Management Today UK | by Conrad Thompson | Sep 21, 2018

Brexit is an opportunity for regulators to enable innovation while protecting wider society, says PA Consulting's Conrad Thompson.

The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org

The Rise Of Direct Listings: Understanding The Trend, Separating Fact From Fiction

December 13, 2019

Fenwick & West LLP | Ran Ben-Tzur and James D. Evans | Dec 5, 2019 Just What Is a Direct Listing? For people not familiar with the term, a direct listing is an alternative way for a private company to "go public," but without selling its shares directly to the public and without the traditional underwriting assistance of investment bankers. In a traditional IPO, a company raises money and creates a public market for its shares by selling newly created stock to investors. In some instances, a select number of investors may also sell a portion of their holdings in the IPO, although in most instances this opportunity is reserved for very large stockholders or employees and is not made broadly available to other pre-IPO stockholders. In an IPO, the company engages investment bankers to help promote, price and sell the stock to investors. The investment bankers are paid a commission for their work that is based on the size of the IPO—usually 7 percent in the case of a traditional technology company IPO. In a direct listing, a company does not sell stock directly to investors and does not receive any new capital. Instead, it facilitates the re-sale of ...
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Executive Perspectives on Top Risks 2020

December 13, 2019

Protivity | Dec 12, 2019 A constantly evolving geopolitical landscape that is trending toward nationalism, an ever-present concern over cyber threats, increasing market disruptions caused by “born digital” organizations and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technologies, and the effects of tightening labor markets are just a handful of concerns voiced by organizational leaders around the globe. Add to these the devastating impact of hurricanes and other natural disasters, continued apprehension over interest rates, uncertainty in war-torn regions of the world, polarization of political viewpoints, the ease with which information can go viral via social media and other digital platforms, and ongoing negotiations to settle Brexit. See:  Navigating the Great Reset: Fintech in Canada in 2020 These are but a few of the many drivers of uncertainty affecting the 2020 global business outlook. Concerns that foretell a rapidly changing business environment and the potential for unwelcome surprises vividly illustrate the reality that organizations of all types face risks that can either disrupt their business model over time or damage brand image and reputation almost overnight. Insufficient focus on and attention to the web of complex enterprise wide risk events of varying velocity, persistence and severity are likely to threaten an ...
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Withdrawal of Canadian Banks an Opportunity to Remedy Mistakes

December 13, 2019

Caribbean360 | Sir Ronald Sanders | Dec 12, 2019 WASHINGTON, United States, Thursday December 12, 2019 – The untidy and muddled way in which Canadian banks are withdrawing from the countries of the Commonwealth Caribbean is a direct result of insufficient attention being paid by governments to the terms of their entry at the time. Commonwealth Caribbean countries are those that were former colonies, or are still territories of, the United Kingdom (UK). It is reported that: “Beginning in 1955, a former governor of the Bank of Canada and director of the Royal Bank of Canada, Graham Towers, along with a representative from the Ministry of Finance, helped write the Bank of Jamaica law of 1960 and that country’s Banking Law of 1960. These laws, which became the model for the rest of the newly independent English Caribbean, pleased Canadian banks”. Quite extraordinarily, the major Canadian banks that established in the Commonwealth Caribbean did so on a letter of comfort; they did not invest a cent in capital, other than what was needed to satisfy the start-up of operations. From the time they opened their doors to now when they are closing them, Canadian banks were mere custodians of the ...
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Navigating the Great Reset: Fintech in Canada in 2020

December 12, 2019

Remillard Consulting Group | Richard Remillard | Dec 11, 2019 At this time of year, predictions for 2020 are starting to rain down with as much frequency as occurs in Vancouver in the winter months. At the risk of waterlogging readers and, hopefully, with slightly more accuracy than weather forecasters in the era of climate change here are some fearless predictions for what might stay the same and what might change next year – and what to do about it. The Big Picture: The Great Reset We are decidedly in the midst of several upheavals in the relations between nations, between corporations and between individuals. Relations between the US and China, between the European Union and Great Britain, between Russia and Ukraine are shifting tectonically, with uncertain outcomes on all fronts. Nevertheless, it looks like President Trump will survive impeachment by the Democrats and get re-elected. The US economy remains very strong, there have been no new messy foreign entanglements, stock markets are up, and there’s bipartisan consensus on getting tough with China. And, he can chalk up a USMCA in the win column. Similarly in Canada, the governing Liberal party will still be in power in twelve months’ time, ...
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Hyperion Technologies announces Lisa Cheng as new CEO

