Bright Point International Expands FX and Precious Metals Operations Through Integral Partnership

Bright Point International Financial (BPI), a Singapore Exchange Derivatives Trading and Clearing Member, has advanced its partnership with currency technology provider Integral. By implementing Integral’s Price Engine, Distribution, and Liquidity Aggregation products, BPI intends to scale its foreign exchange (FX) and precious metals operations. The new technology provides ultra-low latency access to a wide range of liquidity providers, a capability that is essential for trading non-deliverable forwards and outright forwards – products which are currently seeing increased demand across the Asian market.

The implementation allows BPI to offer features specifically tailored to local requirements, such as the automated conversion of precious metals pricing from troy ounces to grams and kilograms. Furthermore, the system enables the creation of synthetic crossed pairs beyond the US dollar, addressing growing client demand for trades involving Asian currencies like the Singapore dollar, Hong Kong dollar, and Thai baht. This functionality supports BPI’s strategy to diversify its client base and facilitate payment requirements for financial institutions in emerging markets.

TNS Expands APAC Presence with Connectivity to Tokyo Financial Exchange

Transaction Network Services (TNS) has expanded its market data infrastructure in the Asia-Pacific region by establishing connectivity to the Tokyo Financial Exchange (TFX). This integration provides TNS customers with direct access to TFX, delivered seamlessly via the company’s global network backbone. By securing this link, TNS enables both domestic and international firms to utilise a comprehensive, managed access solution for the Japanese market through a single provider.

The addition of TFX marks the completion of TNS’ connectivity across all major Japanese exchanges. This expansion complements the company’s existing portfolio, which includes Japannext and the Japan Exchange Group (JPX), encompassing the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Osaka Exchange, and Tokyo Commodity Exchange. With this connection now in place, TNS delivers a full suite of services in Japan, including hosting, market data, and connectivity.

CJC Launches Market Data Continuity Support Service

Crown Jewels Consultants Ltd (CJC) has introduced Market Data Continuity Support (MDC), a flexible subscription service providing an on-demand safety net for mission-critical market data operations. Designed for financial firms that require operational resilience but do not need a comprehensive managed service, MDC addresses the risks associated with data failures, such as frozen prices and trading stoppages. The service grants clients priority access to CJC’s senior engineers to diagnose and resolve issues either remotely or on-site.

Offered through a fixed monthly subscription, MDC includes 24/7 access to global specialists and a specific allocation of on-site hours. A key feature of the offering is that every support request is treated as a Severity Level 1 incident, ensuring immediate triage and rapid resolution by experts familiar with real-time data environments. This approach allows firms to manage critical infrastructure costs while maintaining access to high-level technical support during operational emergencies.

Marshall Wace Adopts Bloomberg’s MAC3 Risk Model for Systematic Investment Strategies

Bloomberg has announced that Marshall Wace, the global liquid alternatives manager with over $70 billion in assets, has adopted the Bloomberg Multi-Asset Class Fundamental Risk Model (MAC3). The firm will utilise MAC3 to support its quantitative research and systematic investment strategies. Marshall Wace selected the MAC3 suite to gain access to advanced modelling techniques that provide improved specification, accurate risk forecasts, and robust analytics for measuring portfolio risks across multiple asset classes.

Calculated daily across more than 3,000 factors, the MAC3 models are designed to deliver forecast accuracy for varied portfolios and investment styles. They allow users to identify broader market signals and understand risk dynamics under different regimes. Accessible through open-infrastructure APIs, these models also power the risk analytics behind Bloomberg’s PORT Enterprise, a premium service used by more than 800 clients for portfolio risk and return attribution.

Standard Chartered Goes Live on CLSNet as Network Expands in Asia

Standard Chartered has gone live on CLSNet, the automated bilateral payment netting calculation service from financial market infrastructure group CLS covering over 120 currencies. The platform standardises and automates post-trade matching and netting, offering risk mitigation and liquidity optimisation for currency flows outside of CLSSettlement. This functionality is particularly relevant for emerging market currencies and same-day trades.

Adoption of the service continues to rise, with the average daily netted value reaching USD 169 billion in the first half of 2025, an 18% increase year-on-year. The network now includes the top 12 global banks, reflecting a broader industry push to reduce settlement risk and adhere to the best practices outlined in Principle 35 of the FX Global Code.

Alongside Standard Chartered, adoption is increasing among Asian financial institutions targeting settlement risk in regional currencies, specifically USD/CNH. CTBC has recently gone live, while Maybank and Taishin have committed to joining the service.

