Bloomberg Expands Climate Risk Offering with MARS Enhancement

Bloomberg clients can now use the New York-based company’s MARS risk management tool to assess the threats to their portfolios from climate change.

MARS Climate, an addition to the data behemoth’s physical and transition risk suite of analytics, offers climate scenario analyses based on the framework devised by the Network for Greening Financial System (NGFS). The new functionality is powered by the Transition Risk Assessment Company Tool (TRACT), created by Bloomberg’s new energy finance business, BloombergNEF.

Clients can query revenue risks and opportunities inherent in their business activities, supply chains and regional presence, measured according to the different NGFS scenarios.

Fenergo and PwC Partner to Enhance Financial Crime Compliance and Efficiency

A new collaboration between Fenergo and PwC aims to help financial institutions streamline financial crime compliance, improve operational efficiency, and navigate evolving regulatory demands. By combining PwC’s expertise in financial crime and regulatory compliance with Fenergo’s AI-driven client lifecycle management (CLM) and Know Your Customer (KYC) technology, the partnership is set to accelerate digital transformation in the sector. 

Financial institutions face increasing pressure to enhance financial crime risk management while maintaining efficiency. The partnership integrates Fenergo’s AI-powered CLM solutions with PwC’s advisory and implementation capabilities, supporting firms in scaling their compliance operations and optimizing processes. 

Mark Hunter, Partner at PwC, highlighted the importance of the collaboration: “Fenergo’s AI-powered platform is uniquely positioned to serve mid-market to large multinational organizations, offering the scale, flexibility, and advanced capabilities needed to manage complex regulatory environments and high volumes of transactions across global operations. This collaboration is enabling us to deliver even greater value and sustained outcomes to our clients. Clients choose PwC to drive growth, transform and create value – and that includes interventions with technology. Our approach focuses on how Fenergo’s software can add value to our clients’ organisations holistically. Our teams across our global practice have experience implementing Fenergo solutions at scale, and across multiple jurisdictions. We’ve invested in our own multi-disciplinary teams, who are now Fenergo-certified and have specialist functional capabilities and technical expertise to configure the Fenergo platform.” 

PwC’s role extends beyond implementation, with services such as target operating model design, customer experience mapping, and business change management. By leveraging PwC’s expertise, financial institutions can achieve a smoother integration of Fenergo’s technology into their existing frameworks. 

Matt Edwards, Global VP Partnerships and Alliances at Fenergo, emphasized the strategic advantage: “The synergy between Fenergo and PwC creates a powerful value proposition for financial institutions seeking to streamline financial crime operations and increase efficiencies in the face of accelerated regulatory change. The collaboration enables Fenergo to tap into PwC’s industry leading consultancy and implementation services to deliver an optimum target operating model for CLM. The result is a premium solution which empowers financial institutions to efficiently mitigate financial crime risk while driving growth and efficiency gains.” 

With financial institutions under growing scrutiny to enhance compliance while maintaining a seamless client experience, this partnership provides a structured approach to modernizing financial crime operations. The collaboration underscores a broader industry shift towards integrating advanced technology with deep regulatory expertise to drive sustainable compliance solutions. 

New Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit at SEC

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has established the Cyber and Emerging Technologies Unit (CETU) to address cyber-related misconduct and safeguard retail investors in the evolving tech landscape. This new unit, led by Laura D’Allaird, succeeds the former Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit and comprises around 30 fraud specialists and attorneys from various SEC offices. 

Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda emphasized that CETU’s formation aims to protect investors while promoting innovation. He noted that the unit will “root out those seeking to misuse innovation to harm investors and diminish confidence in new technologies.” 

CETU’s priorities include addressing fraud involving emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, misuse of social media and the dark web for fraudulent activities, unauthorized acquisition of non-public information through hacking, takeovers of retail brokerage accounts, fraud related to blockchain and crypto assets, ensuring regulated entities comply with cybersecurity regulations, and monitoring public companies’ disclosures concerning cybersecurity. 

This initiative reflects the SEC’s commitment to adapting its enforcement strategies to the rapidly changing technological environment, aiming to foster a secure and transparent market for investors and innovators alike. 

SkySparc and Auxality Form Strategic Partnership to Enhance Asset Management Solutions

SkySparc, provider of solutions for corporate and financial institutions, has formed a strategic partnership with Auxality, a specialist in financial workflow digitalisation. This collaboration aims to enhance asset management capabilities by optimising workflows and ensuring regulatory compliance.