December 11, 2019

Hyperion Technologies Release | Dec 10, 2019 VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Hyperion Technology Inc. (Hyperion) is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Lisa Cheng as the new CEO and the transition of Mr. Michael Zavet to the role of President. Lisa Cheng states “I’m thrilled to join Hyperion’s team and I’m very excited for the opportunity of leading the company towards its goal of developing the seminal unified exchange for all classes of digital assets. Michael Zavet has done a tremendous job in building relationships and brand awareness for Hyperion, including establishing key partnerships, such as its relationship with the Delaware Board of Trade (DBOT) Alternative Trading System. I plan on continuing this trend and expanding Hyperion’s vision to include solving the broader issues in the digital assets sphere.” Michael Zavet states “We are very fortunate that Lisa has agreed to join and lead Hyperion. I believe as one of the early pioneers in the blockchain space combined with her talent in developing platforms, Lisa will bring to Hyperion a significant advantage in reaching its goals.” Podcast:  Gearing up Hyperion Exchange, Hybrid Models and Security Tokens with Michael Zavet, Founder, Hyperion Technologies About Hyperion Technologies Based in Toronto, Canada, ...
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Can Blockchains Give You Competitive Advantage?

December 11, 2019

Forbes | Alison McCauley | Dec 11, 2019 Blockchain executives call the tech a team sport. They speak about industries joining together to build blockchain platforms that drive value for all participants. But, put bluntly, what’s the point? Both the tech and our understanding of how to use it is raw—making this an expensive, uncharted sport to play. Why invest if your competitors will benefit? I’ve been asking execs working at the front edge of the technology this question: if competitors all have access to the same platform, then what new competitive advantage can come from blockchains? Here’s what they shared: Smart Companies Understand There Are Multiple Angles Two themes emerged from these conversations. First, while the main investment trigger right now is solving high-pressure problems that plague everyone in an industry, there was a belief that once a blockchain platform is in place, smart companies could discover ways to use it that could deliver competitive advantage. See:  Red Cross boosts disaster-prone communities with blockchain ‘cash’ Secondly, executives observed that the new functionality blockchains make possible could arm blockchain-natives with new tools to attack long-standing value chains. In this case, investment is preventative, employed to stay ahead of disruption. Think ...
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UK: New Peer to Peer Lending Rules Kick in on December 9th: “A Watershed Moment for P2P”

December 10, 2019

Crowdfund Insider | JD Alois | Dec 10, 2019 New peer to peer lending rules come into effect on Monday, December 9th. The new rules were the result of a review by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The UK largely created the entire sector of peer to peer lending. One of the most prominent sectors of Fintech, P2P lending has emerged as a viable asset class generating better risk-adjusted returns in a low-interest rate environment. While not without a few growing pains, P2P has been a net positive for both credit markets and for smaller investors seeking higher rates of return on their money. At the time the updated rules were announced in June of 2019, the FCA stated: “[The] P2P sector had developed a wider, more complex, range of business models. Many platforms in the sector are now taking a much more active role, by taking decisions on behalf of the investor. In addition, we explained that we had also seen some poor business practices, for example, in disclosure of information to clients, charging structures, wind-down arrangements, and record-keeping.” The response by platforms has mostly been positive with some questioning if the net effect will be to dim ...
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Bei­jing Launches Fin­tech Reg­u­la­tory Sand­box with Cen­tral Bank Back­ing

