service that delivers a single integrated global platform to support traditional trade, open account,... more

The value of the contract is over €23 million and it will have a five-year duration with the possibility of a further three-year extensionBank of Italy’s interbank computerised archive of bad cheques and payment cards (CAI) contains data on irregular bank and postalcheques and payment cards The Italian Interbank Network will guarantee the interconnection between CAI headquarters and the remote sites at the notifyingbodies (banks, Poste Italiane, supervised financial intermediaries issuing... more

WJT Global Solutions Launches "evolve | XTP" High Frequency Trading Solution for Quantitative Hedge Funds and Prop Traders. "evolve represents the first commercially available suite of enterprise class solutions for high frequency trading platforms that we are aware of" said Will Mechem, Managing Director. "evolve" was designed from the ground up to address the critical needs of high frequency traders employing complex quantitative models. The suite of solutions include statistical engines,... more

Formicary Mobile Chat allows users to share and access information in a timely and efficient manner while on the moveFormicary, provider of premier Systems Integration and software solutions, today announces the launch of the world’s first secure real-time enterprise mobile client designed to specifically extend and complement the powerful features of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Group Chat. Formicary Mobile Chat allows users to remain fully connected with their teams using... more

Recognition in Key Categories Supports Allegro’s Market Leadership PositionAllegro, the leading provider of energy trading and risk management (ETRM) solutions, announced today that it has received top rankings in a number of key categories in the annual Energy Risk Magazine Software Survey. Allegro took first place in Market Risk for Gas and in Physical and Financial Integration, and second for Best Overall ETRM Platform and Market Leader of ETRM Systems.Allegro, among 34 vendors named in... more

The anticipated exodus of many bankers and finance professionals from the UK may be prevented by a tax ruling against a British entrepreneur, a broker has claimed. Terry Smith, chief executive officer (CEO) at Tullet Prebon, told the UK’s Times newspaper that the company had offered its workforce the opportunity to escape new tax legislation via opportunities in Geneva and Zurich. However, less staff than anticipated had agreed to take up the invitation, which the CEO blamed on a legal battle... more

 

Bankers and finance industry professionals must start behaving “as if they have something to lose” if reform within the industry is to work, the financial services minister has claimed. Lord Myners made the comments while giving a speech at the Smith Institute in London. Market discipline must be enforced more stringently if lessons are to be learnt and similar financial crises to be avoided in the future, the minister stated.He explained: “We are serious about removing the safety net... more

 

London is to become one of the most expensive global centres for bankers to work in after the forthcoming introduction of a revised income tax banding for high earners, new research has shown. Findings from a study by KPMG, reported by the Wall Street Journal, revealed that many British bankers would pay more in tax than colleagues working in other financial centres such as New York, Dubai, Hong Kong and Geneva. The research compared the amount of employee tax and social-security payments... more

 

Financial services provider UBS is to launch a “dark pool” Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) to allow cross trading in Europe. According to the firm, UBS MTF will work alongside the existing UBS Price Improvement Network (UBS PIN) by offering a wider array of liquidity to its members. The MTF is still awaiting regulatory approval and will be based on a Central Counterparty (CCP) model, which will allow investors to mitigate certain amounts of risk. Dr Robert Barnes, head of Market... more

 

Many businesses in the UK are failing to back up IT and technology systems effectively, a new report has claimed. Findings from a study by Acronis revealed that nearly two-thirds of companies questioned said it can take them up to a day to recover following a system failure. Nearly a fifth of respondents stated that they do not carry out back-ups on devices such as laptops and PCs. Acronis warned that more companies should follow the example the 25 per cent of respondents who do adopt such... more

 

A group of shareholders has launched a law suit against Goldman Sachs accusing the investment bank of paying management and senior executives too much. Legal action has been filed at Delaware Chancery Court by pensions fund the International Brotherhood of Electric Workers, Reuters reported. The group described the bank’s decisions to set aside up to 47 per cent of the bank’s revenue for pay as “vastly overcompensat[ing] management and constitut[ing] corporate waste”. However, Ed... more

 

Brady plc (BRY.L), the leading supplier of trading and risk management solutions for metals and commodities, has announced another successful trading year. The newly released preliminary results for the year ending 31 December 2009 show significant growth, contributed to by six major new Trinity licence agreements, nine new clients reaching project acceptance or going live and the positive acquisition and integration of Comsoft. In addition, operating profit grew by 43% to £1.0 million and... more

