A-Team Insight Brief
West African Development Bank (BOAD) Selects Wolters Kluwer’s OneSumX Solution for Risk Management
BOAD, the common development finance institution of the member countries of the West African Monetary Union (WAMU), specifically selected the Asset and Liability Management (ALM), Liquidity Risk, Market Risk, and Credit Risk components of OneSumX for Risk Management, to monitor performance, profitability and capital adequacy (both regulatory and economic). To assist in the bank’s decision making, the solution will also cover the parameters of BOAD’s risk appetite framework. The bank chose the solution with the aim of implementing an integrated approach to risk management and financial planning in order to strengthen its financial governance.
HESTA Selects GoldenSource Nexus to Overhaul Investment Data Management
HESTA, a top 20 Australian superannuation fund serving over 860,000 members, has gone live with the GoldenSource Nexus investment data management platform from EDM specialist GoldenSource. The fund is using the platform as the hub for its strategic investment data transformation programme, with the infrastructure supported by GoldenSource OnDemand hosting and applications services. The new service, with Phase 1 set up in under 6 months, will bring together the data from HESTA’s middle and back office services and investment consulting providers, plus its 100+ external fund managers and multiple market data and internal sources. GoldenSource reportedly underwent a rigorous selection process, which it won due to its history of successful delivery and support across the Australasia and APAC regions.
Bloomberg Upgrades Enterprise Access Point to Enhance Data Efficiency
Bloomberg has announced major upgrades to its Enterprise Access Point, the firm’s ready-to-use data website, in order to make data more accessible, discoverable and self-service, as well as simplify data integration. A new self-service marketplace allows clients to access Data License content with click to purchase functionality, while the Dataset Creator offers a new tool for business analysts and developers to generate and subscribe to custom, machine-readable datasets. The service also has a simple Web API and is cloud-ready. “The enhancements to Enterprise Access Point dramatically simplify data discovery and acquisition, enabling clients to integrate data into their applications and immediately put it to use,” says Gerard Francis, Global Head of Enterprise Data at Bloomberg.
Industry Supports Pre-Cessation LIBOR Fallbacks, Finds ISDA
ISDA has found that a significant majority of practitioners would prefer to include pre-cessation and permanent cessation fallbacks without optionality or flexibility. The feedback comes in response to a consultation launched by ISDA in February which asked whether the 2006 ISDA Definitions should be amended to include fallbacks that would apply to all covered derivatives referencing LIBOR following a permanent cessation of the benchmark or a ‘non-representative’ pre-cessation event, whichever occurs first. ISDA now expects to publish amendments to the 2006 ISDA Definitions to incorporate the fallbacks for new trades in July. A protocol will simultaneously be launched to allow participants to incorporate the revisions into legacy trades if they wish. Both will come into effect before the end of the year.
Finantix Launches New Digital Hub
Wealth management tech provider Finantix this week launched its latest Digital Collaboration Hub, through which firms can establish a one-stop collaboration channel featuring virtual private lounges to support client activities such as market updates and investment advisory support, onboarding and origination workflow driven processes. It is available via a fast-track deployment approach hosted on the Finantix cloud, as an expedited setup via private cloud or on-site; or through a “maximum flexibility and configurability option” which leverages Finantix SDK capabilities. It provides an auditable communications suite covering e-mail, chat, audio, video and screen sharing, and has been selected by Banco Itaú International to support its current online offering for US and Swiss clients.
Boosted.ai Raises $8 Million in Series A Funding
Boosted.ai, a distributed machine learning platform for investment managers, has closed an $8 million USD Series A financing round, led by Portag3 Ventures. Dunamu & Partners and Polar Equity Partners also participated in the round. Inclusive of seed capital, Boosted.ai’s total funding now stands at $11 million. Boosted.ai will use the funding to enhance Boosted Insights, its proprietary machine learning platform that empowers portfolio managers, analysts and chief investment officers to augment their existing investment processes, source new ideas and manage risks. Co-founded in 2017 by Joshua Pantony, Jon Dorando and Nicholas Abe, Boosted.ai currently has more than a dozen active clients.
Kompli-Global and ComplyAdvantage Partner on Financial Crime
ComplyAdvantage has become the latest provider to add to the Kompli-QED remote corporate onboarding platform, in a strategic partnership between the two firms to fight financial crime and money laundering. Kompli-QED is a remote onboarding platform that combines proprietary solutions with best-in-class third party offerings. “ComplyAdvantage significantly enhances the platform with real-time sactions and PEP screening against global enforcement watchlists. This is a tremendous advantage as increasingly criminals get to know the frequency with which static databases are updated and look to exploit the time lag in updating them. ComplyAdvantage also shares our approach to letting Augmented Intelligence (AI) do the heavy lifting,” says ComplyAdvantage CEO Jane Jee.
Accenture Acquires NIKE Group in RegTech Push
Accenture has successfully acquired NIKE Group, an Italian consulting firm that provides RegTech services and solutions to financial services firms, in a deal first announced on 14 April. NIKE Group’s data-driven approach and compliance platform help clients monitor new regulatory requirements and assist with compliance. The NIKE Group team will join Accenture’s Italian Financial Services practice. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Saudi G20 Presidency and BIS Launch RegTech Innovation Hub
The Saudi G20 Presidency and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub have launched the G20 TechSprint Initiative to highlight the potential for new technologies to resolve regulatory compliance (RegTech) and supervision (SupTech) challenges. The problem statements identify challenges in regulatory reporting, analytics, and monitoring and supervision, and have been developed from submissions received from Financial Stability Board (FSB) member jurisdictions. Interested private firms can compete and develop innovative solutions to these problems using a cloud-based APIX platform. The hackathon-style competition is also supported by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), the FSB, API Exchange (APIX), and the RegTech for Regulators Accelerator (R2A).
FCA Warns Firms on LIBOR Transition
The FCA has doubled down on its plans to phase out LIBOR by the end of 2021, warning in a 29 April statement that “it remains the central assumption that firms cannot rely on LIBOR being published after the end of 2021.” Although the regulator recognises the challenges presented by the current operating environment under COVID-19, it notes that “continued progress” has been seen – including the first syndicated loan that will link to SONIA and SOFR, and a successful consent solicitation to convert a legacy LIBOR referencing bond, while within sterling cash markets, transition to SONIA in the bond market has been largely completed. The Working Group on Sterling Risk-Free Reference Rates (RFRWG) confirms that by the end of Q3 2020 lenders should be in a position to offer non-LIBOR linked products, while all new issuance of sterling LIBOR-referencing loan products that expire after the end of 2021 should cease by the end of Q1 2021.