ESMA Launches Supervisory Action On MiFID II Suitability Rules

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities markets regulator, is launching a common supervisory action (CSA) with national competent authorities on the application of MiFID II suitability rules across the EU, to be conducted during 2020. The CSA will focus on the application of the MiFID II requirements on the assessment of suitability. The regulator will evaluate the progress made by intermediaries in the application of the requirement, and analyse whether, and how, the costs of investment products are taken into account by firms when recommending an investment product to a client.

Pelican Expands in South Korea

Pelican, a global provider of AI-powered payments and financial crime compliance solutions for banks and corporates, has expanded its global sales reach through a partnership with CMSoft Co in South Korea. The new strategic partnership will enable the company to bring its PelicanSecure Trade Compliance solution to the financial services industry in South Korea. “We see a growing need from banks for technology that can automate and streamline their trade processing and compliance functions,” says CMSoft CEO Jong Hoon Lee.

Deutsche Bank Partners Xceptor at Indonesian Corporate Bank

Deutsche Bank’s corporate bank and Xceptor have partnered to automate the bank’s core processes in Indonesia as part of a broader optimisation and digitisation strategy. Xceptor provides AI-enabled data centric automation software to drive productivity and operational efficiency. As part of this partnership, Xceptor will help to automate reconciliations with multiple external parties for the bank’s Securities Services business.

Encompass Receives £2m Grant for AI Project

RegTech Encompass has been awarded a £2 million grant from Scottish Enterprise to develop an AI engine to accompany its KYC product offering. The funding, part of a £4.9, project, will help customers to accurately find risk relevant information about their organisations and investments, from a wide-ranging pool of data. “We have a long-standing relationship with Encompass, having supported the development of its initial KYC product. It’s great to see it now branching out into this new area of AI with its adverse news screening tool – for which there is a strong and immediate market demand,” says Scottish Enterprise.

JP Morgan Invests in Fund Administration Specialist Arcesium

New York-based investment management technology and post-trade services provider Arcesium has won strategic funding from JP Morgan. Arcesium was originally launched by investment and technology giant D E Shaw Group in 2015 on a platform developed for its own post-trade activities, with backing from Blackstone, which became one of its first clients. Its Securities Services business provides independent fund administration and comprehensive outsourcing solutions to alternative fund managers, asset managers, and asset owners via an automated technology platform.

Swiss Indices Endorsed Under the EU Benchmarks Regulation

SIX has received the approval by the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority that its major Swiss Indices are compliant with the EU Benchmarks Regulation. The approval was granted for a total of 39 equity, fixed income and money market indices. The flagship indices SMI and SARON (the Swiss franc reference rate) are also included.

The aim of the endorsement application was to ensure that all indices that serve today as underlying for financial products in the EU can be continued to be used as benchmarks under the BMR. The endorsed benchmarks include the flagship equity indices, several bond indices, and the widely used Swiss Reference Rates.

TP ICAP Implements MDXT for Client Content

In early February, MDX Technology (MDXT), announced that TP ICAP’s Data & Analytics business has gone live with MDXT’s data distribution solution. MDXT was integrated with the broker’s Data & Analytics division’s core infrastructure to collect real-time data for direct distribution to clients via multiple end points, including Microsoft Excel, web portals, mobile apps and Symphony apps.

FCA Paper Calls Latency Arbitrage ‘Tax’ on Non-HFT Traders

In a further signal that regulators may seek to address what they see as information and process asymmetries within HFT firms’ trading strategies, the UK’s FCA last month published a research paper claiming that latency arbitrage results in a global “tax” on non-HFT investors in equity markets. The paper says HFT firms’ use of faster information access and more efficient processes to complete trades gives them a speed advantage over other players, and suggests that eliminating latency arbitrage would result in a 17% reduction in trading costs.

Nasdaq Acquires OneReport to Accelerate ESG Reporting and Workflow Solution

Nasdaq has acquired OneReport, a privately-held provider of corporate responsibility and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data management and reporting services. OneReport will accelerate the delivery of Nasdaq’s recently announced ESG reporting and workflow solution, to be named Nasdaq OneReport. The platform is available to companies as part of the suite of solutions offered by Nasdaq’s Corporate Services business. Since 2003, OneReport’s software platform has helped organisations navigate corporate responsibility frameworks, pilot the information capture and response process, and deliver ESG data to ratings agencies and other stakeholders.

TRG Screen Completes Integration of FITS and INFOmatch with PEAR

TRG Screen has competed the integration of its spend management platforms FITS and INFOmatch with its PEAR exchange compliance database. INFOmatch & FITS give users clarity they need to take control of market data, research, software and enterprise subscription spend across the enterprise, while PEAR consolidates exchange information, including policies and pricing, into a searchable online database. The integration should help TRG clients get efficiencies and gain a complete view across all aspects of their market data subscriptions.