Delega together with Deutsche Bank, Barclays completes POC to Digitalise Signatory Management

ZUG, SWITZERLAND, Jun 2, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – Delega is excited to announce the successful completion of a POC together with Deutsche Bank, Barclays and 8 multinational corporations including Salesforce, Siemens and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

This POC proved that the digital signatory management workflows jointly co-designed by the POC participants and executed using Delega's technology represented a significant efficiency gain over the current tools and processes available in the market today.

The Delega tool leverages cutting-edge technologies to help organisations manage signatory rights on a fully digital and integrated basis. The challenges that treasurers and their teams face when managing signatory rights across multiple banks are well-known across the industry. Yet in the digital age, managing signatories is essential when it comes to enabling users to interact with banks. The goal has been to transform what is typically a time-consuming process requiring extensive supporting documentation and manual work. It is also further complicated by the fact that different banks have specific sets of rules and procedures.

During the POC, corporate banking clients benefited from higher transparency and a clear view of the supporting documents each participating bank required, and the digitalization of the exchange of the documents therefore enforcing "first time right" approach in the process. This strengthened the use case of a multi-bank solution that enabled corporate participants to follow a single workflow process in compliance with differing regulatory and policy requirements of individual banks. The POC also proved, using the Delega tool, that both banks and their corporate customers had exactly the same view of which signatories held which authority levels in real time, removing the need for extensive interaction and communication that is normally needed by large multinationals during an audit to prove "who can sign for what, with which bank".

Eliminating inefficient processes is fundamental to the progression of financial services and technologies. It is the driving force behind recent innovations to alleviate the strain organisations are currently experiencing to meet increased and varied demands.

Deutsche Bank, Barclays and Delega are striving to foster and champion further innovation in the banking industry.

About Delega

Digitalising the signatory management process brings value for both banks and corporations. Delega works to generate value for all parties that are involved, aiming to transform how we approach outdated and inefficient ways of working. Using Delega, companies can store and manage a central list of current signatories. This can be shared with chosen banks, ensuring an up-to-date record of signatory information. As per its offering, the Delega team offer a unique and progressive insight across the industry. Combined they offer a deep understanding of corporate banking, treasury, technology, corporate law and project management.

Media Contact:
Company: Delega
Contact: Rob Lunn, Head of Banking Relationships
E-mail: info@delegabanks.com
Website: https://delega-banks.com/contact.html
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/delega-banks/
Alternatively, please reach out to our core team as per the website details

SOURCE: Delega

Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com

FSD Management and Board Suffers Multiple Court Losses as Shareholder Meeting Approaches

TORONTO, May 13, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – On Monday, May 10, 2021, at the request of Messrs. Anthony Durkacz and Zeeshan Saeed, founding shareholders and members of the group of concerned shareholders (the "Concerned Shareholders") of FSD Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: HUGE) (CSE: HUGE) (FSE: 0K9A) (the "Company" or "FSD"), the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Commercial List) (the "Court") issued an order appointing Ms. Carol Hansell as independent chair of the Company's shareholders' meeting to be held on May 14, 2021 (the "Meeting") and dismissed FSD's application challenging the Concerned Shareholders' information circular.

This defeat is only the most recent in a series of Court orders against FSD management and directors obtained by the Concerned Shareholders that the Company has concealed, despite their importance.

"These consistent losses are clear evidence of Dr. Raza Bokhari's [the Company's Chief Executive Officer] poor grasp of fundamental corporate governance principles and his repeated breaches of court orders provide insight into his moral compass," said Anthony Durkacz. "It is regrettable that Dr. Bokhari's latest misconduct implicated Senator Rick Santorum and resulted in a further waste of Company money. A simple respect for the law would have avoided this embarrassment for all of us." The most recent Court decision noted that Senator Santorum was compromised by a conflict of interest and was not to serve as the Meeting chair. The Court rejected his appointment and instead appointed Ms. Carol Hansell, a well-respected corporate governance expert, independent of all parties, to chair the Meeting.

It has previously been disclosed to shareholders that, on March 5, 2021, the Court ordered (the "March 5 Court Order") the Company to hold the Meeting on May 14, 2021 and to appoint an independent chair agreed to by both parties to ensure that someone other than Dr. Raza Bokhari acted as chair of the Meeting. The Original Order also prohibited Dr. Raza Bokhari and his collaborating directors from voting shares at the Meeting that they had recently issued to themselves.

What the Company failed to disclose is that, just a few weeks later, on April 9, 2021, the Court issued an injunction (the "April 9 Court Order") that restrained FSD from closing a transaction that Dr. Raza Bokhari and his collaborating directors had attempted to rush through in advance of the Meeting. As a director of FSD, Mr. Durkacz objected to the proposed transaction on the basis that it was not in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders. To preserve the status quo pending the Meeting, the April 9 Court Order prohibits the Company from undertaking any transaction other than in the ordinary course of business prior to the Meeting.

Management of FSD asked the Court to reconsider its decision, but on April 16, 2021, the Court refused to alter any of the April 9 Court Order's terms.