New Partnership Brings State-of-the-art Financial Supply Chain Solutions to Network of Global Banks and International ResellersPremium Technology, Inc (Premium) a leading developer of Financial Supply Chain solutions to global banks, together with ebpSource Limited, the leading experts in the field of international e-billing, e-invoicing and payment, have today announced they have entered into a global distribution partnership. Under the terms of the agreement, ebpSource has become Master... more

ePAM® to provide investment accounting for residential mortgage backed securities and hedging strategiesPrinceton Financial® Systems (PFS), a leading provider of accounting, compliance, data management, performance measurement and reporting solutions for the global investment industry, is pleased to announce that it has added PRCM Advisers, LLC, the external manager for Two Harbors Investment Corp., a newly formed Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), to its client roster. ePAM®, a Software as... more

Greek prime minister George Papandreou has called on US president Barack Obama to introduce tougher regulation on currency traders and hedge funds.The European country is currently in the midst of a financial crisis which has seen three packages of cuts passed in the past three months by the government.Last week, further debt-cutting measures were introduced including pay cuts for citizens working in the public sector, as well as tax rises on goods such as fuel.Mr Papandreou has stated that... more

 

- Issuer chooses London for main European ETC offering The London Stock Exchange today announces that UBS has become a new issuer of Exchange Traded Commodities (ETCs) on its markets. The bank has admitted 69 products in its first major issuance of ETCs in Europe outside Switzerland. Pietro Poletto, Head of ETFs and ETCs at London Stock Exchange Group, said: "We are delighted to welcome UBS's new products today. London is fast becoming the venue of choice for issuers looking to break into the... more

Patsystems, the trading solutions provider to the derivatives industry, is pleased to announce that it has been selected as technology provider for Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Berhad’s new front-end for derivatives trading, known as Order Management System (OMS).Bursa Malaysia Derivatives will offer white labeled versions of Patsystems J-Trader and Pro-Mark front-ends as options to the trading community who wish to access Bursa Malaysia Derivatives products. Both front-ends are flexible,... more

National Bonds Corporation PJSC, the Shari’a-compliant saving scheme has outsourced its SWIFT connectivity to EastNets, providing customers an easier, faster and more convenient way to save their money, from anywhere in the world. EastNets, a global provider of compliance and payments solutions and services, has connected National Bonds to the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), the financial messaging network that is used by financial institutions worldwide to... more

Turkish Economy Bank (TEB), a leading bank in Turkey, recently leased FASTress and professional services from Paragon Application Systems to stress test their new payment system. TEB required confirmation that their new transaction processing platform could reliably handle peak transaction volumes and their growing customer base. “Because they were migrating to a new system which runs on application servers using Windows, TEB personnel wanted to ensure the new host processing system would... more

MediBank, a member of the Swiss Private Bankers Association providing investment advisory services and portfolio management to private clients, has implemented SunGard’s Ambit Apsys Private Banking solution and SunGard’s Ambit CRM to consolidate its core banking and CRM solutions. The Ambit solutions help MediBank improve flexibility and efficiency and gain a single view of client relationships. SunGard worked with Services4Banks, an application service provider in Switzerland, to deploy... more

Thomson Reuters today announced it has successfully completed a Statement on Auditing Standards No.70 (SAS 70) Type II examination of its leading full-service investment management business process outsourcing solution (BPO). The audit provides assurance that Thomson Reuters PORTIA employs uniform and reliable operational controls to safeguard the data of its outsourced services customers worldwide. Thomson Reuters PORTIA delivers a BPO solution which allows asset managers to outsource some... more

Comprehensive Study Shows Overwhelming Consumer Interest; Yet Few Providers Articulate and Capitalize on Their E-Delivery Capabilities and OffersAccording to a new study commissioned by NewRiver, Inc. and conducted by Mathew Greenwald & Associates, there is strong appeal from variable annuity (VA) and variable universal life (VUL) policy holders to receive prospectus and related compliance documents electronically via e-delivery. More than half of the respondents who were not offered electronic... more

FRSGlobal cited as overall winner in the regulatory reporting categoryFRSGlobal, the only global provider of risk reporting and regulatory reporting compliance solutions on a unified platform with coverage for over 40 countries, today announced that it has placed eleventh in the annual Chartis RiskTech100TM ranking of the top 100 risk technology vendors worldwide. Chartis also cited FRSGlobal as the overall winner in the regulatory reporting category.The Chartis RiskTech100TM is recognised... more

Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), the leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, today announced that IDC Financial Insights, a leading independent and global provider of research-based advisory and consulting services, has identified Fiserv as a leading vendor of Payments Fraud Management Solutions. The December 2009 report provided a detailed assessment and comparison of the payments fraud solutions provided by six vendors. The report, Vendor Assessment: Industry Short List... more

Europe’s fastest growing payments provider announces a deal with award winning online Casino and Poker room.Realex Payments announced today that they have signed a deal with award winning gaming operator, 32Red, to support its card processing requirements.32Red prides itself on delivering superior service to its players and was recently awarded Online Casino of the Decade. The Company needed to source a new payments partner who could meet the same level of service that they commit to providing... more

MSCI Barra’s (NYSE: MXB) acquisition of RiskMetrics (NYSE: RISK) unites two market leaders in systems used by the asset management industry to calculate their Value at Risk (VaR). Once the firms are merged, it is possible that the majority of the global asset management industry will be calculating VaR using models and systems produced by just one company. This will make it more likely that these firms will take similar positions, which will increase systemic risk in the financial... more

Strengthens F&A Capabilities; Adds Domain Expertise in End to End Accounting Services and Business SolutionsAditya Birla Minacs, a global business solutions company, today announced the acquisition of UK-based Compass BPO Ltd, a leading pure-play end-to-end Finance and Accounting (F&A) services provider. Compass BPO has appeared in the top 15 upcoming F&A BPO players in a recent Gartner(TM) report. It was also cited in the Top Offshore BPO providers by FAO Today magazine(TM), and in the 'Global... more

Dubai World's proposals on how it wishes to restructure its debts to creditors will be presented to banks owed money this month, it has been confirmed.Newspaper reports had suggested that a plan would be put forward as early as this week and Dubai World have confirmed that the process will occur before April."A formal proposal will be presented by Dubai World to creditors in March," a government spokesman told AFP.Last November, the state-owned company announced it was seeking to restructure its... more

 

European Parliament politicians are in the process of debating tough new restrictions on banking bonuses across the continent.A new piece of legislation has been proposed by MEP Arlene McCarthy which suggests that bonuses should not be higher than 50 per cent of total annual remuneration.Half of bonus payouts should be paid in the form of shares which would not be divested for three years under the proposals, reports the Financial Times.Up to 60 per cent of bonuses could also be deferred for the... more

 

Apollo Insurance Company of Kenya, a leading financial powerhouse, has selected Agile Financial Technologies’ Agilis Investment Management solution to manage their Wealth Management, Mutual Fund Management, Investor Services, Pension Fund Management and Pension Fund Administration businesses for its wholly owned subsidiary Apollo Asset ManagementAgilis IMS is a straight-through, front-to-back, web-based, multi-entity, multi-asset class investment management solution covering treasury and... more

David Sear, Divisional Managing Director of Travelex Global Business Payments, will be speaking on 10th March 2010 at the International Payments Summit (IPS) in London. Following his speaking engagement at SIBOS last year, Mr. Sear will focus on how social networking is facilitating the rise of the payment institution and predict that innovation in business-to-business payments will follow this trend.Using the evolution of social networking as an example, Mr. Sear will show how payment... more

BOCI, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of China Limited specializing in investment banking, has implemented SunGard’s Global One securities finance solution to help support its securities lending operations. BOCI uses Global One’s Lender module to help support its new stock lending business for Hong Kong stocks and mainland Chinese companies that are listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. SunGard’s Global One is a suite of application modules that create an integrated solution to help... more

The Federal Reserve (Fed) will retain control of regulatory powers for banks with more than $100 billion in assets, the Financial Times reported. Congress has been debating whether to hand this responsibility to a single regulator as one of a number of reforms planned for the industry. However, according to sources close to the matter, proposals to strip the Fed of these powers have fallen through. Timothy Geithner, secretary and former president of the New York Fed, was one of the most vocal... more

 

Prudential has announced it is to speed up the process of seeking a listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The insurer is looking to ensure the listing is active before it launches a rights issue as part of a bid to raise $20 billion from its shareholder-base. Prudential is undertaking the issue after announcing details of its planned acquisition of the Asian arm of American Insurance Group’s (AIG) business, AIA for $35.5 billion. In a statement, the company said: “Prudential has made an... more

 

JPMorgan was the richest hedge fund manager working in the industry at the close of 2009, a new report has shown. Figures from Pensions & Investment revealed that the financial services provider managed a total of $53.5 billion of hedge fund assets. By the end of 2009, JPMorgan Asset Management had $32.5 billion in assets while Highbridge Capital Management looked after $21 billion worth of funds. The total was 18.9 per cent higher than the figure in its portfolio at the end of 2007, the survey... more

