Credit Bureau Asia has announced that its subsidiary Dun & Bradstreet (Singapore) (D& B) is collaborating with data and analytics firm Quantexa to introduce compliance and risk solutions targeted at financial institutions, insurance companies, government entities and multinational corporations in Singapore.

 

According to a news release by CBA on Sept 20, the solutions introduced by D& B and Quantexa will enable companies to leverage on contextual decision intelligence to increase investigation efficiency, optimize their compliance processes and better address regulatory demands. 

 

Audrey Chia, CEO of D& B, highlights the importance of establishing robust, digitally-enabled and data-driven compliance programmes in the face of growing compliance risk and fraud globally. 

 

&ldquo Combining Quantexa&rsquo s advanced solutions and D& B&rsquo s comprehensive data, we believe we can help companies automate their compliance processes through artificial intelligence, reduce losses arising from compliance risks and keep their compliance efforts sustainable in the long-term,&rdquo she says.

 

Through the partnership, D& B and Quantexa will provide a single contextual view of data across directors, shareholders, and beneficial owners in their global dataset. Quantexa&rsquo s software enables Network Linking, applying AI and graph-based analytics to discover hidden risk which improves trusted operational decision making across areas such as Know Your Customer (KYC), anti-money laundering and counter fraud.

 

&ldquo We&rsquo re delighted to expand our relationship with CBA and D& B as we widen our footprint in Southeast Asia. Jointly, we are able to offer ground-breaking data and analytics capabilities for organizational risk identification accuracy and efficiency,&rdquo says Mark McNerney, director of alliances at Quantexa.

 

Credit Bureau Asia (CBA) reported earnings of $3.9 million in its 1HFY21 ended June, a 5.5% increase from the $3.7 million posted in the year before.

On a fully diluted basis, this translates to earnings per share of 1.70 cents, compared to 1.85 cents in 1HFY20.

 

With this, the group&rsquo s net asset value per ordinary share came in at 20.54 cents on Jun 30, up from 18.93 cents on Dec 30.

 

Revenue for the first six months of the year grew 8.5% to $22.3 million on the back of strong performance of both its financial institution (FI) and non-financial (non-FI) institution data businesses.

 

Revenue from the group&rsquo s FI data segment was up 13.4% to $9.7 million thanks to strong demand from the financial industry such as in new credit card applications and credit reviews.

As at June 30, CBA&rsquo s cash and cash equivalents stood at $50.6 million, up from $24.5 million in the year before.

 

The group has declared an interim dividend of 1.7 cents per share &ndash which represents about 100% of its PATMI of $3.9 million.

 

The maiden pay out exceeds the group&rsquo s dividend policy stated in its prospectus of recommending at least 90.0% of net profit after tax attributable to its shareholders for the financial years ending FY2021 and FY2022.

 

Going forward, CBA says its &ldquo business model is defensive to business cycles and pandemics and despite Covid-19, our business continues to grow and perform well during this period&rdquo .

 

It notes that travel restrictions could present some inconvenience as it looks to forge alliances and expand its business and footprint in the region.

 

Still it expects positive contributions from it' s the commencement of its subsidiary&rsquo s operations at Moneylenders Credit Bureau.

 

The subsidiary &ndash Credit Bureau Singapore - is now close to finalising agreements with the Digital Bank Licensees.

 

As for its investments in Myanmar, the group says it is working closely with the relevant stakeholders and preparing Myanmar Credit Bureau to be fully operational before the end of FY2021.