Many Firms Are Not Data-Ready for SFDR Level 2

Many financial institutions have yet to grasp the data implications of the European Union’s ESG reporting regulations, while others are scrambling to put in place processes to comply with the developing set of disclosure rules. Read the full story on ESG Insight here.

RiskBusiness Acquires Gold Operational Loss Database

RiskBusiness Services has acquired the Global Operational Loss Database (Gold) from partner UK Finance, the former British Bankers Association (BBA). RiskBusiness, a UK-based provider of SaaS-based compliance solutions, plans to offer the Gold database to allow firms to benchmark and measure their exposures to operational risk.

Mike Finlay, CEO and Chief Product Architect, RiskBusiness, says: “As the regulatory community have recognised that theoretical capital calculation models do not, in of themselves, reduce a firm’s exposure to operational risk, so have firms recognized that there are other uses for external loss data than just for capital modelling purposes. If a firm wishes to manage operational or non-financial risk within its risk appetite, then it needs to be able to benchmark and measure itself against its peers in the industry. Gold by RiskBusiness provides exactly the necessary, high quality, external dataset to facilitate proactive risk management, benchmarking and informed decision making.”

Euroclear to Use Taskize for CSDR Penalty Appeals

Euroclear is expanding its use of Taskize’s collaboration tools as the preferred channel for its 2,000+ members to appeal penalties at both the International Central Securities Depository (ICSD) and its domestic CSDs, under the upcoming CSDR Settlement Discipline Regime. Using a Taskize Bubble that has been specifically built around a penalty appeal template, Euroclear members will have a single digital channel to manage the penalties and appeals process.

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.