eBanking - Twitpay to convert Twitter into e-commerce platform

US startup Twitpay is set to be expanded into a platform that enables users to pay online via Twitter.

The service has been procured for USD 100,000 by investors led by Acculynk CEO Ashish Bahl and Morgan Keegan investment banker Keith Meyers. The investors will initially focus on raising money for charities, but they are also planning to expand to other products and other social networks and allow users to make online purchases using the service.

To make a payment, the donor will have to re-tweet the message. By doing so, the money transfer will be authenticated from the donor’s account to that of the beneficiary. Twitpay retains 5 percent of each transaction. The beneficiary will receive its money within 72 hours.

The prerequisites for such transactions require both the donor and the charity to register on Twitter, with the donor additionally authenticated by Twitpay. Currently, the Twitpay service directs users to PayPal to settle their debts.

AIG (Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed)

I came across this the other day - the group Show of Hands singing their song Arrogance, Ignorance and Greed (AIG - what a coincidence!). It’s worth a watch and very true too.

The lyrics are:

All I wanted was a home
And a roof over our heads
Somewhere we could call our own
Feel safer in our beds

There was a storm of money raining down
It only touched the ground
With a loan I took I can’t repay
And the crock of gold you found

At every trough you stopped to feed
With your Arrogance, your Ignorance and Greed.

I never was a cautious man
I spend more than I’m paid
But those with something put aside
Are the ones that you betrayed

With your bonuses and expenses
You shovelled down your throat
Now you bit the hand that fed you
Dear God I hope you choke

At every trough you stopped to feed
With your Arrogance, your Ignorance and Greed.

You're on your yacht, we’re on our knees
Through your Arrogance, your Ignorance and Greed.

Toxics bring you tact and soul
Poisoned every watering hole
Your probity, you exchanged for gold

Working man stands in line
The market sets his price
No feather bed, no golden egg
No one pays him twice

To enter thrift and caution
Your only sound advice
You know you doubt yourself and meaning
And alone at every dice

At every trough you stopped to feed
With your Arrogance, your Ignorance and Greed.

I pray one day we’ll soon be free
From your absolute indifference
Your avarice, incompetence
Your Arrogance, your Ignorance and your Greed.

TRAINING COURSE - Process Improvement and Managing Change in a Banking Environment

Join us in JOHANNESBURG, South Africa on 4 & 5 August 2010 for our 2-day training course “PROCESS IMPROVEMENT & MANAGING CHANGE”

Process improvement and innovation is a series of actions taken to identify, analyze and improve existing business and other operational processes within an organisation to meet its goals and objectives.

Business process improvement follows a specific methodology to create successful results. All business operations whether back, middle or front-office are based on business processes. Often however, business processes have been inherited from earlier times, have been endlessly modified over time and tend to lose their earlier efficiencies.

With Process Improvement comes change. Often too, these changes introduce a layer of uneasiness to the individuals that make up the financial institution. Just as critical as the innovation and improvement is getting your staff to accept change as beneficial even within their own comfort zones.

The “Process Improvement & Managing Change” course in Johannesburg on 4 & 5 August 2010 is a 2-day intensive course on Business Processes – what they are and how they can be improved. The course also deals with managing change that changes to business processes bring about.

Ensure that your staff are able to understand business processes and how they may be improved. For more details including a fully descriptive course brochure e-mail us at courses@citadeladvantage.com today. Please indicate BUSPROCES-JHB in the subject line.

Banking - Any Time, Any Where

By: Adarsh Preet Mehta

Banking - Any Time, Any Where

The banking sector in India has experienced a rapid transformation especially with the LPG model in 1990’s. Just about a decade back this sector was limited to nationalized banks and cooperative banks. Then came the multinational banks. The opening up of the Indian banking to private players backed by information technology sector proved a big push for financial resources mobilization. Many financial institution ( like HDFC and ICICI) and non financial institutions like GIC, LIC, UTI, organizations of pension and provident fund and other financial institutions like IDBI, IFCI and NABARD entered the banking arena. Now day’s banks have to do much more beyond just providing a multi-channel service platform to its customers. There are a lot of issues which bank management have to keep in mind before future planning. Banks have a lot of challenges to meet which are as below.

Cost Reduction: - It is essential to cut down the cost of operation with the aim to enhance profit margin. Because in the era of competition it is prime necessity to cut down the cost of operation to survive in market.

