Category Archives: Financial Software

Financial Software

Banks, Business, Currency, Financial, Financial Information, Financial Management, Financial Services, Financial Software, Financial Solutions, Forex, Investment, Money, Profits, Trading

Saxo Bank Releases New Asia Focus Video

Saxo Bank, the online trading specialist, has released a new Asia Focus Video which features Andrew Robinson, Forex Analyst for Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore, analysing the People’s Bank of China’s decision to lower its reserve requirement ratio, whether it’s a taste of more cuts to come and how much it is a clear signal that the world’s second-largest economy is really slowing after all.

The unexpected People’s Bank of China’s announcement that it will lower its reserve requirement ratio on December 5, representing the first cut in three years, initially surprised markets and started a risk-on sentiment, particularly in equities and incited market hunger for more monetary easing.

As such, reserve requirement ratio cuts rarely come in isolation and more are likely soon, probably as early as next month, confirmed Andrew Robinson, FX Analyst, Saxo Capital Markets. He said the timing of this easing has to do with the flow of data of late which has pointed to a slowing in the economy and that it was acknowledgement of this situation. Furthermore it pre-empted the latest purchasing manager index data which confirmed a contraction scenario for the economy.

Commenting on the recent data from China, Andrew said: “Last month’s data was looking particularly soft and the expectations for this month are not particularly encouraging. If we look at the data that’s been coming out recently, it’s certainly suggesting that the market is slowing down.

“I think this is a pre-emptive move by the PBOC and they’re looking to continue it and build the economy.”

The focus in the coming days will now shift to inflation data with more declines in the consumer price index and an even greater drop in the purchasing prices index seen. Combined, this confirmation of a softening in price pressure effectively removes a hurdle the People’s Bank of China was facing in terms of the freedom to continue to ease monetary policy.

The video can be viewed at http://www.tradingfloor.com/blogs/macro-ad-hoc/more-chinese-easing-as-price-pressure-abates-removing-pboc-hurdle-1126984016, with many other forex videos available on the Saxo Bank site.

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APT from SunGard – Top Choice For Risk Management

The APT solution from SunGard is proving to be an invaluable product for risk management companies.

Neptune Investment Managers, a company recently named Best Boutique Fund Group at the 21st annual Money Marketing Financial Services Awards, have chosen to use Sungard’s APT across their funds. Neptune currently has over £7 billion assets under management.

Gavin Creary, risk officer at Neptune Investment Management, said, “The integration of APT is designed to augment our risk management processes and will help add significant value company-wide.”

APT will be used across Neptune’s UCITS funds. “UCITS is fast becoming a global regulatory standard,” said Dushyant Shahrawat, senior research director at TowerGroup, a Corporate Executive Board company. “As organizations try to mitigate risk, investors value the transparency UCITS offers as risk reporting has become an important compliance mandate for investment managers.”

APT is an alternative investment solution offering flexible risk reporting, portfolio construction and rebalancing via optimization, and related professional services.

Rob Mackay, chief operating officer of SunGard’s APT business unit, said, “APT will help Neptune’s fund managers gain a clear perspective on the drivers of risk and return. APT’s flexible analytics are easily integrated into Neptune’s existing infrastructure, helping it benefit from robust risk management and risk reporting.”

APT serves more than 200 asset managers, hedge funds, private banks, prime brokers, pension funds, funds of funds, wealth management groups, consultants, administrators and custodians globally. APT is a data-rich solution meaning that customer data requirements are minimised. It also offers the widest range of global multi-asset class coverage.

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Business, Checks, Credit Cards, Currency, Financial, Financial Services, Financial Software, Financial Solutions, Forex, Mobile banking, Money, Online Banking

Atos And Travelex Strengthen Partnership With Major New Contract

Atos, the international IT services company, has announced that it has signed a major five year contract with Travelex, the world’s leading specialist provider of foreign exchange and international payments for consumer and business customers.

Under the five year agreement Travelex and Atos Worldline, which represents Atos’s high-tech transactional services, will collaborate to provide enhanced cross-border card payment capabilities.

The partnership will allow shoppers at over 72,000 point of sale machines in Atos Worldline’s participating merchant network in Europe to pay in their preferred currency. Travelex Currency Select enables acquirers to provide shoppers with transparency, certainty and choice at the point of sale.

