MetLife, today launched “collab 3.0 EMEA,” a global open innovation platform inviting entrepreneurs and insurtechs to scale their business with MetLife, while solving some of the insurer’s biggest innovation challenges across its business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

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The company is inviting insurtech startups to compete for a USD 100,000 contract to develop solutions across insurance value chains in areas such as customer engagement, sales, and operations, and to pilot these solutions with MetLife EMEA.

Created by LumenLab, MetLife Asia’s innovation center, collab 3.0 EMEA follows two successful collab programmes in Singapore (2016) and Japan (2017), which attracted 250 applications from insurtechs in more than 35 different countries.

“We are serious about transforming the insurance industry and the way we interact with our customers – but we know we cannot do it alone. You can never innovate faster than the market. We are building a stronger ecosystem for the future by engaging insurtechs through programmes like collab,” said Zia Zaman, LumenLab’s chief executive officer and chief innovation officer of MetLife Asia.

Following a rigorous selection process, MetLife will determine eight finalists and pair them with MetLife EMEA employee champions to help develop their solutions.

To date, MetLife has awarded more than half a million U.S. dollars’ worth of contracts through collab in Asia. These business contracts have gone into developing practical solutions that are delivering value to MetLife’s business and customer experience.

“MetLife continues to be at the forefront of innovation and collab 3.0 EMEA is a great example of this. We are matching real business challenges from across our global enterprise with external ideas to build the best solutions for our business and customers. Crucially, our employee champions will support and collaborate with the finalists throughout the process,” said Michel Khalaf, President of MetLife’s EMEA and U.S. Regions.

Finalists will be invited to attend the collab Summit EMEA and Demo Day in London on 11-12 July, 2018 to present their solutions where the ultimate winner will be announced.

Applications opened via the collab website today and will close on 20 April, 2018. To learn more and apply for collab 3.0 EMEA, please visit: collab.lumenlab.sg.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates (“MetLife”), is one of the world’s leading financial services companies, providing insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management to help its individual and institutional customers navigate their changing world. Founded in 1868, MetLife has operations in more than 40 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com

About LumenLab

As MetLife’s pioneers for disruptive innovation, LumenLab is charging ahead to create new businesses in health, wealth and retirement. Lumen, a measure of light, symbolizes our commitment to illuminating a new path for solving the problems that the people of Asia face today. Through our focus on building new products and services grounded in technology and data, we aim to help people achieve richer and more fulfilling lives. For more information, visit www.lumenlab.sg

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Wells Fargo Enterprise Global Services (EGS) has successfully completed the pilot of the “Glide Career Continuity Program for Women,” a unique program for women returning to work, with 21 female team members joining the organization in Hyderabad. The company now plans to roll out the program in Bengaluru.

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Glide 2018 Graduation Ceremony (Photo: Business Wire)

The Glide program was launched last year as a carefully planned, structured and supportive learning regimen to enable women with career gaps of two or more years to glide back to work.

“A career gap does not take away a person’s inherent capability, or their ability to reintegrate into the workforce and start contributing, especially if they are given the right kind of support. The success of our pilot program validates this,” said Nirupama Guruprasad, Glide Program Lead and SVP – Strategy and Initiatives at EGS, at the closing ceremony to celebrate the first batch of Glide participants.

The program aims to diversify the organization’s workforce composition by addressing the factors that hold back many experienced and competent women from returning to the workforce to fulfill their career potential.

Glide enables a smoother re-entry to full-time work through a gradual ramp-up of work hours, highly customized trainings, peer reflection, leader connects, and periodic reviews, in addition to hands-on work. Successful completion of the program is followed by confirmation subject to usual recruitment norms.

Feedback on the program from both participants as well as their hiring managers has been very encouraging. “The half-day work hours in the first month gave me room to anticipate things and prepare for my transition to full-time,” said Parimala Tankasala, a team member who has joined the company through the Glide program. “The fact that this is not an internship program gave me a real sense of security,” said Manasa Konduru, another participant. Some reported that the unique training sessions and support from empathetic hiring managers helped immensely, while for others connecting with peers who shared the same apprehensions and expectations was a welcome opportunity.

“The feedback from participants and hiring managers reaffirms our conviction that workforce diversity is integral to the success of any organization. We are always keen to invest in the right talent, and we are ready to launch Glide 2.0 in Bengaluru, targeting a wider breadth of function areas, for women with over eight years of experience,” said Tanay Kediyal, EGS Country head – India about the future of the program.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $2.0 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 8,300 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 42 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 263,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on Fortune’s 2017 rankings of America’s largest corporations. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.

