Fintech, Finance, Technology, Banking Highlights – 1 February 2018
Shenyin Wanguo Fortune Investment Limited is latest Horizon client in China
Horizon Software (Horizon), provider of electronic trading solutions and algorithmic technology to the world’s exchanges, banks, brokers and fund managers, announced that Shenyin Wanguo Fortune Investment Limited, has chosen the Horizon Platform for Algo and Options Market Making to expand its trading business in Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange (ZCE).
Shenyin Wanguo Fortune Investment Limited is a subsidiary of Shenyin Wanguo Futures, one of China’s most respected trading corporations. Acknowledged as one of China’s largest futures trading companies, it operates a full range of services in an extensive business network; Shenyin Wanguo Futures is a full-license member of the Shanghai Futures Exchange, Dalian Commodity Exchange, Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange and China Financial Futures Exchange.
HE Xiaoming, General Manager at Shenyin Wanguo Fortune Investment Limited, said: “When Shenyin Wanguo Fortune Investment Limited started a detailed research and evaluation process for our new Algo and Options Market Making business, we evaluated a number of platforms and it quickly became clear that the Horizon platform matched our key expectations; it also has a good reputation for providing the highest level of service. The Horizon platform is able to support all the commodity asset classes in which we’re interested. The system can be easily extended and the flexibility allows us to quickly create multiple strategies and run market making. Our research showed Horizon to have a very positive reputation in international markets, as the market-leading system for trading and market making options. We were impressed by the outstanding support services; we are really satisfied with our partnership.”
Coconut launches business current account for self-employed
Coconut has launched a new smart current account combining banking and accounting services, designed specifically for the UK’s ever-growing freelance and self-employed workforce.
The app-based business current account will prepare customers for HMRC’s ‘Making Tax Digital’ which starts rolling out from April 2019. Coconut features automated tax management and expense tools, giving customers visibility into how much tax they owe with a real-time estimate, while also categorising their expenses for tax and allowing them to stay on top of client payments with instant notifications.
The Coconut Start account which ultimately aims to eliminate tax returns, is free and can be opened in minutes on a mobile – instead of waiting for weeks which is the current norm. The app will offer optional extra services, such as VAT management.
Recent data from Coconut’s Self-Employment Survey highlights how money becomes complicated business when you work for yourself. Unexpected tax bills, unpaid invoices and financial admin are holding people back from finding financial security, with a quarter of respondents admitting that budgeting for taxes is one of the top five headaches when working for yourself. Keeping track of expenses (24%) and completing tax returns (22%) were also high on the list of challenges that self-employed people face, with almost a quarter storing their receipts in a box waiting to be sorted at the end of the year.
Speakerbus and Insightful Technology create unique partnership to drive compliance and business efficiency throughout the trading lifecycle
Speakerbus and Insightful Technology are pleased to announce the formation of a dynamic new partnership designed to drive enhanced compliance capabilities and improved productivity throughout the enterprise.
The combined solution facilitates seamless integration, enabling detailed analysis of all voice trading conversations, together with all other multimedia trading data. Everything is delivered in real-time, provided via a single, hierarchical view of all business interactions globally.
The new solution integrates Speakerbus’s entire portfolio of high-performance trading management solutions with Insightful Technology’s Soteria software, a multimedia capture, analytics, e-surveillance and case reconstruction platform. This best-in-class offering of hardware, management software and service will provide many benefits. For the first time, financial institutions can achieve excellent voice capture quality, real-time analytics, and proactive monitoring features, including extensive keyword and phrase searching, and real-time alerting on any type of voice data, as well as other stored written multimedia. Businesses will also be able to drastically reduce their reliance on backroom equipment and the associated costs relating to multiple licences that have historically been required for trading and silo-based data storage.
Revolut launches cryptocurrency platform
Revolut announced the official launch of their much-anticipated cryptocurrency feature, allowing all Revolut customers to buy, hold and exchange cryptocurrencies in-app in seconds, as the innovative fintech continues to disrupt traditional banking and bring cryptocurrencies to the mainstream.
All Revolut customers will now be able to join the waiting list and gain access to the exclusive cryptocurrency feature allowing users to buy Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ether in 25 currencies.
In a further move to offer frictionless exposure to cryptocurrency, customers will be able to buy cryptocurrency in all 25 base currencies, eliminating foreign exchange fees for those looking to buy their cryptocurrencies in currencies such as Swiss Franc or Polish Zloty.
The entire exchange will take just 30 seconds, making Revolut the fastest and easiest way to buy and sell cryptocurrency. Revolut customers can then securely hold their cryptocurrency within the Revolut app or transfer their Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum to other Revolut customers instantly, and for free.