To make matters worse, Dr. Raza Bokhari has repeatedly breached these Court orders. The appointment of Senator Santorum by Dr. Raza Bokhari was a breach of the March 5 Court Order. Dr. Raza Bokhari subsequently breached the April 9 Court Order when he paid Senator Santorum a non-refundable fee of US$75,000. "This was, quite simply, an inappropriate action and a waste of FSD's money by Dr. Raza Bokhari and his supporters. Unfortunately, due to Dr. Raza Bokhari's actions contrary to Court orders, Senator Santorum was implicated. It was never appropriate or, outside of their fantasy world, realistic that Senator Santorum should act as independent chair of this meeting," said Anthony Durkacz.

A further breach of the March 5 Court Order arose from the Company's failure to include a resolution to reduce the size of its board of directors from seven to five directors in the matters to be considered at the Meeting. To avoid more expensive legal action, rather than object to this breach, the Concerned Shareholders chose instead to recommend that shareholders vote for the two director nominees who were not currently serving on the Company's board – Donal Carroll and Frank Lavelle. The Concerned Shareholders regarded these individuals as apparently well-qualified and hoped that they would evidence the independent judgment that Dr. Raza Bokhari's collaborators on the current board so clearly lack.

However, these hopes were undone with respect to Mr. Lavelle when he intervened in the Company's failed court action against the Concerned Shareholders. Mr. Lavelle's goal was to require that the Concerned Shareholders clarify that his allegiance lies firmly with Dr. Raza Bokhari and the other members of the current board. While Mr. Lavelle's specious action failed, the Concerned Shareholders do acknowledge that Mr. Lavelle has declared he is firmly allied with Dr. Raza Bokhari and his collaborators, notwithstanding their now substantial track record of failure in governing FSD.

By contrast, Mr. Carroll, who was the Company's Chief Financial Officer, resisted pressure from Dr. Raza Bokhari to take actions that he was concerned were contrary to the April 9 Court Order. For his efforts, Mr. Carroll was removed from the list of management's director nominees on May 3, 2021 and, on May 5, 2021, Mr. Carroll's employment was terminated by Dr. Raza Bokhari.

Many shareholders have submitted votes for the election of Mr. Carroll at the Meeting. The Concerned Shareholders want to honor shareholders' wishes and are seeking to cast these votes at the Meeting for the election of Mr. Carroll. The Concerned Shareholders anticipate that Dr. Raza Bokhari will object to this and are seeking a ruling from the Meeting chair that Mr. Carroll remains eligible for election as a director.

The Concerned Shareholders thank FSD shareholders for helping to rebuild FSD by voting Gold proxies to replace Dr. Raza Bokhari and his collaborators at the Meeting. "Shareholders deserve better," said Mr. Durkacz, "and we hope to give them a better board of directors at the meeting on May 14, 2021."

Further details regarding the Concerned Shareholders' nominees and the reasons that the Concerned Shareholders want to reconstitute FSD's board are contained in the information circular available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com and at the website established by the Concerned Shareholders: www.RestoreFSD.com. Stay up-to-date by following us at: www.RestoreFSD.com; Facebook: RestoreFSD; and Twitter: @RestoreFSD.

For additional information, please contact:
Carson Proxy
North American Toll Free Phone: 1-800-530-5189
Local (Collect outside North America): 416-751-2066
Email: info@carsonproxy.com

Forward-Looking Information

Certain statement contained herein are "forward-looking statements". Often, but not always, forward-looking statement can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "expected", "scheduled", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases, or states that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include statements regarding the Meeting, the business to be conducted at the Meeting and the Concerned Shareholders' plans and anticipation regarding the election of Mr. Carroll at the Meeting. The Concerned Shareholders cannot give any assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to have been correct. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this document.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/83807

Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com

Trintech Releases 2021 Global Financial Close Benchmark Report

DALLAS, TX / ACCESSWIRE, May 11, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – Trintech, a leading provider of financial software solutions, today announced the release of its 2021 Global Financial Close Benchmark Report. Trintech surveyed over 480 financial professionals across the globe in Q1 of 2021 to evaluate which parts of the financial close process have been automated, which are in the process of being automated and where finance and accounting (F&A) organizations are looking to adopt automation in the future.

2020 was a defining year for the CFO as they broke out of the compliance box and returned to their role as an essential strategic leader of the organization – one relied upon to shape critical business decisions when COVID-19 impacted businesses of all sizes. As companies transitioned to remote operations, organizations that relied heavily on manual processes found it difficult to continue to do their jobs at the same level – let alone deliver on the new expectations required of them to provide timely, critical business insights. What is certain is that these expectations are now essential for businesses moving forward, however, the ad hoc processes many organizations were forced to adopt in the short-term to meet those expectations are not sustainable long-term.

Now is the time for organizations to institutionalize technology to standardize and automate key financial processes to be able to continue to support these growing expectations.

Key findings from the survey include:

— The top 3 challenges the Office of Finance experienced within the financial close process in 2020 were all influenced or accelerated by the pandemic
— A lack of automation is identified as the largest contributing factor to an inefficient financial close
— Process standardization and automation are the key areas of improvement for 2021
— Completing quality work on time, while simultaneously balancing workforce issues (i.e. attracting talent and managing employee burnout) will be the biggest challenges for finance professionals over the next five years

"Our research found that 78% of companies at early stages of their digital transformation journeys faced enormous challenges – challenges their peers further along in their adoption of automation did not," said David King, Chief Marketing Officer at Trintech.

