Bloomberg Introduces Bridge AXE for Enhanced Anonymity and Trading Interest Discovery

Bloomberg has launched Bridge AXE, an extension of the Bloomberg Bridge intermediated workflow, allowing participants to anonymously post to other Bridge participants and identify trading interests using Bloomberg’s liquidity discovery tools. This follows the launch of Bloomberg Bridge in 2022, which has now grown to more than 650 active client firms.

Bridge AXE allows buy-side firms to propose, identify, and engage with trading interests from other Bloomberg Bridge participants in an all-to-all environment. Participants can then launch targeted RFQs to begin an intermediated negotiation, anonymous to the axe contributors.

Bloomberg Finalises Acquisition of Broadway Technology to Boost O/EMS Capabilities in Credit and Rates Markets

Bloomberg has completed its acquisition of front-office solutions vendor Broadway Technology. By bringing together Bloomberg’s Electronic Trade Order Management Solutions (ETOMS) and Broadway’s low-latency execution management solution, the transaction will help further the development of a comprehensive, low-latency O/EMS for the credit and rates markets.

The acquisition aims to deliver solutions that provide greater asset coverage, connectivity, automation, and integration with pre-and post-trade workflows, according to the company.

World Federation of Exchanges Releases Recommendations on Crypto Platforms to Build Trust and Stability

The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) today published a report, ‘Promoting Sound Marketplaces – DeFi/CeFi, Crypto Platforms & Exchanges’. The report draws on the collective experience of regulated market infrastructures and makes six recommendations in light of issues that continue to affect the crypto-currency industry following several high-profile controversies and collapses.

The WFE’s analysis also found that whilst Decentralised Finance might bring innovation to financial products, crypto-trading platforms (CTPs) are frequently not as decentralised as they first appear, which presents some risks. In the short term, the WFE recommends that CTPs disclose their regulatory status and do not describe themselves as exchanges until they are appropriately regulated and adhere to the standards set out in the report.

Most Companies Unprepared for SR Disclosure Assurance

A large majority of companies are unprepared to fully comply with the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and other imminent sustainability reporting regulations, according to a new survey.

KPMG found that 75 per cent of 750 companies surveyed in its “Road to Readiness: KPMG ESG Assurance Maturity Index 2023” didn’t have the skills, policies or systems to meet the regulations’ disclosures assurance requirements.

The companies that are most ready are the larger firms and those that are already engaged on ESG issues. More than half said it was difficult to balance such demands against profitability expectations of shareholders, the report also found.

SAP Fioneer Launches Fist ESG Tool for FIs

SAP’s FinTech arm SAP Fioneer has unveiled its first ESG assessment tool for investment portfolios. The Fioneer ESG KPI Engine is available for on-prem or cloud-based platforms and enables banks and insurers to manage portfolios according to particular KPIs.

QUODD Unveils Enhanced Market Data Platform Post-Xignite Acquisition

QUODD, a provider of on-demand market data, has reintroduced its market data platform and API marketplace, integrating assets from its acquisition of Xignite in February 2023. QUODD’s two primary product sets, QX Digital Platform and QX Data, are powered by QX Technology, a modern cloud-based infrastructure and toolkit for the automation, control, and consumption of all types of financial market data information.

QX Digital Platform, QUODD’s flagship institution-facing market data platform, connects workflows from back to front office with mission-critical functionality. QX Data now offers the QX Marketplace for advanced tech buyers seeking programmatic access to QUODD’s cloud-based, integrated suite of market data APIs.

Pico Launches Next-Gen Corvil Analytics Appliances for Enhanced Financial Market Performance

Pico has unveiled its Next-Gen Corvil Analytics Appliances, powered by Intel’s latest 4th Gen Xeon scalable processors, designed to provide analytics for 40/100Gbps networks. The new appliances offer sustained 30Gbps packet capture, with Intel Quick Assist Technology (QAT) used to optimise capture data compression at speeds up to 100Gbps.

According to the company, the NVMe SSD drives used in the appliances create a significant improvement in storage technology, offering faster speeds, reduced latency, and increased efficiency for data storage and retrieval. Pico claims that the appliances can generate up to a 62% reduction in price-to-performance ratio.

Exegy and BMLL Technologies Team Up for Historical Data and Analytics

Front-office trading solutions provider Exegy has formed a strategic partnership with BMLL Technologies, the independent provider of harmonised Level 3 historical data and analytics. The collaboration enables clients to use BMLL’s granular, historical data to fine-tune algos and to derive alpha through Exegy’s back-testing and simulation solutions.

The partnership aims to free up much of the time that quants spend on data analysis, allowing them to focus more of their time on algo development. This is expected to be especially beneficial for firms keen on quick strategy testing and implementation.

Deutsche Börse Announces Final Tender Result for Takeover of SimCorp

Deutsche Börse has announced the final tender result for its public takeover of SimCorp. Including open market purchases, Deutsche Börse now holds approximately 94% of all SimCorp shares, excluding SimCorp’s treasury shares. The offer is expected to be settled and closed on 29 September 2023. Deutsche Börse will seek to initiate and complete a compulsory acquisition of the SimCorp shares held by the remaining minority shareholders as soon as possible and have SimCorp shares removed from the official listing on Nasdaq Copenhagen.

Brightwell Selects Duco’s Data Automation Platform

Brightwell, a defined benefit services provider, has selected Duco’s data automation platform as part of its target operating model transformation. The platform will be used in Duco’s investment operations department to replace an inflexible legacy system that was limiting the firm’s growth and will enable Brightwell to normalise data and consolidate reconciliations for FX, OTC and ETD derivatives, fixed income and cash balances as trading volumes grow. Features such as advanced filters, transaction rollup rules, conditional rules and the Data Prep module will also help Brightwell reduce the number of exceptions, allow them to build complex matching rules, and bring down the number of false positives.