Thalassa (di) Regulatory News (THAL)

Thalassa Holdings

THAL subsidiary enters partnership with leading Swiss pension platform.

Thalassa Holdings Limited

19 December 2019

Thalassa Holdings Ltd

(Reuters: THAL.L, Bloomberg: THAL:LN)

("Thalassa", "THAL" or the "Company")

Thalassa subsidiary technological partnership

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.

The board of Thalassa is pleased to report that id4 AG ("id4"), the recently acquired subsidiary of Apeiron Holdings AG ("Apeiron") the Company's Swiss subsidiary, has entered into a technological partnership with the leading Swiss pension platform lemania pension hub to provide id4's client lifecycle management software. An English translation of lemania's press release is reproduced below:

"The French-speaking Swiss pension platform lemania pension hub announces the launch of an onboarding technology solution for private pension plans for brokers and financial intermediaries to serve their private clients digitally.

In a context where state pension provision is reaching its limits and remains the primary concern of the Swiss, the inevitable drift between compulsory state pension provision and so-called "private" pension provision is becoming ever more pronounced. Private pension provision, which is by definition more agile and less constraining, is now the subject of attention and requests by pension fund players. In an era of "uberisation" and all-digital technology, pension advisors are increasingly demanding technological solutions to serve their private clients. In order to meet this demand, the lemania pension hub platform announced several developments at its Convention held on 14 November in Montreux in the presence of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy:

- The digital signature of pension fund clients when they join the FLLP (vested benefits) and FRPI (3a) foundations;

- The launch of a Digital Client Onboarding (DCOB) solution for private pension plans; and

- A technological partnership with the RegTech id4 AG, based in Lucerne, active in the Client Lifecycle Management (CLM) sector

" We wanted to be a pioneer in the field of digitalisation in private pension provision. We are very proud to be the first pension platform in French-speaking Switzerland to be able to announce the digital signature for Digital Client Onboarding affiliations and processes for our partners, pension advisors", said François Normand, director of the lemania pension hub pension platform.

The availability of this new technological solution will be put into production as of January 1, 2020, initially for the institutional partners of the pension platform. In a second step, the Digital Client Onboarding will be opened to individuals. "Faced with the challenges of individual responsibility in private pension provision and the lack of concrete solutions from the Federal Government in this area, it seems strategic to us to allow the millennial generation to benefit from these advances; they are in the front line and totally exposed to the inevitable drops in the level of benefits of their pension funds," stresses Roxane Ecoffey, Vice-President of the lemania Council.

This agreement was also an opportunity to recall the challenges facing private pension provision in the coming years:

- Individual responsibility: in the face of uncertainty about the evolution of the level of occupational pension benefits, it is up to the individual to take responsibility for this issue in order to ensure his or her retirement. At the same time, financial advisers must also assume part of this responsibility by making their private and institutional clients aware of the importance of the savings process in retirement provision.

- The importance of capitalisation at the level of the second and third pillars and zero rates in old-age pension provision: in an environment where state pension provision will soon no longer be able to offer a sufficient return on the pension capital of insured persons, authorised asset managers have a duty to take over. They must value capitalisation through their expertise and offer a fair return on the financing of old-age benefits.

- The digital transition: lemania pension hub is the first platform to offer 100% digital registration of pension fund clients as part of the vested benefits and 3rd pillar foundations. It is essential for the generation of millennials to be able to be supported from a digital perspective. This service will be offered from 1 January 2020 to insurance brokers and independent asset managers (IAMs) and, in the course of 2020, to all clients of pension solutions.

About lemania pension hub

As a reference entry point for asset managers, lemania pension hub operates as a pool of private pension providers in French-speaking Switzerland. The platform was launched in May 2018 with the merger of three foundations: FRPI (Fondation romande en faveur de la prévoyance individuelle), FLLP (Fondation Lemania de libre passage), and FCDE (Fondation pour cadres et dirigeants d'entreprises). The collective foundation in favour of Aromed and the Groupe Mutuel BVG foundation strengthen providers in the area of occupational pension provision. In terms of asset management, FINMA accredited service providers in asset management of collective investment for private pensions are Banque Gonet & Cie SA and Mirabaud Asset Management SA."

Duncan Soukup, Chairman of Thalassa, said "We are delighted that id4's technology proposition has found early traction with lemania, a leading platform in the Swiss pension marketplace. We are confident that this important validation is simply a first step in what we anticipate will be a growing number of contracts for id4."

About Apeiron

Apeiron was established as an investment vehicle for opportunities in the European FinTech sector. Following completion of the acquisition of id4, Apeiron is actively seeking further acquisition opportunities.

About id4

id4 is a Swiss RegTech company established in the Canton of Lucerne specialising in the provision of software in Client Life Cycle Management. id4 digital solutions support Financial Institutions (Private Banks, Independent Asset Managers and Pension Funds) in complying with increased regulations such as Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering regulations.

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About Thalassa

Thalassa Holdings Ltd, incorporated and registered in the BVI, is a holding company with various interests across a number of industries.