Diginex to Acquire Carbon Accounting Provider Plan-A

Sustainability RegTech and data management provider Diginex Limited is to acquire Berlin-based carbon-accounting and management software developer Plan-A.

The all-share transaction will create an integrated ESG and carbon management solution for enterprises worldwide and comes as the global carbon management software market grows to help firms satisfy their sustainability regulatory reporting obligations.

“This acquisition represents a major leap forward in our mission to make sustainability simple, actionable, and valuable for businesses,” said Diginex chair Miles Pelham.

The combined offering will provide automated data collection, emissions dashboards, and audit-ready reporting for capital markets and other industry participants. Carbon accounting and decarbonisation platforms help companies measure and reduce their environmental impact.

Archax and TradingStack Partner to Support FIX Connectivity for Digital Assets

Archax, the regulated digital asset platform, are partnering with TradingStack.io to offer FIX access to cryptocurrencies and tokenised real-world assets (RWAs). This initiative allows traditional financial institutions to access Archax’s Primary and Secondary markets using the same connectivity, workflows, and messaging standards they already rely on for equities, FX, and derivatives. By utilising the industry-standard FIX protocol, the collaboration aims to significantly accelerate the onboarding process for institutional clients entering the digital asset space.

The integration is designed to reduce the complexity often associated with accessing digital markets, and to provide streamlined access to various assets, including tokenised funds, bonds, and commodities. The technology also aims to eliminate the need for custom development, thereby reducing integration risks and shortening go-live timelines from months to days, ensuring consistent message schemas and improved straight-through processing for institutions.

Kraken Selects Avelacom to Provide High-Performance Trading Connectivity

Avelacom has been chosen by Kraken to provide high-performance network connectivity, aiming to enhance execution quality for clients. Starting immediately, trading firms can access Kraken’s matching engine through Avelacom’s optimised low-latency routes. This integration enables institutions to receive real-time market data and execute orders rapidly, supporting latency-sensitive strategies such as multi-venue liquidity and cross-exchange arbitrage.

Avelacom operates a global network connecting financial centres across Europe, North America, APAC, and the Middle East. Specific routes, such as the London-Tokyo connection, deliver sub-138ms round-trip latency via fibre, while hybrid networks utilising wireless segments offer further speed advantages. The infrastructure connects leading traditional and crypto exchanges with 99.9% uptime and 24/7 support.

Publicis Sapient and Murex Deliver Treasury Transformation for Aldermore Bank

Publicis Sapient and Murex have announced the successful implementation of the MX.3 front-to-back-to-risk platform for Aldermore Bank. The UK specialist financial services provider undertook this initiative to replace its legacy systems with a modern, integrated, cloud-based treasury platform. The primary objectives were to enhance treasury efficiency and provide greater hedging options for risk management.

Publicis Sapient led the transformation, tasked with blueprinting the target operating model and defining a resilient SaaS-based architecture. Aldermore opted for MXGO, a specific MX.3 packaged solution designed to reduce complexity and total cost of ownership while allowing for rapid deployment. This SaaS-based model supports the bank’s evolving needs through broad functional coverage and seamless integration across treasury workflows, ensuring scalability and regulatory compliance.

Digital Asset Completes Second Round of Canton Network Transactions with Financial Consortium

Digital Asset, in collaboration with a consortium of leading financial institutions including Bank of America, Societe Generale, and Tradeweb, has successfully completed a second series of transactions on the Canton Network. This initiative builds upon the initial on-chain US Treasury financing pilot conducted in July. The latest activity involved five coordinated transactions, marking a significant step towards creating a scalable, continuous capital markets infrastructure. The working group has expanded to include new members such as Brale and M1X Global, alongside existing partners like Circle, Citadel Securities, and Virtu Financial.

This second round focused on the Canton Network’s Global Collateral Network, demonstrating critical advancements in digital asset utility. Key developments included the use of multiple stablecoins, specifically SBC and USDM1, to broaden liquidity sources. Notably, the transactions demonstrated the first instance of real-time collateral reuse, allowing tokenised Treasuries to be rehypothecated across counterparties immediately to address operational inefficiencies found in traditional markets. Future phases aim to further advance these capabilities, with a specific focus on enabling cross-border transactions.

Clearstream Launches Next Data Solutions to Enhance Post-Trade Analytics

Clearstream, part of Deutsche Börse Group, has introduced Next Data Solutions, a new suite of analytics designed to increase transparency across the post-trade value chain. The offering unifies four specific products—SettlementNext, LendingNext, CollateralNext, and LiquidityNext—under a single framework. The primary objective is to enable financial institutions to shift from retrospective reporting to proactive decision-making, allowing them to anticipate settlement challenges, optimise collateral allocation, and manage liquidity in real time.

Within the SettlementNext product, Clearstream has introduced the T+1 Scorecard to support clients preparing for the accelerated settlement cycle in Europe. This tool provides insights into the operational effort required to meet T+1 compliance standards. Next Data Solutions is currently available to clients through the Clearstream Xact web portal, with additional analytics modules scheduled for release in 2026.