"These organizations must institutionalize technology to automate their financial close to be more efficient, while increasing transparency and ensuring data integrity to be successful long-term. While COVID-19 may have identified these challenges, the benefits of solving them are now fundamental and there is no going back to maintaining inefficient manual processes."

To dive into the results of this report further, Trintech and an advisor from a leading analyst firm will be hosting a joint webinar, How COVID-19 Accelerated the Path Towards Financial Close Automation, on Tuesday, May 11th (https://pr.report/KIMkJS4y), to give companies insight into topics such as:

— The biggest challenges organizations are currently facing in the financial close process
— The maturity of automation in the Office of Finance
— Key areas to improve in your financial close process over the next 12 months and where to start

Read the full Financial Close Benchmark Report at https://pr.report/ujSclCBA.

About Trintech
Trintech Inc., a pioneer of Financial Corporate Performance Management (FCPM) software, combines unmatched technical and financial expertise to create innovative, cloud-based software solutions that deliver world-class financial operations and insights. From high volume transaction matching and streamlining daily operational reconciliations to automating and managing balance sheet reconciliations, intercompany accounting, journal entries, disclosure reporting and bank fee analysis, to governance, risk and compliance – Trintech's portfolio of financial solutions, including Cadency(R) Platform, Adra(R) Suite, and targeted tools, ReconNET(TM), T-Recs(R), and UPCS(R), help manage all aspects of the financial close process. Over 3,500 clients worldwide – including the majority of the Fortune 100 – rely on the company's cloud-based software to continuously improve the efficiency, reliability, and strategic insights of their financial operations.

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Trintech has offices located across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and the Nordics, as well as strategic partners in South Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific. To learn more about Trintech, visit www.trintech.com or connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Media Contact:
Kristina Pereira Tully
Vested
+1-650-464-0080
trintech@fullyvested.com

SOURCE: Trintech, Inc.

Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com

Corporate Boards Worldwide Navigating Governance Challenges, HKIoD Shares Findings of Global Director Survey 2020-2021

HONG KONG, May 6, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – A global research on board governance during the Covid-19 crisis indicated that two-thirds of company directors reported an increase of time commitment by 50 percent or more.

The Hong Kong Institute of Directors ("HKIoD") shares the 2020-2021 Survey Report of the Global Network of Director Institutes ("GNDI"), which analyses survey responses fielded in the second half-year of 2020 from a diverse pool of nearly 2,000 directors from 17 director institutes worldwide. HKIoD is a member institute of GNDI, an international alliance of leading director institutes representing more than 150,000 corporate board members.

Chairman of HKIoD Dr Christopher To noted, "This GNDI Survey Report provides timely snapshots of how boards worldwide are navigating the economic and social impacts of the Covid-19 crisis. How our fellow directors recalibrated their board foci and strategies generated good references not just for now but also for the foreseeable future, as the impacts of Covid-19 will linger for some time. Globally directors must act and have acted quickly in changing. This crisis poses opportunity to rethink, revalue, restructure, restart and rebound,"

Highlights of global key findings

Outlined below are highlights of the report's key findings:
— Directors gave high marks to themselves and their management teams. Many credited prior scenario planning that provides a good foundation for an effective response to the Covid-19 crisis.
— There will be an increased emphasis on risks in 2021 and beyond. The crisis will likely have the most significant long-term impact on how boards engage on strategy and risk and assess employee health and safety.
— Virtual board meetings work, but they are second best. Virtual board meetings are here to stay.

Challenges and responses

While the GNDI Survey Report publishes Global Aggregates, HKIoD has prepared a supplementary paper, which places side by side the findings for significant issues in Global Aggregates, Asia & Oceania Subset ("A&O") and Hong Kong Subset. The comparison presents findings in Hong Kong ranking order, for readers with interest in the Hong Kong scenarios vis-a-vis regionally and globally.

The top challenge perceived from the Covid-19 crisis was "recalibrating strategies to the new market or environment" (HK: 61%, A&O: 61%, Global: 56%). This is followed by "ensuring effective governance in decisions affecting employees, investors, customers, suppliers and communities" and "responding to changing government policies and guidelines".

As to how boards responded to the Covid-19 crisis, the top answer was "our board has been able to govern effectively in the new environment" (HK: 80%, A&O: 84%, Global: 89%). Many boards have established ad-hoc or special crisis committee as "a valuable component of the board's crisis response plan".

Compared to directors of other places, Hong Kong directors seem to have outperformed in identifying mobility restrictions and pandemic risk as "top risk on the board's risk dashboard 12 months ago". This is probably due to prior experiences in the 2003 SARS and the 2019 social unrest. On challenges posed by the crisis, Hong Kong directors placed a higher ranking than other directors in "approving or making decisions quickly" as an important challenge to be addressed and therefore attributed higher emphasis to "ensuring the quality of decision making on fast-moving issues" as an area of governance with long-term impact.

The topmost challenge by far in adapting to meetings in a virtual setting was "losing nonverbal communication between directors" (HK: 61%, A&O: 64%, Global: 68%). This was followed by the challenge from technological problems disrupting the meeting.

