ICAP Information expands data products offer with EURO IRO and Global Inflation datasets

ICAP Information, part of TP ICAP, has extended its data products offer with the release of datasets covering EURO Interest Rate Options (IRO) and Global Inflation. By making these datasets commercially available for the first time, TP ICAP aims to provide market participants with greater transparency in a traditionally opaque asset class.

The information in the datasets can be used for price discovery and accurate securities pricing in the front office, as well as risk management, valuation and independent price verification in middle and back office functions. The information also comes with historical data.

The company says the EURO IRO dataset provides an unprecedented level of coverage and granularity in the asset class, while the Global Inflation dataset is a broader offering, encompassing a wide variety of inflation data from across the world.

Ovie Koloko, global head of product management at TP ICAP, explains: “Since last year, the Data & Analytics and Global Broking divisions have been working closely together, the aim being to take advantage of the brokers’ market leading position, gather data from across the business, and make it available to the wider community. Filling existing gaps in quality or coverage, or where information has simply never been accessible before, has been our initial focus.”

Looking forward, the company hopes to create a virtuous circle based on disseminating information more widely, driving better analytics and services in its broking division, and gaining better data. Koloko says the EURO IRO and Global Inflation datasets are just a start and customers can expect more innovative data packages over the coming year.

Trading Technologies adds connectivity to JSE derivatives market

Trading Technologies International (TT) and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) have announced that all derivative products listed on the JSE derivatives market are available

for trading through the TT platform. The JSE’s equity derivatives market, formerly known as the South African Futures Exchange (SAFEX), is accessible to TT’s global user base. Clients can leverage TT’s full suite of tools, including functionality for charting and analytics, mobile trading, options, FIX services and API development, to trade equity and currency derivatives, including futures and options, on the JSE derivatives market. TT’s connection to the JSE derivatives market was driven by institutional clients.

FSB publishes UPI governance arrangements

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published a report on governance arrangements for the Unique Product Identifier (UPI). The UPI will uniquely identify the product involved in OTC derivatives transactions reported to trade repositories. This will help authorities aggregate data on OTC derivatives transactions by product, allowing the effective use of OTC derivatives trade reporting data to help authorities assess systemic risk and detect market abuse. The Legal Entity Identifier Regulatory Oversight Committee (LEI ROC) will become the International Governance Body for the UPI and Unique Transaction Identifier (UTI). The UPI Technical Guidance should be implemented by Q3 2022.

Refinitiv partners SigFig on robo advice solution

Refinitiv continues to build its commitment to the wealth management industry through a strategic partnership with SigFig, an enterprise financial technology firm. The partnership delivers digital advice technology solutions to institutional users of Refinitiv’s BETA clearing and custody platform and will enable SigFig and Refinitiv to deliver an integrated, end-to-end digital advice experience for investors that supports efficient and automated investment management. This is based on SigFig’s direct-to-consumer platform technology that can be used to create an end-to-end robo advice solution, featuring account opening, automated investment management, money movement and return client experience for institutional clients.

Broadridge acquires Shadow Financial Systems

Broadridge Financial Solutions has acquired Shadow Financial Systems, a provider of multi-asset class post-trade solutions for the capital markets industry. The acquisition builds on Broadridge’s post-trade processing capabilities by adding a market-ready solution for exchanges, inter-dealer brokers and proprietary trading firms. The acquisition also adds capabilities across exchange traded derivatives and cryptocurrency.

BIS Releases Basel III Monitoring Report 2019

The Basel Committee’s latest Basel III monitoring exercise shows that on a fully phased-in basis, the capital shortfalls at the end-December 2018 reporting date are €23.5 billion for Group 1 banks at the target level. These shortfalls are almost 75% smaller than in the end-2015 cumulative QIS exercise, thanks mainly to higher levels of eligible capital. For Group 1 banks, the Tier 1 minimum required capital (MRC) is expect to increase by 3% following full phasing-in of the final Basel III standards relative to the initial Basel III standards. This compares with an increase of 3.2% at end-2017. On average, at end-June 2018, the total change in Tier 1 MRC at the target level was higher at 5.3% for Group 1 banks. This higher increase was largely driven by the higher market risk impact prior to the application of the recalibrated 2019 standard. The final Basel III minimum requirements are expected to be implemented by January 1, 2022 and fully phased in by January 1, 2027.

Atlantic Equities Migrates from Bloomberg SSEOMS to Itiviti Platform

Itiviti has taken on another firm needing to replace a Bloomberg SSEOMS platform that is being withdrawn, this time announcing that Atlantic Equities, a US equity agency brokerage, has elected to move to Itiviti’s high touch, low touch, and post-trade suite of hosted solutions. As well as supporting Atlantic’s core trading desks, Itiviti’s solution will be used by Atlantic’s Frankfurt-based team in preparation for the UK’s potential withdrawal from the EU.

Broadridge Releases Centralised Solution for MBS Trade Assignments

Broadridge Financial Solutions has released a centralised Trade Assignment Portal (TAP) that will allow mortgage originators and broker-dealers to transform the execution of Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) Trade Assignments. TAP is a web-based platform designed to provide operational efficiency by automating workflow and allowing mortgage originators and broker-dealers to electronically send and receive trade assignments, thereby processing MBS Trade Assignments at a faster rate. Several firms are completing user acceptance testing in preparation for going live on TAP.

Asset Managers Migrate to the Cloud

IHS Markit research among asset managers in Europe and North America shows an industry segment becoming more strategic in its approach to data management, but not immune to problems including mounting fees, rising costs and demanding regulations. The research notes 52% of firms use the cloud for data management and a further 28% plan to migrate in the next 18 months. Almost half of firms will have a data warehouse within two years, but two-thirds report that business teams have limited/no visibility of where data came from, who touched it, how it was altered and where it went.

Volante Releases SWIFT Message Validation Service on AWS Cloud

Volante Technologies has introduced financial message validation on the cloud. It is available as an Amazon Machine Image (AMI) on the AWS Marketplace as a microservice to users looking to test their SWIFT Standards Release (SR) 2019 messages ahead of go-live on November 17, 2019. The validation service provides APIs for validating messages ready for applications to use. The service not only identifies valid/invalid messages, but also returns a list of errors encountered. This helps reduce the frequency and severity of formatting errors, and minimises the risk of rejected messages. The cost of the service is based on hourly use.