In her speech, during the Fintech Festival in Singapore, Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director, recognized that digitalization has its influence on the financial sector. So she said: “A new wind is blowing, that of digitalization. In this new world, we meet anywhere, any time. The town square is back – virtually, on our smartphones. We exchange information, services, even emojis, instantly… peer to peer, person to person. We float through a world of information, where data is the “new gold”- despite growing concerns over privacy, and cyber-security. A world in which millennials are reinventing how our economy works, phone in hand. And this is key: money itself is changing. We expect it to become more convenient and user-friendly, perhaps even less serious-looking.”
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The Financial Stability Board (FSB) published its 2018 Resolution Report and is also launching for public consultation a discussion paper on financial resources to support central counterparty (CCP) resolution and on the treatment of CCP equity in resolution. The report updates on progress in implementing the framework and policy measures to enhance the resolvability of systemically important financial institutions and sets out the priorities for the FSB’s resolution work going forward.
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The European Commission issued its latest reports on steps taken by Bulgaria and Romania to meet their commitments on judicial reform and the fight against corruption, and in the case of Bulgaria organised crime, in the context of the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism. The report on Bulgaria looks at the progress made over the past year to meet the final 17 recommendations issued by the Commission in the January 2017 report and positively notes Bulgaria’s continued efforts and determination to implement those recommendations. The Commission is confident that Bulgaria – if it pursues the current positive trend – will be able to fulfil all the remaining recommendations and thereby the outstanding benchmarks. This will enable the Cooperation and Verification Mechanism process for Bulgaria to then be concluded before the end of this Commission’s mandate – in line with the orientation given by President Jean-Claude Juncker when he started his term of office.
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Cappitech, a leading provider of regulatory reporting and intelligence technology for the financial services industry, announced the results of a survey of over 100 European buy- and sell-side compliance decision-makers.  The survey examined how MiFID II regulation has affected financial services organisations and how these plan to tackle new regulations such as Best Execution and RTS27/28 in order to improve their business processes.
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The European Central Bank (ECB) published its expectations regarding institutions’ internal capital and liquidity adequacy assessment processes (ICAAPs and ILAAPs). The guides, which are not legally binding, will be applied from 1 January 2019 and replace the expectations published in January 2016. They aim to assist banks in strengthening their ICAAPs and ILAAPs, and to encourage the adoption of best practices.
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More than 15 million people in the UK* routinely miss out on refunds, replacement products and getting problems sorted because they don’t know how to complain with confidence, new research reveals. In a study for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is encouraging people to check if they were mis-sold PPI and make a complaint before they miss their chance, 28% of Brits admit they put up with situations including queue jumpers, sub-standard meals and poor service because they lack the confidence and know-how to speak out.
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More than 15 million people in the UK* routinely miss out on refunds, replacement products and getting problems sorted because they don’t know how to complain with confidence, new research reveals. In a study for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is encouraging people to check if they were mis-sold PPI and make a complaint before they miss their chance, 28% of Brits admit they put up with situations including queue jumpers, sub-standard meals and poor service because they lack the confidence and know-how to speak out.
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The BIS’s Financial Stability Institute (FSI) and the G20’s Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) convened the fourth biennial conference on global standard-setting bodies (SSBs) and innovative financial inclusion on 25-26 October 2018 in Basel, Switzerland. The conference came on the heels of the launching at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Annual Meetings of the Bali Fintech Agenda – a 12-element blueprint for harnessing fintech’s opportunities, including for financial inclusion and financial sector development, while mitigating emerging risks to vulnerable retail customers and to the integrity and stability of the global financial system.
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It was a clash of old and new. In the lobby of Brussels’ Plaza Hotel were ornate chandeliers, royal portraits and a marble staircase. In the adjacent conference room, compliance officers from across Europe were discussing how the latest trends in technology can help them meet the growing risks to businesses. The experts agreed that some of the most promising risk technologies leverage artificial Intelligence, blockchain and biometrics.
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The European Central Bank has revoked the licence of Malta’s Pilatus Bank after its chairman was arrested in the US on money-laundering charges. Malta’s Financial Services Authority announced the move, saying it had called on the ECB to take action. Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed by a car-bomb a year ago, accused the bank of processing corrupt payments.
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