Ascent Achieves $19.3m in Funding Round

Chicago-based RegTech provider Ascent has won $19.3 million in Series B funding from a group of investors led by Wells Fargo and ING, with US venture capital firm Drive Capital and the University of Chicago also taking part. The fundraising follows a Series A round in 2018 which raised $6 million. The company will use the capital to recruit new talent, enhance its existing products, and increase brand awareness. Ascent provides an AI-powered compliance platform and is currently carrying out pilot testing with the Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN).

CFTE Launches RegTech Book, Online Course

The UK-based Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE), a platform providing online learning for the FinTech space, has announced the launch of a targeted new online RegTech course providing a “thorough foundation of regulatory technologies” through eight hours of video content, curated readings and online assessment.

The announcement was made at the London launch of The RegTech Book, co-authored by CFTE Head of Entrepreneurship Janos Barberis and Douglas Arner, Professor in Law at Hong Kong University. The publication curates industry expertise into a single volume, which aims to serve as a reference point for the RegTech eco-system.

SteelEye Launches RegTech Glossary

London-based regulatory compliance and data analytics firm SteelEye has published a new RegTech glossary that aims to demystify the complex language of the RegTech sector. The online guide aims to assist professionals to navigate the most common terminology, abbreviations and jargon across the evolving regulatory landscape.

Open:FactSet Marketplace Adds State Street MediaStats Equity Indicators

FactSet has added State Street’s MediaStats Equity Indicators to its Open:FactSet Marketplace. The MediaStats indicators have been developed in partnership with MKT MediaStats, an academic research firm, and scour more than 100,000 media sources as well as other big data sources to estimate future price changes and risks pertaining to individual equities, country equity indexes, and foreign exchange rates. The indicators use natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to account for biases and filter out noise in the media. Media-derived insights are aggregated to provide broader industry and macroeconomic trends, and help users improve investment decisions.

Trading Technologies Adds Connectivity to Mexican Derivatives Exchange

Trading Technologies International (TT) and the Mexican Derivatives Exchange (MexDer), a subsidiary of the Mexican stock exchange Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, have announced that all derivative products listed on MexDer will be available globally to users of the TT platform in Q4 2019. TT clients will be able to leverage TT’s suite of tools, which includes functionality for charting and analytics, mobile trading, options, FIX services and API development, to trade all derivatives listed on MexDer. This includes the widely followed futures and options contracts on the S&P/BMV IPC Mexican Equity Index, MXN/USD FX and Mexican Government Bond.

Nomura Makes Tsuwamono FX Algorithms Available on BidFX

Nomura has made its five FX algorithmic strategies, the FX Algo Tsuwamono Series, available on the BidFX platform. Each strategy offers a wide range of flexibility on executions suited to client requirements and trading preferences. The deal builds on an existing relationship between Nomura and BidFX, and is expected to benefit mutual institutional FX clients.

MoonX Releases Super-Fast Trading Technology in UK

MoonX has released its trading technology in the UK, offering software and hardware systems, including blockchain technology, to exchanges, brokerages, hedge funds, financial institutions and traders. It claims the world’s fastest exchange software, matching 25 million transactions per second and processing one order in 6 nano seconds, with processing speed delivered by patent pending matching engine technology that produces computational and processing speed advantages the company says have never previously been achieved. The exchange is built with enterprise-grade security, is hosted on physical servers, and uses AI, facial and mood recognition technology to exceed two-factor authentication.

Tradeteq Partners with Wroclaw University to Boost AI capabilities for Supply Chain Credit Analysis

Tradeteq, an electronic trading platform for institutional trade finance investors, has partnered with researchers at Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (WUST) to explore and develop new models for data analysis using artificial intelligence (AI). Tradeteq has developed an advanced credit-scoring model for SMEs and corporations that uses machine learning tools to apply an evidence-based credit score for each company. The six-month collaboration with WUST’s Computer Science department, led by Dr Tomasz Kajdanowicz, will explore how company and trade flow data can be better analysed to improve supply chain credit analysis.

Refinitiv and NRI Go-live with Automated International Post-Trade Brokerage Processing

Refinitiv and Nomura Research Institute (NRI) have finally completed and taken live the software integration of NRI’s I-STAR/GX software platform into Refinitiv’s BETA wealth management brokerage processing platform, first mooted in the firms’ strategic partnership announced back in 2018. The partnership enables global diversification for Refinitiv’s retail and institutional clients, providing wealth management firms with automated settlement and straight-through processing of trades executed across all markets. I-STAR/GX allows these processes through a high-volume solution with single-stock record across all asset classes and markets, and real-time updates of intra-day transaction status changes across the settlement lifecycle.

Charles Stanley Selects Red Deer for MiFID II Research Compliance

Charles Stanley, a UK wealth management firms with £24.4 billion AUM, has selected Red Deer’s Research Management solution to integrate MiFID II compliance across its investment process. The solution captures and attributes research consumption across all channels including email, chat and voice, while its Outlook plugin and mobile application achieves compliance quickly and with minimal disruption. ““With Red Deer we can now more efficiently and effectively track research consumption, manage the risk of inducements, monitor budgets, assess value and achieve compliance in Europe,” says Freddy Horn, Service & Product Lead at Charles Stanley.