Fintech, Finance, Technology, Banking Highlights – 5 September 2018
ING reaches settlement agreement with Dutch authorities on regulatory issues in the ING Netherlands business
ING announced that it has entered into a settlement agreement with the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (DPPS) relating to previously disclosed investigations regarding various requirements for client on-boarding and the prevention of money laundering and corrupt practices.
Under the terms of the agreement ING has agreed to pay a fine of €675 million and €100 million for disgorgement.
ING has fully cooperated with the DPPS investigation. It has also undertaken an internal investigation, the results of which have been shared with the Dutch Central Bank (DNB). The investigations established serious shortcomings in the execution of policies to prevent financial economic crime (FEC) at ING Netherlands in the period investigated (2010-2016). The identified broader shortcomings include: CDD files missing or being incomplete, assignment of incorrect risk classifications, the failure to have the (periodic) CDD review process in order, failure to exit business relationships in a timely manner, insufficient functioning of the post-transaction monitoring system, classifying clients in the wrong segments and insufficient availability of qualitative and quantitative human resources.
SIX completes acquisition of SECB
SIX has held a 25% stake in SECB (Swiss Euro Clearing Bank GmbH) since 1999.
The other shareholders are the Swiss banks UBS, Credit Suisse and PostFinance, each with a 25% holding. SIX, in its capacity as the core infrastructure service provider of the Swiss financial center, is SECB’s largest client.
The purpose of SECB’s business is to provide the connection to the main euro clearing systems and to process payment transactions in euros, primarily for banks and financial institutions in Switzerland and Liechtenstein but also in other countries.
In its role as a payments bank for banks, SECB acts as a correspondent bank for these institutions, but at the same time, as the manager of the euroSIC system operated in Switzerland by SIX, it is tasked with supervising and monitoring the system. In addition, it acts as a liquidity manager for the system and as a settlement agent for the system participants.
“The initiative for the acquisition came from both companies,” says Hans Joachim Michel, CEO of SECB Swiss Euro Clearing Bank GmbH. “In many respects we see ourselves as a payments service provider with a banking license.“ The interoperability of the two companies underscores the efforts to work together on the market to an even greater extent in the future. SECB will thereby continue on its successful path as an interface for multilateral payments.
SIX CEO Jos Dijsselhof: “In line with the strategy that SIX is pursuing, our acquisition of the shares in SECB offers us the opportunity to maximize the benefits for the Swiss financial center. We intend to expand the client base and the product portfolio. This will underpin our efforts to strengthen the positioning of SIX as a provider of core infrastructure services for banks, and ultimately for the entire Swiss financial center. In that way we will also strenghten the competitiveness of the Swiss financial center.”
PensionBee integrates with open banking
Existing PensionBee customers are now able to see their live pension balance within the money app Yolt, signalling a new era of transparency and empowerment for UK pension savers.
Yolt, the smart thinking money app with more than 300,000 registered UK users, is the first personal finance app to show your live pension balance alongside other financial accounts such as your bank account, credit card and ISA accounts.
This announcement comes as it continues its vision to become the only money app consumers need on their phone. The PensionBee integration comes alongside the money app’s plans to expand its partner platforms across three key sectors: utilities & bills, financial products and leisure & experience.
Clare Reilly, Head of Corporate Development, PensionBee said:
“The Yolt-PensionBee integration is a game-changer for UK pension savers, who have sadly been left languishing in the 20th century for far too long. Today’s announcement firmly establishes pensions as part of the Open Banking revolution; a pension balance should be on a smartphone – and not in a drawer! Logging into Yolt to manage your entire financial universe is the future that pension savers have been waiting for.”