Digital Asset Secures Strategic Investment from BNY, iCapital, Nasdaq and S&P Global

Digital Asset has received a new strategic investment from major financial institutions, including BNY, iCapital, Nasdaq and S&P Global. This funding supports the continued development of the Canton Network, a privacy-enabled blockchain designed to facilitate the convergence of traditional finance and decentralised finance. The collaboration highlights a wider industry shift towards an “AllFi” future, combining the benefits of decentralisation with the legal certainty and regulatory compliance required by global markets.

The Canton Network serves as a public, permissionless Layer-1 blockchain offering institutional-grade compliance and configurable privacy. It currently underpins over $6 trillion in onchain real-world assets, with participation from more than 600 institutions. The platform supports a diverse set of financial use cases, including bonds, equities, money market funds, commodities and insurance products, positioning itself as a critical component of next-generation financial market infrastructure.

Kraken and Deutsche Börse Group Form Strategic Partnership to Bridge Digital and Traditional Markets

Kraken and Deutsche Börse Group have announced a strategic partnership designed to create unified access across traditional financial markets and the digital asset economy. Effective immediately, the collaboration will span trading, custody, settlement, and collateral management to serve institutional clients. In the first phase, Kraken will integrate with 360T, a Deutsche Börse subsidiary, to access bank-grade foreign exchange liquidity. This integration aims to improve the efficiency of fiat on- and off-ramps while ensuring institutional-grade execution.

The partnership also intends to utilise Kraken Embed to develop white-label solutions, allowing financial institutions in Europe and the US to offer secure crypto trading and custody. Subject to regulatory approval, the firms plan to make Eurex-listed derivatives available on Kraken and enable Deutsche Börse clients to trade cryptocurrencies via Crypto Finance. Additionally, the companies will collaborate on tokenised assets by integrating xStocks within the 360X ecosystem and distributing tokenised securities held at Clearstream to Kraken’s clients, effectively leveraging Deutsche Börse’s European infrastructure and Kraken’s US capabilities.

Chartis Ranks Kyckr a Category Leader for 2025, Highlighting Strength in Corporate Structure and UBO Data

Kyckr has again been recognised by Chartis as one of the leading providers of Know Your Customer (KYC) data, reinforcing the company’s role in a market increasingly shaped by real-time, authoritative entity information. The latest Chartis RiskTech Quadrant for KYC Data and Solutions places Kyckr in the Category Leader tier for the second year running, reflecting growing industry demand for accurate company-registry intelligence as Know Your Customer (KYC), Know Your Business (KYB) and anti-money laundering (AML) obligations expand.

Chartis’ analysis examines 12 providers that supply KYC data to financial services firms, with evaluation criteria centred on data coverage, structure and delivery. Kyckr received top scores for “corporate structure” and “entity relationships” – areas that highlight the strength of its core proposition: live registry data aggregated from more than 300 official sources worldwide. Access to verified corporate data at this level of depth and jurisdictional breadth increasingly underpins due-diligence workflows, where firms are seeking to reduce manual effort and improve confidence in Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) verification.

Providing additional context on the ranking, Phil Mackenzie, Senior Research Principal at Chartis, noted: “Kyckr continues to demonstrate strength in an increasingly data-driven compliance ecosystem. Strong domain expertise and integration capabilities, as well as a focus on delivering real-time entity data at scale, all contributed to its category leader placement in the KYC Data RiskTech Quadrant.”

The recognition follows a year of expansion for Kyckr, including the onboarding of 28 new obliged entities, enhancements to data sourcing across key regions, and deeper integrations with RegTech platforms including Strise and Spektr.

Reflecting on the challenges firms face, CEO Steve Lamb said: “Companies needing to carry out customer due diligence are faced with tightening regulations and a fast-shifting registry landscape. This presents significant challenges in accessing reliable, authoritative data. Being named a category leader by Chartis Research is significant validation of Kyckr’s solution and reflects our continued investment in data quality, jurisdiction expansion and advanced entity-resolution technologies to support clients’ rapidly evolving compliance needs.”

SmartStream Introduces AI-Driven Smart Agents for Investigations to Automate Financial Reconciliations

SmartStream has announced the preview of Smart Agents for Investigations, a solution designed to bring augmented and autonomous capabilities to financial reconciliations and back-office operations. Integrating with SmartStream’s current platforms, these agents utilise domain-trained AI to triage, investigate, and resolve exceptions. The system understands the context of breaks, adheres to customer playbooks, and autonomously sources missing information. Crucially, it documents every action for audit and compliance purposes, shifting the user experience from manual investigation to a streamlined review and approval process.

This development addresses the heavy operational burden of manual exception handling, which currently accounts for up to 70% of effort in financial institutions. Complex, time-sensitive exceptions often lead to high costs, SLA breaches, and settlement risks. By automating these processes, Smart Agents aim to reduce reliance on manual intervention, eliminate knowledge silos, and improve scalability during volume spikes. This ensures greater operational resilience and allows analysts to focus on risk management rather than administrative tasks.