Temenos to create financial technology powerhouse as Fidessa agrees takeover
The boards of Temenos and Fidessa have reached an agreement on the terms of an all-cash takeover of the UK-based trading technology supplier in a transformational deal for the Swiss core banking vendor. Under the terms of the transaction, Fidessa shareholders will be entitled to receive £35.67 in cash for each Fidessa share, a 36.9% premium to the firm’s closing price of £26.05 on 16 February. Shareholders will also be entitled to receive and retain a final dividend and a special dividend in respect of the year ended 31 December 2017 together amounting to 79.7 pence in aggregate per Fidessa share. The transaction, which is expected to close in the […]
Fintech Raisin crosses the channel to offer services to UK Savers
Savings marketplace Raisin has launched in the UK. The Berlin based Fintech has been expanding across the European continent but today they have crossed the British Channel to offer their services to UK savers. Raisin provides an interesting service that leverages technology to help savers to save more. Users of their site can shop around for higher interest rates on their money – regardless of their geographic location. Working alongside its first partner bank BACB, Raisin.co.uk offers savers the convenience of a single registration process to apply for multiple savings products. Raisin reports that it is currently on-boarding additional UK banks to the platform and will build a marketplace with […]
UK start-ups attract record £8.27bn investment
UK start-ups raised more money in equity investment last year than ever before, new research shows, as foreign investment cash flooded into the country. Data from the research firm Beauhurst, which specialises in tracking growth businesses, shows UK start-ups picked up £8.27bn worth of funding during 2017, more than twice as much as in 2016. Last year was also a record year for megadeals, with no fewer than 29 companies attracting investments of more than £50m. These businesses were led by Improbable, which raised £389m from the Japanese technology investor SoftBank Capital, and Farfetch, which raised £313m from the Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com. Other large funding rounds included TransferWise’s raise […]
The most important FinTech Innovations that will change our lives in the near future
Technology is affecting the topography of workflow and processes in the financial services industry. What was once handled with the assistance of human hands, physical currency and bulky computers has now been completely digitalized. It is an undeniable expanse of financial services globally and that has bred a fertile ground for FinTech startups. Start ups are reimagining every kind of financial activity including wealth management, banking, payments and more. And these innovations have attracted massive investment too. This financial technology or FinTech revolution has left the traditional financial industry with a poignant question – how to stay relevant in this digital age and avoid being history? The advantage lies with […]
Cybersecurity dominates EU Fintech Action Plan
Cybersecurity takes top billing in the European Union’s upcoming Fintech Action Plan, with a draft emphasising efforts to improve cooperation and coordination between market participants and regulators. Recognising its potential threat to the stability of the financial sector, the European Parliament has called on the EC to make cybersecurity “the number one priority” in the FinTech Action Plan. In response, a plan draft identifies three specific moves: A public-private workshop to investigate barriers limiting information-sharing on cyberthreats, followed by a look into how these can be fixed. A call for the three European supervisory authorities (ESAs) to map, by Q1 2019, the existing supervisory practices across financial sectors around ICT […]
Fintech start-ups continue to disrupt the established order
Fintech start-ups are developing innovative new solutions to shake-up the financial services sector; established banks are having to decide whether to collaborate or compete. Banks have been the dominant force in the financial sector for decades, but it is very possible that this is about to change. Emerging financial technology start-ups are challenging this authority, demonstrating levels of commitment to innovation and agility that long-established financial institutions cannot compete with. According to a recent report by PwC, more than 80 percent of existing fintech firms believe they are losing revenue to more innovative rivals. Much of the fintech-related discussion concerns how banks can compete with the new kids on the […]
Weiss has issued its first cryptocurrency ratings, ranking Ethereum above bitcoin
The securities ratings firm is the first to give a rating to cryptocurrencies. Weiss Ratings has ranked Ethereum as “better” than bitcoin, as well as the EOS coin in its first cryptocurrency ratings. Bitcoin received a C+ rating from the firm, due to the fact that its network has some serious bottlenecks which have resulted in long transaction delays and fees. Weiss acknowledged bitcoin’s core developers were looking to address these issues, with the likes of the Lightning network, however it noted that there is no immediate mechanism for promptly. Ethereum’s B rating was received due tot he fact it benefits from more readily upgradeable technology, with a development team […]
CoinShares announces two new flagship funds
CoinShares Group, the group behind the first bitcoin and ether exchange traded notes (Issued by XBT Provider AB) and the team behind the world’s first regulated bitcoin strategy (GABI), is announcing two new flagship crypto investment funds. The two funds: CoinShares ‘Active’ Fund – a multi-coin, alpha-generating, active strategy; and CoinShares ‘Large Cap’ Fund – a passive, large-cap, basket fund; represent a natural evolution of market approaches based on the current trajectory of the crypto-asset economy. This announcement follows the group’s October launch of the first Ether Tracking, Exchange Traded Products on Nasdaq Stockholm. These ETPs now comprise more than $350M of assets less than 4 months post launch. “As […]
