The French bank becomes the first institutional investor to fund the US B2B business.
US fintech platform Save has announced the completion of a funding round led by BNP Paribas with Webster Bank, a commercial bank in the Northeast, also joining the funding round after partnering with Save on its Market Savings account.
Save has recently launched Market Savings, a hybrid product and service that includes a Webster Bank deposit account linked to an investment product and has also increased its portfolio range to include ESG investment strategies and dynamic absolute return strategies.
Save will utilise the funds raised to scale up its current product range and to launch its new ‘Powered by Save’ B2B business as it continues to expand its offering through institutional partnerships and advisory channels.
‘Our vision is that in the future bank customers will have the ability to choose how they receive yield; be it fixed, floating or through market returns,’ said Michael Nelskyla (pictured), CEO of Save, adding that demand for higher-yielding bank products is proliferating.
‘Banks are looking for innovative ways to improve customer retention and deposit growth. We are answering this unmet need with a product that enables market-based returns while maintaining FDIC insurance.’
Steve Nawrocki (right), head of equity derivatives, global equities Americas at BNP Paribas, said the investment in Save further demonstrates the bank’s ‘commitment to market innovation that responds to demand for dynamic client solutions’.
‘As a leading European institution with a technology as a key pillar of our 2025 growth plan, we continue to collaborate with fintechs with scalable benefits to our global client franchise,’ he said.
Yuanta debuts first index option strategy ETN tracking domestic index
The Taiwan Futures Exchange (TAIFEX) and Taiwan Index Plus (TIP) have partnered with Yuanta Securities’ for the issuance of the first covered call ETN tracking one of the indices in the Taiwan Strategy Index series - the TIP TAIFEX TAIEX Covered Call OTM 5% Total Return Index (Covered Call Index).
A total of 257,000 shares were traded on the first day of launch, marking it the market’s third most heavily-traded ETN in daily trading volume, according to the exchange.
Taiwan Strategy Indices are jointly developed by TAIFEX and TIP to provide investors with ‘enhanced index tracking accuracy and greater diversity in trading strategy execution, leveraging the liquidity and flexibility of Taiwan’s futures and options trading’.
In addition to the Covered Call Index, two other indices comprise the series - the TIP TAIFEX TAIEX Futures Index and the TIP TAIFEX Smart Multi-factor 30 Market Neutral Index.
The underlying index of the new ETN, the Covered Call Index, replicates returns from a covered call strategy of investing in the market benchmark TAIEX.
By holding a long position in the TAIEX while simultaneously selling TAIEX call options, the strategy index blends equity index and options contracts to enhance investment returns.
The new index option strategy ETN represents a milestone in the development of Taiwan’s financial market. Yuanta plans to introduce new liquidity to its futures and securities trading activities, while widening the product range and trading strategies available to investors.
The Swiss Structured Products Association (SSPA) has announced the addition of Vestr as a new partner member.
The Zug-based fintech start-up is a business-to-business technology provider to the financial services industry with an exclusive focus on actively managed certificates (AMCs).
Founded in 2017, the platform offers white-labelled software as a service (SaaS) platform to allow portfolio managers to interact with issuers of investment products during the lifecycle of these products.
‘Vestr aims for the ideal combination of extensive industry experience with substantial quantitative backgrounds. [The] collaboration with other industry representatives will advance the Swiss structured product business as a whole,’ said Stefan Wagner (right), head of business development at Vestr.
With the addition of Vestr, the SSPA has now 44 members across the entire value chain.
Boerse Stuttgart Group has launched TradeREBEL, a new platform for zero-fee securities trading, targeted at banks and online brokers. TradeREBEL represents the exchange’s last strategic step to grow its capital markets business.
At the launch of TradeREBEL, a pilot partner is connected in its onboarding phase. Other banks and online brokers will gradually connect to TradeREBEL and provide their clients with access to the zero-fee platform.
The new platform offers trading at no fees in around 2,000 German and international equities, and about 2,000 exchange-traded products (ETPs) from 8.00 to 22.00 hours
As a regulated trading platform, TradeREBEL will offer full pre-trade and post-trade transparency.
‘With these factors, we intend to set new standards for the zero-fee segment,’ said Dragan Radanovic (right), CEO of Boerse Stuttgart Group and CEO of EUWAX. ‘With the experience of our subsidiary EUWAX AG as liquidity provider, we ensure a high level of availability and fair prices, even outside core trading hours and during turbulent times on the market.’
‘The connection to TradeREBEL enables banks and brokers to address relevant client groups precisely. Entering the zero-fee segment is a strategic step for us,’ said Matthias Voelkel, CEO of Boerse Stuttgart Group.
As a European exchange group, Boerse Stuttgart entered the zero-fee segment in Switzerland in its exchange BX Swiss, earlier this year.
FTSE Russell and Ping An have launched the FTSE Ping An China ESG Index Series as a part of a new strategic partnership.
The launch aims to provide investors with access to index-linked investments including structured products and orient funds towards companies with strong ESG performance in China’s capital markets.
The new which index combines Ping An’s proprietary China ESG data and ratings into FTSE Russell’s China indices, is the latest addition to the FTSE Russell China equity index offering. The index series has a China-specific ESG approach tailored to China’s development trajectory and its social and environmental circumstances.
Using the Ping An CN-ESG framework covering 4,000 China A-shares for an overall rating, scores are translated into index weightings. In the case of the FTSE Ping An China A Free ESG Advanced 50 Index the top five companies are ranked by ESG Rating from 10 industries and weighted by market capitalisation whereas the FTSE Ping An China A Free ESG Advanced 100 Index selects the top ten companies ranked by ESG Rating from 10 industries and weighted by market capitalisation.
Arne Staal (above-right), chief executive officer FTSE Russell, and group head of benchmarks and indices at LSEG said: ‘The launch of the FTSE Ping An China ESG Index Series combines our complementary expertise in sustainable investing specially for the Chinese market.’