December 10, 2019

China Banking News | Dec 5, 2019 Bei­jing Launches Fin­tech Reg­u­la­tory Sand­box with Cen­tral Bank Back­ing The Bei­jing mu­nic­i­pal gov­ern­ment has an­nounced the launch of a new pi­lot scheme for fin­tech reg­u­la­tion. On 5 De­cem­ber the Bei­jing mu­nic­i­pal fi­nan­cial reg­u­la­tor an­nounced via its of­fi­cial web­site that Chi­nese cap­i­tal was “tak­ing the lead in launch­ing fin­tech in­no­va­tion reg­u­la­tory tri­als, and ex­plor­ing the es­tab­lish­ment of an ac­com­mo­dat­ing and pru­den­tial Chi­nese-edi­tion ‘reg­u­la­tory sand­box.'” Ac­cord­ing to the an­nounce­ment the new trial is be­ing launched with the guid­ance and sup­port of the Chi­nese cen­tral bank, and has the goal of es­tab­lish­ing Bei­jing as a “na­tional tech in­no­va­tion cen­tre and na­tional fi­nan­cial reg­u­la­tory cen­tre.” The Bei­jing fi­nance reg­u­la­tor said that it would ap­ply “soft reg­u­la­tory meth­ods” that in­volve open in­for­ma­tion, prod­uct no­tices and joint su­per­vi­sion. Ac­cord­ing to its an­nounce­ment the goal is to drive fin­tech in­no­va­tion and qual­ity and ef­fi­ciency im­prove­ments in fi­nan­cial ser­vices, un­der the pre­con­di­tion that li­censed fi­nan­cial in­sti­tu­tions com­ply with laws and reg­u­la­tions, and pro­tect the rights and in­ter­ests of con­sumers. Xin­jing­bao re­ports that Bei­jing mu­nic­i­pal­ity has ap­proved 46 fin­tech trial pro­jects Continue to the full article --> here China Banking News | Dec 5, 2019 Chi­nese Cen­tral Bank Flags For­mu­la­tion of New Fin­tech and Blockchain Stan­dards The Peo­ple’s Bank ...
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Corporate venture capital deals hit new record as banks invest in fintech competitors

December 10, 2019

CNBC | Kate Rooney | Dec 10, 2019 Key Points Investments by financial services firms into start-ups hit a new record in this year, according to a new report by CB Insights. Total corporate venture capital deals by banks and other financial services firms have surged 500% from 2014 through the third quarter of 2019. Citi Ventures has been the most active, followed by Goldman Sachs’ private investing arm. Venture investing is becoming increasingly popular for banks as they look to diversify as their key profit engines get squeezed by falling interest rates. There’s also pressure from new fintech options debuting the same services with zero fees. See:  Goldman Sachs is slashing employee pay as it ramps up new tech ventures like the Apple Card Corporate venture capital funding is at an all-time high and banks are leading the charge. Investments by financial services firms into start-ups hit a record 329 deals worth a total $8 billion in 2019, according to a report by CB Insights published Tuesday. Nearly half of that deal activity this year came from banks.The third quarter saw the highest deal activity on record by financial services venture capital. A handful of established companies — from Google ...
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FrontFundr Further Expands Investor Access to Private Investment Deals

December 10, 2019

FrontFundr Release | Dec 10, 2019 Canada’s largest equity crowdfunding platform connects to DealSquare, a centralized platform for private placements TORONTO, Dec. 10, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Silver Maple Ventures Inc. is pleased to announce new synergies between its two fintech platforms designed to enable robust investor access to private market deals and further simplify the transaction process. FrontFundr, Canada’s leading equity crowdfunding platform and exempt market dealer, has officially become a participating dealer on DealSquare, Canada’s first centralized dealer platform for private placements. The team at Silver Maple Ventures is excited to be first movers in providing widespread investor access to private market deals, digitally connecting capital-raisers to all investors, investment dealers and their advisory networks. “In recent years, the private markets have been growing twice as fast and producing 3-4% higher returns than the public markets, but the average retail investor hoping to diversify their portfolios have traditionally been locked out and unable to participate. With FrontFundr, all investors can get in on the private market action,” says Peter-Paul Van Hoeken, Founder and CEO of Silver Maple Ventures Inc. “The synergies work both ways. On the one hand, FrontFundr can now make its private placements available to other dealers ...
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