CME Group and FutureSports Partner to Launch Sports Performance Index Futures

CME Group and independent index administrator FutureSports have formed a long-term partnership to list futures and options on FutureSports Performance Indexes (FSPI). The cash-settled monthly and quarterly contracts, scheduled to begin trading this summer subject to regulatory approval, will transform official team and athlete statistics into rules-based, continuously priced financial benchmarks.

The new products aim to establish risk management and hedging capabilities for the broader sports sector alongside new trading avenues for institutional and individual investors. Based on league-approved statistical data, the underlying indexes are administered by FutureSports in alignment with International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) principles.

FutureSports also plans to unveil further exclusive partnerships with global sports leagues to broaden its suite of benchmark indexes.

Plus500 Partners with Wealthsimple to Power US Futures Access in Canada

Plus500 has announced a strategic partnership with Wealthsimple, a Canadian financial platform serving over four million clients with C$150 billion in assets under administration. The deal will allow Wealthsimple to offer Canadian retail investors direct access to US futures contracts for the first time, using Plus500’s proprietary trading platform.

Under the agreement, Plus500 will supply its institutional-grade clearing, order routing, and risk-management infrastructure. This collaboration further expands Plus500’s business-to-business (B2B) ecosystem, building on its existing infrastructure partnerships with CME Group, FanDuel, and Topstep as the group accelerates its institutional footprint in the futures market.

Liquidnet Expands Latin America Equities Offering in Brazil and Mexico

Agency execution specialist Liquidnet has announced the expansion of its Latin America equities offering, improving trading capabilities and liquidity access for institutional investors in Brazil and Mexico.

The enhanced service allows institutional asset managers to source large-scale block liquidity while simultaneously executing algorithmic strategies across broader public markets. This integrated approach is designed to help investors execute trades efficiently and discreetly without losing market reach or control.

Liquidnet’s proprietary liquidity network connects members to more than 1,200 global institutional counterparties, operating as a single network rather than relying on external dark pools. Combined with high-touch execution services and local market expertise, the platform assists buy-side clients in navigating regional market structures and regulatory requirements while preserving anonymity and minimising market impact.

Goldwise Partners with Integral to Launch 24/7 Institutional Precious Metals Trading

Goldwise, the UK-based precious metals fintech, has partnered with currency technology provider Integral to launch 24/7 institutional trading for physical gold, silver, platinum, and palladium. The partnership enhances Goldwise’s institutional platform, GoldwiseConnect, allowing financial services firms to offer real-time physical precious metals trading.

By integrating Integral’s full-stack technology, Goldwise incorporates pricing, liquidity aggregation, and risk management into its precious-metals-as-a-service model. This collaboration provides access to deeper, more diversified liquidity pools from major market participants, enabling wealth managers and consumer fintech platforms worldwide to trade beyond traditional market hours.

Additionally, Integral’s customisable white-label solutions allow Goldwise to provide a fully branded trading graphical user interface (GUI). Through API connectivity, aggregated pricing is also delivered directly into Goldwise’s mobile application, extending these institutional trading capabilities to retail clients.

Talos Integrates with Kalshi to Bring Prediction Markets and US Perpetuals to Institutional Investors

Institutional digital asset infrastructure provider Talos has integrated with financial exchange Kalshi. The integration enables select institutional clients, such as hedge funds and market makers, to trade Kalshi’s event contracts and US-onshore crypto perpetuals directly through their existing Talos interface without requiring additional technical setup.

The rollout introduces specialized execution capabilities to support institutional workflows. Clients gain access to Talos’s algorithmic trading suite – including order types like Iceberg, TWAP, and POV – to minimise market impact, alongside multi-leg execution for perp-to-perp and perp-to-spot spread trading. For large off-exchange transactions, Talos’s request-for-quote (RFQ) platform will provide a block trading interface linked to its network of over-the-counter liquidity providers.

Later this year, Talos plans to expand its dealer software to allow brokers and trading platforms to offer Kalshi event contracts directly to end customers, subject to local regulations. Additionally, Talos intends to launch a harmonised market data feed to standardise events, order books, open interest, and implied probabilities across prediction market venues into a single API format.

Hexaware Clients Given Access to Factory Software Development Capabilities

Hexaware Technologies has partnered with Factory to deliver agent-native software development to enterprise clients across major sectors, including banking and financial services.

The agreement integrates Factory’s Droid platform into Hexaware Technologies’ global delivery system. Hexaware Technologies previously deployed the Droid platform internally within its own engineering ecosystem.

“We’re seeing 5x to 10x gains in production-ready output while investing the necessary time in guardrails and governance so these agents can operate with efficiency and safety,” said David Corrado, senior vice president of strategic global clients at Hexaware Technologies.

Initial deployments focus on sectors requiring strict compliance, including banking and financial services.

The partnership follows internal application of the software for repository consistency, code migrations, documentation and refactoring.

New Funding as Feathery Expands Wealth and Insurance Data Management Platform

Feathery has secured US$30 million in funding to expand its artificial intelligence-powered data automation software for the insurance and wealth management industries.

Feathery’s platform provides data management capabilities that enable clients to overcome the restrictions presented by fragmented tech stacks, which are common within the sectors.

Erie Insurance Strategic Ventures provided capital alongside Index Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, BrokerTech Ventures and SV Angel.

Co-founder Peter Dun and co-founder Zack Khan established the organisation in 2021 after working at Robinhood and Hightouch.

Feathery automates client onboarding, risk evaluation and data synchronisation across databases, client relationship management tools, custodians and policy administration systems.

Merger Brings ESG Book Under EthiFinance Ratings Brand

EthiFinance, which provides credit and sustainability ratings, has agreed a merger transaction with ESG Book to create a ratings agency that combines the data and analytics from both companies.

The merger, which will bring ESG Book under the EthiFinance brand, will enable financial markets clients to better meet obligations to report sustainability information and risk models, said Carol Sirou, chief executive officer of EthiFinance.

“By combining our strengths, we have the best platform to meet the needs of financial institutions and corporate issuers in a fast-moving market,” Sirou said.
EthiFinance was founded in Paris in 2004, while ESG Book was launched in Frankfurt in 2018.

Kraken-parent Payward Acquires Magic Labs’ Embedded Wallet Business

Payward, the parent company of digital asset exchange Kraken, has acquired Magic Labs’ embedded wallet business and its 60 million non-custodial wallets.

As financial services shift toward digital assets, wallets have become a primary gateway for retail and institutional products. They serve as the principal touchpoint where human users – and autonomous AI agents – store assets and execute transactions across both legacy banks and decentralised networks. For Payward, this acquisition could unlock a new ecosystem of financial services and enterprise users.

Circle Acquires IBM’s Blockchain Patents to Build the Internet Financial System

Best known for its USDC stablecoin, financial platform operator Circle has acquired IBM’s blockchain patent portfolio, comprising more than 680 patent families and nearly 1,000 issued patents worldwide. The patents relate to foundational blockchain technology, banking, financial services, insurance, enterprise infrastructure, supply chain verification and secure cloud operations.

Circle says the acquisition directly supports Circle’s foundation for building the internet financial system, including USDC, the Circle Payments Network, the Arc blockchain and a growing suite of on-chain products and agentic AI financial tools.