 

The UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) will not be tightening “quantitative standards” until the economy becomes more stable. According to the industry regulator, the recovery of the markets needs to be guaranteed before any further pressure is put on firms. The changes were originally announced in October 2009 to enhance liquidity risk management processes and prevent a future financial crisis from taking place. In a statement, the body said: “The FSA believes that it would be... more

 

US President Barack Obama’s budget proposals would leave the US $1.2 trillion more out of pocket during the next decade than predicted, a new report has claimed. A study by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) revealed that budget plans would result in a total deficit of $9.8 trillion over the period. CBO also forecasts a deficit of $1.43 trillion for 2011, a figure $75 billion higher than the projected sum. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, a Republican on the House Budget Committee, was quoted by... more

 

Cornerstone OnDemand Inc. (Stand B19) today announced that two of the company’s premier clients, Kelly Services France and Barclays France, are among the organisations presenting at this week’s Solutions Ressources Humaines E-Learning Expo 2010, being held 9-11 March at Paris Porte de Versailles, Hall 5.1. The companies will present case studies highlighting their learning management strategies and discuss how they are using Cornerstone’s learning and talent management software to support... more

Netik LLC, a global leading provider of financial data management and reporting services and products, announced that Colin Close, President, Netik will present at the TSAM 2010 event taking place today at the Brewery in London. With more than 450 participants, TSAM is one of Europe’s largest buy side technology and operations events.Close will participate in a panel session titled ‘How to get the message across internally that investment in data management should be done’. In his... more

DST Global Solutions, a leading provider of business solutions and services to the global investment management industry, has appointed Geoff Harries as Global Head of Asset Servicing for its Investment Management Solutions (IMS) business. Geoff will report to Phil Hogan, IMS’ Global Head of Solutions Management, and will be responsible for providing strategic direction across a number of the company’s solution areas around investment accounting and recordkeeping. Geoff will manage the... more

American International Group (AIG) has announced the details of the sale of ALICO, its foreign insurance unit, to fellow US insurer MetLife.News of a potential deal was leaked late last week after company insiders told Reuters an agreement on the sale was close.It has now been confirmed that AIG will receive $15.5 billion for the overseas division, with $6.8 billion being paid in cash and $8.7 billion coming in the form of shares and stock options in MetLife.It means that AIG will take a 20 per... more

 

QuantHouse, the leading independent provider of low latency trading solutions, announced today that BATS Europe, the fast-growing pan-European multilateral trading facility, has selected QuantHouse to supply real-time feeds of market data from other European trading venues.BATS Europe uses the data from primary listing markets and other MTFs to support its trading operations and specific order types on its marketplace, as an input for market analytics, and to support its recently launched smart... more

Patricia Pittomvils joins Clear2PayClear2Pay, the international technology provider of next generation payment solutions for financial institutions announces that it has appointed Patricia Pittomvils as Vice-President Sales to spearhead large global account development in the UK and other European countries. Pittomvils, who previously worked for Swift and most recently VocaLink, will focus on new accounts in the United Kingdom and Ireland. In addition she will develop global accounts in other... more

- Firm continues global expansion by closing two acquisitions and opening two new offices- 34 companies go live with Calypso in 2009Calypso Technology Inc., a global application software provider of an integrated trading, risk and processing platform to financial institutions and corporate treasuries, today announced that the company experienced its ninth straight year of revenue growth in 2009. The firm made several milestone achievements: adding 21 new customers, increasing staff by 12%,... more

· January 2010 saw a 36% drop in Japanese trading costs compared to the previous month – this is the largest month on month % drop in Japanese trading costs in over a year and a half. This differed from trading cost trends in other Asian markets over the same period – for example Hong Kong saw a smaller 17% drop and Korea saw an increase in average costs between December 2009 and January 2010.· This equates to an average cost saving of $18,000 for every USD $10million of Japanese equities... more

Neptune Software plc today announces the establishment of Neptune Financial Software Pvt. Ltd. in Chennai, India. The new wholly owned subsidiary is the focal point of Neptune’s strategy to expand its own Rubikon development capacity, provide an international support centre, as well as sales and pre-sales capacity for the Asia region.The new operation will include a strong team of 60 developers, many of whom were transferred over to Neptune from Cordiant Technologies as part of the conclusion... more