SIX Acquires Baymarkets AS to Enhance Post-Trade Capabilities

SIX has announced the acquisition of Baymarkets AS to accelerate innovation within its clearing business and strengthen its position as a prominent pan-European provider of post-trade solutions. While financial terms were not disclosed, the transaction represents a significant step in the company’s strategy to deliver integrated, digital solutions. The integration of Baymarkets’ technology will enhance the SIX product portfolio, providing a future-proof derivatives clearing platform capable of scaling with the company’s growth ambitions.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Oslo, Baymarkets specialises in clearing platforms for both exchange-traded and OTC markets. Its systems offer a robust risk model covering multiple currencies and asset classes. Rafael Moral Santiago, Head of Securities Services at SIX, stated that combining Baymarkets’ innovative systems with the existing infrastructure will speed up the modernisation of clearing technology, ultimately delivering faster and more flexible services to market participants across Europe.

Deutsche Börse Group and AllUnity Sign MoU to Integrate Euro-Backed Stablecoin

Deutsche Börse Group and AllUnity have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to integrate AllUnity’s regulated euro-backed stablecoin, EURAU, into the Group’s financial infrastructure. AllUnity is a regulated e-money institute and joint venture between DWS, Flow Traders, and Galaxy. As part of this cooperation, the EURAU stablecoin will be made available for institutional-grade custody through Clearstream. This process will leverage the German entity of Crypto Finance, a subsidiary of Deutsche Börse Group, acting as the sub-custodian to ensure a secure operational framework.

The partnership aligns with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCAR), providing a compliant and fully reserved solution for market participants. The collaboration aims to enhance settlement and liquidity processes while digitising European markets. Future phases of the cooperation intend to integrate the euro stablecoin across Deutsche Börse Group’s entire service portfolio. This initiative complements the Group’s broader digital strategy, which includes existing cryptocurrency services and recent trials involving wholesale central bank digital currencies (wCBDC) using its D7 DLT tokenisation solution.

Valereum Plc Secures $200m Financing to Advance US Listing and Platform Development

Valereum Plc has secured $200m in investment-grade asset-backed financing to support its global growth strategy. This transaction represents a significant milestone, being approximately ten times larger than any previous capital raise on the Aquis Exchange. The deal is expected to close within four weeks, subject to the completion of due diligence and regulatory verification. Upon closing, Valereum will announce a revised Board structure featuring two new directors appointed by QGP.

The UK-based fintech company will utilise the capital to bridge traditional finance with emerging blockchain technologies. A primary objective is to advance the process for a US listing on NASDAQ or NYSE, aiming to increase market visibility and global investor access. Furthermore, the funds will accelerate the development of Valereum’s AI-driven tokenisation and Royalty & Streaming platform, alongside the establishment of a Digital Asset Treasury to manage digital assets strategically. The Company also plans to pursue new acquisitions and partnerships to diversify revenue streams.

ClearToken Adopts Nasdaq Eqlipse Clearing for Launch of Digital Asset Settlement Service

ClearToken, the digital financial market infrastructure firm, has selected Nasdaq’s Eqlipse Clearing platform to underpin its new digital asset clearing and settlement service. The move supports ClearToken’s goal of modernising digital asset infrastructure through the introduction of CT Settle, a service designed to offer delivery-vs-payment (DvP) and netting capabilities for cryptoassets, stablecoins and fiat currencies. The launch follows ClearToken’s authorisation by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Currently, much of the digital asset market operates via bilateral, prefunded trades. ClearToken aims to reduce counterparty risk and operational inefficiencies by developing a central counterparty clearing house (CCP) model that supports multiple trading venues and custodians. The planned CCP will offer 24/7 real-time clearing with margining and default fund contributions to manage risk.

Nasdaq’s Eqlipse platform provides multi-asset clearing, risk, and settlement functionality, and is already used by more than 20 CCPs globally. Its flexible architecture and embedded AI tools support rapid onboarding and scalable operations.

LSEG Integrates Tick History Data with Google Cloud’s Vertex AI for Scalable AI in Finance

LSEG has made its historical tick data accessible via Google Cloud’s BigQuery and Vertex AI platforms, marking a key development in its AI strategy, “LSEG Everywhere.” This integration allows financial institutions to apply artificial intelligence and machine learning directly to LSEG’s tick history data, enabling data-driven insights to support trading and risk management decisions.

Using Vertex AI, customers benefit from accelerated query performance, significantly reducing processing time from hours to seconds. The platform supports agentic AI, allowing complex reasoning over unified proprietary and historical datasets. Additionally, the integration offers cost efficiencies by eliminating the need for on-premises infrastructure, and improves accessibility through natural language interfaces and SQL outputs. This move aims to make advanced AI capabilities scalable and more widely available across the financial sector.