Switzerland begins consultation on new fintech regulations
During its meeting on 1 February 2017, the Federal Council initiated the consultation on amendments to the Banking Act and Banking Ordinance in the fintech area. The revision should ensure that barriers to market entry for fintech firms are reduced and that the competitiveness of the Swiss financial centre is enhanced. The consultation will last until 8 May 2017. The proposed amendments to the Banking Act (BankA) and Banking Ordinance (BankO) aim to regulate fintech and other firms which provide services outside normal banking business according to their risk potential. A form of deregulation with three supplementary elements is being proposed: First, the exception provided for in the Banking Ordinance […]
Announcing the APAC Blockchain Conference, Sydney, Australia
Quest Events are excited to announce the launch of the APAC Blockchain Conference, developed in partnership with the Australian Digital Currency Commerce Association (ADCCA) and supported by Australian FinTech, set to take place from 7-9 March 2017 in Sydney. The event will focus on identifying the opportunities and overcoming the challenges to make revolutionary blockchain technology a reality. By bringing together over 40 blockchain leaders from across Australia and further afield, the event aims to deliver a comprehensive insight into how blockchain can be commercially implemented and the challenges that still need to be overcome. Key speakers that can be highlighted include: Joseph Lubin, Co-Founder, Ethereum and Consensys Ahmed Fahour, […]
Global online lender Spotcap partners with Heartland Bank, launches in NZ
European-based online lender Spotcap today announces a partnership with NZX-listed New Zealand bank, Heartland, with the bank providing Spotcap’s Australian operations with A$20million of funding. At the same time, Spotcap today launches its New Zealand operations in Auckland, further cementing Asia Pacific as one of the fastest growing regions for global fintech. * Spotcap provides flexible and accessible funding solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with unsecured credit lines and business loans of up to $250,000. Rather than basing credit decisions on historical financials, Spotcap has developed a unique, proprietary credit algorithm which provides deep insight into the financial condition of a business, enabling quick, sound credit decisions. “We […]
The Emergence of Fintech in Indonesia
Financial technology, or more popularly called ‘fintech’, can be defined as a phenomenon in which technology and financial features go hand in hand in altering the traditional financial institution business models and discovering solution alternatives to customers’ financial experience. Like other businesses, fintechs are established to answer consumers’ needs, challenges and wants. In this case, the emergence of financial technology is no exception. There are at least four main challenges surrounding the potential and necessity of fintech in Indonesia. Firstly, the large amount of unbanked population. It is estimated that only 40% of Indonesia’s 250 million population currently have access to banking services. Secondly, the large amount of underserved small […]
Silicon Valley giant grows stake in UK fintech star TransferWise
One of the early backers of Facebook is increasing its stake in TransferWise, a British financial technology pioneer, in a move that will be hailed as a vote of confidence in UK start-ups. Sky News has learnt that Andreessen Horowitz, a prominent name in Silicon Valley, has agreed to buy a chunk of shares held by TransferWise’s initial ‘angel’ investors. Andreessen is said to have agreed to the purchases in recent weeks at a valuation broadly consistent with TransferWise’s last major fundraising in May 2016, according to people close to the situation. Founded by two former Skype employees, TransferWise has grown rapidly since its launch, and now acts as a […]
Queensland Treasury Corporation opts for Wolters Kluwer’s integrated Finance, Risk and Reporting technology platform
Australia’s Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC), the Queensland Government’s central financing authority, has gone live on Wolters Kluwer’s integrated OneSumX Finance, Risk, and Regulatory Reporting technology platform. QTC chose the solution to further enhance the authority’s strategic data and reporting capabilities while advancing its technology capability to meet market demand for their products and services. The OneSumX solution provides QTC a fully integrated data environment with the necessary controls to interrogate, verify, and review information across the spectrum of their business. It takes on data from the organization’s strategic Core, Treasury, Finance, and third party systems to enable a full framework for reconciled reporting across risk and finance. The organization […]
Peer-to-peer loans hedge fund LendingRobot combines robo-advice with blockchain
Alternative lending investment platform LendingRobot combines robo-advice with blockchain technology to make the fund fully transparent to investors. The investment platform also uses the cloud and offers a dollop of machine learning to enhance returns. The Seattle-based hedge fund will only invest in peer to peer loans: Lending Club, Sofi, Funding Circle and the like, allowing investors exposure to thousands of loans at once across consumer credit, small business loans, and even real estate loans. For investors, the returns in investing in these loans are extremely stable income-generating assets (people tend to pay them back), noted a spokesman. Historical returns on peer lending for investors average around 7%, while returns […]
Jack Ma’s Ant Financial Buys MoneyGram for $880 Million
Ant Financial, the financial technology company controlled by billionaire Jack Ma, stepped up its international expansion by buying U.S. money-transfer service MoneyGram International Inc. The $880 million transaction, Ant’s second U.S. deal, will connect MoneyGram’s network of 2.4 billion bank and mobile accounts with Ant’s customers. Ant, which was once part of Alibaba, is seeking to expand abroad amid increasing competition from Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s Wechat payment system at home. The MoneyGram deal will further that goal, following recent partnerships with Paytm in India and Ascend Money in Thailand. “This gives us a very attractive business that’s already quite engaged with a substantial consumer base in the U.S.,” said Douglas […]
