EDM-as-a-Service Provider Rimes to be Bought by Rothschild Unit

Enterprise data management (EDM) services provider Rimes is to be acquired by the private equity arm of Rothschild & Co.

Rimes investor EQT and its co-shareholders didn’t disclose the financial details of the deal to Five Arrows, but Bloomberg estimated the transaction values the business at between €800 million (US$862m) and €900m.

New York and London-based Rimes was founded in 1996 and its cloud-based EDM-as-a-service technology platform is used by 60 of the world’s 100 largest asset managers, the company said in a statement. Its customers oversee more than $75 trillion.

Rimes has been a long-time supporter of A-Team Group and its representatives have regularly occupied speaker seats at the group’s summits and webinars.

The Five Arrows Long Term Fund (FALT) and Five Arrows Principal Investments (FAPI) make up Five Arrows, which focuses its activities on the B2B data and software sectors.

Rimes chief executive Brad Hunt said the company has grown significantly in the past few years.

“Today, Rimes combines the customer-centric ethos and deep domain expertise that has differentiated us since 1996 with the industry’s most modern technology and an innovative, comprehensive product offering designed to address the investment data challenges of the future,” Hunt said in a statement. “We look forward to joining forces with Five Arrows to build upon our strong momentum going forward.”

Seif Khoufi and Constantin Sabet d’Acre, managing director and director of FALT, said in a joint statement that they believe Rimes is “uniquely positioned to continue to support its customers’ expanding needs”.

The deal is yet to be approved by regulators, but in a statement Rimes said it expected the sale to be passed in the coming months.

DSB Announces 2024 Consultation Schedule for OTC Derivatives Reference Data Services

The Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB) has outlined its 2024 consultation plan focusing on the OTC International Securities Identification Number (ISIN), Unique Product Identifier (UPI), and Classification Financial Instrument (CFI) services. The consultation paper will be released on 30 April 2024, allowing for feedback until 31 May 2024, and concluding with a Final Report on 16 July 2024.

For the first time, the consultation will include the new UPI services. Key topics will include user type functionality, the Traded on a Trading Venue (ToTV) Service; and fair cost apportionment across service provisions. The consultation, in conjunction with the ongoing complementary work of the DSB industry representation groups, aims to align DSB services with evolving market practices, technological advancements, and regulatory demands.

UK and US Agree Collaboration on Testing and Mitigating Risks of AI Models

The UK and US have signed a landmark artificial intelligence (AI) agreement to collaborate on testing and mitigating the risks of AI models. The deal is the first global bilateral agreement on AI safety, bringing together the UK and US governments to share technical knowledge, information and talent on AI safety. The deal was signed by UK Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan and US Commerce Secretary Fina Raimondo.

Under the deal, the UK’s new AI Safety Institute and the subsequent US organisation, which is yet to begin work, will exchange research expertise with the aim of mitigating the risks of AI, including how to independently evaluate private AI models from organisations such as OpenAI. The partnership is modelled on the security collaboration between GCHQ and the National Security Agency.

Clearwater Analytics to Acquire Risk and Performance Analytics Solutions from Wilshire

Clearwater Analytics, a provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS) based investment management, accounting, reporting, and analytics solutions, has entered a definitive agreement to acquire risk and performance analytics solutions from Wilshire Advisors, a financial services firm. Clearwater will acquire Wilshire AxiomSM, Wilshire AtlasSM, Wilshire Abacus and Wilshire iQComposite, which cover fixed income analytics, equity analytics and performance measurement, accounting, and GIPS compliance support analytics. These solutions will be merger with Clearwater’s risk and performance analytics platform.

The partnership will be co-branded as Clearwater Wilshire Analytics and will allow both companies to provide enhanced analytical capabilities for investment managers and institutional asset owners. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024.

Microsoft Selects Solidatus as a Partner in Renewed Data Governance Platform

Microsoft has named Solidatus as its preferred data lineage integration partner as part of renewed data governance in Microsoft Purview. The new software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform provides intuitive business-friendly interaction, seamless integration across data sources, AI-driven efficiency, and actionable insights, empowering users to enhance data governance processes.

Microsoft will extend the value of Microsoft Purview for customers through pre-built integrations with a select group of technologies. Solidatus, a provider of data lineage, is one of these and will provide Microsoft Purview customers with best-in-class data lineage and its capabilities in fine grain lineage, visualisation and version control, strengthening data governance efforts and fostering more resilient businesses.