Atos Worldline has global experience in providing merchant acquirers with payment solutions. Travelex also effectively operates as an acquirer in its own right with its global ATM network as well as its own “direct-to-market” merchant acquiring business.

Atos believes that this expertise in foreign exchange complements Atos Worldline’s position as a leading commercial acquirer in Europe with a significant merchant portfolio, especially in the Benelux region.

Atos Worldline and Travelex plan to deploy the cross-border card payment functionality solution on card-present (POS) and card-not-present e-Commerce channels to European merchants in 2012.

Commenting on this announcement, Peter Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of Travelex said: “This deal demonstrates our ability to develop and deploy innovative foreign exchange payment solutions in growth market segments that are outside our traditional retail sphere. Atos Worldline is the ideal partner with deep expertise in card acceptance solutions and payments in general. We look forward to growing our joint business together.”

Joe Edwards, Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing, Atos said: “Through our partnership with Travelex, we can provide them with our specialist expertise in electronic transactions, which is essential to the growth of their business. We already have a very solid relationship with Travelex by supporting their e-commerce strategy, and we are looking forward to cementing this relationship further.”

Earlier this year, Atos and Travelex further extended their relationship via a Systems integration (SI) agreement. Atos has been a key supplier of IT solutions and services to Travelex for some years and continues to provide support and delivery capabilities across the Travelex IT estate.

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Saxo Bank Enables Online Islamic Trading

Saxo Bank A/S, the online trading and investment specialist, has enabled its clients to identify and trade Islamic compliant stocks and ETFs on more than 25 exchanges worldwide. The Bank selected IdealRatings Inc., a leading global Islamic compliant fund management service provider, as the most reliable source for identifying Islamic compliant instruments globally.

The compliance reasoning is based on commonly accepted and transparent Islamic guidelines defined by IdealRatings and Shariah Review Bureau with operations in Jeddah, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and Manama. More than 12,000 stocks and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are screened and researched on a monthly basis by IdealRatings.

Jakob Beck Thomsen, Regional head of Middle East and CEO Saxo Bank (Dubai) Ltd., said: “Islamic finance is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world today and we are excited to enable our clients to identify and trade Islamic compliant stocks online. IdealRatings is the industry’s most trusted brand for identifying and researching Islamic compliant stocks and we are confident in offering their data to our clients.”

Mohamed Donia, CEO of IdealRatings, added: “Saxo Bank A/S has always been an innovator and market leader in providing its clients with quality financial services and we are delighted to partner with them to provide this reliable information for their discerning investors.”

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The Choice Of His Broker Binary Options

The choice of his broker of binary options can sometimes be very complex, especially if we begin and if we do not still know the world of the on-line investment. The strategie-binaires.com site helps you to make the best choice.

Before beginning to trade by means of the binary options, it will be necessary for you to pass by an indispensable stage, the choice of your broker or on-line broker. Now, the brokers proposing this type of investment being more and more numerous on internet, the choice can sometimes turn out complicated, especially when we begin. It is then to help you to make the best possible choice that the strategy-options.com site decided to help you by explaining to you what are elements important to compare between each of the offers. Know besides that strategy-options.com also realized a comparative degree of the main brokers with for each of them precise explanations regarding their advantages and inconveniences.

In the meantime, here are some rules simple to apply during the choice of your partner broker of binary options:

The general characteristics of the brokers of binary options:

Before interesting us in the technical details, it is essential to have a particular attention on the general characteristics proposed by the broker whom you will choose.

According to your budget, you will also have to look at the conditions of deposits and at the minimum amount asked for each of the proposed options. Useless indeed to ruin you in a single investment there where other brokers will ask you for a less important amount of transaction. Once this detected information, you can also take into account offers of welcome proposed by the quasi-totality of the on-line brokers. These offers can take various forms (bonus of deposit, refund of the losses) and asks an in-depth study to determine which one is the most interesting. For that purpose, consult the present general conditions on the concerned sites. Do not also forget to verify expenses connected to the cash withdrawal and the extensions announced in this direction.

Finally, to guarantee you a legal resort in case of dispute, think of choosing only the brokers being approved by the European authorities in on-line investment and in brokerage.

