The Financial Conduct Authority's Director of Strategy and Competition Christopher Woolard has reported some concerns over fintech regulations globally; in a speech at the Innovate Finance Global Summit in London, Woolard specifically discusses fintech sandboxes noting concerns about establishing them before any government regulatory standards are in place and suggesting that countries institute some guidance before introducing sandbox initiatives; the UK has been a leader in sandbox innovation and the country plans to publish a full report in May on its first sandbox initiative. Source
As a fund with access to 355 venture capital funds the European Investment Fund (EIF) was able to analyze European venture capital activity from 1996 to 2015 in their new report; the report points out that new funds performed almost as well as seasoned funds in selecting winners when economic times were good; on the contrary when economic times are not as fruitful the skilled venture capitalists were better at picking companies and avoiding big losses; the big takeaway from the report is that the real skill involves avoiding the big disaster investment in tough economic times. Source
Lend Academy provides insight on achieving success from this year's Fintech Woman of the Year finalists; highlights include visualizing success, setting goals and learning from experiences; the article also includes a link to a recent Exchanges at Goldman Sachs podcast where Goldman Sachs' global co-head of the Industrials Group in Investment Banking shares her career advice. Source
CB Insights reports on the venture capital industries top investors in unicorn exits; Sequoia Capital ranks first on the list of investors investing in unicorn startups with private market exits during 2009 to March 2017; Sequoia Capital has invested in 18 companies with unicorn exits including fintech company Square Capital. Source
Innovate Finance and the Financial Conduct Authority have published a preview report on the UK Fintech Sandbox with a full report planned for May 2017; the preview report provides insight on the benefits of fintech sandboxes and how they can promote innovation while also helping to facilitate regulation. Source
Broadridge Financial Solutions, J.P. Morgan, Northern Trust and Banco Santander have reported a blockchain solution for increased transparency in proxy voting; the pilot solution can provide daily reporting on proxy voting throughout a company's proxy voting period; the solution is built on the Ethereum blockchain platform and can also provide for enhanced proxy voting analytics. Source
Fintech startup Meniga is one of Europe's leading bank service providers; the firm has developed solutions including software that connects legacy banking tech infrastructure with modern APIs for new digital customer experiences; it also offers banks technology solutions for complying with P2D2 regulations; it is working with some of the world's largest banks to integrate digital solutions. Source
Starting on April 14th consumers in India will be able to use their Aadhaar ID number to make payments; in theory this could replace payment services like PayTM and debit and credit cards; the Aadhaar Payments System (APS) will allow consumers to use their fingerprints to complete a transaction so long as they have an APS linked bank account; the system is not without drawbacks as there are privacy concerns and the entire system is based around data protection; this does fit in with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's move to a cashless society, though it remains to be seen how everyday consumers will utilize it. Source
Deloitte has released a report on global fintech hubs with London reported as the strongest fintech hub for the second consecutive year; the report was generated in collaboration with Innovate Finance and released at the Innovate Finance Global Summit in London; the report results were based on six main factors including: access to technical expertise, proximity to the customer base, regulatory framework, government support, innovation culture and international diversity. Source
Experian will integrate BioCatch with its fraud prevention platform; the new platform services will use behavioral biometrics to help clients detect fraudulent credit card and loan applications; with BioCatch clients can consider a range of factors including the speed at which information is entered and how familiar a user is with the application process. Source