“Purview customers will gain a unified and actionable view of their governance workflows, empowering them to tackle their most pressing data challenges,” says Philip Dutton, CEO at Solidatus.

Informatica Takes Intelligent Data Management Cloud to Saudi Arabia

Informatica, a vendor of enterprise cloud data management, has set up its AI-powered Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC) in Saudi Arabia, claiming a first in the kingdom. The provision includes establishing a point of delivery in Riyadh that supports local, scalable, cloud-first data management services. Informatica launched its first regional point of delivery in Abu Dhabi, UAE in 2023.

The investment underpins Informatica’s commitment to further the Saudi government’s Vision 2030, which includes digitally empowering all sectors of the economy. Jitesh Ghai, chief product officer at Informatica, comments: “Saudi Arabia is making headway on its journey to become a technology hub for the Middle East and is creating a solid cloud foundation to realise its Vision 2030 ambitions. By having a significant cloud, data, and AI presence in the kingdom, we will be providing organisations with an in-country AI-powered data infrastructure to run their cloud-based technology solutions.”

Confluence Adds MSCI ESG Research Data into Style Analytics

Confluence Technologies, a solutions provider to the investment management industry, has integrated MSCI ESG Research data into its factor investing analytics solution, Style Analytics. The data will help asset managers and fund selectors by offering in-depth analysis, comparison, and enhancement of portfolios.

Damian Handzy, managing director, analytics, at Confluence, comments: “Style Analytics’ integration of MSCI’s ESG data marks a significant step to help our clients make informed investment decisions and achieve sustainable growth.”

The integration supports drill-down capabilities, fund-of-funds capabilities for United Nations SDGs and analytics, as well as factor analysis using an intuitive user interface. Users can gain actionable data, identify optimal investment opportunities and monitor performance over time.

GLEIF Names Certizen Technology as China’s Second LEI Validation Agent

The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) has named Certizen Technology, a Hong Kong-based provider of digital identity and digital certificate solutions, as the latest organisation approved as a Validation Agent in the Global Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) System.

With the support of GLEIF and the People’s Bank of China, Certizen will use the LEI to enrich its product and service offerings across multiple market sectors to further advance ‘opening up’ and strengthen support for free trade and cross-border business interactions. This includes using the data elements of the LEI in conjunction with digital certificates to integrate and associate an organisation’s data with the identity of individuals acting on its behalf. This will contribute to increased market transparency, facilitate trusted cross-border trade, and support global regulatory alignment.

Eva Chan, CEO of Certizen Technology, comments: “Obtaining Validation Agent status is a step forward in our vision to become a leader in corporate identity management. We are committed to using the capabilities of the LEI to enable secure and trustworthy digital interactions across borders, helping realise the full potential of efforts to support opening up and promote increased international recognition of local enterprises.”

Telefónica Goes Live with Alveo Prime Market Data Solution

Telefónica, a global telecommunications company, has gone live on Alveo’s Prime market data solution for its corporate treasury and financial division data management. The company’s sophisticated corporate treasury function, financial transactions and processes require accurate and timely market data for a wide range of purposes including hedge accounting, funding needs, financial reporting, validation and valuation of financial instruments.

Manuel Carreras Ferrer, transformation and change management manager at Telefónica, says: “We needed a new financial data repository for the firm. We use commercial data providers and different complex spreadsheets and needed to streamline the supply of market data into different business applications. Alveo’s market data solution helped us with a centralised data repository for all treasury-required FX and interest rate data, improved our operational efficiency and lowered our total cost of ownership.”

Canoe Intelligence Solution Offers Access to Asset-Level Data of Alternative Investments

Canoe Intelligence, a technology provider to the alternatives industry, has announced the commercial launch of Canoe Asset Data, a solution to the challenges of accessing and using complete, timely, and accurate asset-level data. The offering delves deep into the underlying holdings of alternative investments, leveraging the document collection, tracking, extraction, and organisation technology developed by the company, and is designed to solve investment use cases such as exposure analysis, portfolio analysis, and due diligence, while alleviating the operational challenges of accessing this granular data.

Canoe Asset Data is the inaugural product release from the Canoe Data Innovation Hub, an initiative dedicated to driving innovation, transformation, and transparency in the alternative investment markets, and was developed in collaboration with 13 clients. Aman Soni, vice president of data strategy at Canoe, comments: “Before its commercial launch, Canoe Asset Data saw strong adoption from its design partners, which speaks volumes about the end product.”