The technical characteristics to be verified:

Once the general characteristics were studied and the best offers were brought out of the lot, you can proceed to a study of the technical constituents of each of the brokers. For that purpose, you have to know the main platforms of trading proposed on the market or inquire with the broker when this one developed only the technical solution. Among platforms the most spread on the market, we find very qualitative Metatrader who offers possibilities of evolution and very interesting programming for little that we are able of establishing complex strategies.

In every case, opt even there for a platform completely translated or developed in English to guarantee you an optimal use of each of the given tools.

Concerning these tools, their number and their quality also varies from a platform to the other one. To know which one of these platforms will offer you the services which you really need, think of determining in advance a list of indicators which seem to you essential in good investments. Useless indeed to block you of superfluous tools which will finally return your transactions less intuitive and more complex, especially if you are novices in trading. Before choosing a broker of binary options, think of testing systematically their platform thanks to the accounts of demonstration.

To know the main brokers of the market and their advantages and inconveniences, consult our evaluations on www.strategy-options.com.

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Vebnet Reveals Lack Of Appreciation Of The Benefits Package Is A Major Concern For Employers

Vebnet has revealed that for the third year running, over half of HR directors and rewards chiefs (56%) say lack of employee understanding or appreciation of benefits is their number one concern, yet the potential for better communication and greater financial education is still to be exploited by many.

This is one of the main conclusions to be drawn from the Annual HR Reward Survey*, conducted in partnership with employee benefits and solutions provider Vebnet and leading long term savings and investment company Standard Life.

Other findings of the annual survey were:
– Less than a third (31%) of employers say they conduct frequent employee research to help them understand their employee’s views and concerns around rewards and benefits.
– Just over a third (34%) of employers confirm their reward and benefit communications are personalised for each employee.
– Over half of employers (52%) don’t currently offer their employees any financial education and have no plans to do so.

Richard Morgan, director of consultancy at Vebnet, commented: “Many people are seeing an erosion of their income in real terms, thanks to pay freezes and inflation. So a drive for greater employee understanding and engagement has never been timelier. Benefits are typically worth 20-25% of salary and demonstrating this is an important message that is likely to be very well received in the current environment. More than ever, employees are likely to want to gain a much better understanding of how to plan for the future and to be extremely receptive to support in this area.

“But it appears that many employers are deferring addressing this issue. Clearly HR directors and benefit chiefs have many things to contend with just now, such as headcount reductions and budgets being squeezed. But they also need to tackle the issue of engagement and understanding head on. I believe the spotlight is about to turn towards engagement and that financial education is set to become as important as “wellbeing” in the workplace.

Ann Flynn, Head of Corporate Marketing at Standard Life added: “There is no doubt that the right communication is vital when it comes to employee engagement and with the introduction of auto-enrolment it can only gain in importance. We’ve already carried out additional research into auto-enrolment, which shows that when people are presented with the right information in the right way, they engage more and are likely to understand the value of their company pension scheme and stay opted in. That’s why Standard Life and Vebnet are working closely with employers to ensure the right communications are used to help drive engagement so that employees have a full appreciation of the benefits their employers are providing.”

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Saxo Bank Receives Best Active Trading Tools Award At Shares Awards

Saxo Bank, online trading and investment specialist, has won the award for ‘Best Active Trading Tools’ at the annual Shares awards in London.

The Shares awards aim to recognise those organizations providing both innovative and high quality of service to the world of retail investment. The awards provide a platform for traders and investors to voice who are the best in the business.

Henrik Dyrholm Holst, Head of Platform Management at Saxo Bank, commented on the win: “Saxo Bank is proud to have been awarded for providing the industry’s leading trading tools. Saxo Bank is renowned for our online forex trading but SaxoTrader is a multi-product trading platform offering clients a wide range of opportunities to trade the world’s capital markets, from FX Options and Futures to CFDs on stocks, indices and commodities as well as popular investment products such as Stocks, Bonds and ETFs. We have continuously focus on making the trading experience for all types of traders as positive and intuitive as possible, and clearly guide users through the broad range of features on the platform. In 2011 we have also upgraded the platform with winners/losers stock in intraday real-time across all 23 stock exchanges covered by Saxo Bank. In addition, we continue our investment in optimizing and adding new trading tools and are happy to announce the imminent launch of our cutting edge trading apps for both Android and iPhone.”

