Category: Financial Services

equiti logo
January 15, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

Equiti Gains In-Principle Approval to Launch Investment Fund

It marks the inaugural product under its newly introduced platform, Equiti Wealth, aimed at offering diverse wealth management solutions tailored to long-term investment needs. The Equiti Global Balanced Fund is designed to provide investors with access to a wide array of professionally managed funds, with a minimum investment threshold set at $1,000.  "Today signifies a…

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Clearstream
January 15, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

Euro Route to Romanian Bond Market Opened by Clearstream

The international central securities depository of Deutsche Börse Group explained that the development, achieved in partnership with BRD Groupe Société Générale and the Romanian central securities depository, Depozitarul Central, allows international investors to invest directly in Romanian government and corporate bonds through their existing Clearstream accounts. The move is expected to enhance market access and…

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January 15, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

CFPB Sues Capital One: Says Company Cheated Consumers Out of Over $2bn in Interest Payments

The lawsuit alleges that Capital One deceived customers about its 360 Savings accounts, promising "best" and "highest" interest rates while freezing those rates at low levels despite rising interest rates across the market. The CFPB further claims that Capital One simultaneously introduced a similar product, the 360 Performance Savings account. This is said to have…

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January 14, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

Thunes and Hyperwallet Expand Payout Access Across Asia-Pacific

Hyperwallet is a PayPal service for global payouts. The partnership lets Hyperwallet's customers send real-time payments to over 450 million mobile wallets and bank accounts in countries including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, and Vietnam. The company said the new alliance comes in response to the rapidly growing digital wallet usage in Asia-Pacific,…

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January 14, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

Worldline Extends KBC Partnership in New 6-Year Agreement

The new six-year agreement will see Worldline continue to provide issuing and transaction processing services for KBC in the Belgian market. Furthermore, the renewed partnership is expected to build on a strong foundation of trust and co-creation between the two companies, aiming to support KBC's ambitions in the financial sector.  Worldline’s customer-centric solutions and service…

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Robinhood app on mobile
January 14, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

Robinhood to Pay SEC £45m in Penalties

The SEC order found that Robinhood failed to comply with a broad spectrum of regulations.  These are said to include delays in investigating and reporting suspicious transactions, inadequate measures to safeguard customer data from identity theft, and failing to adequately address a cybersecurity breach that compromised user data.  “Today’s order finds that two Robinhood firms…

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HKEX
January 13, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

OTC Clear to Accept China Government Bonds as Collateral for All Derivatives

The announcement follows approval from the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), and the People's Bank of China. HKEX explained that the initiative allows international investors holding these bonds through Bond Connect to use them as margin collateral for OTC derivatives. Initially implemented for Northbound Swap Connect, OTC Clear expects…

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CME Group
January 13, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

CME Group's International ADV Reaches a Record High in 2024

The derivatives marketplace firm said the growth reflects heightened trading activity outside the United States, driven by significant gains across various product categories. The Energy sector led the surge with a 31% increase in ADV, followed by Metals at 27%, Agricultural at 25%, Interest Rate products at 12%, and Foreign Exchange products at 10%.  "We…

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FINRA
January 10, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

Investments for You Fined $25,000 for Supervisory Failures

The Ohio-based broker-dealer was found to have violated several FINRA rules between June 2020 and September 2024. According to FINRA’s investigation, Investments for You did not implement policies to comply with Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI), which mandates brokers to act in the best interest of retail customers.  “Investments for You failed to establish and…

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January 10, 2025 BY Sam Boughedda

Bank Alfalah Acquires 9.9% Stake in Jingle Pay

Describing Jingle Pay as “one of the fastest growing fintechs in the MENAP region,” Bank Alfalah said the investment highlights “its commitment to driving digital transformation.” Jingle Pay, well-known for its AI-powered tech stack, processed over 2 million transactions and facilitated more than $1 billion in international money transfers in 2024, saving customers over $6…

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