Product Differentiation: - Private banks like ICICI, HDFC and AXIS bank etc introduced product differentiation through specialization, new products and increasing the added value. Specialization basically means that bank gets involved only in selected areas such as housing finance or limit service to corporate sector or handling just specific set of portfolios. Above all it was the pleasantries in terms of respect shown to customers, discipline, long working hours, absence of strike by employees.

Customer-Centric: - Indian banks have realized to focus on customer-centric services. While banks have to ensure product superiority and operational excellence, but the biggest challenge is to establish customer intimacy. No doubt the real strength comes from operational excellence and understanding with customers. Customer relationships have to be managed in best possible manner. In increase of good customer base and their retention will provide better income generation capability. Because major part of income comes from existing customer rather than new customers.

Information Technology is Pivotal: - Information technology’s application in banking sector is the main cause why new private banks and multi national banks have been able to survive and compete. Majority of banks are leveraging on low cost channels such as ATM and Internet banking to optimum level contributing to reduction in operating cost. These channels help to reduce the traffic from branches. In reality cost of transactions over these channels is lower than doing at branches itself.

Evolving Information Technology: - Banks are trying to make customer’s banking experience more convenient, efficient and effective. Banks are now moving from branch banking to bank banking. Banks are now working on the basis of IP based network. IP based networking improves efficiency and productivity. IP based networks lets a bank offer multiple services over the same network resulting in cost saving.

Redefining Objectives: - To meet with increasing cost and high competition as well as to retain new customers, banks have started venturing into newer territories. This is one of the main reasons why banks are focused on retail banking in big way. There are lower NPA (Non performing assets) in retail banking. CRM if implemented and integrated correctly can help significantly in improving customer satisfaction levels.

Information Technology has totally revolutionalised the banking sector. Information technology has opened up new markets, new products, new services and efficient delivery channels for the banking industry. Online electronics banking, mobile banking and internet banking are just a few examples. Information technology has also provided banking industry with the wherewithal to deal with the challenges the new economy poses. It has been the cornerstone of recent financial sector reforms aimed at increasing the speed and reliability of financial operations and of initiatives to strengthen the banking sector. The IT revolution has set the stage for unprecedented increase in financial activity across the globe. The progress of technology and development of world wide networks have significantly reduced the cost of global funds transfer. It is information technology which enables banks in meeting such high expectations of customers who are more demanding and are also more techno-savvy compared to their counterparts of the yester years.

They demand instant, anytime and anywhere banking facilities. IT has also been successful in providing in providing solutions to banks to take care of their accounting and back office requirements. Information technology facilitates the introduction of new delivery channels in the form of ATMs, Net banking, Mobile banking and the like. Banks are increasingly interconnecting their computer systems not only across the branches in a city but also to other geographical locations with high speed network infrastructures and setting up local area and wide area networks and connecting them to Internet. As a result of it information system and networks are now exposed to a growing number. Now IT sector has developed a lot of technology products for banking companies which are used to facilitate the banking operations.

Internet Banking: - Internet banking is simply banking with the help of internet. It is also called net banking. The common feature falls broadly into several categories like account to account transfer, paying a bill, funds transfer between two accounts, purchase or sale of investment, repayment of loan, issuance of bank statement and financial institution administration. Some online banking platforms support account aggregation to allow the customers to monitor all of their accounts in one place whether they are with their main bank or with other institution.

Credit Card: - A credit card is a part of system of payments named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. It is a card entitling its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder’s promise to pay for these goods and services. The issuer of the card gains a line of credit to the consumer from which the user can borrow money for payment to merchant or as a cash advance to the user. When purchase is done the credit card holder agrees to pay the card issuer. He gives his consent to pay by signing a receipt with a record of the card details and indicating the amount to be paid by entering a personal identification number.

Mobile Banking: - Mobile banking which is also known as M-Banking, SMS banking etc is a term used for performing balance checks, account transactions, payments etc via a mobile device such as a mobile phone. Mobile banking today is most often performed via SMS or the mobile internet but can also use special programs called clients download to the mobile device. It refers to provision and availability of banking and financial services with the help of mobile telecommunication devices. The scope of offered services may include facilities to conduct bank and stock market transactions, to administer accounts and to access customized information.

Telephone Banking: - Telephone banking is a service provided by a financial institution which allows its customers to perform transactions over the telephone. Most telephone banking uses an automated phone answering system with phone keypad response or voice recognition capability. To guarantee security, the customer must first authenticate through a numeric or verbal password or through security questions asked by a live representative.