Saxo Bank’s trading platforms have defined the company’s success in the online trading space for over a decade. Since introducing the SaxoTrader in 1998, Saxo Bank has enhanced and improved its platforms to meet the evolving needs of forex traders and investors in a continuously changing industry.

Shares is the leading weekly publication for stock market professionals and private investors and as such is read weekly by thousands of analysts, fund managers, stockbrokers, company directors and private investors. The Shares’ team of expert writers is highly regarded in the City and their comment frequently influences the market’s view of individual companies and their underlying share price. The magazine’s easy-to-read style and depth of analysis has made it the indispensable weekly read for those actively investing in the UK stock market today.

A full list of awards can be found at http://www.sharesawards.co.uk/awards/.

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Saxo Bank Releases New Video Commenting On Eurozone Crisis

Saxo Bank has released a macro view video featuring Steen Jakobsen, Chief Economist, analysing the situation for the Eurozone in light of heads rolling in the hot political seats of troubled nations, namely Greece and Italy. It goes without saying that despite the impending appointment of new heads of state the burdens in these nations are so heavy now that they can hardly be shrugged off.

Clean-up in both countries is a major task. While Greece is in the bailout phase and is undergoing a leadership change, the main focus is on Italy now which still has a chance to save itself. And it must as there is hardly a hand large enough to help the Eurozone’s third-largest economy. With the situation worsening by the hour though and the markets having clearly demonstrated a looming doomsday, with perilously high bond yield spreads, prompt action must be taken.

The problem in Italy is one of liquidity not solvency, unlike Greece, though it seems the difference hardly matters now in the eyes of investors. It is interesting to note that it only took Portugal, Greece and Ireland 14 days to ask the International Monetary Fund for help after their 10-year bond yield spread to German bunds passed 6.5 per cent, said Steen. Italy’s has been above 7 per cent for a few days now. So the pressure is definitely on Italy’s politicians in charge – whoever they might be – to activate reforms, move through austerity and create a credible plan. Until then the EURUSD is expected to remain under considerable pressure.

The full video, as well as other forex videos, can be found at video.saxobank.com.

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Experian To Create And Manage New Reference Database For The Payments Council

Experian, the global information services company, has been appointed by the Payments Council to create and maintain an industry database of corporate customers’ payment information. The central biller database, which will improve the accuracy of payments made using online and telephone banking, is scheduled to go live in late 2012.

Experian will collect, verify and standardise information from banks on how their corporate customers (billers) receive payments. The full database is to be used by banks to make it easier for online and telephone banking customers to find accurate information when paying their bills – for example, via simplified drop-down menus. The service will also benefit billers, who will find it easier to reconcile incoming electronic payments by providing more accurate billing information for customers to use.

The central biller database is an initiative from the Payments Council’s recently published National Payments Plan (2011-2014), forming part of the Payment Council’s programme of activity to enhance existing payment services through innovation.

Jonathan Williams, Director of Strategy at Experian Identity and Fraud comments: “Experian estimates up to a quarter of customer references are invalid or incorrectly formatted, increasing the time it takes to credit payments and sometimes preventing them from being credited altogether, particularly when bill issuers change their account details, switch banks, or are involved in a merger or takeover.

“This database will help ensure banks hold correct and up-to-date information for billers and it will give both corporate and consumer customers’ confidence their payment will reach the right recipient and will be processed quickly.”

Hilary Plattern, Head of Strategy for the Payments Council, said: “This innovative solution is a win-win: consumer customers making payments benefit from increased confidence in the accuracy of the information they use to pay bills online or over the phone, while companies can be confident their customers are using up-to-date bank account and sort code details, as well as correctly-formatted references.

“This new database is an excellent example of the Payment Council’s commitment to put customers’ needs at the centre of the way payment methods are designed. We look forward to working with Experian to develop and deliver this service.”

About Experian
Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 80 countries. The company helps businesses in the areas of fraud prevention and fraud solutions (including banking fraud), as well as helping to manage credit risk, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.

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SunGard APT Reporting Results

Amid the changing regulatory regime in Germany, SunGard Financial systems and Ampega Gerling GmbH, the asset management division of the Talanx Group, can report the successful implementation of the investment manager’s new risk management reporting systems.