About Wells Fargo Enterprise Global Services (EGS) - India

Wells Fargo Enterprise Global Services (EGS) is a critical component of Wells Fargo’s (Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.) strategy to leverage distinct advantages in doing business in a global environment. Wells Fargo EGS - India is primarily an extension of the technology, operations, knowledge services, and corporate support teams of Wells Fargo. It engages in application development and support, testing, other technology functions, international operations, knowledge support, and middle and back-end banking process solutions for a wide spectrum of Wells Fargo’s needs. The entities currently have more than 12,000 team members across their offices in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai.

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Moody’s Analytics today launched its new Data Alliance Portal. Members of Moody’s Analytics data consortium can use the portal to contribute data to the consortium and collect credit risk benchmarking information in return.

The Moody’s Analytics Data Alliance is one of the world’s largest and most comprehensive data consortia, covering a range of asset classes including commercial and industrial (C&I), commercial real estate (CRE), project and industrial finance, and asset finance. Previously known as the Credit Research Database (CRD™) consortium, the Data Alliance is a collaborative effort between Moody’s Analytics and over 90 leading financial institutions globally.

Data Alliance members contribute private firm data such as financial statement, loan, and default metrics. Moody’s Analytics aggregates, anonymizes, and analyzes the data to create industry benchmarking data and analytical tools for consortium members.

“Our mission is to enable financial institutions to manage their credit risk better through improved standards, data quality, transparency, and models,” said Cayetano Gea-Carrasco, Managing Director at Moody’s Analytics. “The Data Alliance Portal provides our members with a seamless data contribution process and robust reporting framework for actionable portfolio insights, all while ensuring a secure data infrastructure.”

Data Alliance members can gain insight by comparing their portfolio risk to that of their peers as well as consortium benchmarks. This insight can augment internal data sourced directly from market participants. The new portal will make consortium data easily accessible to members, enhancing their experience and streamlining their data submission cycles. The portal will also allow members to gain actionable insights on their portfolios and lending strategies.

Additionally, the Data Alliance Portal will provide ongoing data review and monitoring of credit portfolio trends against benchmarks and facilitate quality assurance. Consortium members will be able to run self-service data benchmarking analyses against peers, customize their data experience, and access premium Moody’s Analytics tools such as the RiskBench™ platform. Using the portal will contribute to faster turnaround of benchmarking analytics and the realization of value through the submission cycle.

Click here to learn more about the Data Alliance Portal.

About Moody’s Analytics

Moody’s Analytics provides financial intelligence and analytical tools supporting our clients’ growth, efficiency, and risk management objectives. The combination of our unparalleled expertise in risk, expansive information resources and innovative application of technology, helps today’s business leaders confidently navigate an evolving marketplace. We are recognized for our industry-leading solutions, comprising research, data, software and professional services, assembled to deliver a seamless customer experience. Thousands of organizations worldwide have made us their trusted partner because of our uncompromising commitment to quality, client service, and integrity.

Moody's Analytics is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation (NYSE: MCO). MCO reported revenue of $4.2 billion in 2017, employs approximately 11,900 people worldwide and maintains a presence in 41 countries. Further information about Moody’s Analytics is available at www.moodysanalytics.com.

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Andersen Global continues its expansion in Germany as a new office in Berlin opens, joining the existing Andersen Tax & Legal team in Germany, effective March 1, 2018. The Berlin office will be the sixth location of Andersen Tax & Legal in Germany and includes more than 60 professionals in the offices of Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Cologne, Leipzig, and Merzig.

The team in Berlin is led by attorneys Philipp Zschaler and Dr. Moritz Brocker, who both were previously at BDO Legal. Moritz Brocker works in corporate law and specializes in M&A transactions and venture capital investments. Philipp Zschaler specializes in real estate and insolvency law. The focus of the Berlin team will be on the locally dynamic growth areas of corporate/ M&A, including start-ups, venture capital, and real estate.

"We are looking forward to this new opportunity in our professional career," said Moritz and Philipp. "For us, it is very impressive to experience how closely the individual member firms of Andersen Global cooperate in advising their international clients. For our clients in the start-up sector, this is an important factor and generates additional added value."

