FINANCIAL SERVICES and INSURANCE

Global: IMF - FSB - Worldbank - ...

• Fractional reserve banking - the current form of banking practiced in most countries
• IMF - International Monetary Fund - 189 countries, conceived at a UN conference in Bretton Woods in 1944, primary purpose is to ensure the stability of the international monetary system—the system of exchange rates and international payments that enables countries (and their citizens) to transact with each other
• FSB - Financial Stability Board of the G20 - monitors and assesses vulnerabilities affecting the global financial system and proposes actions needed to address them
• Bank for International Settlements - Risk Management...
  • BIS' mission is to serve central banks in their pursuit of monetary and financial stability, to foster international cooperation in those areas and to act as a bank for central banks. Established in 1930, the BIS is owned by 60 central banks, representing countries from around the world that together account for about 95% of world GDP. Its head office is in Basel, Switzerland
  • Committees:
  • Basel Committee on Banking Supervision: develops global regulatory standards for banks and seeks to strengthen micro- and macroprudential supervision.
    • Basel I, II, III accords, based on three pillars (Minimum capital requirements, Supervisory review, Market discipline)
  • Committee on the Global Financial System: monitors and analyses issues relating to financial markets and systems.
  • Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures: establishes and promotes global regulatory/oversight standards for payment, clearing, settlement and other market infrastructures, and monitors and analyses developments in these areas.
  • Markets Committee: monitors developments in financial markets and their implications for central bank operations.
  • Central Bank Governance Forum: examines issues related to the design and operation of central banks.
  • Irving Fisher Committee on Central Bank Statistics: addresses statistical issues relating to economic, monetary and financial stability.

• US - BITS (Banking Industry Technology Secretariat) - but scope is broader - non-profit, CEO level
• US - Financial Services Roundtable
• Financial Internet Working Group
• George Soros - Soros.org
• ACTUS Financial Research Foundation
• Willy Brammerz - also founder of Ariadne
• Ariadne
• Wolfgang Breymann - ZHAW
• Allan Mendelowitz

Regulation and Governance

• FATF - Financial Action Task Force - originally started by G-7, combating money laundering, terrorist financing and related threats
• US - SEC
• US - FFIEC - Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council - good booklets eg describing responsibilities
• US - FINRA - Financial Institutions Regulatory Authority
• US - Dodd-Frank Act - Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act after the 2008 financial crisis
• United States federal law that was enacted on July 21, 2010
• EU - European Central Bank
• DG FISMA
• EU - EBA - European Banking Authority
• prudential regulation and supervision across the European banking sector
• issued 'Guidelines for the security of internet payments', applicable from 1 August 2015
• EU - ESMA - European Securities and Markets Authority, protecting investors
• assesses risks to investors, markets and financial stability
• single rulebook for EU financial markets
• promotes supervisory convergence
• directly supervising credit rating agencies and trade repositories
• BE - CBFA - Centrum Bank Financiën Verzekering
• FR - Autorité des Marchés Financiers
• UK - Financial Services Authority
• UK - Financial Reporting Council- regulates accountants, auditors and actuaries - has FRC Labs
• CH - FINMA - guidance to payments on the blockchain since Aug 2019
• IL - Bank of Israel

• SG - MAS - Monetary Authority of Singapore

Standards

• EU - ECBS - former European Committee for Banking Standards - e.g. IBAN
  • TC 1 Payment Cards and Related Devices
  • TC 2 Automated Cross Border Payments
  • TC 4 Security
  • TC 6 Electronic Services
• EBICS - Electronic Banking Internet Communication Standard - rooted in Germany and France

• PCI Security Standards Council - Payment Cards Industry -PCI DSS

Investments

• EU - EIB - European Investment Bank - 'the bank of the European Union', the lending arm of the European Union, based in Luxembourg
• EU - EBRD- European Bank for Recovery and Development, financing projects that strengthen the private sector, based in London
• World Bank - financial and technical assistance to developing countries