In line with the regulatory requirements of Germany’s Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistleistungsaufsicht (‘BaFin’), APT will help the Ampega Gerling investment manager report and monitor Value at Risk (VaR) on a daily. The daily figures will then be analysed in batches of ten day periods to determine whether any outliers highlight a breach of the rules to be investigated and reported to BaFin, which requires reporting of breaches once a quarter.

SunGard Financial Systems provides mission-critical software and IT services to institutions in virtually every segment of the financial services industry. Their APT system can be implemented in buy-side operations to assist with portfolio analysis, risk management and regulatory reporting.

Rob Mackay, chief operating officer of SunGard’s APT business unit, said, ‘APT’s flexible batch risk reporting capability is a cost-efficient and effective solution that helps asset managers meet internal and external risk reporting requirements. Ampega Gerling is one of a growing number of German investment managers utilising APT’s risk management, BaFin compliance and risk reporting capabilities.’

Market risk management and transparent reporting is increasingly demanded by institutional and private investors but is only one of the financial management solutions offered by the SunGard.com/APT system, which can also be customised and scaled to provide portfolio construction and optimisation functions.

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Saxo Bank Releases New Asian Focus Video

Saxo Bank has released new Asian Focus video featuring Andrew Robinson, correspondent for Saxo Capital Markets, analysing the effect of the Bank of Japan’s latest yen intervention and the sustainability of further actions before year end. He also commented on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to cut rates, the first flow of PMI data in Asia and the noise surrounding the Chinese leader’s visit to Europe this week.

Japan’s Finance Minister Jun Azumi put his money where his mouth was with unilateral intervention to weaken the yen. This is the third intervention this year with estimates suggesting it is the largest one of the three. So far it has had the intended effect with the USDJPY holding at around the 78.0 level. History however shows that it could be a longer term struggle to keep it there as after the previous two interventions this year it took only about five days for the rate to drop back to pre-intervention levels. Concerning other action it is unlikely the Bank of Japan will instigate other measures like a trading floor for the pair, similar to the Swiss National Bank’s action, Andrew said.

The timing of the intervention ahead of the Group of 20 leaders initially took the market by surprise but in hindsight as Finance Minister Azumi had in recent weeks spoken almost daily about the problem of the strong yen it was ultimately only a matter of time before the Bank of Japan took action.

Meanwhile the Reserve Bank of Australia cut the official interest rate by 25 basis points for the first time since April 2009. Whether this is the beginning of a whole series of cuts or just a one-of is another story though and will depend largely on the development of the local economy and the degree of uncertainty globally. How effective the passing on of the cut by commercial banks to consumers will be on their spending behaviour will also remain to be seen.

Monthly Purchasing Managers Index data in the Asian region paints a mixed picture about the health of the manufacturing sectors with most attention on China and somewhat different stories being told by the official Chinese data and private sector equivalent report.

China is also drawing attention from its leader Hu Jintao’s visit to Europe during the lead up to the G-20 summit. Expectations are increasing that China will commit to supporting the European Financial Stability Facility but any announcement is hardly likely to occur before the G-20 meeting.

Further information and additional forex videos can be found at videos.saxobank.com.

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Saxo Bank Releases New Video Commenting On Eurozone Meetings And Greek Referendum

Saxo Bank has released a new macro view video featuring Steen Jakobsen, Chief Economist, Saxo Bank, taking a look at the expectations for three key meetings this week: the Federal Open Market Committee, the European Central Bank and the Group of 20 leaders. He also addresses the implications of Greece’s surprise referendum on its aid package and austerity programme.

Jakobsen commented that the G-20 meeting (November 3-4) needs to deliver actions rather than more supportive talk for the troubled Eurozone. Focus will be on the announcement of concrete financial measures of commitment via the International Monetary Fund in order to appease the prevailing uncertainty.

This uncertainty was exacerbated by Greece’s call for a referendum on its new aid package and austerity measures, thereby possibly threatening European leaders’ attempts last week to secure the Eurozone’s future.

Prior to G-20 the Federal Open Market Committee meets. Despite a spate of moderately encouraging US data of late the committee is expected to merely confirm a supportive wait and see approach and possibly only allude to a third round of Quantitative Easing.

The European Central Bank meeting, also this week, which is the first to be chaired by the new President Mario Draghi will be interesting to watch to see if he already now cuts rates and thereby reverses the apparent error of his predecessor.