Stefan Kraus and Alessio Rossi, Co-Managing Partners of Andersen Tax & Legal in Germany, welcome the new colleagues in Berlin. "Philipp, Moritz, and the other members of the team are eminent experts who in their respective areas of practice have excellent contacts. This team allows us to assist our domestic and international clients in the areas of venture capital and real estate offering them best expertise.“

Mark Vorsatz, Global Chairman and Andersen Tax LLC CEO, added, "Given the importance of the German economy, the continuous and strategic growth of Andersen Tax & Legal within the market is of significant importance for Andersen Global.”

Andersen Global is an international association of legally separate, independent member firms comprised of tax and legal professionals around the world. Established in 2013 by U.S. member firm Andersen Tax LLC, Andersen Global now has more than 2,500 professionals worldwide and a presence in over 88 locations through its member firms and collaborating firms.

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To meet the needs of the rapidly evolving and growing payments technology landscape in India, Verifone (NYSE: PAY), a world leader in payments and commerce solutions, and Ezetap, one of Asia’s most innovative software and payment processing players, announced a partnership to enable merchants to more quickly and easily adopt both instore and online payment acceptance.

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Verifone and Ezetap Partner to Accelerate End-to-End Digital Payment Solutions for Merchants. (Photo: Business Wire)

The scope and scale of the collaboration will bring together Verifone’s best-in-class payment solutions and services, and Ezetap’s excellence in software and payment processing, to deliver simple and secure checkout experiences for merchants and their customers in any sector.

“The payments industry has undergone a global transformation in the last few years and India is on a fast track to match developed countries in terms of technology requirements and consumer demand," said Abhijit Bose, Chief Executive Officer, Ezetap. “The combination of Ezetap’s software capabilities and processing flexibility with Verifone’s range of payment solutions and services, will provide merchants with a one-stop, next-generation solution that can deliver differentiated experiences to their customers using customized software, real-time data, and value-added services."

“India is quickly evolving toward a cashless economy and we look forward to working with Ezetap to support merchants through this transition by enabling them to better serve their customers whether they are paying at an online merchant, at home for deliveries, or at their favorite department store,” said Vinayak Prasad, General Manager of South Asia, Verifone. “With Ezetap’s powerful gateway to all major banks in India, Verifone will be able accept a variety of payment types that will allow consumers to shop anywhere with their debit or credit card, mobile wallet, and even with the local Bharat QR scanner and mandated Aadhar-based biometric authentication.”

Further, the partnership will make it simple and convenient for businesses in India to leverage the highly secure range of Verifone payment solutions including the PCI 5.x-certified Engage solutions and Carbon family of integrated point-of-sale systems, in addition to all mobile point-of-sale solutions. Together, the companies will work to develop turn-key, end-to-end solutions that incorporate a variety of applications such as accounting, payroll, real-time inventory management, and loyalty.

Visit Verifone at Money20/20 Asia in Singapore to experience all its products and solutions. Ezetap CEO and co-founder, Abhijit Bose, will be with us at booth #B30 for a fireside chat. Join us for this session on Monday, March 13 from 12:00-12:30pm.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 for VeriFone Systems, Inc.

This press release includes certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations or beliefs and on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Actual results may vary materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements herein due to changes in economic, business, competitive, technological and/or regulatory factors, and other risks and uncertainties affecting the operation of the business of VeriFone Systems, Inc., including many factors beyond our control. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those associated with: our ability to successfully collaborate with Ezetap to accelerate digital payment solutions, execution of our strategic plan and business initiatives and whether the expected benefits of our plan and initiatives are achieved, short product cycles and rapidly changing technologies, our ability to maintain competitive leadership position with respect to our payment solution offerings, our assumptions, judgments and estimates regarding the impact on our business of the continued uncertainty in the global economic environment and financial markets, our ability to successfully integrate acquired businesses into our business and operations, our ability to protect against fraud, the status of our relationship with and condition of third parties such as our contract manufacturers, distributors and key suppliers upon whom we rely in the conduct of our business, our dependence on a limited number of customers, the conduct of our business and operations internationally, our ability to effectively hedge our exposure to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, and our dependence on a limited number of key employees. For a further list and description of the risks and uncertainties affecting the operations of our business, see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. We may also provide material information about us on our investor relations website at www.ir.verifone.com, in company press releases and in social media postings. The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date such statements are made. Verifone is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.