CEO of HKIoD Dr Carlye Tsui, who is also a member of the GNDI Executive Committee, remarked, "Globally, directors were confronted with the need to master technology in adapting to virtual meetings. This may be a wake-up call for them to enhance their digital readiness. Measures in meeting the challenges in the Covid-19 crisis are to a great extent related to digital transformation. Digital readiness can react to transformation better; a board that is digital enlightened leads digital transformation in a faster speed."

Long-term impacts

On areas of governance perceived to be affected in the long term, many boards would proceed with "incorporating a new set of broader risks in scenario planning". Boards would work on "ensuring the ongoing health and safety of employees".

Perceived by the directors surveyed, there is likelihood of change in the long-term trajectory of trends. The respondents anticipated "increased focus on ESG, sustainability and stakeholder value issues" (HK: 75%, A&O: 71%, Global: 67%). They also predicted "slowing down of globalization through increased protectionism". They placed importance on "incorporating data analytics" and "incorporating expertise of outside experts" into the board decision-making process. Other trends perceived to pick up momentum included "increased board diversity", "the emergence of professional director", "increased competition for talent" and "increased corporate repurposing".

Dr To further remarked, "We must continue to be braced for severe business hardship. We must learn from the past experiences and ride on the transformation of business mode."

Lessons learned and going forward

From the survey, the lessons learned included "digital board engagement as a helpful tool for board operations moving forward" (HK: 82%, A&O: 87%, Global: 89%). The respondents indicated that their board would "incorporate a broader set of risks into the information dashboard of the board", "ensure greater communication with a broader set of stakeholders" and "increase director education on factors identified as barriers to the organisation's Covid-19 response", among other things.

Dr Tsui added, "A competent director must pursue continuing professional development. The survey findings provide HKIoD with useful reference for enhancing education to facilitate directors in the new normal."

HKIoD promotes excellence in director practices through its annual major project of Directors Of The Year Awards, honouring role models among individual directors and the collective boards. Continuing in its 21st anniversary, the awards project this year takes on the theme "Leading in New Normal". Nominations for the awards are open to the public.

The full report of the GNDI Global Survey 2020-2021 [http://www.hkiod.com/gndisurvey2020.pdf] and the HKIoD supplementary paper [http://www.hkiod.com/gndisurvey2020/sup.pdf] are available for download free of charge. Nominations of candidates for Directors Of The Year Awards 2021 [http:www.hkiod.com/dya-current.html] are welcomed.

About The Hong Kong Institute of Directors
The Hong Kong Institute of Directors ("HKIoD") is Hong Kong's premier body representing directors to foster the long-term success of companies through advocacy and standards-setting in corporate governance and professional development for directors. A non-profit-distributing organisation with membership consisting of directors from listed and non-listed companies, HKIoD is committed to providing directors with educational programmes and information service and establishing an influential voice in representing directors. With international perspectives and a multi-cultural environment, HKIoD conducts business in biliteracy and trilingualism. HKIoD is a member institute of the Global Network of Director Institutes, a worldwide alliance of leading director institutes.
http://www.hkiod.com
Tel: (852) 2889 9986
Fax: (852) 2889 9982

About The Global Network of Director Institutes
GNDI is an alliance of leading director institutes from around the world. A global programme of reciprocity helps directors and their boards to unlock access to director resources around the world. GNDI comprises 22 member institutes including HKIoD, representing over 150,000 directors and other governance professionals around the globe.
http://www.gndi.org

Media Enquiries:
The Hong Kong Institute of Directors
Joanne Yam +852 2889 1414/joanne.yam@hkiod.com
Odessa So +852 2889 4988/odessa.so@hkiod.com

Strategic Public Relations Group Limited
Brenda Chan +852 2114 4396/brenda.chan@sprg.com.hk
Chak Yau +852 2114 4395/chak.yau@sprg.com.hk

Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com

Trintech Announces Sponsorship of ServiceNow’s Knowledge 2021 Event

DALLAS, TX, May 5, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – Trintech, a leading global provider of integrated Record to Report software solutions for the Office of Finance, today announced its gold sponsorship of ServiceNow's Knowledge 2021 event taking place virtually May 11th – 20th. During this event, digital leaders, partners, and forward-thinkers will come together to discover how organizations are becoming more resilient and reshaping their industries with digital workflows.

As part of this sponsorship, Trintech will be hosting two speaking sessions. The first, "Delivering Real-Time Financial Insights with the Right Processes and Technology," will be co-hosted with KPMG and focuses on how to address the financial close by combining effective processes and technology that simplify workflows across your Office of Finance.

"As enterprises continue to accelerate digital transformation efforts, it is critical to think about this holistically from both a process and technology-perspective," said Scott Cohen, Advisory, KPMG LLP. "A comprehensive digital workflow transformation is vital to your future success and we are excited about our expanded partnership with both Trintech and ServiceNow to address companies' unique finance and organizational transformations by turning knowledge into value and successfully driving large, global, and complex workflow transformation."

The second session, "Transform Your Office of Finance by Powering Your Workflow with CadencyDirect," will showcase how CadencyDirect, the only Financial Close Automation (FCA) application on the Now Platform(R), can digitize your workflows across your financial close process on a single, scalable, cloud-based platform that reduces complexity and risk, accelerates the overall process, and drives a greater experience for finance teams.