The partnership addresses key operational challenges for asset managers, including increasing regulatory demands, data management complexity, and margin pressure. By integrating SkySparc’s financial systems expertise with Auxality’s workflow solutions, the alliance provides a seamless framework for data accuracy, compliance, and cost reduction. SkySparc’s OmniFi platform enhances integration by offering comprehensive monitoring across all processes.

This collaboration is designed to allow asset managers to streamline documentation, automate workflows, and maintain data consistency, reducing operational overhead and compliance risks. Additionally, Auxality expands its service coverage, including 24/7 support.

Joakim Wiener, CEO, SkySparc, commented: “This strategic partnership aligns perfectly with our commitment to enabling continuous innovation within financial institutions. Together with Auxality, we can help our clients excel in managing the increasing complexities of fund administration and regulatory compliance. This collaboration further strengthens our position as a full-service provider to financial institutions.”

George Sallfeldt, CEO, Auxality, added: “In today’s increasingly complex regulatory environment, asset managers need solutions that reduce operational burden while ensuring compliance. By integrating directly with existing systems and digitising outputs we eliminate data redundancy and manual updates, allowing our clients to focus on their core business of managing investments. Our partnership with SkySparc enables us to deliver a truly integrated workflow solution with full support.”

BMV and IPC Partner to Launch Advanced Beeks Technology Infrastructure

Grupo Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BMV) and IPC have signed an agreement to deploy Beeks’ advanced technology infrastructure, enhancing BMV’s market capabilities. The deployment includes primary and disaster recovery sites in Mexico City, providing a secure and scalable solution to support market growth.

Set to go live in the second half of 2025, the new infrastructure will enable BMV to offer co-location services, allowing clients to host operations directly on the platform without needing a proprietary site. IPC is the contracting party, while Beeks will oversee the end-to-end deployment of the exchange infrastructure. This initiative aims to deliver a robust, flexible, and secure solution tailored for capital markets, leveraging Beeks’ expertise in financial technology.

“This agreement allows us to deliver cutting-edge technology, with a low-latency infrastructure deployed locally in Mexico City. We are well-positioned to meet the evolving needs of our market participants, remain at the forefront of innovation and as a leader in the region,” commented Jorge, Alegría, CEO of Grupo BMV.

“Beeks technology offers a dedicated, fully managed infrastructure for exchanges and trading venues worldwide,” said Gordon McArthur, CEO of Beeks Group. “We are proud to partner with BMV and leverage our established relationship with IPC to deliver cutting-edge solutions to the financial markets. This two-site deployment will ensure resiliency, security and scalability, supporting BMV’s ambitions for growth and innovation in the market.”

IPC’s Tito Singh, CRO added: “This is a great example of the strength of our partnership strategy, working with the best suppliers to support our customer first approach. It reinforces our long-term relationship with Beeks and our ongoing collaboration to deliver innovative, market-leading solutions in the industry.”

DiffusionData Offers One-Month Free Trial of Diffusion Cloud for Real-Time Data Streaming

DiffusionData, the real-time data streaming solutions provider, has announced a free one-month trial of Diffusion Cloud, with no deployment costs or obligations. To assist new users, the company will provide access to service engineers for setup support.

Diffusion Cloud is designed to enable financial institutions to stream personalised, low-latency data efficiently, supporting live pricing, trading information, and customer notifications at scale.

The cloud-based framework allows users to connect to existing data sources, such as Kafka or Redis, within minutes. Its no-code data transformation, in-memory caching, and real-time data distribution reduce development time, operational costs, and bandwidth usage by up to 90%, according to the company. By minimising unnecessary data transmission and improving customer engagement through personalised experiences, Diffusion Cloud aims to support businesses in driving innovation and revenue growth.

Grethe Brown, CEO at DiffusionData, said: “Diffusion Cloud removes many of the obstacles developers face when using open source or in-house built solutions, most notably in terms of scalability and latency. By providing developers and architects with a free month’s trial, we are giving them access to a mature, fully managed service; enabling them to trial and evaluate the benefits that Diffusion Cloud can deliver to their organisation.”

