FCA & FRC Remind Firms Of Extended Financial Information Timelines

The FCA and FRC have issued a statement reminding companies of the measures issued in 2020 that provide more time for the work necessary to ensure that published financial information continues to be of the quality that preparers and users of financial information expect. These include allowing listed companies an additional two months to publish their audited annual financial reports.

“This is because we recognise that we are now in the busiest period of the year for preparing, auditing and publishing financial information. This has coincided with further restrictions imposed through the recent national lockdowns in the UK,” says the statement. “The FCA and FRC would like to encourage all stakeholders including in particular boards of listed companies to (1) re-familiarise themselves with the measures and (2) use them in light of any resourcing constraints in finance and/or audit teams to ensure the quality of reporting is not compromised during this period.”

EBA Announces Timing for 2021 EU-wide Stress Test Exercise

The European Banking Authority (EBA) will launch its 2021 EU-wide stress test exercise with the publication of the macroeconomic scenarios on 29 January at 18:00 CET. The EBA expects to publish the results of the exercise by July  31, 2021.

TA Associates Sells ITRS Stake to Montagu Private Equity

Montagu Private Equity has agreed to acquire a majority position in ITRS Group, a global provider of real-time monitoring and analytics software, from TA Associates, which will remain a minority holder alongside Montagu and Management. Financial terms were not disclosed but completion is expected next month, subject to regulatory approvals.London-headquartered ITRS Group has over 3,000 clients worldwide, including nine out of the ten Tier 1 investment banks. In September 2020 it acquired Uptrends, a Netherlands-based web performance monitoring solution, to strengthen its product suite.

Xenomorph Opens Boston Office

Xenomorph has extended its reach in the US with an office in Boston. Founded in London 25 years ago, the company opened its first office in the US in New York City in 2005. The company’s presence in Boston builds on a number of client engagements. Naj Alavi, president, Xenomorph Software, Inc, is leading the expansion. He says: “We have long supported the thriving Massachusetts capital markets community from NYC, but as we continue to service a growing list of asset managers and hedge funds, we felt the time was right to open doors in Boston.”

KBC Bank chooses Finastra for LIBOR transition

KBC Bank, a Belgium-based bank with operations across Europe, US and Asia Pacific, has chosen Finastra to help manage its transition through the upcoming interbank references rates changes. It has selected Fusion Loan IQ Alternate Reference Rates (ARR) module to manage new rates and to expand its lending business. The bank has also opted for the Fusion LIBOR Transition Calculator to help calculate rates ahead of the transition period.

DTCC Releases White Paper on Managing Post-Covid Risk

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), a provider of market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, has released a white paper identifying key priorities where financial market infrastructures (FMIs) should focus in the coming years to proactively and effectively manage risk in a post-pandemic environment. FMIs around the globe performed remarkably well amid unprecedented market volatility and record trade volumes in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. However, the pandemic’s impact will likely cause structural changes to the financial services industry, as well as the regulatory landscape and legislative agendas.

ATP Goes Live with SimCorp’s SFTR Solution

ATP, Denmark’s largest public pension fund, has gone live on SimCorp’s cloud-based SFTR solution. ATP’s go-live coincides with the reporting start date for the third phase of SFTR, on January 11, where it joins several SimCorp clients who have smoothly transitioned to the cloud-based regulatory reporting platform, and successfully automated reporting to their chosen Trade Repository.

Finastra Moves Fusion Invest to the Cloud

Joining the drive to help asset managers digitally transform their operations, Finastra has moved its investment management solution Fusion Invest to the cloud. The cloud version of the solution is intended to bypass the shortfalls of on-premise software, giving asset managers agility to scale and access innovative products and services from Finastra and its partners in areas such as portfolio management and reporting. These solutions, along with Fusion Invest, are available on FusionFabric.cloud, an open and collaborative development platform and application marketplace underpinned by the Microsoft Axure cloud.

DSB Seeks Views on UPI Fees

The Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB), founded by the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA), to facilitate the allocation and maintenance of ISINs, CFIs and FISNs for OTC derivatives, is calling on industry to respond to a first consultation on the fee model principles underpinning the Unique Product Identifier (UPI) service, which opened this week. The DSB urges market participants required to report to trade repositories anywhere in the world, and will be mandated to incorporate the UPI into their workflows, to review and respond to the consultation.

North Reef Capital Management Selects SS&C

North Reef Capital Management, a long/short equity fund adviser founded in 2020, has selected SS&C’s front-to-back office solution including Eze technology acquired in 2018 to run its operations. The firm will use Eze Eclipse’s front-office capabilities and SS&C’s administration capabilities to run and grow the fund. SS&C says more than 80 emerging funds are using the integration of Eze technology and SS&C’s fund administration services.