"Leading enterprises understand the need to digitize workflows across the enterprise which is why we are excited about our recent partnership with ServiceNow and bringing our CadencyDirect solution to the ServiceNow customer base at Knowledge 2021," said Robert Michlewicz, Chief Strategy Officer at Trintech. "For finance organizations, CadencyDirect complements and extends financial operations management by addressing the shared needs of the CFO, CIO and CAO and enabling their teams to digitize workflows impacting the financial close process – thus creating visibility and improved synergies that help companies achieve a more effective operating enterprise."

Trintech recently was named a ServiceNow Elite Partner in the ServiceNow Technology Program, bringing CadencyDirect, an industry-leading financial close automation solution, into the Now Platform(R) to support digital transformation across the enterprise. CadencyDirect is powered by Trintech's industry-leading Cadency solution that combines all financial close activities into a single, seamless process, including operational matching, intercompany transaction management, balance sheet reconciliations, journal entry management, close task management and compliance. Cadency integrates with 100s of ERP instances including SAP(R), Oracle(R) and NetSuite(R) and currently serves the majority of the Fortune 100.

For more information on ServiceNow's Knowledge 2021 event, or to register, click here. https://knowledge.servicenow.com/

Some or all of the services described herein may not be permissible for KPMG audit clients and their affiliates or related entities.

About Trintech

Trintech Inc., a pioneer of Financial Corporate Performance Management (FCPM) software, combines unmatched technical and financial expertise to create innovative, cloud-based software solutions that deliver world-class financial operations and insights. From high volume transaction matching and streamlining daily operational reconciliations, to automating and managing balance sheet reconciliations, intercompany accounting, journal entries, disclosure reporting and bank fee analysis, to governance, risk and compliance – Trintech's portfolio of financial solutions, including Cadency(R) Platform, Adra(R) Suite, and targeted tools, ReconNET(TM), T-Recs(R), and UPCS(R), help manage all aspects of the financial close process. Over 3,500 clients worldwide – including the majority of the Fortune 100 – rely on the company's cloud-based software to continuously improve the efficiency, reliability, and strategic insights of their financial operations.

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Trintech has offices located across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and the Nordics, as well as strategic partners in South Africa, Latin America and the Asia Pacific. To learn more about Trintech, visit www.trintech.com or connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

About KPMG LLP

KPMG is a global organization of independent professional services firms providing Audit, Tax and Advisory services. We operate in 146 countries and territories and in FY20 had close to 227,000 people working in member firms around the world. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such. KPMG International Limited is a private English company limited by guarantee. KPMG International Limited and its related entities do not provide services to clients. Learn more at www.kpmg.com/us.

Media Contact:
Kristina Pereira Tully
Vested
+1-650-464-0080
trintech@fullyvested.com

SOURCE: Trintech, Inc.

Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com

HKIoD Releases Revised Guide for INEDs

HONG KONG, Apr 7, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – Amidst the economic decline for many sectors under the Covid-19 impact, the financial sector is faring with vibrancy. Witness the IPO line-up on HKEX and the financial trading activities. The investing public continues to place stake on listed issuers' performance, which comes with the expectation on corporate governance led by boards of directors. An important board role under public scrutiny is that of the independent non-executive director ("INED"). To provide up-to-date practice guidance, The Hong Kong Institute of Directors ("HKIoD") releases a complete revision of one of its flagship publications, Guide for Independent Non-Executive Directors ("the Guide").

Drawing increasing attention from the public and in particular from regulators and stakeholders, the role of INED when performed well adds value to the board. Author of the Guide, Dr Carlye Tsui Wai-ling, CEO of HKIoD, highlights the implication, "Taking up an appointment as an INED carries with it an honour in trust bestowed, a commitment to service and acceptance of expectation in professionalism."

The Guide aims to provide practice notes and advisory tips in concise and user-friendly reading, with highlights on principles for INEDs at work as well as practical aspects of work scope, issues, skills and working relationship with other board members and management. "The INED role calls for serious and diligent service," said Dr Christopher To Wing, Chairman of HKIoD. "While offering practice guidance to INEDs, we encourage the board and management as a team to work together. Hence, the Guide also facilitates teamwork on the board." The Guide is sponsored by the Corporate Governance Development Foundation Fund and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong.

"INEDs may add value, not only to listed and regulated companies but also to all other types of companies," remarked Mr Henry Lai Hin-wing, Immediate Past Chairman of HKIoD and current Chairman of the institute's Corporate Governance Policies Committee. "While listed companies are mandated by Listing Rules to appoint INEDs to the board, non-listed companies may introduce diversity in perspectives on the board by appointing INEDs."

One important emphasis of the Guide is on corporate sustainability through ESG adoption and reporting led by the board, with INEDs serving as catalyst. Dr Moses Cheng Mo-chi, Founding Chairman of HKIoD and a renowned INED, advocates ESG implementation and opined, "INEDs should be knowledgeable and proactive in driving ESG adoption and should ensure that ESG goals and achievements are communicated well by the company."

Echoing on the teamwork of the board, Dr Kelvin Wong Tin-yau, Past Chairman of HKIoD and a recognised practitioner as both executive director and INED, said, "We will see a paradigm shift in INED focus, to both financial and ESG performance, and extension from independence to interdependence and interplay among all board members."

