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THE UK RETAINS RANKING AS EUROPE’S MOST ATTRACTIVE DESTINATION FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES INVESTMENT
According to data from EY, the UK acquired 99 investment projects in financial services in 2019. However, in 2020, just 49 were acquired, a significant drop that puts the country only 14% ahead of France.
The latest EY UK Attractiveness Survey for Financial Services found that foreign investment fell by 23% across Europe in 2020, as the pandemic impacted business confidence and foreign travel.
THE EVER-INCREASING NEED TO APPLY FRICTIONLESS BANKING TECHNOLOGY TO CROSS-BORDER TRANSACTIONS
There has been a real drive towards ‘frictionless’ banking in Western countries, giving rise to the question: why aren’t cross-border payments equally frictionless? Especially for those in emerging markets, who have everything to lose and much to contribute.
BUSINESS TRENDS WHICH WILL DEFINE THE NEXT NORMAL
2021 is expected to be a year of change, with businesses around the world optimistic that the months ahead will be brighter than what 2020 dealt us. Many of the micro trends that companies thought would be temporary measures throughout the pandemic have become macro trends that are here to stay. These are a few of the trends that small businesses and entrepreneurs should be watchful of in order to maximise their efforts and enhance the likelihood of success.
UK GOVERNMENT APPOINTS NEW TASK FORCE TO TACKLE GREENWASHING IN FINANCIAL SECTOR
Members of trade bodies, academia, and NGOs will make up the task force, known as the Green Technical Advisory Group (GTAG). The GTAF will be responsible for overseeing the government’s delivery of a “Green Taxonomy”. This common framework will offer comprehensible standards that lay out when a financial product or investment can be classed as environmentally sustainable.
FRENCH AND SWISS CENTRAL BANKS TO TRIAL DIGITAL CURRENCIES
A statement made on Thursday announced that the Swiss National Bank and the Banque De France will look into the feasibility of a cross-national arrangement of two wholesale central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) on blockchain. The SNB has enlisted a private sector consortium (including R3, UBS, and Credit Suisse) which will be led by Accenture.
EL SALVADOR HAS BECOME THE FIRST COUNTRY TO ADOPT BITCOIN AS LEGAL TENDER
After a supermajority vote, in which Bitcoin Law received 62 out of 84 of the legislature’s vote, the digital currency will become legal tender in El Salvador. The Republic of El Salvador is the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, with the price of bitcoin up by 5% soon after the vote.
SPACS – ANOTHER BUBBLE THAT’S DEFLATING
SPACs are very much a child of this age of fervid expectation, which was founded in how quickly the adoption of new tech is going to change the world. Everything from space tugs to hydrogen cars was apparently possible – whatever the realities of profits and costs suggested. Just a few months ago SPACs were perceived to be the simplest route into hot new companies across the disruptive tech market – new EV makers, spaceships, health and sports firms.
UK PATENT BOX SCHEME SET TO BECOME AN EVEN MORE VALUABLE TAX BENEFIT
The UK Patent Box scheme is set to become an even more valuable tax benefit in the near future. With Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement of higher corporate tax rates from 2023, larger and more profitable companies in the UK will be able to enjoy even greater savings on profits qualifying for Patent Box relief.
Currently, Patent Box allows UK companies to benefit from a reduced 10% corporate tax rate for income derived from qualifying intellectual property, rather than the standard 19%.
M1 FINANCE SELECTS FORMPIPE AS PART OF ITS ROLLOUT OF THE TEMENOS BANKING CLOUD
Formpipe Software announced today that M1 Finance, The Finance Super App™, has selected Lasernet to support its output and document management requirements as it rolls out its Invest, Borrow and Spend products for its hundreds of thousands of clients on the Temenos Banking Cloud.
Brian Barnes, founder and CEO of M1 Finance recently announced his purchase agreement of The First National Bank of Buhl, a nationally chartered bank, and M1’s partnership agreement with Temenos. Both agreements are part of a strategic growth and product diversification plan that adds retail banking to M1’s brokerage platform.
EASYCASH: AN INTEROPERABLE EPAYMENT SUITE POWERED BY WALLET FACTORY LAUNCHED IN EGYPT
EasyCash, a revolutionary digital wallet solution for effortless online payments, has been recently soft-launched for iOS and Android users in Egypt.
