Etops AG, a banking service and software provider, has announced that it has acquired 100% stake in Evolute AG, which offers solutions for wealth management services.

After integration, the merged company where the general management of which will be taken on by Etops CEO Pius Stucki, will enter the market under the single name of Etops.

“New regulatory requirements such as MiFID II and FIDLEG demand integrated solutions and services in wealth management and are speeding up digitisation in this area exponentially. An open ecosystem that links together all partners involved in the value chain promises improved efficiency, creates lasting competitive advantages and thereby increases the sales potential of all those involved. The takeover of Evolute takes us a big step closer to this and reinforces our strategic direction”, explained Pius Stucki, CEO of Etops AG.

As an established service and technology company, Etops brings its proven expertise in the areas of data aggregation and integration, operations outsourcing, as well as reporting and data visualisation.
Evolute is a provider of cloud-based CRM and portfolio management software, particularly in the areas of Know Your Customer, prevention of money laundering, order management and regulatory compliance.
Its recently launched virtual marketplace for financial products and services as well as offerings from other partners from the wealth management ecosystem give this innovative offering additional impetus. This benefits clients and partners.

Following the takeover of Evolute, Etops will have a total of more than 85 employees at locations in Switzerland, Slovakia and Ukraine. Evolute CEO Myriam Reinle will be responsible for the integration of business activities at Etops and take over marketing, sales and business development.

Etops will then serve more than 80 clients with total assets under management of over CHF 50 billion – including Bellevue Asset Management, Entrepreneur Partners, Finaport, Globalance Bank, VT Wealth and marketplace partners such as Allianz, BDO, Leonteq, Société Générale and Bitcoin Suisse.

US-based Emmes, a global, full-service Clinical Research Organization (CRO) dedicated to supporting the advancement of public health and biopharmaceutical innovation, today announced that it has acquired Neox s.r.o., a European-based CRO.  Neox will add over 150 employees who support biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies."This is an important and exciting step for Emmes, demonstrating significant progress on our strategic plans to grow our biopharmaceutical business," said Dr. Christine Dingivan, Chief Executive Officer of Emmes. "Neox adds a sizable, well-established biopharmaceutical research services business to Emmes and significantly expands our international presence."
Based in Prague, Neox has operations primarily in central and eastern Europe, with a direct presence in the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.  The company operates in another 11 European countries, including a recently established entity in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2004 by brothers Dr. Pavel Marek and Petr Marek, Neox has provided clinical research support for more than 1,000 studies and has built deep experience across multiple therapeutic areas. Both Pavel and Petr Marek will remain with Neox and continue to serve in their leadership roles.
"Pavel and his team have built a CRO with an excellent reputation," noted Dr. Dingivan.  "Our companies share a dedication to science, long-term partnerships with clients, and a corporate culture that centers on integrity, agility and passion for excellence."
According to Dr. Marek, "Neox and Emmes will be a powerful combination.  We look forward to continuing to serve our customers with the expanded resources of the Emmes organization, as well as helping Emmes support rapid patient enrollment in global clinical trials.  Our regulatory contacts throughout Europe, who understand country-specific requirements, will be an asset in helping Emmes' current and future biopharma customers with their global drug development strategic planning and clinical operations."
Emmes conducts its operations from, and is focused on growing, its two strategic business groups:  Emmes Biopharma and Emmes Public Sector.  Neox will be part of Emmes Biopharma, which also includes Emmes' established, experienced teams in the USA, India and Canada.
"Neox will broaden our biopharmaceutical platform by expanding our customer base and capabilities to conduct global trials at sites across the US, Canada, UK, EU, and India," noted Dr. Dingivan.  "The acquisition will leverage the systems and technology investments Emmes has made to support future growth."
This acquisition will bring the total number of employees at Emmes to over 1,000 across the globe. 

Riga City Council has made a forward-looking decision to set up Riga Investment and Tourism agency - a separate Riga municipality owned establishment responsible for tourism attraction and building the recognition of Riga as highly chosen location for Global Businesses.

Starting from now investors will be even more welcome and individually supported by Riga municipality on their way to settle down in Riga.