Jakobsen commented that being Italian and with much focus on his troubled homeland, there is an expectation that Draghi will be even tougher on ensuring that Italy shapes up, particularly considering a disappointing bond auction last week which indicates the increasing problem Italy has in financing its debt.

The full video, as well as other forex videos, can be found at video.saxobank.com.

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Saxo Bank Reveals Leaders And Laggards Of The Q3 Earnings Season

Saxo Bank has released a new video examining the leaders and laggards of the Q3 earnings season.

With more than 20 percent of the benchmark S&P 500 companies having reported their results, the new video with Peter Garnry, Equity Strategist at Saxo Bank, not only looks at the leaders and laggards of the season but also what common threads, if any, there are across sectors.

The new equity video particularly focuses on the far reaching consequences of the Eurozone crisis on banking and financial entities plus the apparent invincibility (at least for now) of companies in the energy and technology sectors to the slowing economic growth of several key economies around the globe.

Peter Garny said: “We have said several times that we’re in favour of technology and energy stocks and this earnings season so far has proven that those two sectors are the fastest growing in terms of sales and profits.

“Going forward, we’re still positive on energy and technology stocks and relying on those two sectors due to their flexibility in terms of their operating model; they generate a lot of free cash flow and they have a very flexible balance sheet because they have a very low debt-to-equity ratio and the prices are very favourable.”

In the video he also looks at the biggest earnings surprise so far from Caterpillar, which is benefitting largely from a mining boom driven primarily by China’s demand for industrial metals and other mined materials used in manufacturing.

Peter likens the overall lack of expression and visibility concerning 2012 earnings outlooks as akin to radio silence with very few companies daring to speak up, and some actually even avoiding guidance on the fourth quarter despite relatively reliable revenues.

“Most of the companies are unable to give investors any guidance on where they see even the fourth quarter going. A lot of the companies are reporting very close to zero visibility on how their sales are coming in and we saw that Pepsi Co. couldn’t even say anything about 2012; they deferred and said they would give guidance on 2012 in mid-December. That’s a consumer stable company – they have pretty stable sales so that says a lot about the environment we live in now.”

Peter concluded by saying the industrial sector will be one to watch over the next quarter, as well as re-affirming the strength of the energy and technology sectors.

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Experian Data Shows Identity Fraud Attempts Double In First Half Of 2011

Experian, the global information services company, has released its latest Fraud Index which reveals that identity fraud attempts doubled in the first half of 2011, compared to Q4 in 2010. This pushed up the overall level of application fraud attempted against UK financial services firms for the third successive quarter. Experian also predicts a nine per cent increase in application fraud attempts during 2011*.

The analysis, published at Experian’s annual Identity & Fraud Forum, reveals that identity fraudsters were responsible for eight in every 10,000 applications made in Q2 2011 (April – June 2011), double the number of fraudulent applications recorded in the final quarter of 2010. This was driven by a 340% increase in current account identity fraud, from five to 22 in every 10,000 applications.

Experian’s analysis also highlights that 18 in every 10,000 applications for automotive finance, credit cards, insurance, loans, mortgages, current accounts and savings products made in the second quarter of 2011 were found to be fraudulent. These were five per cent higher than January to March 2011, and up nine per cent on the year.

Over the same period the number of first-party fraud attempts – where a genuine individual misrepresents their circumstances – remained constant at 10 in every 10,000 applications.

42 in every 10,000 applications for current accounts were detected as fraudulent between April and June 2011, up 20 per cent on the first three months of 2011 and 59 per cent higher than during Q2 2010. For the second quarter in a row, current accounts were the most targeted financial product by fraudsters.

Experian’s Fraud Index collects data from both the National Hunter and Insurance Hunterfraud prevention systems, which are managed by Experian on behalf of its clients. Both systems provide a way for financial organisations to protect against fraud by comparing applications with previously submitted ones and pinpointing inconsistencies.

Nick Mothershaw, Director of Identity & Fraud at Experian UK & Ireland, commented: “Identity fraud is back with a vengeance. Our analysis shows that we are witnessing a surge in the number of detected identity frauds, with current accounts the number one target in the UK. Fraudsters see the current account as an easier option, giving them a springboard for money laundering and from where they can also target more lucrative credit products such as mortgages, credit cards and loans.”