Smart Money Card (Debit Card): - A smart money card is a form of chip card which is built with integrated circuit card, is any pocket sized card with embedded integrated circuits which can receive input which is processed and deliver the output. Smart money card contains only non-volatile memory storage components and also some security logic. This card bears a hologram to avoid counterfeiting.

Bank @ Home: - Now day’s banks provide home delivery services like other companies. Today bank offers special facility to pick up heavy cash directly from customer’s home or deliver heavy cash directly at customer’s home. This is called bank at home. Customer need not go physically to bank. This facility is provided to special customer who deal with bank on daily basis and whom transaction amount is heavy.

Railway or Airline Ticketing: - Bank provides its customers facility to buy rail or air tickets through their deposit in bank via using internet. Customers can purchase railway or air tickets electronically by using their debit or credit card.

Bills and Tax Payment: - Today bank offers facility to its customers to pay bills directly through bank account by using internet facility. These bills may be of electricity, water rates or mobile etc. Similarly we can pay income tax or sales tax or VAT to government through bank account by using their bank identification number or password.

Shopping: - Customers of bank can shop any where any time by using smart card issued to them. They need not carry hard cash with them. They can buy any product or service and can pay the bill of same by these cards. Bank provides special type of machine to seller or owner of showrooms who can swipe these cards on that machine and it automatically deducts amount from customer’s account.

Online Recharging: - Now bank is providing all type of services to its customers which include online recharging also. Customers using prepaid mobile connection can recharge their mobile directly by visiting the website of concerned service provider company and giving the detail of their bank account.

Cash on Tap: - Cash on tap is a facility to take liquid cash directly from ATM by using debit card. This facility is 24 hrs and 7 days available. Customer can withdraw amount from Automatic Teller Machine by inserting their debit card and following special instructions. ATM gives us hard cash just like a tap gives water by turning it.

Forex Cards: - Foreign exchange cards are called forex cards. These cards are meant for those persons who often keep on going to foreign countries. Customer can deposit amount to bank where he has account and bank gives him in exchange forex cards. These cards can be used in foreign countries where customer can obtain foreign currency of concerned nation.

In conclusion we can say that information technology is the backbone of banking sector in present time. Armed with a technology backbone, banking will remain the best business model for managing liquidity, creating trust and managing risks.

About the Author

Author is Lecturer in Ferozepur Institute of Management at Ferozshah (Ferozepur) in Punjab.

Author can be reached at adarshpreetmehta@gmail.com or 98885-54328

(ArticlesBase SC #1875921)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ - Banking - Any Time, Any Where

Nokia and India's Yes Bank partner on mobile finance pilot

Nokia the world's biggest handset manufacturer is teaming up with India's Yes Bank on a commercial mobile financial services pilot. The pilot scheme will let people transfer money to another person simply by using their mobile phone number. They'll also be able to pay utility bills and top up SIM cards while the ability to pay for goods and services is expected to be added in the future.

The system is based on technology from Obopay, the California m-payments start-up Nokia took a minority stake in last year. Soon after, the pair unveiled a mobile financial management and payments service targeted at unbanked people in developing countries.

At the time they predicted the service would be rolled out in "selected markets" this year and have now confirmed India as an early test site. Obopay and Yes Bank already had a partnership, enabling person-to-person and person-to-bank mobile payments.

India has the fastest growing cellular market in the world, says Obopay. There are 500 million mobile phones in the country now but this is expected to be reach than 900 million by the end of 2013. Meanwhile, 41% of the population does not even have a bank account.

Mobile Payments - M-PESA to be launched in South Africa

M-PESA was launched by Vodafone affiliate Safaricom in Kenya in 2007 and now claims over eight million users in that country. A recent study suggests that more than 10% of Kenya's GDP now pass through the mobile banking service.

M-PESA has since been introduced in Tanzania and Afghanistan and now Vodacom South Africa has teamed with an unnamed local financial institution to target the 26 million people in that country without bank accounts. Vodafone says only 60% of South African adults have bank accounts but mobile penetration is over 94%.

Cenk Serdar, director, mobile payments, Vodafone, says: "Mobile technology in Africa has already improved the lives of millions simply by allowing them to communicate far beyond their immediate surroundings. It is now set to transform the way we send and receive cash. The successful take-up of M-PESA in Kenya has clearly demonstrated the demand for easily accessible, secure payment services particularly in emerging markets."

Paying for parking with your mobile phone

Mobile payment systems are beginning to proliferate pretty rapidly now. There are some very impressive commercial systems out there already. This short video illustrates on such system to pay for parking. This particular system has been developed by Margento, a Dutch based technology company.