On the significance of the INED role, Dr David Wong Yau-kar, Past Deputy Chairman of HKIoD and a well-respected business leader, highlighted, "INEDs must be seasoned in assessing business landscape and risks, particularly when the company engages in a major transaction or explores a new business line."

Given the enormous obligations and responsibilities, it may not be easy to have suitable candidates coming forward to accept INED appointment. Dr Tsui concluded, "Usually INEDs are mission-minded persons who are appropriately trained and who advocate good corporate governance. It is significant to develop a partnership of mutual respect and trust between the INEDs and other board members as well as management. It takes the whole board and management, working together, to realise the maximum value from INEDs."

HKIoD promotes excellence in director practices through its annual major project of Directors Of The Year Awards, honouring role models among individual director and the collective board. INEDs have been recognised at the Awards for their exemplary performance. Continuing in its 21st anniversary, the awards project this year takes on the theme "Leading in New Normal". Nominations for the awards are open to the public.

The HKIoD Guide for Independent Non-Executive Directors can be downloaded for free and nominations of candidates for Directors Of The Year Awards 2021 are welcomed.

1. Guide for Independent Non-Executive Directors : https://www.hkiod.com/INEDguide.html
2. Directors Of The Year Awards 2021: https://www.hkiod.com/dya-current.html

The Hong Kong Institute of Directors ("HKIoD") is Hong Kong's premier body representing directors to foster the long-term success of companies through advocacy and standards-setting in corporate governance and professional development for directors. A non-profit-distributing organisation with membership consisting of directors from listed and non-listed companies, HKIoD is committed to providing directors with educational programmes and information service and establishing an influential voice in representing directors. With international perspectives and a multi-cultural environment, HKIoD conducts business in biliteracy and trilingualism. HKIoD is a member institute of the Global Network of Director Institutes, a worldwide alliance of leading director institutes.

Media Enquiries:
The Hong Kong Institute of Directors
Joanne Yam +852 2889 1414 / joanne.yam@hkiod.com

Strategic Public Relations Group Limited
Brenda Chan +852 2114 4396 / brenda.chan@sprg.com.hk
Chak Yau +852 2114 4395 / chak.yau@sprg.com.hk

Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com

HKIoD Recommends a Director Identification Number System

HONG KONG, Apr 7, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – The Government has plans to introduce subsidiary legislation to implement provisions under the Companies Ordinance relating to legitimate and necessary access to personal information contained in the Companies Register. The Hong Kong Institute of Directors supports the new arrangement.

Under the new arrangement, public inspection of the Companies Register will not be precluded. The Companies Ordinance does enable public inspection of data in the Companies Register, but the inspection must comport with the law. The Companies Ordinance as passed into law contains provisions specifying that public inspection of the Companies Register should only be for the purposes set out in section 45(1).

A main purpose of public inspection of the Companies Register is to ascertain the identity of a director of a certain company.

Under the new arrangement, a director may provide a correspondence address to be displayed in the Companies Register, and only a part of the identification numbers will be on display. The data so displayed should in most ordinary circumstances enable the person seeking information to ascertain the identity of a director. For service of documents and legal proceedings, the company's registered address or another service address that the director provides is sufficient.

Under the new arrangement, there will also be a mechanism to enable Specified Persons (e.g., minority shareholders, financial institutions, certain professional bodies, employees who are owed back wages, etc.) to seek court approval to obtain a director's usual residential address and identification number in full. A court may grant such access if deemed appropriate. The Companies Registry may also disclose a director's usual residential address if the CR cannot establish contact with the director using the correspondence address provided. Government departments and law enforcement agencies may also obtain full personal details of a director through the CR for law enforcement.

HKIoD is all for accountability of company directors, but the accountability need not come from open access to a director's residential address or to the director's personal identification number in full. The key is to have ways to ascertain the identity of a director. Under the new arrangement, the public will have adequate channels to obtain information to prevent directors from being held accountable or getting away with wrongdoings.

We may still borrow from other jurisdictions to make it more convenient to ascertain a director's identity without attracting abuse of personal information. We can look to Australia, and consider introducing official, unique Director Identification Numbers to be used by the same director across different entities for the duration of the director's life. Such DIN will improve traceability of a director's involvement across different entities at different times. Such traceability would especially help tackle phoenix activities, making it harder for culpable directors to hide.

But for the upstanding director, a DIN will not be a burden and can indeed signify one's credibility.

About The Hong Kong Institute of Directors
The Hong Kong Institute of Directors ("HKIoD") is Hong Kong's premier body representing directors to foster the long-term success of companies through advocacy and standards-setting in corporate governance and professional development for directors. A non-profit-distributing organisation with membership consisting of directors from listed and non-listed companies, HKIoD is committed to providing directors with educational programmes and information service and establishing an influential voice in representing directors. With international perspectives and a multi-cultural environment, HKIoD conducts business in biliteracy and trilingualism. HKIoD is a member institute of the Global Network of Director Institutes, a worldwide alliance of leading director institutes.
Website: http://www.hkiod.com.

Media Enquiries:
Ms Joanne Yam +852 2889 1414 joanne.yam@hkiod.com
Ms Odessa SO +852 2889 4988 odessa.so@hkiod.com

Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com

UREEQA Advisory Board Welcomes Music Industry Leader Kevin Leflar

ONTARIO CA, Mar 30, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – His roster of clients is impressive and includes the likes of James Taylor, Santana, Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits, and the list goes on. Kevin Leflar, co-founder, president and CEO of officialCOMMUNITY – has seen it all. Spending 30+ years straddling both the music and technology worlds, Leflar has become one of the best-known authorities on the impact of digital technology on the music industry.