SunGard has launched two new Stream Gateways for the Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) and the London Stock Exchange (EDX). SunGard’s Stream Gateways are a series of clearing gateways for listed derivatives markets. The new Stream Gateways will help SunGard customers improve clearing performance and efficiency on the SGX and EDX. SunGard’s Stream Gateways are integrated with its post-trade derivatives processing solutions, including Stream Clearvision, Stream Ubix, Stream GMI and Stream... more

The London Stock Exchange has today increased the number of securities available for trading on its new Order book for Retail Bonds. From this morning, bonds issued by Marks and Spencer, Unilever, Safeway, Kingfisher, National Grid Gas, Compass Group and Imperial Tobacco Finance are available for trading on the book in retail-sized denominations, bringing the total number of corporate bonds on the platform to 18. One gilt has also been migrated to the order book, bringing the total number of... more

Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), the leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, today announced that technology industry veteran Chris Capdevila has joined the company as vice president of Product Management and Strategy for Risk and Compliance Solutions. Capdevila comes to Fiserv from Oracle Corporation, where he served as vice president of GRC Strategy responsible for driving the strategic direction and roadmap for Oracle’s Governance, Risk and Compliance applications.... more

The creation of a European Monetary Fund is being planned by Germany and France, two of the leading countries in the eurozone, a senior German politician has revealed.Wolfgang Schauble, the German finance minister told Welt Am Sonntag that the introduction of such a body would be closely modeled on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – but would not be a competitor to it."We do need an institution for the internal equilibrium of the eurozone that would have at its disposal both the... more

 

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is planning to expand its operations in China via the creation of a new joint-venture securities unit, a company spokesman has said.Hui Yukmin, a spokesman for the bank's Hong Kong office, told Bloomberg that RBS is looking to "enhance its existing platform" in China through the creation of such a division.She said that RBS is currently holding talks with an unnamed Chinese company about setting up a joint venture.If the deal goes through, the bank will join other... more

 

Icelandic voters have overwhelmingly voted 'No' in a referendum on whether the country should pay back British and Dutch investors who lost a combined total of billions of dollars when Landsbanki collapsed at the height of the financial crisis.Around 93 per cent of those who voted stated that they do not support a deal to repay a total of around $5 billion from the state's funds.About 340,000 people in the UK and Holland had accounts with Icesave, a subsidiary of Landsbanki, at the time of its... more

 

2010—Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today announced the winners of the Morningstar UK Fund Awards. The awards recognise funds and fund groups that delivered the greatest outperformance, on a risk-adjusted basis, in 2009 and over the longer term. “Discipline and a time-tested investment approach are the common themes among many of this year’s winners,” said Jackie Beard, director of fund research for Morningstar UK. “The... more

Thomson Reuters today announced that Eric Frank, President, Investment & Advisory, Thomson Reuters Markets, has relocated to Hong Kong from New York. Mr. Frank’s move to Hong Kong strengthens Thomson Reuters commitment to growing its business across the Asia Pacific region. While in Asia Pacific, Mr. Frank will lead the business in developing localized solutions to complement Investment & Advisory’s market-leading global product and content set. With US$ 2.2 billion in annual revenue,... more

Financial-i Leaders in Innovation Award 2009 awarded IPC for its state-of-the-art European VoIP network and flagship trading turret systems IPC, a leading provider of indispensable trading communications solutions to the world’s top financial services firms, announced it has won the Financial-i Leaders in Innovation Award for best and most innovative use of Voice Over IP (VoIP). The prestigious award was announced as part of Financial-i’s Q4 print publication.IPC delivered several key... more

BI-SAM today announced that Anthony Howland has joined the company as strategic advisor. Anthony will be based in London and will be advising BI-SAM in several strategic areas such as Business Development, UK operations growth strategy and GIPS® Composites module enhancement. BI-SAM will be issuing a GIPS module in its next product release in June and Anthony will be working closely with Product Management Director, Ian Thompson, in strengthening the team’s expertise in this key area.Anthony... more

LSEG sells nine per cent stake taking its holding to 51 per centLondon Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has today sold nine per cent of its stake in the holding company for the merged Turquoise and Baikal businesses, to three global banking clients. Barclays Bank plc, J.P. Morgan Cazenove and Nomura have each bought three per cent stakes for £1 million in cash each.This brings the total number of shareholders in Turquoise to twelve global investment banks and LSEG which will retain a 51 per cent... more