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Saxo Bank Continues International Expansion With New Office In Moscow

Saxo Bank, the online trading and investment specialist today announced the opening of a new representative office in Moscow in order to respond to growing demand by Russia’s sophisticated investor base.

The opening of the Moscow office is a strategic move by online trading specialist to strengthen and expand its position as a leading provider of online trading and investment solutions. The office will act as a broker boutique offering Russian investors a broad list of exchanges and instruments available through Saxo Bank’s award winning trading platform.

There have been promising developments in Russia this year, with retail sales growth accelerating in August reaching 7.8% year on year (y/y). Unemployment declined whilst real wage growth picked up to 3.9% y/y which has filtered through to every segment from discount to luxury. Consumers’ increasing maturity and sophistication has increased the HNW sector of the market and thus stimulated their risk appetite and desire for better returns, which fits Saxo Bank’s investor profile.

The Moscow office will be headed by newly appointed COO Igor Dombrovan, who said: “Sustainable success is driven by customer focus, and the new representative office will enable us to have greater access to clients in Russia. The Russian retail market has demonstrated solid growth rates over the last several years, making the sector one of the most actively developing markets in the economy. This has been fuelled by growth in the overall economy, growing consumption and an increasingly organised marketplace. The new office will enable us to further support and educate this growing market with its highly sophisticated investor base.”

Kim Fournais and Lars Seier Christensen, co-founders and CEOs of Saxo Bank, said in a joint statement: “While opening an office in Moscow is a strategic decision to support our European expansion and growth strategy, it has always been a priority for Saxo Bank. Russia has always been a good market for Saxo Bank because Russian clients are highly sophisticated investors. The new office will enable us to provide a more comprehensive on-the-ground service to clients and potential clients in the region.”

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ForexTrading.net Releases New Videographic on the Forex Market

ForexTrading.net, a new online forex magazine is aiming to keep users updated with all the latest happenings in the world of forex trading, through a videographic that has been published on the site.

The new videographic will give users of the site an overview of the forex trading market, and can even be embedded into users’ personal websites or blogs where it can be shared with other interested internet users.

Recent years have seen a number of changes in the forex trading market; not only has the number of people who trade in this manner shot up, but the way in which trading occurs is constantly evolving as well. For instance, in 2010 alone, cross-border trading transactions constituted 65% of trading activity. This implies the power of technology and its effects on the forex market.There has also been a rapidly growing disparity in algorithmic trading versus manual trading. In 2004, algorithmic trading only ranked at 2% of all trades, however in 2010 it comprised 45% of the trading share. Similarly the global foreign exchange market turnover was 20% higher in April 2010 than in 2007, with average daily turnover of 4 trillion USD compared to 3.3 trillion USD. As such, it’s very important for forex traders and internet users who follow the market to keep updated, and ForexTrading.net videographics will allow users to learn about forex in a manner that’s informative yet fun, and share their findings as well.

Nanna Arnadottir, editor at ForexTrading.net said: “The forex trading industry has some great news and commentary sites, but it can be a bit starved of interesting blogs with real quality content. That’s what we’re aiming for with ForexTrading.net, that and a bit of personality, which I think the videographic really provides.

It’s a fun way to take in a lot of facts and you can share it or post it on your own blog, so everyone is a winner.”

Via EPR Network
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TradingFloor.com Releases New Video Commenting On Eurozone Crisis

TradingFloor.com has released a new video featuring Steen Jakobsen, chief economist at Saxo Bank, warning that solutions to the Eurozone debt problems need to be found before the Cannes G-20 Summit in November.

The new video highlights the sense of urgency for a solution to Eurozone problems, which has increased with market reaction clearly indicating intolerance with the current pace of progress, especially of late concerning the ratification of the 21 July changes to the European Financial Stability Facility and a solution for Greece.

Jakobsen mentions that there are some significant steps to take these days like key Eurozone member votes on EFSF ratification. Despite previously strong opposition to further rescue measures for troubled Eurozone members, anything but ratification is unlikely, says Steen. The Slovenian and German parliament has already given its thumbs up with Finland and Austria expected to follow suit by the end of the week. Though once approved by all member states this supposed knight in shining armour will not be able to ride easily to the rescue of failing nations. Unanimous (not majority) votes are required for decisions – like expansions of the facility – to be passed.

