Trade Surveillance Hindered by Fragmented Systems, VoxSmart Study Finds

Almost 70% of financial institutions believe that fragmentation of their approach due to siloed surveillance systems increases the risk of market abuse, according to a VoxSmart survey of almost 80 investment banks, brokers, and investment managers. The findings come as the potential for market abuse continues to accelerate globally as financial institutions continue to adjust to the new hybrid working world, according to the company.

BNP Paribas Adds IHS Markit as Calculator for Uncleared Margin Rules

BNP Paribas Securities Services has added IHS Markit as an initial margin calculation source to its existing service for clients that are in-scope for Uncleared Margin Rules (UMR) in derivatives markets. The expanded collaboration complements the valuations services that IHS Markit has provided BNP Paribas Securities Services since 2012. BNP Paribas offers a full end-to-end solution for Regulatory Initial Margin (IM) with IM Calculation, Exposure Management and IM Segregation in Triparty.

BidFX Links to Osttra for FX Clearing Under UMR Phase 6

BidFX, a provider of cloud-based foreign exchange trading solutions, has integrated Osttra’s clearing connectivity service, allowing investment managers to submit trades directly to leading CCPs. The development, which gives BidFX clients wishing to clear trades access to an established community of more than 30 executing bank clearing counterparties, is aimed at helping investment managers who choose to clear more of their FX flow under Phase 6 of the Uncleared Margin Rules (UMR), which comes into force in September. Osttra is a joint venture between IHS Markit and CME Group and combines the MarkitServ, Traiana, TriOptima and Reset businesses.

SteelEye Gains SOC 2 Certification

Compliance and data analytics provider SteelEye has secured System and Organisation Controls (SOC) 2 certification. Defined by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), and covering the principles of Security, Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity and Privacy, SOC 2 assesses firms’ safeguarding of customer data. The accreditation underpins SteelEye’s efforts to ensure robust data security.

Numis Extends Use of Torstone Platform for CSDR Compliance

UK investment bank Numis has extended its use of Torstone Technology’s Torstone Post Trade platform to manage its obligations under the Central Securities Depositories Regulation (CSDR). The Torstone Post Trade platform is a multi-asset, multi-entity cloud-based SaaS solution, covering electronic trade capture, allocation, confirmation, settlement, accounting, risk, corporate actions, reconciliation and regulatory reporting. Tim Valmas, Head of Technology at Numis says: “As CSDR implementation approaches, having a best-in-class solution that meets our obligations and gives us the flexibility to adapt to the regulation as it evolves is vital. As an existing user of Torstone Post-Trade, extending our use of the platform was a natural choice as it suits our needs, ensuring we are fully prepared for the incoming regulation.”

PKO Bank Polski Selects SS&C FRTB Solution

PKO Bank Polski has implemented SS&C’s Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) standardised approach solution. As part of an update of its risk management framework, the bank will use SS&C’s FRTB solution to calculate risk sensitivities and provide FRTB-specific calculations and workflows, extensive model coverage, high performance, scalability and extensibility through APIs. The bank also uses SS&C’s Algorithmics Workspace Analyzer with the FRTB solution to provide aggregation, sandboxing and what-if capabilities, and SS&C Algorithmics market risk and counterparty credit risk solutions.

Finastra Adds €STR, TONAR and SORA Rates to Fusion LIBOR Transition Calculator

Finastra has introduced additional Alternative Reference Rates (ARR) and Risk-Free Rates (RFRs) to its Fusion LIBOR Transition Calculator. The move enables banks, corporates and borrowers to calculate ARR in preparation for the end of the majority of LIBOR rates on December 31, 2021. In addition to SOFR for the US dollar and SONIA for pounds sterling, the calculator service now incorporates ARR rates €STR for the euro and TONAR for the Japanese yen, and the RFR rate SORA for the Singapore dollar.

The calculator service is available through Finastra’s FusionFabric.cloud open innovation platform and can be integrated with a bank’s existing lending systems. The use of Open APIs facilitates integration with legacy systems that have not been prepared for the LIBOR transition and are unable to perform complex ARR calculations. The Finastra calculated ARR rates can be directly consumed by these legacy applications, avoiding the need for complex and costly system changes.

ICE Benchmark Administration Updates on LIBOR Cessation and Synthetic LIBOR

ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA), the authorised and regulated administrator of LIBOR, has provided an update regarding LIBOR cessation and synthetic LIBOR following announcements from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) made over the past year and focusing on when LIBOR settings will cease and the creation of a synthetic methodology for selected LIBOR settings through 2022.

SmartStream Partners with Acadia to Automate Collateral Interest Payments

Financial transaction solutions vendor SmartStream has partnered with risk management services provider Acadia to automate the processing and calculation of interest statements for SmartStream’s customers and their counterparties. Acadia’s Margin Manager platform will work alongside SmartStream’s TLM Collateral Management solution, to dispatch interest statements, reconcile, and resolve issues with counterparties in a standardised messaging format, removing the reliance on email exchanges and the uploading of statement data to resolve disputes. Acadia’s matching engine will pair statements, highlight discrepancies, and produce final interest statements for clients and their relevant counterparties.

KeyBank Goes Live with SmartStream’s Cloud Collateral Management Solution

US-based KeyBank has deployed transaction management solutions vendor SmartStream Technologies’ TLM Collateral Management OnDemand solution to handle margining for its cleared and non-cleared OTC derivatives, repos and securities lending business.

The cloud-based solution is now live and is helping to streamline efficiencies within KeyBank’s collateral management operations, handling data capture, validation, calculation and processing. The use of APIs links the application to other reporting solutions and downstream systems, and a management dashboard provides trend analysis and decision-making capabilities, enabling the bank to further improve and automate operational and credit risk strategies, and reduce internal infrastructure and support costs.