About Ezetap

At Ezetap, veterans from payments, hardware, cloud and SaaS industries have joined hands for the sole purpose of ushering in a new era of a frictionless digital payment ecosystem in India. Ezetap has deployed over 200,000 smart service points on its platform with customers ranging from brick-and-mortar retailers, e-commerce players, leading enterprises, and financial inclusion organizations. Ezetap processes over US$1.5 billion annually and has been ranked twice in-a-row by CNBC in their Global Top 50 Disruptor List 2016 and 2017. The company has raised over $50 million in funding and its investors include Social Capital, the Silicon Valley firm led by former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya, Helion Advisors, American Express, Li Ka-Shing’s Horizons Ventures, JS Capital (Jonathan Soros), Prime Venture Partners, and Capricorn Ventures (Jeff Skoll Group).

About Verifone

Verifone is transforming every day transactions into new and engaging opportunities for merchants and consumers at the last inch of payments and commerce. Powered by a growing footprint of more than 30 million devices in more than 150 countries, our people are trusted experts working with the world’s best-known retail brands, financial institutions, and payment providers. Verifone is connecting more products to an integrated solutions platform to better meet the evolving needs of our clients and partners. Built on a 35-year history of uncompromised security, we are committed to consistently solving the most complex payment challenges. Verifone.com | (NYSE: PAY) | @verifone.

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Delos Capital (“Delos”), a private equity firm based in New York, announced the acquisition of Sage Metals Limited (“Sage” or the “Company”).

Sage is a leading manufacturer of specialty metal products serving the North American electrical, power utility, industrial, and drainage end markets. The Company was founded over 30 years ago and is based in Delhi, India.

Delos acquired Sage from its founders, Vinod K. Agarwal and S.P. Agarwal, and partnered with one of the owners, R. Krishnan, and a new U.S. based management team in the transaction. Delos raised acquisition financing from Olympus Capital Asia Credit and SSG Capital Management.

“Delos is excited to partner with the Sage management team for the next stage of the Company’s growth”, said Michael Rakiter, Partner at Delos Capital. “Sage has a long history as a best-in-class provider of custom metal fabrication solutions to leading original equipment manufacturers. We believe this partnership will strengthen the Company’s presence in North America and accelerate the business toward significant growth.”

R. Krishnan, owner and new CEO of Sage, said “We are embarking upon a new and exciting phase in the Company’s journey. Over the years the promoters have built a strong organization which provides an excellent launching pad for taking the Company to greater heights. Delos, along with their operating partners, have all the elements required to make this happen in the most efficient way.”

About Delos Capital

Delos Capital, founded in 2013, is a lower middle market private equity firm specializing in management buyouts, recapitalizations, and growth investments.

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Ethoca, the industry standard for collaboration-based technology solutions that enable card issuers and online merchants to increase card acceptance and stop ecommerce fraud and disputes, today announced the launch of its new Integrated Solution Suite. When adopted at full scale across the industry, Ethoca’s suite of products – including Ethoca Eliminator, Ethoca Alerts and Enhanced Representments – can mitigate up to 90% of chargebacks from genuine fraud, friendly (or first-party) fraud and false claims. Even more importantly, it sets the stage for increased card acceptance across the ecosystem.

Today’s ecommerce ecosystem is plagued by a raft of issues that increase friction in the purchase process and create a negative experience for customers. With friendly fraud (whether innocent or hostile) and false claims now reaching 90% of all fraud volumes in sectors like digital goods, card issuers, merchants and customers are all facing a downward spiral of disputes that are having a significant impact on card acceptance. Industry estimates suggest that ‘false declines’ – when good customers are falsely declined due to the risk of fraud – are continuing to increase: for every $1 in confirmed fraud, $13 in legitimate transactions are falsely rejected. Customers experiencing a false decline will elect to abandon purchases at trusted ecommerce web sites, pull out a different payment card or, in 39% of cases, potentially abandon the purchase altogether.¹

Ethoca’s new solution suite is solving the ecommerce friction and customer experience problem through three lines of defence. The first line of defence is Ethoca Eliminator, a ground-breaking new solution that allows card issuers to tap into deep merchant intelligence (shopping cart details, IP address, account details, etc.) at the first moment a cardholder clicks on a transaction in their mobile banking app or calls into their bank to question a transaction. This unique process allows cardholders to better recognize their own transactions, regardless of whether the intention to dispute is innocent or malicious.

