A-Team Insight Brief
Plato and BMLL partner to deliver market quality metrics tool Platometrics
Plato Partnership, a not-for-profit company working to improve the European equities market, and BMLL Technologies, a data analytics firm, have released Platometrics, a market quality metrics tool providing market participants with a picture of trading data and trends from European venues, free of charge. The solution provides a consolidated overview of liquidity, European best bid offer across exchanges at any specific point in time; and market quality metrics covering a large range of instruments for individual stock analysis and venues for performance comparison. Metrics are available on transaction date plus one day, with up to six months of historical data.
State Street collaborates with Gemini on digital asset pilot
State Street has started a digital asset pilot with Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian. The pilot builds on ongoing research and development to combine Gemini Custody with State Street’s back office reporting, and performs reporting scenarios on a user’s holdings within Gemini Custody. Initially, the pilot reports holdings of two cryptocurrencies chosen for liquidity reasons. However, it can be adapted to report on holdings of other digital assets, such as security tokens. It allows users to consolidate the reporting of digital assets serviced by Gemini, an independent digital asset custodian, with traditional assets serviced by State Street.
Basel Committee Launches Consolidated Basel Framework
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) has launched a new consolidated framework, bringing together all of its 14 global standards for the regulation and supervision of banks and financial institutions for the first time on a new section of its website. The framework is the finalised version following the incorporation of feedback submitted against a draft published in April 2019.
Securities Clearing Corporation of the Philippines Selects LSEG Technology for Post Trade Processing
The Securities Clearing Corporation of the Philippines (SCCP), a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), has selected LSEG Technology’s Millennium Post Trade solution to improve its post trade processes. As part of the agreement, LSEG Technology will implement Millennium Clearing and Millennium Risk products, enhancing SCCP’s clearing, settlement, risk and collateral management capabilities and helping it meet global best practices and standards such as CPMI-IOSCO principles for financial market infrastructure.
SteelEye Extends Reach with Office in Paris
SteelEye, a compliance technology and data analytics firm, has taken the next step in its international expansion with the opening of an office in Paris. The office supports SteelEye’s rapid growth and positions the company closer to regulated financial markets in France, as well as the Benelux region, Switzerland and many of its existing clients. Since its inception in 2017, SteelEye has acquired over 40 clients across seven countries. CEO Matt Smith says: “After a successful first two years’ operating out of the UK, we now want to enable more firms to realise the benefits of the SteelEye platform.”
Trading Technologies Contracts SBI Thai Online to Distribute Platform
Trading Technologies International (TT) has contracted with SBI Thai Online, a Bangkok-based broker and subsidiary of SBI Group, to distribute the TT platform to its client base. The agreement will allow SBI Thai Online to provide international clients with access to the Thailand Futures Exchange (TFEX) via the exchange’s proprietary EMAPI API from within TFEX’s SET data centre in Bangkok. Clients will have access to TT platform’s full range of trading tools, including Autospreader, ADL and APIs.
Digital Asset Raises $35 Million Funding
Digital Asset, a distributed ledger technology solutions provider and creator of the open source DAML smart contract language, has raised more than $35 million in Series C funding from new and existing investors. The latest financing round brings the total amount raised by Digital Asset since its establishment in 2014 to $150 million. The funds will be used to accelerate the adoption of DAML across multiple industries, expand the number and variety of DAML enabled partner products and fund new products designed to enhance the DAML developer experience, specifically project:DABL, a cloud-based prototyping and production environment for DAML applications.
TNS Puts Hosting Solution into Interxion, ICE European Liquidity Centre, Equinix LD4 and FR2
Transaction Networks Services (TNS) has strengthened its European network by expanding its managed hosting solution, TNSXpress, at four key data centres in London, Slough, Basildon and Frankfurt. The solution uses the company’s ultra-low latency Layer 1 technology that offers trade executions 10 times faster than traditional Layer 3 architectures, and is available at the Interxion London data centre, ICE European Liquidity Centre in Basildon, Equinix LD4 data centre in Slough and Equinix FR2 data centre in Frankfurt. The solution enables traders to use TNS’ global point-of-presence footprint and on-net connections, which include more than 60 exchanges.
S&P Global Extends Knowledge of Emerging Technology with Acquisition of 451 Research
S&P Global, a provider of credit ratings, benchmarks and analytics, has acquired 451 Research, a privately-held research and advisory firm that provides intelligence, expertise and data covering high-growth emerging technology segments. 451 Research will be operated by S&P Global Market Intelligence, the S&P division that provides data, insights and powerful analytics to help navigate financial markets. The acquisition is expected to expand and strengthen S&P Global Market Intelligence’s research coverage, adding differentiated expertise and intelligence with comprehensive offerings in technologies such as artificial intelligence, internet of things, information security, data centres, cloud and devops.
ESMA Updates AIFMD Q&A
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has updated its Questions and Answers on the application of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), which are intended to provide common supervisory approaches and practices in the application of the AIFMD and its implementing measures. The regulator has added one new Q&A on the AIFMD reporting to National Competent Authorities, offering clarification on reporting requirements on liquidity stress tests for closed-ended unleveraged Alternative Investment Fund (AIFs).