Leflar's List of Clients

Launching his career as a band manager in his early 20s, sending demo tapes to music labels and ultimately representing a Juno award-winning artist, Leflar spurred a bidding war landing him one of the biggest deals in Canadian history. By his mid-twenties, he had his own label, was offered bands and musicians to manage and could have written his own ticket in the industry.

Leflar's interests and career took a turn into the tech sector pre-Y2K, working on what he describes as "Web 1.0," where software developers were considered somewhat rock stars – in their own right. After igniting his passion for all things Internet technology, contributing to the growth of a company from five to 350+ employees in only four short years, he ventured off on his own – bringing his two interests together with the birth of officialCOMMUNITY. officialCOMMUNITY is an online event-driven brand management agency that uses technology to empower established recording artists to acquire, serve and connect with their fans as lifelong, direct customers and community members.

Considered a rock star by his programmers and a self-described nerd to his rock star clients, Leflar landed on the world stage by working with legends Elton John, Bob Dylan, George Michael, Roger Waters and Sam Smith.

Recognizing that artists' fame can be a double-edged sword, he felt compelled to become involved with organizations dedicated to improving Canadian musicians' profile and rights. He subsequently represented a collection of recording artists before the Canadian Copyright Board and worked with international consulates as a Canadian ambassador of music.

"Leflar's background is certainly unique," commented UREEQA CEO Harsch Khandelwal. "It's not every day that an individual spends his days thinking up events like golfing with Alice Cooper, and then spends his evenings thinking about intellectual property rights and how technological advancements could impact the industry and his clients' livelihood."

It is here that his passion, values and interests align with UREEQAs vision – that by leveraging technology, and blockchain, UREEQA can protect a Creator's Work, Rights and Revenue. "UREEQA understands that this is an international problem and we're assembling a team that we think can make a difference, that can change Creators' lives," Khandelwal added.

"The music industry has its flaws," noted Leflar. "Creators need a way to protect what's theirs and it's clear to me that UREEQA is on the right path. That's why I'm excited to join their team as a member of the UREEQA Advisory Board."

Khandelwal echoed Leflar's excitement about joining the Advisory Board, adding that "It's clear to me that Kevin is there for the music industry, he's dedicated his life to the interplay between music and technology, and most importantly, he cares about the recording artists. Kevin is a perfect fit as the latest member of the UREEQA Advisory Board."

About Kevin Leflar

Kevin Leflar is the co-founder, president and CEO of officialCOMMUNITY. officialCOMMUNITY empowers established recording artists including James Taylor, Santana, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Sarah McLachlan, Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits to acquire, serve and connect their fans as lifelong, direct customers and community members.

officialCOMMUNITY conducts direct sales in each artist's name through their official website using only their brand. Our artist's teams manage the official social media presence and operate as stewards of the artist's brand online.

Mr. Leflar has an extensive background as a technologist and consultant, musician and music industry innovator. https://www.officialcommunity.com

About UREEQA

The UREEQA platform strives to protect creators' work, their rights and their revenue by harnessing the power of blockchain technology.

Established in Canada in 2020, UREEQA will modernize the inefficient and bureaucratic systems currently in place for copyright, patent, industrial design and trademark protection. By building a robust and compelling Package of Proof for source creative work, UREEQA only mints Validated NFTs to represent creative rights. This helps keep buyers safe by giving them confidence that the work they are purchasing was minted by the smart contract approved by the creator of the work and is therefore authentic.

UREEQA provides value and opportunities for its Creators, Validators and Tokenholders via URQA, the token at the heart of the UREEQA ecosystem.

For more information on UREEQA and upcoming announcements please visit our website UREEQA (https://www.ureeqa.com/), join our Telegram channel here (https://t.me/UREEQA), and follow us on Twitter here (https://twitter.com/UREEQA_Inc).

Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com

Trintech Continues to Innovate Its Leading Financial Solutions to Meet the Needs of Large Enterprises Across the Globe

Dallas, TX, Mar 19, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – Trintech, a leading global provider of integrated Record to Report software solutions for the office of finance, today announced several key product enhancements to help large enterprises reduce the time spent on tasks and drive greater efficiencies in their month-end workflows.

"As our customers continue to focus on agility and sustainability during this time, the enhancements we have made in our solutions deliver greater control, enhanced visibility, increased efficiencies and certainty of accurate financial reporting that our large enterprise customers demand," said Michael Ross, Chief Product Officer at Trintech.

With the latest release of Trintech's Cadency Platform, finance and accounting professionals can elevate their financial automation with highly configurable and transparent workflows, integrated connector enhancements, and extended scalability and automation with new Smart Bots and ERP Bot enhancements. Leading Enterprises will benefit from the following:

– Greater efficiencies gained in the reconciliation process
– Additional automation capabilities to reduce the time to close
– Enhanced integration between Record to Report (R2R) processes to improve the overall experience
– Enhanced Bot functionality that drives deep automation and reduces administration burdens to refocus time and effort on higher value-added activities

In addition, the Cadency user experience provides intuitive, easy-to-use, standardized functionality that drives greater efficiencies throughout the finance and accounting team's daily workflow.