EasyCash has become the first mobile payment application for Wallet Factory that was made to align with the Egyptian interoperability market standards for QR code-based digital payments and acceptance. Via seamless integration through Mastercard and Meeza, the nationwide payment network system, EasyCash enables users to make online payments and access funds wherever, whenever and however they choose.
MAJOR INVESTORS BACK TRADESHIFT’S COMBINED SAAS AND FINTECH PLATFORM CONNECTING THE WORLD’S SUPPLY CHAINS
Tradeshift has secured more than $200m in funding and debt from a combination of existing and new investors, including Koch Industries, one of the largest privately held companies in the US. Participation also came from IDC Ventures, LUN Partners, Private Shares, and Fuel Capital who increased their existing stake in Tradeshift’s combined portfolio of enterprise SaaS, marketplace, and fintech products serving the world’s most dynamic B2B community of digitally connected buyers and suppliers. The capital will be used to optimize Tradeshift growth and balance sheet to continue scaling the business.
ZSUITE TECHNOLOGIES ANNOUNCES INTEGRATION WITH Q2’S DIGITAL BANKING PLATFORM
ZSuite Technologies, a financial technology company that powers community financial institutions with digital escrow products for specific commercial verticals, today announced its API integration with Q2’s Digital Banking Platform, leveraging the Q2 Innovation Studio. Through the integration, Q2 clients will be able to take advantage of ZSuite’s solutions via the Q2 Partner Accelerator Program.
Q2’s Partner Accelerator program allows in-demand financial services companies who are leveraging the Q2 SDK to pre-integrate their technology to the Q2 Digital Banking platform. Financial institutions can work with these partners to purchase their solutions and rapidly deploy the standardized integrations to their customers.
TRUIST ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMERCE PLATFORM COMPANY AUTOFI
Truist Financial Corporation , through its Dealer Finance and Regional Acceptance business groups, today announced a partnership with commerce platform company AutoFi. Under the agreement, financing options will be available to clients who are shopping for a car through a dealer that partners with Truist or Regional Acceptance as well as the AutoFi platform. This will enable clients to create and submit an online credit application.
NUMERATED ACQUIRES FINCURA TO TAKE THE PAIN OUT OF FINANCIAL SPREADING FOR BUSINESS LENDERS AND THEIR BORROWERS
Numerated, the Inc. 5000’s fastest-growing fintech SaaS company, has acquired Fincura Inc., adding spreading automation and financial analysis to Numerated’s Digital Loan Origination System. The strategic acquisition expands Numerated’s underwriting capabilities for business loans that require deep financial analysis, improving the experience for lenders and their borrowers, and ultimately saving valuable time while improving the financial institution’s understanding of risk.
BLOCKCHAIN SECURITY SOLUTION PROVIDER CYBAVO SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN TOKYO FINANCIAL AWARD
Blockchain security firm CYBAVO has been selected as a participant for the Tokyo Financial Award, Financial Innovation Category. Chosen from a pool of 88 applicants, CYBAVO is one of the 16 companies that have moved into the next phase of the prestigious award.
The Tokyo Financial Award is hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) as part of its “Global Financial City: Tokyo” project, which aims to revitalize the city’s financial sector and reaffirm Tokyo’s position as the top global financial city in Asia. The award is designed to attract FinTech companies, both local Japanese and international organizations, to develop and provide innovative products and services that contribute to enhancing Tokyo residents’ daily lives and solve problems that Tokyo’s government may face.
XY FINANCE RAISES $12M FUNDING ROUND FROM INVESTORS INCLUDING CIRCLE
Rapidly growing blockchain startup XY Finance has announced that it has closed a $12M funding round led by some of the most prominent venture capital firms in the cryptocurrency space. Led by investors including Circle Internet Financial, LLC, Infinity Ventures Crypto, Mechanism Capital, TRON Foundation, Morningstar Ventures, Yield Guild Games Ventures, Block Capital and Animoca Brands, the full consortium includes more than forty investment firms.
The fund raise also comes as XY Finance is about to conduct its Initial DEX Offering (IDO) on December 9. “XY Finance is excited to acquire significant support from our investors. In the near future, the cross-chain mechanism will be a game-changer of the DeFi ecosystem and GameFi market.” says XY founder Wilson Huang. “Including cross-chain transactions, GameFi, and NFT, what we’re doing will become essential for advanced DeFi users; therefore, we are eyeing more than $1 trillion transaction growth in 2022.”