Central Banks

• EU - European Central Bank
  • Real-time gross settlement system (RTGS)
  • Target/Target2-Securities
  • Target Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS)
• EU - ECB - European Retail Payments Board (ERPB)

• US - Federal Reserve - the Central Bank of the US
  1. conducting the nation's monetary policy
  2. supervising and regulating banking institutions and protecting the credit rights of consumers
  3. maintaining the stability of the financial system
  4. providing certain financial services to the U.S. government, the public, financial institutions, and foreign official institutions
• US - FDIC - Federal Deposit Insurance Company - supervises banks and insures deposits

• NBB/BNB - Belgian National Bank
  NBB operates a.o. ELLIPS (the Belgian Real Time Gross Settlement system - RTGS, UCV (the retail payment system and the NBB clearing system (clearing of government securities). The NBB also oversees systems established in Belgium such as S.W.I.F.T., Euroclear, Banksys (including Proton), Europay, BXS clearing and CIK. Other systems not overseen by the NBB include Euro1 and CLS Bank.

• De Nederlandse Bank

• Greek National Bank

• KW - Central Bank of Kuwait

• ZA - South African Reservebank

Professional bodies

• Global - IIF - established in 1983 - global association of financial institutions
• EU - EBF - FBE - European Banking Federation (eg Febelfin is the Belgian member)
• EU - EBA - European Banking Association (eg Dexia and Fortis are Belgian members)
• EU - EPC - European Payment Council, a not-for-profit formed by global payment service providers
• EU - Electronic Money Association - Trade organisation
• EU - European Saving Banks Group (ESBG)
• EU - European Retail Finance Forum (ERFF), members include Barclays, Commerzbank, KBC, ING, ...
• EU - EACT - European Association of Corporate Treasurers
• EU - Eurofinas - European Federation of Finance House Associations - consumer credit providers
• EU - European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (EVCA)
• EU - Committee of European Security Regulators - established under the terms of the EC in 2001
• BE - Febelfin - the Belgian Federation for the Financial Sector
• BE - BVB - Belgische Vereniging voor Banken
• US - ISDA - trade organization of participants in the market for over-the-counter derivatives, Master Agreement, FPML etc
• US - SIA - Securities Industry Association
• US - www.cfo.com
• ZA - South African Banking Council

XBRL

• XBRL.org
• XBRL-eu.org - a two-year project funded by the EU within the 6th framework


• XBRL Europe
• Eurofiling

Payment schemas and their products

Europe

• EU - EPC - European Payments Council - SEPA
• direct debit
• credit transfer
• cards + e-invoicing
• mobile
• EU/BE PayFair Scheme

China

• Alipay 支付宝 Zhīfùbǎo - Wikipedia
• Alipay.com - 2004, Jack Ma
• WeChat Pay 微信支付 Wēixìn Zhīfù - Wikipedia
• WeChat began as a project at Tencent Guangzhou Research and Project center in October 2010.
• UnionPay - since 2002, cards and a national unified interbank transaction settlement system with independent IP

US

Mastercard

• MasterCard - Credit (MasterCard), Debit (Maestro scheme) and Prepaid cards and services
• MasterCard info for merchants
• Mastercard info for merchants - resources and documentation
• Mondex - MasterCard electronic wallet

Visa

• VISA - e.g. V-Pay scheme
VISA is a privately held, for profit corporation owned by 21.000 member financial institutions. VISA International (HQ in San Francisco, US) is comprised of six regional organisational companies, one of them is VISA EU (HQ in London UK, covers 26 countries). More than 1 billion VISA cards are issued, of which more than 135 million in EU. Employs approximately 5.000 persons worldwide.
Some further VISA projects include:
• Inovant - Subsidiary of VISA, handles consumer payments, peaks up to 3.300 messages/second
• IPGS - Internet Payment Gateway System
• 3D SET and 3 D Secure for wireless- 3 Domain SET (issuer, acquirer and interoperability)
• eWallet, ePay, Smart Debit and Credit Card, ...
• VOP - VISA Open Platform - JavaCard - PP
• VISA Europe

AMEX

• AMEX - AMEX is a publicly listed company (NYSE) founded in 1850. HQ in NY, US. Approximately 52 million cards isssued worldwide. Employs approximately 90.000 persons worldwide.