With disputes now deflected in near real time, cardholders avoid having payment cards cancelled unnecessarily when good transactions are unwittingly reported as fraud. Merchants benefit by avoiding any impending chargeback and preserving the revenue from the transaction, while card issuers create a frictionless experience for cardholders and avoid the high operational costs associated with processing disputes. In pilot with a top five U.S. card issuer and major digital goods merchant, Eliminator successfully deflected 38% of disputes that would have otherwise become damaging chargebacks. More than 15 major card issuers globally and several of the world’s top digital goods brands have committed to Eliminator implementation throughout 2018.

The second line of defence in Ethoca’s suite is Ethoca Alerts– the company’s flagship product introduced in 2010. If during the Eliminator process a cardholder still insists on disputing the transaction, card issuers participating in Ethoca’s network will provide confirmation of fraudulent or disputed transactions to Ethoca. Ethoca makes this actionable intelligence available to more than 5,400 merchants participating in Ethoca’s network through real-time alerts that provide a window of opportunity to stop the fulfillment of goods and services and refund the transaction to avoid the chargeback. Card issuers who use the service benefit by avoiding chargeback processing costs and recovering fraud losses – including 3D Secure and low-value transaction write-offs – much more quickly and inexpensively than ever before.

The third line of defence is Enhanced Representments. Merchants who have sufficient compelling evidence to prove a case of friendly fraud or challenge other transaction disputes are often focused on recovering revenue they would otherwise lose through the chargeback process. Enhanced Representments is a completely automated solution focused on disputing chargebacks responsibly based on Ethoca’s deep understanding of chargeback processing and compelling evidence rules. It preserves an equitable balance across the ecosystem by enabling merchants to fight only those chargebacks supported by the right compelling evidence and without creating downstream pain for card issuers who are often negatively impacted by indiscriminate representment behaviours.

“Ethoca’s belief is that a layered approach – powered by the global collaboration network we pioneered – is the only real solution to combat the pervasive friction and poor customer experience typical of today’s ecommerce environment,” said Keith Briscoe, Chief Marketing & Product Officer at Ethoca. “Aiming to eradicate 90% of chargebacks while laying a new foundation for a transaction acceptance experience where no good customer is turned away is our current mission. This new solution suite takes us one step closer to our vision: creating a new set of rails for the rapid exchange of rich transaction data and intelligence designed to finally make frictionless ecommerce a reality.”

About Ethoca

Ethoca is the leading, global provider of collaboration-based technology that enables card issuers, ecommerce merchants and online businesses to increase card acceptance, stop more fraud, recover lost revenue and eliminate chargebacks from both fraud and customer service disputes. Through the Ethoca Network – the first and only of its kind in the industry – we are closing the information gap between card issuers and merchants. This unique capability makes fraud and customer dispute insight available and actionable in real time.

Our suite of services delivers significant revenue growth and cost saving opportunities to more than 5,400 merchants in 40+ countries and more than 585 card issuers in 20+ countries. Eight of the top ten North American ecommerce brands, 14 of the top 20 North American card issuers and six of the top ten UK card issuers rely on Ethoca solutions and the network that powers them.

¹ Javelin – Future Proofing Card Authorization, 2015.

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• An industry veteran with over two decades of experience, Rajesh previously was Senior Director and Head - Investments & Family Office at Kotak Wealth Management
• DHFL Pramerica is a JV between DHFL, the leader in affordable housing in India and U.S. headquartered Prudential Financial Inc. “Pramerica”, a leading global financial institution with US $ 1.394 trillion of assets under management as of December 31, 2017

Liquidnet, the global institutional trading network announced the launch of Best Ex Replay, the newest addition to the Liquidnet Virtual High Touch suite powered by data and analytics from OTAS Technologies.

Best Ex Replay™ enables traders to recall precise market conditions to explain the context of execution decisions, investigate orders that experienced exceptional market conditions, and to help their firm meet regulatory reporting requirements such as MiFID II. It also enables traders to provide detailed execution feedback to Portfolio Managers.

“What we’ve heard from our global Membership is that every minute that goes into manual, administrative tasks such as compliance requests and best execution analysis—while valuable—is time that comes at the expense of alpha generation,” said Natasha Shamis, Global Head of Product. “Traders need to spend their time on achieving best execution, not proving it. That’s what Best Ex Replay is for.”

When a trader uses Best Ex Replay to research the trading conditions of a security on a specific date, he or she is presented with a description of exceptional trading conditions during that day, market microstructure charts and analysis covering return, volume, liquidity, and spread. The trader is also given an option to run a Performance Report on an execution based on order details that they provide, which is particularly useful with MiFID II best execution requirements.

