Germany's central bank is testing the use of blockchain technology in securities settlement; the central bank has partnered with Deutsche Börse to build a prototype; the prototype system is expected to be able to transfer electronic securities and digital coins also performing functions for coupon payments and redemptions of securities. Source
A survey of 70 traditional UK financial services firms by Mayer Brown has quantified the benefits of fintech partnerships in the financial services industry; 100% of survey participants said they would purchase a product or work directly with a fintech company over the next three years and 49% of respondents said they were currently working with a fintech firm in a joint venture partnership; other highlights from the survey report found that 87% of respondents could reduce costs after a fintech partnership, 83% of respondents were able to refresh their brand and 54% of respondents increased revenue. Source
The London-based startup that focuses on millennials raised 450,000 British pounds in seed funding from Passion Capital, with participation from Jason Butler; the funds will be used to build out the team and continue product development on Finimize MyLife; the company's Finimize MyLife product is a free online financial advice platform for millennials that provides anyone with a detailed and personalized financial plan guided by research and algorithms. Source
The Ranger Direct Lending Fund has reported plans for share issuance totaling 200 million British pounds through 2017; the Fund currently has a 40 million British pound issuance planned for December; it also raised 30 million British pounds in July and 23.2 million British pounds in November of 2016; according to a statement from Ranger Direct Lending, "The company believes that debt instruments originated or issued by direct lending platforms are an attractive and growing asset class that have the potential to provide higher returns for investors than other, more widely available, fixed income products."; growth from the asset class and potential returns are factors driving the new issuances. Source
Two of Europe's largest incumbent insurance companies, Munich Re and Allianz SE, have begun investing in insurance startups; the deals show that insurance giants are beginning to see how technology is affecting their industry and they want to get in early; currently the focus has been on small investments into many companies; the startups focus on different areas of the market like insuring mobile phones or small electronics; similar to banks, it is worth keeping an eye on how insurance companies handle disruption and innovation. Source
In its annual Autumn Statement, the UK Treasury reported investment of 2.4 billion British pounds for research and development in financial innovation; 2 billion British pounds will be allocated to an innovation fund and 400 million British pounds will go to a venture capital investment fund managed by British Business Bank; in comments regarding the Autumn Statement, Chancellor of the Exchequer Phillip Hammond said the investment was to help the UK continue "leading the world in disruptive technology." Source
Challenger bank, Masthaven, launched to offer savings and lending products that they say traditional lenders have ignored; they are the UK's first owner-owned bank where 80% of employees own the bank; the bank uses "smart technology" to help customers meet certain savings goals or decide on loan products they feel would be right for them; Masthaven has been around since 2004 as a specialty lender and will also break into the mortgage market in 2017. Source
In Europe, slowing venture capital investment in fintech has caused increased reliance from the industry on traditional banks; as Brexit concerns have affected the fintech industry, traditional banks have increased their investment with more corporate and strategic participation in venture capital deals in Europe for the third quarter of 2016; over the last five quarters significant large bank investors in fintech have included Citigroup Inc., Banco Santander SA and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.; as the European market evolves with a number of regional factors continuing to affect both fintech companies and banks it is likely that more banking partnerships and fintech acquisitions will occur. Source
Germany's Federal Ministry of Finance has published a report on the emerging fintech sector; the report finds 433 fintech companies with 346 of the companies actively in business; robo advice had the highest annual growth rate; of the 433 firms, 13 were crowdlending companies with nine of the platforms actively in business; other highlights include transaction volume by segment and industry growth rates. Source
Flender, a marketplace lending platform in the UK, is seeking to raise 500,009 british pounds from an equity crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs; the company offers P2P loans through a mobile application; the firm's business model seeks to connect borrowers with lenders in their social network helping to facilitate social network lending. Source