"Setting up Riga Investment and Tourism agency is a step in the right direction, however there is substantial need to build highly qualified team of professionals in order reach our goal - become business metropolis of Baltics. The newly formed Riga Investment and Tourism agency has to become a strong partner in discussions with foreign investors," comments ABSL Latvia Chairman of the Board Fredis Bikovs.

Read press release here: https://bit.ly/37V44KN

Having obtained an Electronic Money Institution licence, financial technology start-up Stanhope Financial is opening an office in Vilnius to serve clients in EU.
Stanhope Financial is a tier one banking services provider targeting small and medium sized business on a global scale. The company raised $3.5M in its first funding round in November for global expansion offering a suite of specialist services, including FX payments, treasury services and access to financing.
In Lithuania, Stanhope Financial will continue developing the product part and serve SME’s in EU.
“In our opinion, Lithuania stands out among other EU member states due to its advanced regulation, high position in the Ease of Doing Business ranking and an excellent reputation in the area of financial technology. The market we are targeting is pan-European, but looking at the high concentration of banks in Lithuania, we expect to attract more than one local customer with our innovative products,” says Khalid Talukder, the company’s Managing director.
Lithuania has been one of the leading jurisdictions where UK-based fintech businesses relocate due to the Brexit. Consequently Vilnius is the second-largest centre in the EU for fintech measured by the number of regulated companies. It has issued licences to more than 100 fintech companies.

Laimonas Noreika, CEO of the start-up Heavy Finance, has been helping Stanhope Financial to enter the Lithuanian market and develop its principal office for the European Union market. He will continue this cooperation as the Chairman of the Board of the company’s local division and by being part of the strategic decision-making process.
“The company was set up by businessmen of exceptional capability and experience, and I am happy to see them joining the Lithuanian financial technology sector, which the company will undoubtedly enrich,” says Laimonas Noreika.
The company has already started recruiting its first employees and signed contracts with several Lithuanian companies for information technology services. In 2021, Stanhope Financial intends to recruit at least 17 employees, with the active selection process due to start in January.
Stanhope Financial’s successful first funding round will also enable the company to launch on-the-ground specialist subsidiary company in Dubai, serving the UAE, Asia, and African markets.
Stanhope Financial’s shareholders include the greatgrandson of the founder of Siemens Peter K. Schulz von Siemens and the founder of Small World Kevin von Neuschatz. Markets specialist Khalid Talukder, previously of UBS, Citi & Deutsche, and also Thomas Dillion, founder and CEO of Best Practice are among the co-founders as well.

NORIAN, the Norwegian leader in Accounting, Payroll and Intelligent Automation services, has announced further expansion of its Vilnius Competence centre. The company has been operating in Lithuania since 2005 and employs almost 300 specialists..

From its Vilnius-based centre, NORIAN is providing clients across the Nordics and Baltics with language-dependent Accounting, Payroll and Intelligent Automation services. The majority of the 285-strong Vilnius team uses Swedish and Norwegian when working with clients. The necessary linguistic skills are developed and improved at the company’s internal language school.
“One of the pillars of our business has always been hiring the best people in the industry and developing a strong culture based on innovation and teamwork. In Lithuania, we have really many talented people with the right drive. And the fact that so many of our hires learned an additional language to be better at their job is outstanding,” – says Lina Maroščikienė, General Manager at NORIAN Lithuania.
The company is planning to add approx.. 20 positions in the coming year, expanding the centre’s capacity for high quality services and intelligent automation.
“Lithuania-based GBS centres put a strong emphasis on next-generation intelligent automation solutions. 35% of them already develop and implement such solutions, and this share is only bound to grow, making the companies choosing Lithuania more competitive,” – says Mantas Katinas, General Manager of Invest Lithuania.
NORIAN’s centre was established in 2005. Originally it was a Financial Transactions Unit and dealt only with a limited set of financial services.Later it grew to the status of a Centre of Competence, and its range of services expanded considerably. For the past seven years, it has been providing full scope of Accounting and Payroll services, ERP System Administration and Support, Intelligent Automation  services to companies in Norway, Sweden and Lithuania.