“The recent introduction of MiFID II in Europe has accelerated global regulatory pressure on firms to deliver constant, detailed, and systematic best execution analysis,” said Mark Pumfrey, Head of Liquidnet EMEA. “Best Ex Replay delivers meaningful execution and market information in a convenient and timely way—a broker-neutral solution covering most equity names in the US, Canada, developed Europe, Hong Kong, and Australia, whether or not an order is executed on Liquidnet.”

“We are increasingly seeing firms embrace technology-driven solutions to keep up with ever-growing regulatory obligations,” said Sang Lee, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Aite Group. “Liquidnet’s Best Ex Replay foreshadows the critical role technology will play as the buy-side trader becomes more and more accountable for best execution.”

For more information on Liquidnet Virtual High Touch® and Best Ex Replay visit: www.liquidnet.com/vht.

ABOUT LIQUIDNET

Liquidnet is the global institutional trading network where more than 900 of the world’s top asset managers and other like-minded investors come to execute their large trades with maximum anonymity and minimum market impact. Liquidnet approaches every market with the same bold vision to provide a better, more efficient way to trade on a massive scale. It is this focus on size, combined with the strength of its network, disruptive technology, and commitment to transparency, that is revolutionizing the way equities and corporate bonds are traded. For more information, visit www.liquidnet.com and follow us on Twitter @Liquidnet.

© 2018 Liquidnet Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries. Liquidnet, Inc. is a member of FINRA/SIPC.Liquidnet Europe Limited is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK, is licensed by the Financial Services Board in South Africa, and is a member of the London Stock Exchange and a remote member of the Warsaw Stock Exchange and SIX Swiss Exchange. Liquidnet Canada Inc. is a member of Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) and a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. Liquidnet Asia Limited is regulated by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission as a licensed dealer and a provider of automated trading services pursuant to the Securities and Futures Ordinance and is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore as a Recognized Market Operator. Liquidnet Japan Inc. is regulated by the Financial Services Agency of Japan and is a member of JSDA/JIPF. Liquidnet Australia Pty Ltd. is registered with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission as an Australian Financial Services Licensee, AFSL number 312525, and is registered with the New Zealand Financial Markets Authority as a Financial Service Provider, FSP number FSP3781.

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EASE app uses AI technology to provide finance advisors with emotional insights about clients

• Emotional Analytics for Social Enterprises (EASE) – an AI-based web and mobile app that helps microfinance advisors gain real-time insights on the emotional and cognitive status of their clients, based on video and audio inputs. Helping to improve cross-cultural communication, the tool provides deeper insights on precisely what topics or keywords attract attention, or cause clients to disengage. For instance, the tool could help detect whether a woman applying for a loan is being pressured to do so by someone else - making it an unnecessary burden, or whether she would find it to be of genuine use.

• Grameen Guru – a smartphone-based multi-lingual chatbot that leverages AR technology to help clients who can’t read understand written materials. Using the app, a user can hold their phone over a brochure that details available financing options, for example, and the Guru virtual assistant will pop up and prompt a conversation in the local language to explain the material. The intuitive interface and simplicity of use makes it accessible to people with a wide range of abilities and can result in better engagement.

Workiva (NYSE:WK), a leading provider of solutions for enterprise productivity, announced Wdesk users filed more than 84 percent of all Inline XBRL facts with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the fourth quarter of 2017. Wdesk has also been used to file more than 69 percent of all Inline XBRL filings.

Inline XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language), also known as iXBRL, creates a single, standardized, machine-readable report that is integrated within companies’ human-readable HTML filings. Inline XBRL combines the advantages of both filing types into a single, browser-friendly document.

“XBRL was arguably the biggest thing to come along to enable machine readable financial data, and Inline XBRL is how we advance toward the common goal of providing better data,” said Marty Vanderploeg, President and Chief Operating Officer of Workiva. “Workiva is committed to improving data quality, increasing efficiencies and easing regulatory burdens for our customers.”

Wdesk was used to create the first Inline XBRL filing less than three weeks after the SEC began allowing the voluntary format in the U.S. in June 2016. Nine months later, in March 2017, the SEC voted to propose amendments to require Inline XBRL in filings submitted by public companies and mutual funds that currently file with XBRL. If approved, the amendment could require corporate financial statements and mutual fund risk/return summaries to be filed in Inline XBRL sometime in 2018.

“The SEC’s proposal shows the Commission’s long-term commitment to structured data by using Inline XBRL to improve data quality and accessibility,” said Vanderploeg. “With Wdesk, our customers have built-in transparency and the tools they need to meet the impending regulatory changes.”

