How Work-From-Home Phenomenon is Changing the Corporate Culture

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It has been more than seven months since the pandemic changed the world forever. While lockdown restrictions have begun to ease in some places, the crisis has left an indelible mark in its wake. These consequences serve as a reminder that a new normal has set in, one that has shuffled the deck for employers and employees alike. In fact, some experts believe that remote work is here to stay, even once the pandemic has run its course.   Continue reading How Work-From-Home Phenomenon is Changing the Corporate Culture

VIAINVEST takes part in development of industry guidelines for suitability and appropriateness evaluation of IBF clients

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After the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FKTK) has initiated changes in the peer-to-peer lending industry aiming to transform existing business environment into regulated and supervised industry, majority of platforms, including VIAINVEST, currently carrying out business activities of selling claim rights have engaged in licensing process to obtain an IBF (Investment Brokerage Firm) license. As the goal of licensing is to establish equal terms of operations for all market players holding the IBF license, VIAINVEST is honored to work along with the Alternative Financial Services Association of Latvia and P2P platforms like Mintos and TWINO to carry out first industry guidelines for investor suitability and appropriateness assessment in order to ensure investor protection through a single market approach.

“We are excited about upcoming changes, as regulated market brings a lot of benefits for both platforms and investors. Customer protection has always been a key value for us, and after the industry has witnessed several platforms collapsing over this year, I believe it is a common goal to finally set equal terms for all market players,” says Eduards Lapkovskis, CEO of VIAINVEST. “Investor suitability and appropriateness evaluation framework we have developed together with the Association is a valuable outcome of productive cooperation between market players who has been present for quite some time and strives to strengthen the industry.”

Suitability and appropriateness assessment guidelines contain recommended principles and examples of good practice, the primary purpose of which is to ensure investor protection through a single market approach. As the regulation requires IBFs to evaluate their customers’ knowledge on financial instruments and investing, guidelines will help prospective market players to develop comprehensive knowledge and experience evaluation tests to ensure high investor protection level. The guidelines are of a recommendatory nature, therefore not binding on market participants and, accordingly – applied by market participants on the basis of good faith.

VIAINVEST has been actively engaged in cooperation with the prospective industry supervisor FKTK and has reached the final phase of the licensing process. As a result of the licensing VIAINVEST will become a participant of a regulated financial and capital market, and will provide services of initial placement of financial instruments and execution of investors’ orders for actions with financial instruments. Currently, the platform provides consumer loan claim rights trading, primarily based on the assignment agreement. Once licensed, these claim rights will be securitized i.e. they will become available for investment as asset-backed securities. However, for the convenience of current customers, VIAINVEST intends to maintain the previous user interface as much as possible. Subject to the requirements of the Investor Protection Law, in the event when the company has not registered financial instruments or the financial instruments have been permanently lost, the statutory class of investors shall be entitled to compensation of 90% of the invested amount up to EUR 20 000, ensured by FKTK.

More information on the guidelines can be found in the the Alternative Financial Services Association of Latvia website (currently, the document is only available in Latvian).

What to Know about Anti-Money Laundering as a P2P Investor

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Being an investor at this point doesn’t just mean navigating a complex maze of investment options across different platforms and territories – it also involves a great deal of due diligence to make sure your risks are managed from a return on investment point of view and a legislative standpoint. Continue reading What to Know about Anti-Money Laundering as a P2P Investor

COVID-19 Accelerates Push to Digital Banking and Investment Apps

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There isn’t a sector of the economy that the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t touched, and banking is near the top of the list. Not only have bank branches been shuttered for months but the perilous nature of cash has thrust digital payments and banking into the spotlight. While digital banking is a trend that had begun before the pandemic took hold, its adoption has been hastened around the world as a result of the crisis. One of the key features of digital banking is that the consumer is the focus, not the products, as depicted by the below illustration. Once users get a feel for it, they are unlikely to ever look back and only the nimblest of banks will lead the way.  Continue reading COVID-19 Accelerates Push to Digital Banking and Investment Apps

Cashless Europe: How Fintech Benefits the Development of the Digital Society

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The European Union has been moving closer to a cashless society in recent years, in some countries more than others. Fueling the trend has been the rise of financial technology, or fintech solutions, as consumers flock to mobile and internet offerings over brick-and-mortar banks, leaving cash out in the cold. Continue reading Cashless Europe: How Fintech Benefits the Development of the Digital Society

Vietnam: an Untapped Pool of Consumer Lending Opportunities

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The global situation in 2020 has pulled everyone out of their comfort zone and predictions about economic growth have become more difficult to make. Risks need to be evaluated with a different mindset because despite uncertainty, there will always be opportunities no matter the situation.

This article will evaluate the case of Vietnam as prospective market for consumer lenders. We will look at the economic picture, consumer behavior, and political forces that aim to support and shape the consumer lending industry as a viable investment consideration. Continue reading Vietnam: an Untapped Pool of Consumer Lending Opportunities

Saving Money During the Pandemic: Utopia or Reality?

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With wages down and unemployment sky-high, socking away extra cash might seem like a catch 22. In the UK, the number of Brits to file for unemployment in April soared 70% to nearly 2.1 million, reflecting the largest increase in history. People are working fewer hours, and the government has had to swoop in with wage subsidies for millions of jobs, furloughs that are set to begin dwindling in August.  According to Ernst & Young partner in Baltic States Guntars Krols, no European economy has gone unscathed from the COVID-19-fueled economic crisis. Were it not for government subsidies in Latvia, the unemployment rate would be much worse than it is.  Continue reading Saving Money During the Pandemic: Utopia or Reality?

VIAINVEST announces new bank details in cooperation with VIALET

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For quite some time VIAINVEST has been accepting deposits to its account opened with VIALET – a digital payments platform holding an electronic money institution license. VIALET is also a part of VIA SMS Group – the mother company of VIAINVEST, so we have decided to endorse this product and fully shift to it by closing our Swedbank account and accepting deposits/ making withdrawals only through the account opened with VIALET starting from June 1, 2020.

VIAINVEST announces new bank details in cooperation with VIALET

Continue reading VIAINVEST announces new bank details in cooperation with VIALET