Other

• Stop Unfair Card Fees

Financial service providers - payments - 'pay before - pay now - pay later'

Issuance

• BE - BCC - Bank Card Company (B2C focus) - credit card issuance - licenses VISA etc in Belgium
Credit cards originally emerged in Belgium in 1975 (Eurocard-Mastercard). In 1982, Crédit Européen established a subsidiary called Crédit Européen Belgique, issuing VISA cards and acquiring merchants. BCC was established in 1988, making transactions possible with VISA cards issued by its bank shareholders. In 1992 BCC merged with Eurocard Belgium.

Acquiring

• DE - Concardis - acquiring (hosted on FirstData platform)
• NL - C-TAP - Common Terminal Acquiring Protocol

PSP - Payment Service Providers

• US - FirstData - probably the largest provider of payment services - part of Western Union
• US - Tsys - payment services
• UK - Vocalink
• BPC - Banking Production Centre - SmartVista processing
• EU.BE - Europay (merger of Eurocard and Eurocheque) merged into MasterCard in 2002
including EMV, electronic purse, travellers cheques, ATM, POS, credit & debit cards. Brands: Eurocard, MasterCard, Maestro, Cirrus and Eurocheque. PKI: Eurocard, Mastercard, Maestron & Cirrus brands are operated under a joint Public Key Certification Service
• BE/NL/IT - Sinsys - (Banksys, Interpay, SSB) - established in 2003
• BE - Banksys (B2C focus) - established in 1979 - launched Proton in 1995 bank-ATM (Bancontact/MrCash), retail POS terminals for petro-station and distribution s, C-ZAM, DEP-hsm's, ...
• BE - Proton World International - Johan Daemen - Prisma smartcard - including Mobile Profile version
• BE - Proton World International - other website
• BE - Ogone - electronic payments
• BE - Isabel - B2B roots, created by Dexia, Fortis, ING and KBC in 1995, SME solution via PKI secured X.400 - rooted in work by JJQ/MDS - also Zoomit
• BE - Isabel - electronic invoicing
• BE/EU - Tunz.com (now Ingenico)- eu-wide e-money issuer licensed by CBFA - parent of PingPing
• UK - NEWPSO - merger of BACS and Faster Payments,
• UK - BIBIT/RBS Worldpay - owned by RBS
• UK - BIBIT support documentation
• UK - LINK - the UK ATM network - more than 60.000 ATM's
• UK - BACS - payment system for direct debits e.g. bill payment, and direct credit e.g. salaries, are made.
• UK - BACSTEL-IP - now based on IP and PKI
• UK - Worldpay plc
• IR/US - Trintech (POS, payments)
• NL/DE - Equens - the 2006 merger of Dutch Interpay and German Transaktionsinstitut für Zahlungsverkehrsdienstleistungen AG
• NL - Interpay
• NL - Innopay - partners with Everett
• NL - Trans Link Systems - payment for public transport
• US - PayPal / x.com - electronic transfers via a ACH -
• US - Paytrust
• US (CA) - Obopay - mobile payments - since 2005
• wepay.com - tip from Kevin Findlay
• CyberSource - payment processing and anti-fraud