European Securities and Markets Authority Selects Workiva to Incorporate ESEF Taxonomy

Workiva’s strong leadership in Inline XBRL in the U.S. was one reason why the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) selected the Wdesk platform to be among the first solutions to successfully incorporate and test ESMA’s European Single Electronic Format (ESEF) taxonomy. Inline XBRL will be required under ESEF for more than 5,000 EU issuers for their annual financial report, ending on or after January 1, 2020.

“It made sense for Workiva to be among the first to demonstrate Inline XBRL to streamline ESEF requirements,” said Vanderploeg. “Workiva has been on the forefront of helping Foreign Private Issuers use XBRL tags in their SEC filings, and we are among the first companies to be certified by XBRL International.”

“Regardless of pending regulations, filers need future-proof technology to manage risk, establish disclosure procedures and focus on data quality,” added Vanderploeg. “Our Wdesk customers are able to collaborate in a secure, integrated environment with full transparency, which helps drive better business and investment decisions.”

About Workiva

Workiva (NYSE:WK) delivers Wdesk, an intuitive cloud platform that modernizes how people work within thousands of organizations, including over 70 percent of the FORTUNE 500^®. Wdesk is built upon a data management engine, offering controlled collaboration, data connections, granular permissions and a full audit trail. Wdesk helps mitigate risk, improves productivity and gives users confidence in their data-driven decisions. Workiva employs more than 1,200 people with offices in 16 cities. The company is headquartered in Ames, Iowa. For more information, visit workiva.com.

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MulTra GmbH has created an innovative solution to monetize digital content for newspaper publishers while simultaneously paying consumers for reading the news through their Pumped App. Pumped claims to be the first platform which pays people for reading news content while guaranteeing 100% ad revenue to publishers at no-sign up cost.

“We developed the Pumped App working with feedback from major international publishers to address the challenge of monetizing news content,” said MulTra GmbH CEO Onik Mia. “By using the Pumped App, consumers are paid in the Ethereum-based MulTra Token (MTT) to read publisher content and earn cryptocurrency.” MulTra GmbH is a member of the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.

The Pumped App is platform independent and any publisher, regardless of size, can participate in the Pumped ecosystem for free. Media industry leaders and blockchain experts recently gathered at the Soho House Berlin to discuss how Pumped can increase monetization of content independent of the Google / Facebook duopoly. They agreed that the integration of blockchain technology and crypto-micropayments can create exciting monetization opportunities for news publishers.

The Pumped App learns what types of content a user is interested in and provides more curated content to the user using machine learning. Readers are then paid with MTT for reading, curating and engaging with the news content on the Pumped App. These earned MTT can then be exchanged for money through cryptocurrency exchanges or can also be used to pay for premium content subscriptions on publisher websites, hence providing an additional revenue source to newspapers.

This allows people anywhere in the world to earn money for reading the news.

About Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA): The EEA connects Fortune 500 enterprises, startups, academics and technology vendors with Ethereum subject matter experts.

About MulTra GmbH: MulTra GmbH, the company that has developed the Pumped ecosystem, was founded in 2014 and is based in Frankfurt, Germany. Its clients include Deutsche Bank, Samsung, Huawei, BMW, GlaxoSmithKline, Lenovo, Johnson & Johnson and many more. MulTra GmbH’s digital products received multiple awards from the European Commission for their innovative strengths and impactful nature. Website: www.pumped-crypto.io

*Source: AETOSWire

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The Saga Foundation (saga.org) announces today its mission to create Saga (SGA), the first non-anonymous blockchain-based digital currency. The currency is designed with a tamed volatility mechanism. These characteristics can set the ground for the currency to become a store of value and a medium of exchange.

Saga is designed to address legitimate concerns expressed by policy makers, regulators and market participants regarding cryptocurrencies; mainly their anonymity, lack of underlying value and high volatility.

Saga holders must satisfy full KYC (Know Your Customer) qualification and AML (Anti Money Laundering) requirements under Swiss law. With such disclosures, Saga resolves concerns about participant accountability, an issue that is generally raised regarding cryptographic currencies.

Saga aims to promote a low-volatility environment, combining the virtues of blockchain technologies with algorithmic representations of financial tools. For this reason, Saga is backed by a variable fractional reserve that is anchored to the IMF’s SDR. These reserves will be deposited with regulated banks through algorithms in the underlying Smart Contract System.