Remittances, Africa and the effects of the Financial Crisis

In a recently published Working Paper “The Global Financial Crisis and Workers’ Remittances to Africa: What’s the Damage?” Adolfo Barajas, Ralph Chami, Connel Fullenkamp, and Anjali Garg estimate the impact of the global economic crisis on African GDP via the remittance channel during 2009-2010. The data and it’s interpretation forecasts remittance declines into African countries of between 3 and 14 percentage points, with migrants to Europe hardest hit while migrants within Africa relatively unaffected by the crisis. The estimated impact on GDP for relatively remittance-dependent countries is 2 percent for 2009, but will likely be short-lived, as host country income is projected to rise in 2010.

The paper is available for download at http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2010/wp1024.pdf

Mobile Payments - How "Square" works

A facinating look at how "Square" operates. Is this the future of mobile payments?

Credit Card payments on a Mobile Phone - Is this the future?

"Square" is a new add-on for a mobile phone that enables anyone (whether they own a business or not) to accept credit card payments with their iPhone or iPod touch.

Take a peek. Is this the future of payments?

European Union Parliament kills SWIFT deal

The European Parliament has voted to scrap a controversial agreement to allow US authorities access to EU banking data transmitted over the international SWIFT network.

In November 2009 European Union ministers agreed an temporary nine-month deal to continue letting US anti-terror investigators access details of bank transfers conducted over SWIFT.
The decision to overturn the agreement follows intense US lobbying ahead of Thursday's vote.

Last weekend in an interview with the German magazine Spiegel, Adam Szubin, the US treasury department official in charge of the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, said that US tapping of SWIFT banking data had helped to identify and break-up a number of potentially deadly terrorist cells operating in Europe. He warned of serious diplomatic consequences, as well as security gaps, if Parliament were to veto the program.

But EU Parliamentarians were unconvinced by the appeals, expressing concerns that the deal failed to protect the privacy of EU citizens.

In the final vote, political leaders in Strasbourg voted 378-196 against the deal, with 31 abstentions.

The European Commission said it will need to explore with the US treasury department the extent to which there is scope to negotiate a long term EU-US TFTP agreement.

Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmström states: "I remain convinced that the program enhances the security of our citizens: it would be the role of the Commission to make sure that all the relevant safeguards for EU citizens' privacy and data protection are duly included in any possible future agreement. In spite of this set back, I hope we will be able to agree a text in the near future that will give us greater security, more data protection and a useful cooperation tool with US authorities.

"Following today's vote in the European Parliament, we will have now to reflect together with our US partners on the possible negotiation of a new agreement".

Remittances – Regulator query leads to PayPal suspending payments to and from India

PayPal said a ban on personal transactions to and from India will continue for "at least a few months" while the online payment service tries to resolve a problem with local regulators.

"We temporarily suspended these services to respond to enquiries from the Indian regulators, specifically questions on whether personal payments constitute remittances into India," PayPal said.

The company is working with regulators and bank processing companies to resolve the problem as soon as possible, it said. But "personal payments to and from India will be suspended for at least a few months until we fully resolve the questions from the Indian regulators."

"We realize that this is causing considerable inconvenience to our customers and I want to reassure you that this is a top priority for the leadership at PayPal," the company said.

PayPal notified users on Saturday that personal payments to and from India had been suspended, as well as transfers to local banks. Customers can still make commercial payments to India, but merchants can't withdraw funds in rupees to local banks, the company said.

On Tuesday it said customers should be able to withdraw funds to a local bank within a few days. But for now it can do nothing to facilitate personal transactions.

The problems may have been triggered by a marketing push that promotes PayPal as a way to send money abroad. The campaign - which reads "As low as $1.50 to send $300 to countries like India" - may have caught the attention of Indian regulators, the source said.

Some Indians use PayPal to receive payments for services in the country such as software development. The suspension of payments appeared to catch many by surprise and has generated more than 150 pages of comments in an online discussion thread.

Some expressed frustration that PayPal had apparently suspended payments without warning, and said they learned only from buyers that payments from overseas had been returned.

PayPal processed more than US$4 billion of payments in the Asia Pacific region in 2008, a PayPal spokesman said. Its largest market in that region was Australia. The company processed $60 billion in payments worldwide in 2008.

