SmartCo opens London Office

London, May 5, 2011
SmartCo announces its continued international expansion with the opening, in May 2011, of a London office to support its growing operations in the UK and Northern European markets.
SmartCo has seen an increase in the number of its international clients and as part of its internationalisation strategy, the Paris and Boston-based software company’s goal is to be present in the world’s leading financial centers, in order to best support its clients through such local presence. The establishment of operations in London will allow SmartCo to react quickly and efficiently to customer-led demand and coincides with an increased sales and account management footprint in the UK and Northern European markets.
Pascal Mougin, SmartCo’s CEO, comments: “We are very excited to have established a formal presence in London. By opening an office in the UK, we will ensure that we continue to provide the highest level of service and dedication to the UK and Northern European markets. SmartCo is fully committed to meeting the diverse needs of each of these marketplaces. While we are already the market leader in France and have achieved remarkable success in other countries around the globe, the UK has always been one of our most important target markets, as it has for any financial software company. Our presence in London will certainly influence our ability to further penetrate and understand the needs and requirements of our clients and prospects.”
About SmartCo:
Since 2004, SmartCo has helped financial institutions of all sizes to optimise their data management capabilities with a state-of-the-art software solution, the SmartCo DataHub. SmartCo is a fast growing and dynamic international company with its main headquarters in Paris, North American headquarters in Boston, a new office in London and consulting and integration partners in several North American and European cities.
Innovation and flexibility is our motto: In addition to the centralisation of securities and counterparties reference and market data and the ability to fully cover the operational data needs for any financial institution, SmartCo DataHub allows its clients’ core data management processes to seamlessly evolve with their business and market needs without any constraints from the software vendor.
Please feel free to contact our new London office at:
SmartCo
88 Wood Street
London EC2V 7RS
United Kingdom
+44 (208) 528 1531
For additional information about SmartCo, go to http://www.smartco.com or email us at info@smartco.com

New Report Describes Poor Quality Tax Preparation In New Mexico

LONGMONT, Colorado (May 6, 2011) – Between February 1 and April 18, 2011, First Nations Development Institute conducted 12 “mystery shopper” tests of paid tax preparers in New Mexico. These mystery shopper tests were conducted in communities with a high Native American population and close to Indian reservations. First Nations visited tax preparer sites in Gallup, Grants, Bernalillo, Farmington, and Albuquerque, New Mexico. The goal of the work was to assess the quality of tax preparation services and to test the hypothesis that the tax preparation firms are steering people toward expensive products, such as Refund Anticipation Loans or Refund Anticipation Checks.

This research uncovered several problems with inaccurate, unethical, or unprofessional behavior on the part of tax preparers. “In our small sample of mystery shoppers, it was shocking what we uncovered,” stated Shawn Spruce, a financial education consultant for First Nations. Spruce also shared,“Unfortunately, the companies that our mystery shoppers visited did a poor job preparing even basic tax returns and could have exposed them to serious tax liability. In general, we were startled by the low quality service and the fact that two of these companies automatically signed our shoppers up for expensive Refund Anticipation Checks, even though they could have directly deposited their tax returns into their own bank accounts.”

Michael E. Roberts, president of First Nations Development Institute, stressed the importance of conducting the mystery shopper tests and resulting research on tax preparers.

“This research reinforces what other studies have found,” stated Roberts. “There is a great need for better regulation of tax preparers so that low-income people can hold on to their hard earned tax refunds and avoid expensive and predatory products like Refund Anticipation Checks. It is unfortunate that tax time serves as an opportunity to exploit Native American taxpayers through high fees and unnecessary products that take money out of taxpayers’ pockets.”

On May 4, 2011, Spruce presented the findings in Tax Time Troubles, a First Nations Development Institute report that provides details about predatory, unprofessional, and inaccurate tax preparation firms serving often low income communities in New Mexico. Spruce was the evening keynote speaker at the Effective Asset Building Strategies in New Mexico conference being held at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This conference was sponsored by Prosperity Works, a nonprofit organization that works to reduce the impact of predatory lending and whose mission is to ensure that every New Mexican has the opportunity, knowledge and relationships to achieve economic prosperity.

For more information about the research report Tax Time Troubles, visit First Nations Development Institute’s website at www.firstnations.org.

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CONTACT:
Sarah Dewees, Senior Director of Research, Policy, and Asset-Building Programs
First Nations Development Institute
2217 Princess Anne Street, Suite 111-1
Fredericksburg, VA 22401
Tel/540.371.5615
Fax/888.371.3686
sdewees@firstnations.org

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