Dr. Jacob Frenkel stated: “While Blockchain technologies have gained growing acceptance, encryptic currencies have raised public policy concerns, since they are anonymous, unbacked, and are highly volatile. I share these concerns and see great value in Saga’s vision to address them properly.”

Prof. Myron Scholes stated: “Blockchain technologies will change financial infrastructure, from a current focus on transactions processing to transactions analyzing. This facilitates more efficient client solutions to their financial problems. The Saga project aims to develop a sustainable and efficient blockchain-based cryptocurrency that I support through becoming a member of its advisory council.”

Mark Tluszcz, CEO at Mangrove Capital Partners stated: "Saga represents a step change in maturity for digital currencies. The first that combines material benefits to the existing financial system with the potential and needs of the digital world. It’s the strongest team in the space and we are delighted to be backing the project."

Saga Foundation’s Founder & President, Ido Sadeh Man stated: “The creation of Saga is based on interdisciplinary knowledge, permitting the implementation of monetary models to tame volatility and allow regulatory access to participants’ identity. We are fortunate to have the involvement and insights of global leaders, who along with the other members of our Advisory Council, are helping us to design the first non-anonymous blockchain-based digital currency.”

Additional members of the Advisory Council are:

• Prof. Dan Galai: Co-Developer of the Chicago Board Options Exchange's Volatility Index (VIX)

• Prof. Emin Gün Sirer: Professor & Co-Director at the Initiative for Cryptocurrencies and Smart Contracts at Cornell University

• Prof. Raz Chen-Morris: Humanities Department Chair at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The Saga Foundation is not conducting an ICO. Rather, it enjoys the support of accredited investors, VC’s and hedge funds, amongst which are Mangrove Capital Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners, The Singulariteam Technology Group and Initial Capital.

About Saga:

Saga Foundation is headquartered in Switzerland, and is governed by Swiss law and regulations, including the rules of the Supervisory Authority of Swiss Foundations ESA and the Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA. The purpose of the not for profit Saga Foundation, as defined in its statutes, is: “promoting and developing new technologies and applications, especially in the fields of new open and decentralized software architectures. A dominating but not exclusive focus is set on the promotion and development of the so-called Saga protocol and the related technologies, as well as the promotion and support of applications using the Saga protocol”. The Foundation aims tocreate of a digital currency which functions as a means of payment, in order to facilitate a stable global ecosystem. For more information, go to: saga.org

Press Inquiries:

Email: press@saga.org
Twitter: twitter.com/sagafoundation

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MetLife announced the launch of the MetLife Career Agency Portal for the Asia region. The unique, mobile responsive and multi-lingual platform, developed and designed in Asia, provides access to a wide array of resources and capabilities to educate, enable and inspire existing and prospective agents through their career cycle. Intuitive and easy to navigate, visitors to the platform are able to find information based on their respective career stage along with advice and insights from some of MetLife’s top performing agents in Asia.

Bharat Kannan, Senior Vice President and Chief Distribution Officer, MetLife Asia said, “MetLife is investing heavily in growing its distribution advantage globally and agency forms a key part of this in Asia. Over the last two years we have taken significant steps to transform our distribution channels driving productivity and efficiency. The MetLife Career Agency Portal is among many steps we are taking to empower career agents.”

“By showcasing best practices and sharing their experiences via the platform, we believe agents will inspire their peers and new agents alike to service their customers better,” adds Kannan.

The MetLife Career Agency Portal is device agnostic allowing users to browse on their smartphone, tablet or desktop without having to download an app. Simply by visiting www.metlifeagency.com, the platform is available to any career agent (outside of MetLife too) to learn more about the profession.

Key features of the MetLife Career Agency Portal include:

• “Gear up for success” section carries many stories about how career agents deliver value to customers across the region. This not only helps existing agents but also people exploring a career in this space.
• “Shine with us” gives one an overview about MetLife’s regional initiatives such as MDRT partnerships and Asia President’s Council.
• “Career Opportunity” section provides an overview of various benefits of being a Career Agent and how MetLife agents are diversified in terms of skillsets and background.
• Agents can choose the language they are comfortable in from English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

Asia is home to MetLife’s largest agency business. MetLife has operations in 10 countries in Asia employing over 45,000 career insurance agents.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates ("MetLife"), is one of the largest life insurance companies in the world. Founded in 1868, MetLife is a global provider of life insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management. Serving approximately 100 million customers, MetLife has operations in 44 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.

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