Livingbridge has made an equity investment into online investment platform Munnypot to further develop its technology and enhance its customer proposition.

PIMFA, the UK wealth management and financial advice association, and TISA, the investment and savings membership organisation, have published their ‘MiFID II Feedback Template’ alongside a ‘Distributor Reporting Useful Guide’*.

State Street Global Exchange has released the results of the State Street Investor Confidence Index® (ICI) for June 2018.

The Global Investor Confidence Index decreased to 101.7, down 2.1 points from May’s revised reading of 103.8. The decline in sentiment was driven by a 10.8 drop in the European ICI to 90.8 along with the 0.8 point decrease in the Asian ICI to 102.6.  By contrast, the North American ICI rose by 0.8 points to 105.7.

Calverton Finance Ltd, the Invoice Finance specialist, has become an accredited lender under the British Business Bank’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme. The accreditation will enable Calverton to increase its supply of invoice and asset based finance to viable, smaller businesses that are struggling to obtain the finance they need. 

Polaris has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority shareholding in ProData Consult, Denmark’s leading independent IT consultancy

Alastair George, Chief Investment Strategist at Edison Investment Research, gives his latest view on the markets.

Eight Advisory, a leading financial and operational consultancy firm specialising in transactions, restructuring and transformation, has hired two senior partners in its UK office. Tim Wainwright and Dean Lake join from EY to develop the operational due diligence and transaction tax practices respectively.

deVere Group has announced it is expanding its deVere Italia brand by opening offices for the first time in the Italian capital.  The base is located in the heart of the city, near the Termini Station.  deVere also has hub offices in Milan from where it has been serving expats and international investors all over Italy.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s “steadfast yet proactive approach” on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies shows the sector is increasingly mainstream, affirms the CEO of one of the world’s largest independent financial services organizations.

Kreston Reeves has strengthened its Corporate Finance practice and announces its merger with Surrey-based corporate finance boutique SamCorp and the appointment of Jack Clipsham as Corporate Finance Partner.

• 51 per cent of Private Equity and Real Estate managers are less than satisfied with their current level of cybersecurity
• Over half view investing in their own firm’s technology as a high priority for the coming year
• Managers expect data management technology and AI to transform the way private equity operates
• Legacy systems and a lack of technology leadership and skills are identified as major barriers to innovation

The Derivatives Service Bureau today announced the members of its newly formed Technology Advisory Committee (TAC). The mission of the TAC is to provide guidance and recommendations to the DSB Board on technology implementation and investment to support the DSB role as a critical market infrastructure for providing financial instrument identifiers. As part of the DSB governance structure, it will also enable the DSB to sample industry sentiment regarding potential changes in services or performance.