Meanwhile, talk about the concept of a European Investment Bank leveraging on the EFSF to ring-fence European banks from any fallout from the EU debt crisis, is hardly seen as a band aid but rather a ploy which will hardly solve anything, according to Steen.

Steen likens Greece’s attempts at new austerity packages as an attempt to save the troubled nation at the goal line. With 99 per cent probability of default then talk of saving Greece is actually quite comical, he says. Meanwhile, austerity fatigue is apparent as evidenced by more strikes across Athens. Ultimately Greece needs debt forgiveness and a clean slate but a free-ticket to safety would hardly go down well with other troubled Eurozone nations. Nevertheless, Greece has become kind of a scapegoat due to increased talk of contagion (which is not an economic concept but rather a policymakers’ excuse for not doing what needs to be done domestically). Contagion or not, it doesn’t change the fact that there is no way out for Greece other than default, concluded Steen.

Via EPR Network
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TradingFloor.com Releases Video On The Federal Open Market Committee Meeting

TradingFloor.com, the home of Saxo Bank’s trading commentary, financial research and analysis, has released a video discussing the Federal Open Market Committee meeting (FOCM).

With the deterioration in the US economic outlook being further cemented by recent disappointing macro data, there is now mounting expectation that the Federal Reserve will once again come to the rescue and kick-start the world’s largest economy. Therefore, all eyes are set to be on the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting and what will or won’t be decided in terms on new monetary stimulus.

The latest FOCM meeting has been extended to a two day meeting to allow for further discussions. The last meeting saw an extension of low rates until 2013, and Steen Jakobsen, chief economist at Saxo Bank, believes that the next step will be an Operation Twist Light.

Back in the 60s, The Operation Twist, meant that people sold short term bonds and bought long term bonds, which was seen as a twist, hence the name. This time this will not be possible, because the rates have already been lowered. This means only the long end part of the equation will be executed, with long term bonds being bought. However, Steen doesn’t think this will be a lot for the market in the long term.

This alone is not going to be enough to turn it around. Steen believes that the market always likes to be promised something new, which means President Obama will need to balance the delivery of the Operation Twist Light and throw in something new as well.

Steen also comments that the situation in Europe will have an effect on the timing of any announcements from the US. While it is clear that the US realise the situation in Europe is not good for the US, Steen believes that the Federal Reserve will ultimately do what is the best for the US.

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Experian Reveals Unlawful Social Housing Subletting In The UK Could Be Costing £2bn A Year

New research by Experian Public Sector has revealed that the threat of social housing tenancy fraud in the UK could be significantly larger than previously thought.

Based on an initial analysis of 125,000 social housing arrangements at just ten UK local authorities and housing associations in both rural and urban areas, Experian Public Sector’s experts estimate that potential fraudulent occupancy of social housing, such as subletting, could exist at a minimum of 157,077* properties when extrapolated up across the rest of the UK.

The Audit Commission estimated the level of tenancy fraud at 50,000 properties in 2009** but Experian Public Sector’s analysis suggests that the figure could now be at least three times higher than this.

The preliminary findings follow a series of data matching exercises which analysed social housing tenancy lists at ten UK local authorities and housing associations. The analysis looked for data that might suggest subletting and warrant further investigation. This involved the use of compliant information to identify a range of fraud indicators, including the number of tenants not currently occupying their tenancy address and found living at another address.

The analysis indicates that potential fraud, such as subletting, could exist within a minimum of 3.1 per cent of social properties. When extrapolated nationally, based on 5.06 million social properties, this suggests potential fraud could exist at a minimum of 157,077 properties in the UK.

If all of these social properties were subject to fraudulent activity and made available to people currently in temporary accommodation, the reduced cost and saving to the tax payer would be in excess of £2.0 billion*** a year. Freeing up existing social housing means reduced waiting lists which could also mean fewer new social properties need to be built.

Nick Mothershaw, Experian’s director of Fraud and Identity Solutions, commented: “Our initial research suggests that the level of social housing tenancy fraud in Britain could be much higher than previously estimated. It also demonstrates how more effective data matching can quickly provide a reliable indication of what could be illegal occupancy and subletting. This means investigators can prioritise and deal swiftly with fraudulent cases. Reducing social housing tenancy fraud will significantly reduce the cost of temporary accommodation which we estimate to be at over £2 billion a year.”

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