Global

March 15, 2020 @ 5:29 pm By JD Alois  |  

In an unprecedented action, the US Federal Reserve reduced its primary credit rate by 150 basis points to 0.25 percent, effective March 16, 2020. This reduction in the primary credit rate reflects both the 100 basis point reduction in the target range for the federal… Read More

March 15, 2020 @ 3:14 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Vinnie Lauria, an entrepreneur and venture capitalist who established Golden Gate Ventures, an early-stage VC company managing more than $250 million in assets, notes that his Singapore-based company has been watching emerging tech sectors across the Southeast Asia region. Lauria reveals that he’s seeing significant… Read More

March 15, 2020 @ 3:13 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

An increasing number of UK Fintech firms are establishing operations in Doha, the capital city of the Middle Eastern country of Qatar. Financial technology companies are setting up their businesses in the country after it introduced progressive investment laws and regulations, according to an official… Read More

March 15, 2020 @ 3:08 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Changpeng Zhao, CEO at Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by adjusted trading volume, has revealed that the firm will introduce a fiat gateway for South African digital asset traders, which will allow them to make deposits in Rands. The announcement was made during the… Read More

March 15, 2020 @ 12:19 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Paris-headquartered Akur8, a company that’s developing an artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced insurance pricing platform, has secured €8 million via a Series A round from BlackFin Capital and MTech Capital. The funds raised will be used to expand the firm’s business operations across North and South America… Read More

March 15, 2020 @ 10:45 am By Xu Gao  |  

The PBC, NDRC and Four Other Authorities Jointly Release the Work Plan for Coordinated Regulation of Financial Infrastructures In order to strengthen the construction of financial infrastructure, coordinate the regulation of important financial infrastructures and improve the capability of the financial sector to serve the… Read More

March 14, 2020 @ 7:09 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Singapore-headquartered DBS Bank, a multinational banking and financial services corporation with over $330 billion in total assets, has reportedly facilitated a trade financing settlement through vCargo Cloud’s CamelONE trade finance portal (TFP). The SGD 4.8 million (appr. $3.4 million) letter of credit transaction was carried… Read More

March 14, 2020 @ 4:33 pm By JD Alois  |  

Yapeal, an aspiring digital bank based in Zurich, has received the very first Fintech license in Switzerland. In 2019, the Swiss Parliament introduced the Fintech license enforced by the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). The requirements for Fintech companies are based on the established auditing… Read More

March 14, 2020 @ 3:39 pm By JD Alois  |  

Assetz Capital has received £15 million in funding from British Business Investments (BBI). According to Assetz Capital, this is the first time a property-focused marketplace has received funding from BBI, a subsidiary of the British Business Bank. Assetz Capital states that the funding will support… Read More

March 14, 2020 @ 11:49 am By JD Alois  |  

Like many jurisdictions around the world, the European Union has announced extraordinary measures to combat the Coronavirus, or COVID-19, including measures to mitigate the impact the illness will have on SMEs. In a statement yesterday, the Commission said it considers the COVID-19 pandemic as qualifying as… Read More

March 14, 2020 @ 11:23 am By Omar Faridi  |  

Two Fintech companies are teaming up to develop a new banking service for young people living in Saudi Arabia, who may prefer to make cashless payments from their mobile devices. Digital Bank challenger Moven, which was established by Brett King in 2010, will be partnering… Read More

March 13, 2020 @ 11:04 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Banco Santander, S.A. (BME:SAN) announced on Friday it has acquired the majority stake in Mercury TFS, a Spain-based company that specializes in software solutions that automate the end-to-end management of trade finance transactions for corporate customers, for €30 million. According to Banco Santander, the transaction… Read More

March 13, 2020 @ 7:50 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) banking sector has become increasingly competitive due to the significant increase in the number of Fintech firms in the Middle Eastern country. The UAE has also established (for the most part) progressive regulatory guidelines and is in the process of… Read More

March 13, 2020 @ 6:50 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

MakerDAO, a leading Ethereum (ETH)-powered decentralized finance (DeFi) credit facility, is reportedly planning to conduct a MKR governance token auction within two days from now. This marks the first time that this type of event will take place in Maker’s history. The MKR auction, called… Read More

March 13, 2020 @ 3:44 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

The overall demand for IT workers in the UK’s Fintech industry has been increasing steadily, despite the political and economic uncertainty in the country. There has been a 5.9% yearly growth in the number of financial technology jobs in the UK. This, according to the… Read More

March 13, 2020 @ 2:48 pm By JD Alois  |  

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has annunced a €1 billion “Solidarity Package” of measures to help companies across its regions deal with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The EBRD said this is an initial response to the crisis and the Bank… Read More

March 13, 2020 @ 2:06 pm By JD Alois  |  

In a sign of the rather desperate times, Bookmaker.eu has posted odds on Coronavirus impact events. As professional sports events are shuttered and pretty much all school events have been postponed, the oddsmaker claims that necessity is the mother of invention. Current event trader Rick… Read More

March 13, 2020 @ 12:55 pm By JD Alois  |  

Innovate Finance has decided to cancel its annual event, IFGS, the flagship event of UK Fintech Week. IFGS was scheduled to take place on April 20-21 at Guildhall, London. Innovate Finance joins a growing list of events and conferences that have been canceled or postponed due… Read More

March 13, 2020 @ 12:16 pm By Omar Faridi  |  

Nets, an established Nordic payments firm, has reportedly decided to acquire Polskie ePłatności (PeP) in a transaction that would value the Polish merchant acquirer at around €405 million (appr. $454.3 million). PeP’s business is focused on services that are typically required by small and medium-sized… Read More

March 13, 2020 @ 11:36 am By Andrew Mitchell  |  

It is fair to say that Brexit dominated headlines in the final few years of the 2010s. After the UK made the historic decision to forge its own future outside of the European Union [EU], many people and businesses were naturally concerned as to what… Read More