Mobile payments

• MobeyForum.org
• BE - M-Banxafe - betalen aan Pay2me handelaren via je GSM

Banking software

• US - FIS Global - CoreBank software

E-money

• E-money link

E-invoicing

• UK - Tungsten-Network - e-invoicing - related to Tungsten Bank

Infrastructure

• SWIFT - established 1973 - the message handling system - ISO 15022 - also: Bolero
• Euroclear - JP Morgan
• GMCIG - Global Mobile Commerce Interoperability Group - MasterCard/Europay
• BE - Isabel
• Scandinavia - BBS-nordic
• GTA - Global Trust Authority - url?
• Identrus
• W3C and JEPI on payments
• FR - Groupement des Carte Bancaires - 158 member banks in 2004 - started in 1967, first ATMs in 1971 - smart-cards since 1992 - more than a million access points in France in 2004
• Cashware
• CH - swissDIGIN - Digital Invoice

Banking - internet only

• N26 - powered by Wirecard bank (German bank), using IDNOW.DE

Banking - investment, corporate, retail, ...

• US - Citigroup
Citigroup is largely organized into five groups: Citigroup Global Consumer Group, the Global Corporate and Investment Banking Group, Citigroup Global Investment Management, Citigroup International, and Smith Barney. Majority stakeholder: Al-Walid Ben Talal
• US - Citicorp (Citibank)
• US - Security First Network Bank - the first "ebank -only"
• Platinum Equity Holding - focuses on MAO - Mergers, Acquisitions and Operations - founded 1995, HQ in Los Angeles.
• UK - Barclays Bank
• UK - HSBC
• BE - KBC - includes ex-CERA Bank - first Internet bank in Belgium
• BE - Keytrade - started as VMS Keytrade, later became Keytrade Bank - part of Crédit Agricole
• LU - Dexia - BIL - first Internet bank in Luxemburg
• BE - Dexia - Gemeentekrediet - includes Netbanking
• BE - Dexia-Asset Management - Private Banking
• BE - Fortis - ASLK
• BE - Fortis - G Bank
• LU - FBL - Fortis Bank Luxemburg
• BE - BBL/ING
• BE - Fortis - Servitel - tickets & information
• BE - Argenta (Antwerp)
• BE - Diamant Bank
• Triodos - ethical banking
• RFA - Réseau Financement Alternatif - not-for-profit
• FR - BNP Paribas - in 2007 161.000 employees worldwide
• FR - Soc Générale Bank - in 2007 nearly 135.000 employees worldwide - remember Jêrome Kerviel in 2007
• SE - Nordea (Nordic and Baltic region)
• NL - ABN AMRO - taken over by Fortis - Identrus client
• NL - Moneyou - ABN's incubator bank
• NL - ING NL
• IL/US - Bank Leumi
• IL/US - Discount Bank
• IL/US - Hapoalim Bank
• CH - UBS - Union Bank of Switzerland
• ES - Santander
• ES - BBVA
• ES - Bankia
• ES - Banc Sabadell
• GR - Alpha Bank
• AE - First Gulf Bank (Abu Dhabi)
• KW - Commercial Bank of Kuwait
• JO - The Housing Bank for Trade and Finance (Amman)
• MY - Arab Malaysian Banking Group
• JA - Jamaica National Building Society
• RU- Savings Bank of the Russian Federation
• ZA - ABSA Bank
• ZA - Old Mutual (sponsor for 'twooceansmarathon')

Venture Capital

• IL - Gemini - VC
• IL - Israel Angels - VC

Investment and private equity

• Global - CVC - service provider in private equity and credit with $75 billion of assets under management
• US - Bridgewater Associates - in 2008 managing $140 billion in global investments for a wide array of institutional clients, 500 employees, based in Westport, Connecticut

Fintech companies

• UK US - Autonomous - including AI, cryptocurrencies et al

Financial information providers

• OpenCorporates
• Reuters
• Yahoo - provides Reuters information for free (probablywith some delay)
• Bloomberg
• UK - FT
• US - Wall Street Journal
• BE - Tijd
• US - FT Marketwatch

INSURANCE

Re-insurance

• Lloyds, SwissRE, Chubb, ...

Insurance

• ES - Mapfre
• ...