Anti-Money Laundering systems and controls continue to make news in the wake of the high profile failures of 2012. On 5 February, the proposal for the updated EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive was finally released. The proposal imposes a number of new requirements significantly increasing the scope and volume of firms’ KYC processes likely to be required by 2014.
Benchmark manipulation and fallout from it is not new news, but the global drive to regulate benchmarks is. Europe has made the first move to controlling benchmark manipulation but global co-ordination is needed to create an approach that works for everyone.
European payment processor Equens plans to offer a number of services to the Dutch business community to support them in the migration to Single Euro Payments Area formats
New rules and regulations for financial benchmarks following the Libor scandal will come into effect next Monday, says the Financial Services Authority, and will follow the recommendations of the Wheatley Review.
The shift to SEPA offers significant benefits to businesses – from lower bank fees on euro payments and direct debits to opportunities to streamline processes.
The European Central Bank says that the speed of adopion of direct debits in line with the Single Euro Payments Area standards is “unacceptable” and urged regulators and payment service providers to make greater efforts to push the instrument or risk damaging the reputation of the scheme.
As Europe’s new EMIR derivatives regulation takes hold, senior buy-side representatives have warned that new rules including EMIR and Basel III might actually exacerbate risks rather than reduce them.
Major global banks have praised the FinTech Innovation Lab London, a project which partners senior bank executives with startup companies, for helping to energise the development of innovative new products in financial services, at an investor day presentation in London City Hall this morning.
PKO Bank Polski has added a mobile payment service that covers all payment situations using the Mobile Everywhere platform from Stockholm-based Accumulate.
The Royal Bank of Scotland has announced a new product intended to help clients migrate to mandatory SEPA standards. Called the RBS SEPA Accelerator, the product has a feature that allows a corporate implementing the SEPA XML file format to independently initiate, monitor and amend file testing, validation and end-to-end simulation. This ensures that a corporate can self-test its SEPA readiness.
SEPA solutions specialist Sentenial has completed its planned investment in the Benelux Region with the opening of a fully-supported operational office in Amsterdam and the relocation and expansion of its Brussels office.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron gave a speech earlier this week in which he promised to hold a referendum on UK membership of the EU by 2018, if he is re-elected. The speech reflects pressures not just in the Conservative party, but fundamental differences in Europe as a whole over how to approach financial markets and the wider economy.
Europe’s businesses are unprepared for the arrival of the Single Euro Payments Area in February 2014, with many completely unaware of its consequences, according to new research by IT business services provider Steria.
