Insights

The blockchain industry “will not survive” if it fails to show workable solutions, solve its reputation crisis, and get funding to innovators pushing new use cases, according to Lisa Short, co-founder of Mind Shifting, who was speaking on a panel at London Blockchain Week. “We have to start having some real honest conversations... read more

Ambiguity around financial counterparty categorizations due to the delay in the implementation of the update to the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (Emir), remains of concern for small financial counterparties (FCs) that fear they won’t qualify to avoid clearing obligations, according to Roger Cogan, head of European public policy... read more

The slow adoption of blockchain solutions has little to do with the maturity of the technology but rather the speed at which it changes and the politics behind the consortia required to build the infrastructure, according to Adi Ben-Ari, CEO of Applied Blockchain. “We’ve found that in many environments the benefits could be... read more

Although firms have become wary of risks and significant costs as they begin to prepare for the transition from the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) to the Sterling Overnight Interbank Average Rate (Sonia) as the benchmark interest rate, the process of moving to the new rate doesn’t have to be as strenuous as many believe. That’s... read more

Over the past few years, technological advances, regulatory changes and the introduction of a range of new market participants has driven efficiencies and opportunities across the payments world, but the fast-changing nature of the industry has created the need for systematic, forward planning. That’s according to Eleni Coldrey, business... read more

Eyes around the world are watching to see the outcome of the UK’s exit from the EU. With the March 29, 2019 Leave date looming, LPs in the UK and Europe face an increasingly volatile market. Britain and the EU have yet to come to an agreement on Brexit terms, which casts a shadow on the alternative investment landscape in both regions, and... read more

Adobe, the stock content platform, is straying more and more outside of its traditional heartlands to offer digital KYC solutions in an attempt to reduce the cost of compliance for its financial services customers. “Our customers tell us they can achieve huge time and cost savings, reduce error rate and calls to contact centres and deliver... read more

Major tier one banks are putting pressure on trading venues to provide a much more compliant Securities Financing Transaction Regulation (SFTR) confirmation file from the beginning, according to Jonathan Lee, a senior regulatory reporting specialist at Kaizen. “Pretty much everyone in the chain is looking for ways in which to cut costs and... read more

The US handles almost a quarter (22.6%) of all bitcoin volumes, according to coin.dance statistics, yet regulators across the country’s 50 states have different rulings on the legality and usage of virtual currencies. Under the Supremacy Clause (Article VI, Clause 2) of the Unites States Constitution, in the case of conflict between... read more

Inadequate onboarding procedures have led to incomplete know your customer (KYC) compliance, and resulted in ongoing remediation projects to deal with the back log of accounts, according to Phil Masterson, senior vice president and managing director of SEI’s Investment Manager Services division. “We are aware of several remediation... read more