Many of London’s top bankers may leave the city if taxes on bonuses continue, a leading City headhunter has claimed. Robert Walters, chief executive officer at the recruitment company, explained that the 50 per cent tax introduced by the Labour government and the introduction of the bonus tax could force many of the best bankers to work for companies outside of the UK. Chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling outlined the bonus tax in his pre-Budget report in December of 2009. The 50 per... more

 

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged a couple in Miami of running a $135 million ponzi investment scheme. Gaston and Teresita Cantens, the owners of Royal West Properties, sold a series of promissory notes to investors, which promised returns of up to 16 per cent. The couple, who are both in their seventies, conducted the fraud between 2002 and 2009 and used investments to reimburse earlier investors and fund new projects. Up to $20 million worth of money is thought to have... more

 

Deutsche Bank has had its rating downgraded two places by credit agency Moody’s.The financial institution’s rating was reduced from Aa1 to fourth highest Aa3 while its financial strength was lowered to C-plus from B, the agency announced. According to the body, the rating was downgraded following delays in the acquisition of Deutsche Postbank AG. A lack of transparency surrounding the bank’s activity in the capital markets and subsequent concern over the organisation’s exposure to risk... more

 

JPMorgan, Washington Mutual (WaMu) and an industry regulator may strike a deal over the ownership of a $4 billion bank deposit during the coming days, an attorney has claimed. WaMu was declared bankrupt in September 2008 and was sold by Federal Deposit Insurance Corp to JPMorgan for $1.9 billion. The funds were seized as part of the transaction and now all three parties are disputing which one has the ownership rights. Brian Rosen, a partner at law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP in New York,... more

 

Michael Geoghegan, HSBC chief executive officer (CEO), is to receive an additional £800,000 a year for relocating from London to Hong Kong. The banker will receive £300,000 as part of a cost of living allowance and a further £500,000 for housing, travel and the education of his children. HSBC is providing the money “in recognition of the relocation to Hong Kong and the associated fixed costs of living that will be incurred”. A spokesperson for HSBC told the UK’s Daily Telegraph: “This... more

 

Neptune Software plc, a leading international provider of banking and finance systems, today announced that its flagship banking solution – Rubikon, achieved a top six universal banking system ranking in the IBS Sales League Table of banking system vendors. Rubikon was launched in 2008 and in that year Neptune signed 3 banks for implementation, which is a momentous achievement in its own right. To move from the 18th place in the IBS Sales League Table in 2008 to the 6th for universal banking... more

Landmark Deal Spearheads QuIC’s Entry into Global Insurance Market; Builds on Track Record of Regulatory Approval Excellence QuIC Financial Technologies, a market leader providing the world’s financial organisations with risk management, pricing and analytic solutions, is pleased to announce that Lloyd’s, the world’s leading specialist insurance market, has selected QuIC as part of its Solvency II solution to ensure its risk infrastructure meets formal FSA regulatory approval for setting... more

Fidessa group plc (LSE: FDSA), provider of award-winning trading, market data and global connectivity solutions for the buy-side and sell-side, has announced today that Quant Broking, one of the leading brokers in India, has joined its global connectivity network. Quant will now be able to receive CARE and DMA flow from over 2,400 buy-sides and 530 brokers that connect to Fidessa’s network around the world. Jean-Pierre Baron, Managing Director for Fidessa Asia-Pacific, comments: “Despite... more

Leading Industry Analyst Firm Analyses Tagetik and UniCredit Group Longstanding Corporate Performance Management ProjectsTagetik, a global provider of Corporate Performance Management (CPM) and Financial Governance software solutions, today announced the availability of a new piece of research published by Gartner, Inc (NYSE:IT), "Case Study: CPM is a solution for managing the fast growth at UniCredit Group" through the Tagetik website.UniCredit Group has implemented Tagetik 3.0 to unify... more

Basware Connectivity Integrates the Entire Purchase-to-Pay Process Including Cataloguing, Procurement, Fulfillment Reporting and e-invoicingBasware, the global leader in purchase-to-pay solutions, today announced the addition of e-procurement functionality to Basware Connectivity services.Basware Connectivity covers the entire purchase-to-pay process from cataloguing and procurement to e-invoicing, providing crucial integration with an organisation's existing stock and resource management... more

Equipos today announces that Fairbairn Private Bank, a multi award-winning private bank with offices in London, Jersey, Isle of Man and South Africa, has upgraded its client communications processes with the addition of Equipos Coric Straight Through Reporter (STR). Fairbairn Private Bank is a long-standing Equipos client, having deployed the company's Coric Document Manager solution to generate client valuations across its business more than eight years ago.Equipos Coric STR is an advanced... more