Delta Capita Selects Fragmos Chain to Enhance OTC Derivatives Post-Trade Processing

Delta Capita, the London-based capital markets managed service and technology provider, has chosen Fragmos Chain to enhance its managed services for post-trade processing of OTC derivatives. Fragmos Chain operates on the Common Domain Model (CDM), an industry standard developed by ISDA and other market associations to streamline data and processes in the derivatives market. By integrating Fragmos Chain’s platform, Delta Capita aims to improve efficiency, automation, and accuracy in post-trade operations, reducing complexity and costs for financial institutions.

This collaboration strengthens Delta Capita’s position as a leader in OTC operations services, supporting global financial firms in optimising their post-trade workflows. The partnership was facilitated by EuropaGrowth, a boutique firm specialising in business development and M&A within the financial technology sector.

Daniel Ivanier, CEO of Fragmos Chain, commented: “We are thrilled to collaborate with Delta Capita as a strategic partner. Their deep expertise in managed services and commitment to operational excellence aligns perfectly with our vision to transform post-trade processes. This partnership will play a crucial role in accelerating adoption of our platform and delivering value to the broader industry.”

Mark Aldous, Head of Capital Markets Managed Services at Delta Capita, added: “By leveraging the Fragmos Chain platform, we are demonstrating our commitment to lowering costs for our clients through industry innovation in post-trade operations. By standardising data and processes, the Common Domain Model will help firms to reduce reconciliation time, improve accuracy and simplify compliance, to provide a foundation for future growth and collaboration across the financial ecosystem. Together, we aim to support the industry in accelerating progress towards digitalisation and automation.

QuantCube Technology Launches Hydric Stress Indicator to Track Drought Risks in Key Agricultural Regions

QuantCube Technology has introduced the Hydric Stress Indicator, a real-time tool designed to help commodity traders, financial institutions, and agricultural producers monitor drought risks across 20 countries. The indicator leverages meteorological data and satellite imagery to track soil water stress, providing early warnings categorised by crop type, including corn, soybean, wheat, and rice.

By offering daily insights into water stress levels, the tool aids traders in forecasting supply risks, anticipating price volatility, and optimising trading strategies. It has demonstrated clear correlations between drought conditions and commodity price fluctuations, particularly in U.S. corn and wheat markets. The Hydric Stress Indicator is available alongside QuantCube’s Agricultural Yield Forecasts, which provide real-time yield estimates up to eight months ahead of official reports. These tools enhance decision-making in a climate-sensitive market by offering granular, real-time analysis at regional and global levels.

Alice Froidevaux, Director of Product Development and CFA ESG at QuantCube Technology, commented: “As climate risks continue to challenge agricultural markets, the QuantCube Hydric Stress Indicator provides traders with a critical advantage in enabling them to anticipate disruptions. In particular, the indicator is a game-changer for participants in agricultural markets eager to optimise their hedging strategies.”

Governance, Security Woes ‘Holding Back Financial Sector Growth’

Data governance and security concerns are so great among UK financial services companies that they are holding back growth, according to a survey by secure computing company Optalysys.

The survey of more than 250 financial company IT professionals found that 70 per cent of decision makers said data security was holding them back, while 45 per cent said their firms experienced challenges in managing or accessing sensitive data.

“The financial services sector is the lifeblood of the UK economy, yet businesses are being limited by outdated approaches to data security,” said Optalysys chief executive Nick New. “Simply put, businesses can’t harness the real power of AI or can’t unlock the full value of their data because they are too busy trying to keep it safe. This is a massive missed opportunity and it’s holding the entire sector back.”

Zema Global Streamlines Forward-Curve Data Use

Energy commodities markets data and data management provider Zema Global has unveiled its Curve Viewer tool, which enables clients to better interrogate their data and construct the forward curves that are essential to decision making.

The new addition to Zema Global’s platform offers deeper insights into clients’ own data, the company said. It provides customisable data views, has a more user-friendly navigation structure and can be flexible enough to be deployed across trading, risk management and other functions.

“Data is the cornerstone of effective decision-making in the energy and commodity markets, but its complexity often limits its usability – Curve Viewer changes that,” said chief executive Andrea Remyn Stone. “By simplifying access and creating tools that are intuitive for a broader audience, we’re helping organisations unlock their full potential. This is about ensuring that the right data reaches the right people to support critical decision making.”

Colorado, US-based Zema Global has been offering enterprise data and data management services tailored to traders of energy commodities for a quarter of a century and has begun servicing financial institutions since it acquired Morningstar’s commodity information business late last year.