A-Team Insight Blogs The latest content from across the platform
SS&C Proposes Acquisition of Australian Financial Technology Provider GBST Holdings
SS&C is back on the acquisition trail, this time announcing a non-binding indicative proposal to acquire Australian financial technology firm GBST Holdings for approximately A$221 million (equivalent to about US$155 million). While the company made four successful acquisitions in 2018, this one may not complete as it is reported that FNZ, a wealth management specialist…
Are Companies Right to Outsource Software Testing?
By Iosif Itkin, CEO and co-founder, Exactpro, and Daria Degtyarenko, Researcher, Exactpro. With regulatory requirements and business pressures putting an ever-tightening squeeze on financial services, firms tend to look for the most efficient ways of ensuring the quality and stability of their platforms, with some turning to quality assurance outsourcing. However, outsourcing might not always…
Capital Markets AML Gaps Need Plugging with RegTech, Says FCA
There are significant gaps in anti-money laundering (AML) defences within capital markets, according to a recent UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) thematic review, ‘Understanding the Money Laundering Risks in the Capital Markets’. Many of the issues raised by the regulator either relate to the way financial crime technology is deployed within capital markets, or how…
Five Fundamental Forces are Reshaping RegTech Says MetricStream’s Mazzone
Although there is considerable hype around technology buzzwords such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), the reality is that today, the world of RegTech is being shaped by other, more fundamental forces, says Anna Mazzone. Mazzone is general manager and managing director for UK and Ireland at MetricStream, as well as a non-executive…
Regulators Double Down on BCBS 239 Data Quality Focus
The European Central Bank (ECB) and other financial services regulators will increase their focus on improving the quality of data they receive from financial institutions over the next 24 months. Speakers at the Vermeg Annual Regulatory Reporting Conference, held in London in late June, said regulators are analysing the quality of the Basel III data…
Evolution of the Algo Trading Desk
The algo trading desk continues to develop, driven by technology opportunity and competitive markets, but other factors are also playing into development as the buy-side and sell-side acknowledge the need for more communication and brokers invest in data transparency. The evolution of the algo trading desk and the role of both buy-side and sell-side firms…
MarketAxess Develops Portfolio Trading Solution to Automate Workload
MarketAxess, operator of an electronic trading platform for fixed income securities and provider of market data and post-trade services for global fixed income markets, is developing a platform designed to reduce the manual workload of portfolio trades and improve competitive pricing. As a result of feedback from clients performing portfolio trades, an uptick in portfolio…
TRG Screen Acquires Axon, Adds to Solutions Armoury
Data usage and subscription management specialist TRG Screen’s acquisition of Axon Financial Systems, which helps practitioners comply with suppliers’ data policies, continues a series of acquisitions and expansions at TRG that began when VC Polaris Partners acquired a controlling stake in the company in 2014 and drafted in Steve Matthews as CEO. Axon’s main attraction…
Technology Overtakes Regulation as Key Driver of Change in Compliance
Compliance and the role of the compliance officer has changed significantly over the past decade as a result of escalating regulation, technology development, an increasing focus on culture and conduct risk, and the ever closer relationship between compliance and the business. Automation has also come to the fore as compliance departments working with rising volumes…
BTON Financial Taps Schwieger and Walker as Non-Execs
BTON Financial, a startup that is offering outsourced smart broker routing targeting mid-tier asset managers, has appointed the London Stock Exchange’s Brian Schwieger and Merrill Lynch’s Tony Walker as non-executive directors. Schwieger and Walker have joined as advisors, helping BTON to promote its vision of offering SaaS-based, broker-neutral routing of buy-side orders to sell-side trading…