Rajesh Jethwa

🎥 There’s something about Brighton that makes big NatWest Group ideas flow, even in the rain 🌧️☔️🌈 While catching up with Chris Plank ☁ from the NatWest Group Hosting Solutions team, we dived into the open source that really happens within the major financial institution. Chris Plank ☁ isn’t just a NatWest Group colleague, he’s a recognised voice in the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and recently appointed Technical Community Lead for Platform Engineering 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 In this vlog, we talk about: 💬 How NatWest is leaning into open source collaboration through the OSPO ☁️ Why Cloud Native matters for open source contribution. Thank you Edward Newman, Mark Campbell and Ken Adamson 👌🏻 🤝 The importance of open source engineering, from FINOS to CNCF, and how sharing code creates progress for everyone Walking through the Brighton lanes, this chat captures exactly why open source thrives when curiosity meets collaboration 🎤📹 Huge thanks to Chris Plank ☁ for sharing his insights in part one of this multi series vlog ✨🧙🏻‍♂️ #OpenSource #CNCF #NatWestGroup #CloudNative #Collaboration #BrightonTech

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If you ever question why collaboration pays, look at this result: advocacy groups from the #payments industry including UK Finance and The Payments Association have prevented well-meaning but disproportionate regulators from imposing 'creative' but what would have been seriously damaging changes to safeguarding regulations in the UK. The team at Travers Smith led by Natalie Lewis and Matt Humphreys highlight this outcome in their article, explaining how the changes being made will mean EMIs and PIs can continue to compete on a level playing field. World class collaboration. Riccardo Tordera-Ricchi Robert Courtneidge Mitch (Munish) Trehan Neil Harris Jana Mackintosh Nuala Jackson Sophie Boissier Ben Agnew Tom Brewin https://lnkd.in/evjedX7H

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UK-US news 🚨 UK digital banking leader Starling Bank announces over $100 million investment to expand US operations, bringing their responsible digital banking model to US consumers 🏦 💻 This significant commitment demonstrates how UK fintech innovation creates value across the Atlantic, driving job creation and sustainable growth through strategic partnership 🤝 Starling's expansion showcases the power of the UK-US economic relationship in fostering financial innovation that benefits consumers on both sides of the ocean 🌎 See CEO Raman Bhatia's full statement on this major US investment below👇 #StateVisit #FinancialServices #UKIndustrialStrategy 

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𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗞 We’re entering a pivotal phase in the UK’s open finance journey — one that moves beyond theory into tangible delivery. This year, we’ve actively engaged stakeholders and built a robust evidence base. Our latest research note, drawing on work by KPMG and Europe Economics, explores the current state of open banking and open finance in the UK. We’ve also launched two new TechSprints to accelerate innovation and shape the roadmap ahead. The sharing of financial data is already underway — but we’re pushing further. Through our sandbox, we’re exploring how smart data can enrich real-world testing environments. That’s why I’m pleased to announce our new partnership with @Raidiam, who will provide stable, production-grade sandbox access to support experimentation and scale. This work aligns with our 5-year strategy and the UK’s ambition to lead globally in open finance. It’s about anchoring confidence for industry investment, enabling leadership and coordination, and building on the momentum we’ve seen with Variable Recurring Payments. 🔗 Learn more about our partnership, the TechSprints, and how to get involved: https://lnkd.in/e2Dqz37y #FCAGrowth #SmartDataAccelerator #FinancialRegulation Colin Payne Matt Lowe Simran Singh Jasmin De Freitas Simone Plances Jessica Rusu Matthew Long Kate Collyer

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Open banking was covered widely at this week's Labour Party Conference, with widespread recognition of its critical role in powering UK economic growth and innovation. A standout moment was our Policy Director, Luke Ryder joining a fintech panel alongside Luke Charters MP, TrueLayer’s Megan Coulson, Financial Conduct Authority's Sacha Sadan, and Startup Coalition’s Charlie Mercer. The discussion explored: ✅ The journey OBL is supporting with industry and regulators to secure a long-term framework for open banking; ✅ How we can accelerate progress towards Open Finance to unlock benefits for consumers, businesses and the wider economy; ✅ The growing collaboration across the ecosystem to make this vision a reality. We were also pleased to participate in Innovate Finance and EY’s roundtable on Tech’s Plan for Change, where open banking was highlighted as a prime example of UK-led innovation. Attendees welcomed the move towards a sustainable, long-term model that supports the full ecosystem and enables continued growth. OBL remains committed to working with industry, policymakers, regulators, and consumer and business representatives to support this flourishing UK sector and ensure open banking continues to play a pivotal role in driving inclusive economic growth. #OpenBanking #OpenFinance #Innovation #FinTech #FutureOfFinance #Innovation #DigitalInnovation #TechInnovation The Labour Party

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Having spent a long time working for a large tech firm, and frequently facing the innovators dilemma as a result, it’s interesting to reflect on the dilemma facing central and commercial banks as regards digital money. This came home to me at today's excellent Bank of England's Payments Innovation conference during a BIS presentation on Project Agora, where correspondent banking is being transformed by 7 central banks, 40+ commercial banks and 5 currencies, using a shared universal ledger. A great question from the audience: “If you have a universal ledger why do you need correspondent banking?” This is spot on, central banks and incumbent commercial banks have a motivation to transform (re-plumb) the existing model rather than build an entirely new model (with the potential cannabilisation and innovators dilemma risks). Whilst Agora is to be applauded and will doubtless move the industry forward, it’s not yet addressing the bigger opportunity which the fast evolving stablecoin and TMMF developments are accelerating towards.. Tony McLaughlin Lee McNabb Peter Left Ryan Hayward John O'Neill #stablecoins #tokenization #digital assets

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Speaking at the London Tech Leaders Summit, Colin Payne shared our progress so far with open finance and announced the launch of two new TechSprints. The TechSprints will focus on mortgages and SME finance, exploring how open finance and smart data can remove friction, cut costs, and create new opportunities. He also announced we'll be partnering with Raidiam, using their environment to test real uses of open finance. Read more https://lnkd.in/eXeBjY7G #FinancialServices #FinancialRegulation #FCAGrowth

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