Mobile Money Launched in Rwanda

The Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda Mr. Francois Kanimba has presided over the launch of MTN Mobile Money to the media at MTN Centre in Nyarutarama in Rwanda. This new mobile banking product which is compliant with local banking regulations, is a convenient, secure and affordable way of sending and receiving money anywhere from anywhere in Rwanda.

Customers on the MTN network can now sign up for MTN Mobile Money and begin transacting at will through the 120 agents that have been appointed and that located across the country. Those who are not on the MTN network are also able to receive money.

Mr. Khaled Mikkawi, the CEO of MTN Rwanda, described the launch as one of the most innovative initiatives that has been made available to Rwandans in recent times: ‘We have a network reaching over 90% or the population and it is only right that we leverage this coverage for a common good product that will go a long way in the financial deepening of the Rwandan economy.’

MTN pioneered mobile banking in South Africa in 2005 in a partnership with Standard Bank and commercially launched in Uganda in March 2009. MTN Rwanda has partnered with BCR as the key driver financial institution.
Mr. Mikkawi expressed his gratitude to the Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda and the team at the bank for their resolute support with which we would not have been able to launch: ‘I cannot thank the Governor enough for accepting our invitation to preside over this launch to the media. Sir we are humbled by you enthusiastic support and grateful for the opportunity MTN has to play a lead role in the economic and social transformation of Rwanda.’ The National Bank of Rwanda has played a central role in ensuring the product and the project complied with banking regulations.

MTN Rwanda partnered with the largest specialist mobile financial services provider, Fundamo. Fundamo’s leadership team has a strong background in the financial services industry and has applied the stringent design principles required for secure banking systems, whilst also taking full advantage of the unique characteristics of the mobile phone and the mobile user experience. This new style of mobile financial system represents a powerful convergence of the rigor of banking systems and the convenience, simplicity and ubiquity of mobile.

MTN Rwanda also work with Oscillyte Ltd, a consultancy firm that provides specialist strategy, marketing and product development skills and knowledge to organizations’ active in the telecommunications market and mobile in particular. The firm’s lead consultant Mark Guthrie has been Project Manager for MTN Mobile Money.

MTN Rwanda has planned an extensive communication campaign to sensitize the public on the benefits of MTN Mobile Money which include:
* Depositing cash into client’s account at Mobile Money agent outlets
* Sending and receiving money from the convenience of a mobile phone
* Managing ones Mobile Money account
* Withdrawing cash at any MTN Mobile Money agent location.

Remittances - Western Union sees 4% revenue drop in 2009

Money transfer services provider Western Union has seen its Q4 2009 revenue rise 2 percent to USD 1.3 billion compared to the same interval of 2008, with constant currency earnings per share (EPS) of USD 0.32, compared to USD 0.34 in the fourth quarter of 2008.

For the full 2009 year, Western Union has seen its revenue drop by 4 percent compared to 2008 to USD 5.1 billion, with EPS worth USD 1.21, compared to 2008 EPS of USD 1.24. The company also saw its volume of cash provided by operating activities reach USD 1.2 billion for the whole of 2009.

In 2009, Western Union’s cross-border consumer-to-consumer (C2C) money transfer market share rose from 17 percent in 2008 to an estimated 18 percent in 2009, while its number of agent locations has grown to over 410,000.

For 2009, the C2C segment represented 85 percent of Western Union’s revenue at USD 4.3 billion, a decrease of 4 percent from 2008. Operating income was down 4 percent and operating income margin was 27 percent, which compared to an operating income margin of 27 percent in 2008.
The EMEASA (Europe, Middle East Africa and South Asia) region, which represented 45 percent of Western Union revenue, reported a revenue decline of 1 percent and transaction growth of 10 percent compared to 2008. India revenue grew 11 percent and transactions increased 22 percent for the year.

The Americas region, which represented 32 percent of Western Union revenue, reported a revenue decline of 9 percent and a transaction decrease of 3 percent for the entire 2009. In the domestic money transfer business, revenue declined 14 percent and transactions declined 5 percent. Mexico, which was 6 percent of Western Union revenue for the year, had a revenue decline of 15 percent and a transaction decline of 12 percent.
The APAC (Asia-Pacific) region, which represented 8 percent of Western Union revenue, increased revenue by 5 percent on transaction growth of 18 percent during the year. China revenue increased 1 percent and transactions increased 4 percent compared to 2008.

Operations Risk - Federal Reserve launches a new website for bank directors

The Federal Reserve has launched a website to help new bank directors learn how they can work to ensure the safety and soundness of their institutions. The website, www.BankDirectorsDesktop.org , also provides a refresher course for experienced board members.