Managing and performing transaction matching and account reconciliations are a cornerstone of the month-end close, and when done inefficiently, can be a very time-consuming and risk prone process. To help finance & accounting teams further reduce the time and risk in this process, Trintech has extended the automation capabilities between Cadency Match and Reconciliation Certify by leveraging leading technologies, such as Risk Intelligent RPA(TM) to reduce the number of accounts needing manual reconciliation, reduce the workload for end users and administrators and allow for a faster and more efficient month-end close.

In addition, Trintech has introduced Cadency Smart Bots so finance & accounting teams can benefit from purpose-built Bot capabilities that allow not only automation of repetitive manual tasks but also complete Record to Report (R2R) activities including the ability to:

– Prepare account reconciliations using files or data from external data repositories or email inboxes and attaching any supporting documents leveraging Cadency Reconciliation Certify
– Post Journals using data or files from external data repositories or email inboxes, along with any necessary back-up documentation leveraging Cadency Journal Entry
– Close tasks corresponding to Journal Entry postings, Account Reconciliations, etc. directly in Cadency Close.

About Trintech

Trintech Inc., a pioneer of Financial Corporate Performance Management (FCPM) software, combines unmatched technical and financial expertise to create innovative, cloud-based software solutions that deliver world-class financial operations and insights. From high volume transaction matching and streamlining daily operational reconciliations, to automating and managing balance sheet reconciliations, intercompany accounting, journal entries, disclosure reporting and bank fee analysis, to governance, risk and compliance – Trintech's portfolio of financial solutions, including Cadency(R) Platform, Adra(R) Suite, and targeted tools, ReconNET(TM), T-Recs(R), and UPCS(R), help manage all aspects of the financial close process. Over 3,500 clients worldwide – including the majority of the Fortune 100 – rely on the company's cloud-based software to continuously improve the efficiency, reliability, and strategic insights of their financial operations.

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Trintech has offices located across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, France, Ireland, the Netherlands and the Nordics, as well as strategic partners in South Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific. To learn more about Trintech, visit www.trintech.com or connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Media Contact:
Kristina Pereira Tully
Vested
650-464-0080
trintech@fullyvested.com

SOURCE: Trintech, Inc.

Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com

Trintech Integrates Automated Financial Close Solution to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance

Dallas, TX, Mar 17, 2021 – (ACN Newswire) – Trintech, a leading global provider of integrated Record to Report software solutions for the Office of Finance, today announced its automated financial close solution is integrated with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance. The integrated solution is now available in Microsoft AppSource to provide greater control and insight for Dynamics 365 Finance customers.

"With Adra's unified and seamless integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365, finance and accounting departments can automate key parts of their financial close process that would otherwise require human intervention," said Darren Heffernan, President, Mid-Market at Trintech. "This integration combines the power of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance with the most comprehensive financial close solution for organizations into one seamless experience that will increase the efficiency and accuracy while simultaneously reduce the cost and risk across your financial close process."

Just a few of the many benefits finance & accounting departments will gain include:
– Visibility across all tasks in the financial close process
– Control and automation of reconciliations
– Shortened close cycle through efficiency gains
– Automated notifications of balance changes throughout the close
– Reduction in write-offs

"Trintech's Adra Suite helps maximize the value of a company's investment in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance by delivering greater insights while mitigating risk, reducing errors and improving your overall financial close process," said George Glantschnig, General Manager, Dynamics 365 Finance, Globalization, Project Operations, Human Resources at Microsoft.

Currently deployed by over 1,800 companies across the globe, the Adra Suite provides cloud-based, financial close and reconciliation solutions for companies looking to quickly increase the efficiency, control and visibility for all key areas of the financial close process including: balance sheet reconciliations (Adra Balancer), transaction matching (Adra Matcher), financial task management and controls (Adra Task Manager), and reporting (Adra Analytics).

For more information on this integration, please click here. https://pr.report/A9VsESj0

About Trintech

Trintech Inc., a pioneer of Financial Corporate Performance Management (FCPM) software, combines unmatched technical and financial expertise to create innovative, cloud-based software solutions that deliver world-class financial operations and insights. From high volume transaction matching and streamlining daily operational reconciliations, to automating and managing balance sheet reconciliations, intercompany accounting, journal entries, disclosure reporting and bank fee analysis, to governance, risk and compliance – Trintech's portfolio of financial solutions, including Cadency(R) Platform, Adra(R) Suite, and targeted tools, ReconNET(TM), T-Recs(R), and UPCS(R), help manage all aspects of the financial close process. Over 3,500 clients worldwide – including the majority of the Fortune 100 – rely on the company's cloud-based software to continuously improve the efficiency, reliability, and strategic insights of their financial operations.

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Trintech has offices located across the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and the Nordics, as well as strategic partners in South Africa, Latin America and the Asia Pacific. To learn more about Trintech, visit www.trintech.com or connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Media Contact:
Kristina Pereira Tully
Vested
Tel: +1-650-464-0080
trintech@fullyvested.com

SOURCE: Trintech, Inc.

Copyright 2021 ACN Newswire. All rights reserved. http://www.acnnewswire.com