We discussed the Blockchain Taskforce event that took place on January 12th that Vasiliy attended and the framework that was proposed to cover all of the aspects seen to be relevant by the Swiss Government. One of the tasks for the Crypto Valley Association will be to generate a map of token types that can be used by other working groups. We will be enhancing the profile form so that CVA members can allocate themselves to the various recognized token types.
We discussed the memberships and the fact that new content such as the Code of Conduct has been driving new membership. The goal will be to remain focussed on generating new thought leadership content for the ecosystem for the remainder of the year. Members are always invited to contribute their own content via the Comms team. Nicolas shared an opportunity of new content from the University of St Gallen.
The contract is with our selected applicant for the new permanent role of the Executive Director. If everything happens smoothly, we hope to welcome him on February 1st.
We went on to talk about the Crypto Valley Conference. The speaker slots are almost full and participation looks very exciting. For example, Ripple has just committed to host a satellite event. A majority of the sponsorship slots are now taken. Ticket sales are increasing slowly as we approach the event and the deadline of the Early Bird discount. We will be welcoming SICTIC to run the startup competition but we are still looking for organizations that are willing to fund the prize money.
Our partner event with the CFA, where Oliver will be speaking, in the Romandie region on January 31st has sold out but they are looking for a new venue to increase capacity. Additionally the Romandie Chapter will be welcoming Alpine Mining and LoyaltyCoin at the monthly event February 6th.
We ended the meeting by voting for the addition of Cecilia Muller-Chen to be added to the Key Contacts following her contribution to the creation of the Code of Conduct as well as the addition of Calydo given their support of the Communications Working Group.
Attendees: Vasiliy, Oliver, Nicolas, Gianni, Susie, Sam
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Financial information is king and Thomson Reuters Corporation holds the crown. The company is the market leader in financial data (ahead of rival information provider Bloomberg). Thomson Reuters provides electronic information and services to businesses and professionals worldwide, serving the financial services, media, legal, tax and accounting, and science markets. Data is primarily offered online, and to a lesser extent via CD-ROM and print formats; nearly all revenues come from subscription sales to its plethora of offerings. Thomson Reuters was created in 2008 as the result of the $16 billion cash and stock purchase of news service Reuters by information provider The Thomson Corporation.
Operations
The company is organized into four business units. Its Financial & Risk segment accounted for more than 50% of total net sales in fiscal 2014. The segment provides news, information, and analytics to financial institutions.
The company's Legal segment provides online and print information, decision tools, software, and services that support legal, investigation, business, and government professionals. The Legal unit accounted for more than 25% of total net sales in fiscal 2014.
Thomson Reuters' Tax & Accounting segment offers integrated tax compliance and accounting information, software, and services to accounting firms, corporations, law firms, and governments. The unit accounted for 11% of total net sales in fiscal 2014.
The company's Intellectual Property & Science segment provides comprehensive intellectual property and scientific information, decision support tools, and services to governments, academia, publishers, corporations, and law firms. The Intellectual Property & Science unit accounted for 8% of total net sales in fiscal 2014.
Geographic Reach
Thomson Reuters has a truly global scale indeed. The company operates in more than 100 countries, and more than 40% of revenues come from outside the Americas. The business has US offices in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and Texas, and international offices in London and Bangalore, India.
Sales and Marketing
Thomson Reuters sells its products and services directly to its customers. In addition, it has been successful in selling some of its products and services online directly to customers. Focusing some of the marketing and sales efforts online has allowed it to broaden the range of customers and reduce sales and marketing costs.
Financial Performance
In fiscal 2014 Thomson Reuters' revenue was $12.6 billion. That was a decrease of $95 million compared to fiscal 2013. The primary reason for the drop was decreased sales from the company's Financial & Risk unit partially offset by increased sales from the Tax & Accounting segment.
The company's net income was $1.9 billion in fiscal 2014. That was a dramatic increase compared to the previous fiscal period. The primary reason was due to decreased operating expenses.
Thomson Reuters ended fiscal 2014 with $2.3 billion in cash on hand from operations. That was an increase of $263 million compared to the prior fiscal year.
Strategy
The company's growth strategy mainly involves developing new products, services, applications, and functionalities to better meet its customers' needs.