BankDirectorsDesktop.org is tailored to directors of community banks and features online training and other resources to help directors better understand the issues and challenges associated with serving on a bank's board. The website includes links to the "Training for Bank Directors" interactive course and the latest edition of Basics for Bank Directors, a comprehensive guide to directors' roles and responsibilities.

"Many people who are asked to serve on bank boards have little training or experience to prepare them for their new roles," said Patrick M. Parkinson, director of the Federal Reserve Board's Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation. "This website has been developed with new directors in mind, but there is plenty of useful information for those who have already spent time on bank boards."

CPSS-IOSCO Review of Standards for Payment, Clearing and Settlement Systems

The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) and the Technical Committee of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) have launched a comprehensive review of their existing standards for financial market infrastructures such as payment systems, securities settlement systems and central counterparties.

There are currently three sets of standards involved, namely:
• the 2001 Core principles for systemically important payment systems
• the 2001/2 Recommendations for securities settlement systems
• the 2004 Recommendations for central counterparties.

Financial market infrastructures generally performed well during the recent financial crisis, and did much to help prevent the crisis becoming even more serious than it actually was. Nevertheless, the committees believe that there are lessons to be learned from the crisis and, indeed, from the experience of more normal operation in the years that have passed since the standards were originally issued. It thus seems timely to review the standards with a view to strengthening them where appropriate.

Robust financial market infrastructures make an essential contribution to financial stability by reducing what could otherwise be a major source of systemic risk. Moreover, insofar as they enable settlement to take place without significant counterparty risk, they also help markets to remain liquid even during times of financial stress.

The review will be led by representatives of the central banks that are members of the CPSS and those of the securities regulators that are members of the IOSCO Technical Committee. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are also participating in the review. The review is part of the Financial Stability Board's work to reduce the risks that arise from interconnectedness in the financial system.

The committees will coordinate with other relevant authorities and communicate with the industry, as appropriate, as the work progresses. They aim to issue a draft of all the revised standards for public consultation by early 2011.

Separately, as announced in the press release on 20 July 2009, the CPSS and the Technical Committee of IOSCO are already in the process of providing guidance on how the 2004 Recommendations for central counterparties should be applied to CCPs handling OTC derivatives. The guidance will also cover other relevant infrastructures handling OTC derivatives such as trade repositories. This aspect of the work has been put on a fast track because of the new CCPs for OTC derivatives and trade repositories that have recently started, or are about to start, operating.
A consultative document on the guidance will be issued within the next few months. This new guidance will not entail amendments to the existing recommendations for CCPsbut will of course be incorporated into the general review of the standards that has now begun.

The Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS) serves as a forum for central banks to monitor and analyse developments in payment and settlement infrastructures and set standards for them. Its members are central banks from 24 countries and regions. The chairman of the CPSS is William C Dudley, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The CPSS secretariat is hosted by the BIS. More information about the CPSS, and all its publications, can be found on the BIS website at www.bis.org/cpss .

The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) is a policy forum for securities regulators. The organisation’s membership regulates more than 95% of the world’s securities markets in over 100 jurisdictions. The Technical Committee is a specialised working group established by IOSCO’s Executive Committee and is made up of 18 agencies that regulate some of the world’s larger, more developed and internationalized markets. Its objective is to review major regulatory issues related to international securities and futures transactions and to coordinate practical responses to these issues. Kathleen Casey, a Commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, is the chair of the committee. More information about the Technical Committee can be found at www.iosco.org/ .

The review will be co-chaired by the chairs of the CPSS and the IOSCO Technical Committee, ie William C Dudley and Kathleen Casey.

Is this the future of Banking?

Australia’s Commonwealth Bank has a vision to be number one in customer satisfaction. This short video shows their idea of what the future of banking looks like with the customer clearly in the centre of their focus.

Is this really what the future of banking will be like?

Bank Trader’s Secret Caught Live on Camera

Just recently Australia's "Seven News" was interviewing Macquarie Bank’s private wealth adviser Martin Lakos on the financial market's reaction to the Australian Reserve Bank keeping interest rates on hold. Bust as as Lakos spoke, viewers saw a man in the background open an e-mail and peruse a series of near-nude pictures of Victoria's Secret model Miranda Kerr.

Subsequently in a statement the bank said; "Macquarie takes matters such as the unacceptable use of technology extremely seriously. Macquarie has strict policies in place surrounding the use of technology and the issue arising from today's live cross on 7 News is being dealt with internally."