DTCC to Expand Global Trade Repository Service with MiFID/R Reporting

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has announced plans to introduce a Markets in Financial Instruments Directive/Regulation (MiFID/R) Approved Reporting Mechanism (ARM) service within its Global Trade Repository (GTR). Pending regulatory approval, the service is set to launch in the UK by Q1 2026 and in the EU in alignment with forthcoming regulatory changes.

The new MiFID/R ARM service will support firms in meeting transaction reporting obligations, offering data quality analytics, smart monitoring tools, and exception management features. It will also include a back-reporting channel with queuing and in-sequence processing, along with end-of-day reports for issue resolution. As the only industry-owned global trade reporting provider, DTCC’s GTR will now integrate derivatives and securities trade reporting, enabling firms to enhance cost efficiency, governance, and operational risk management through a unified platform.

BlockFills and CQG Partner to Stream Cryptocurrency Liquidity on CQG Platform

BlockFills, the digital asset trading and market technology company, has partnered with CQG, the global provider of trading technology, to stream BlockFills’ cryptocurrency liquidity onto the CQG platform. This collaboration will provide CQG’s client base with reliable cryptocurrency pricing while enabling BlockFills market participants to access CQG’s institutional-grade trading tools. The partnership also expands liquidity access to CQG’s network of exchanges, brokers, and trading firms worldwide.

Integration is already underway, with the launch expected by the end of Q2. Initially, BlockFills’ Bitcoin CFD products will be streamed, followed by spot and forward contracts. Eligible BlockFills customers will also gain access to CQG’s applications and API, including advanced trading tools. Fiat cash-settled derivatives will be available via BlockFills’ UK affiliate, Basis Capital Markets UK Ltd, regulated by the FCA. More digital assets will be added in the future.

SimCorp Successfully Implements Front-Office Solution for Ampega

SimCorp has successfully implemented its front-office solution for Ampega, a German asset manager overseeing over EUR 180 billion in assets. By adopting SimCorp One, Ampega has streamlined its system landscape, reducing costs and improving efficiency. The phased implementation was completed on time and within budget, ensuring minimal business disruption.

Ampega, the asset manager for Talanx Group, has been a SimCorp client for 20 years, previously utilising its middle and back-office solutions. The transition to a full front-to-back setup consolidates core functionalities within a single system, enhancing operational efficiency. SimCorp’s multi-asset IBOR enables real-time data integration across front, middle, and back-office functions, improving risk management and investment decision-making.

Euroclear and Microsoft Partner to Enhance Capital Markets Infrastructure

Euroclear has entered a seven-year partnership with Microsoft to modernize its technology infrastructure and develop new digital and data-driven capabilities for financial market participants. The collaboration will focus on leveraging cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced analytics to enhance Euroclear’s role as a key financial market infrastructure provider.

The initiative is designed to foster greater efficiency in capital markets by shifting towards an ecosystem-driven model. Microsoft’s cloud solutions, including Azure and AI-powered tools, will support Euroclear in developing a more flexible and scalable platform for data sharing, customer engagement, and market infrastructure resilience.

A Shift Toward Data-Enabled Market Infrastructure

The collaboration aims to enhance Euroclear’s ability to process and share financial data securely while strengthening operational resilience. The initial phase of the partnership will focus on:

• Financial data sharing: Developing a secure platform to enable controlled data collaboration across financial institutions.
• Enhancements to Euroclear FundsPlace®: Improving the client experience with AI-driven insights and more efficient fund processing.
• Customer engagement modernization: Establishing a unified platform for streamlined interactions across Euroclear’s business lines.
• Strengthening market infrastructure: Building a more resilient financial infrastructure with integrated security and compliance features.

“Technology is rapidly transforming financial market infrastructures,” said Valérie Urbain, CEO of Euroclear. “Harnessing the latest developments in cloud, AI, and analytics is a critical enabler of Euroclear’s strategy and a driver of innovation and new business without compromising resilience. Microsoft’s technology leadership and understanding of financial markets make it an ideal strategic partner for the next stage in our journey. This mutually beneficial relationship greatly accelerates our ambitions and should bring us much closer to clients.”

Microsoft will provide cloud-based scalability and automation tools to support Euroclear’s operational resilience, including disaster recovery and business continuity solutions. “Our partnership with Euroclear combines their extensive financial ecosystem—connecting more than 2,000 financial institutions—with the trust and scalability of the Microsoft Cloud including Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Copilot, Azure AI, Microsoft Fabric and Microsoft Teams,” said Ralph Haupter, President, EMEA at Microsoft. “Together, we are enabling a shift from traditional sequential workflows to an ecosystem-centric capital markets model. This transformation will empower financial institutions to reimagine how they interact, analyse data and deliver insights to end users, driving efficiency and innovation across the industry.”

The partnership is guided by senior executives from both companies, ensuring alignment between technology and business objectives. As the collaboration evolves, new digital and data initiatives will be explored to further enhance market efficiency and financial services innovation.

Sumsub Releases AI-Powered AML Screening Enhancements

Full-cycle verification vendor Sumsub, recently released new AI-driven enhancements to its AML screening and case management capabilities, aiming to help compliance teams reduce manual workload and improve the accuracy of risk detection. The updates address a critical challenge in financial crime compliance—the growing volume of false positives that consume valuable time and resources.

Regulatory bodies worldwide continue to tighten anti-money laundering (AML) requirements, pushing firms to adopt more automated, intelligent solutions. Traditional screening methods often generate excessive alerts, leading to inefficiencies in case resolution. Sumsub’s AI-driven approach seeks to mitigate this by filtering out low-risk alerts, allowing compliance teams to focus on high-priority cases without compromising accuracy.

