A London headquartered fintech, which has a Belfast research and development centre, has donated all of the £10,000 (€11,343) it received from an emergency Covid-19 grant scheme set up by the NI Executive to support businesses.
Clarus Financial Technology is the first company on record to receive the grant package and then turn around and donate the entire amount to charities based in the North.
The NI Executive is currently awarding £10,000 or £25,000 as a one-off emergency covid-19 grant to eligible business ratepayers in Northern Ireland.
Businesses in the North who pay their rates by direct debit automatically receive the covid-19 grant, if they are eligible, because their bank details are held on record with the land and property services agency.
Clarus Financial Technology, which set up its research and development centre in Belfast in 2015, provides data, analytics and research services to investment banks, hedge funds, regulators and brokers.
The company, which also has offices in Chicago, Singapore, Zurich, was co-founded by Northern Ireland born Dr Gary Kennedy.
He told The Irish Times that Clarus Financial Technology would have “felt too guilty” to hold on to the £10,000 grant.
Dr Kennedy added:”We are a small office in Belfast but we felt that we shouldn’t keep the money. We didn’t ask for it and we were surprised to discover it in our bank account.
“I know the NI Executive is trying to quickly help businesses that have been impacted by covid-19, which is great, but we think there could be quite a few companies that don’t need this money and if they do receive it they should also consider donating it to charities.”
Financial support
Dr Kennedy said he has no doubt that there are businesses in Northern Ireland who have been hit very hard by the coronavirus and these companies require urgent financial support from the Executive.
However he said the team at Clarus believed there were “far more deserving cases” for the £10,000 cash grant during these times and that they should not hold on to the money.
“We immediately donated the whole amount to charities in the front line for employment, food and healthcare in Northern Ireland,” Mr Kennedy added.