“Compliance teams face immense pressure to detect financial crime while managing an overwhelming number of alerts. Traditional AML screening can be like searching for a needle in a haystack – compliance teams spend countless hours sifting through false positives to find real risks. Our AI acts like a powerful magnet, helping to filter out irrelevant alerts and strengthen our solution,” explains Vyacheslav Zholudev, co-founder and CTO of Sumsub.

The enhanced AML screening solution introduces several key capabilities:

• AI-Driven Alert Prioritization: Advanced machine learning algorithms analyse patterns and past decisions to differentiate between genuine risks and false positives, minimizing unnecessary manual review.
• Centralized Case Management: A unified platform streamlines investigation workflows, facilitating task assignments, collaboration, and real-time updates.
• Automated SAR/STR Reporting: Compliance teams can generate Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) or Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) with minimal manual input, ensuring regulatory compliance.
• Real-Time Transaction Monitoring: A comprehensive dashboard provides insights into transactions, helping teams track potential fraud patterns and make data-driven decisions.
• Improved Team Collaboration: Integrated tools allow for efficient case tracking, notes, and communication among compliance officers, ensuring a more streamlined approach to financial crime prevention.

As firms grapple with evolving regulatory requirements and increasingly sophisticated financial crime typologies, AI-powered compliance solutions are becoming essential. Sumsub’s latest enhancements reflect a broader industry shift toward automation and data-driven decision-making, equipping compliance teams with tools to operate more efficiently in a fast-changing regulatory landscape.

Robinhood Derivatives Partners with CQG for Futures Order Routing

Summary: CQG, a global provider of trading technology solutions, has partnered with Robinhood Derivatives LLC to handle order routing for Robinhood’s futures customer orders. The partnership leverages CQG’s infrastructure to enhance order execution for Robinhood’s expanding futures offerings.

As of January 31, 2025, Robinhood has 25.5 million funded customers and $204 billion in assets under custody. With this collaboration, eligible U.S. customers can now access CME Group’s most popular futures contracts across five asset classes, including major U.S. equity indices, bitcoin, ether, FX currency pairs, metals, and key commodities like crude oil and natural gas. Additionally, Robinhood will integrate CQG’s API for order routing on all futures and non-U.S. equities and equity options, further expanding its trading capabilities.

Trading Technologies to Provide Day-One Connectivity to MIAX Futures’ Onyx Platform

connectivity to the MIAX Futures Exchange’s new matching engine, MIAX Futures Onyx, via the TT platform. The integration will enable trading of MIAX Futures’ Minneapolis Hard Red Spring Wheat (Minneapolis HRSW) futures upon Onyx’s launch in Q2 2025. Additionally, TT will support MIAX Futures’ planned Bloomberg 500 Index futures, expected to debut in H2 2025, pending regulatory approval.

Alun Green, TT’s EVP Managing Director, Futures & Options, commented: “Our market-leading tools, including execution algos and Autospreader, will ensure a seamless transition of outright and intercommodity spread trading onto Onyx. We will also be ready on day one to support the launch of new products like the Bloomberg 500, which will be of significant interest to our global clients.”

Thomas P. Gallagher, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Miami International Holdings, Inc. and Chairman of the MIAX Futures Board of Directors, added: “Our collaboration with TT is an important initiative that will help ensure that our clients have uninterrupted access to Minneapolis HRSW futures, as well as the new B500 futures expected to launch in H2 2025.”

McKay Brothers Launches Lowest Latency Tokyo-London-Dublin Crypto Connectivity

McKay Brothers International has introduced the fastest connectivity between major crypto trading hubs in Tokyo, London, and Dublin, achieving sub-132ms round-trip latency. The new service links traders hosted in AWS Tokyo with those operating at Equinix LD4 in London and AWS Dublin, enhancing execution speeds for crypto markets.

This launch marks McKay’s first ultra-low latency infrastructure developed specifically for cryptocurrency trading, diverging from its previous reliance on traditional finance networks. The Tokyo-London-Dublin route complements the company’s existing ultra-low latency connections between Tokyo and other key trading centres, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Chicago, and Ashburn.

“Crypto trading increasingly demands low latency,” said Francois Tyc, MBI’s Managing Director. “We are pleased to leverage our many years of leadership in ultra-low latency connectivity for traditional finance to serve the fast growing low latency crypto market.”

Substantive Research and Expand Research Publish White Paper on Market Data Pricing Disparities

Substantive Research, the research and market data analytics provider, has partnered with Expand Research, a BCG Company, to release a white paper titled “Market Data Pricing – 2024 in Review.” The report combines Expand’s insights into firms’ spending with Substantive Research’s analysis of vendor pricing inconsistencies and discounting trends, providing a detailed assessment of market dynamics at both provider and product levels.

Coming in the wake of a recent study by Market Structure Partners on the same topic, the research highlights the significant pricing power of major vendors, who operate in a market lacking public pricing transparency. With firms negotiating contracts in isolation, many struggle to assess whether their costs are fair. While the FCA reviewed pricing concerns, it opted against major intervention in early 2024 due to potential unintended consequences. The white paper’s key finding is that pricing inflation is unsustainable, with vendor cost increases far exceeding firms’ budget growth. Additionally, wide pricing disparities persist, with some firms paying significantly more than peers for identical products.

Quantexa Raises Further $175m for AI-led Decision Intelligence Offering

Quantexa has raised a further US$175 million, boosting estimated market valuation for the UK-based decision intelligence solutions provider to $2.6 billion.

The company said the additional money will be used to “progress against its mission to help enterprises and government agencies across multiple markets stay ahead in the race for AI-driven DI”.

The latest series F funding round was led by Teachers Venture Growth, part of the huge Canadian Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.