Accenture Invests in Data and Performance Start-up pulsESG

ESG data and performance management company pulsESG has received an undisclosed investment from professional services giant Accenture, which plans to offer the Silicon Valley-based start-up’s services to its own clients. The software-as-a-service platform helps organisations integrate their internal data and investor-facing systems to help track and improve their sustainability credentials.

Data Management Tools Are Priority Investment Among Financial Services Firms

Investing in technology to optimise data and modernise data management are top priorities for financial services firms. Research by Broadridge Financial Solutions among 200 financial services professions at SIFMA Operations Conference in May 2022 shows towards 98% of respondents’ companies investing front-to-back-office workflow management, with 27% of respondents citing data management tools as their firm’s priority investment. Some 23% of firms are investing in AI and automation, 13% in human capital, 10% in cloud-native capabilities, and 8% in blockchain technologies.

On the downside, the research found 94% of firms continuing to face challenges around effective data use. Some 27%  of respondents said legacy or outdated technology are the biggest hurdle, and 23% poor data quality. challenges around effective data use. Some 27% said legacy or outdated technology stands out as their biggest , with 23% noting poor data quality. Nearly 19% said they are unable to quickly test, onboard, validate or maintain datasets.

Stacking up the stats, the research shows 57% of respondents confirming that their firms still have progress to make before they reach the advanced stages of their innovation and technology plans.

UK Governments Releases AI Rulebook

The UK government has released an AI rulebook with a view to protecting data and promoting responsible use of the technology. Proposals in the rulebook look to future regulation of AI and take a less centralised approach than the EU. AI is defined as ‘machines which learn from data how to perform tasks normally performed by humans. For example, AI helps identify patterns in financial transactions that could indicate fraud.’

The proposals are part of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill that has been introduced to Parliament. Instead of giving responsibility for AI governance to a central regulatory body – as the EU is doing through its AI Act – the proposals allow different  regulators to take an approach suited to their industry, the aim being to create proportionate and adaptable regulation that allows AI to be rapidly adopted to boost productivity and growth.

Whatever the application, however, regulators must make sure developers and users follow six core principles: ensure AI is used safely; ensure AI is technically secure and functions as designed; make sure AI is appropriately transparent and explainable; consider fairness; identify a legal person to be responsible for AI; and clarify routes to redress or contestability.

GLEIF Opens vLEI Issuer Qualification Programme

The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) has underpinned the verifiable LEI (vLEI) with an issuer qualification programme that once completed with allow businesses to obtain vLEI digital identify credentials from the issuer for use in digital organisational identity.

The GLEIF expects the vLEI issuer qualification process to take about 90 days. A qualified vLEI issuer will act as the primary interface for legal entities seeking vLEI credentials. Once obtained, the vLEI can be used as a basis to issue additional credentials to persons holding official roles within an organisation.

Buy-Side Firms Cast Wide Net to Capture Required ESG Data

Buy-side firms across the UK, US and Asia are casting a wide net to get the ESG data they need including external ratings, expert opinions and sentiment data to supplement corporate disclosures. According to research commissioned by Alveo, buy-side firms are using between six and 10 ESG data sources, with corporate disclosures being the least common data source cited.

In terms of ESG data set types, organisations across all three regions are using multiple types, but mostly ESG ratings provided by third parties. Sentiment data is more widely used in the US that the UK and Asia.

DSB Publishes Final Report from OTC ISIN Industry Consultation

The Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB) has published the final report, based on 2022 industry consultation, for 2023 OTC ISIN and CFI service provision. The report includes a summary of industry responses with accompanying analysis and DSB proposals for next steps for each of the consultation topics:

• Global agile architecture approach
• Undertaking a detailed review of the DSB enterprise tooling estate
• Enhancements to the Graphical User Interface (GUI) search facility for OTC ISIN records and associated data
• Enhanced GUI functionality to provide CFI data without generating an OTC ISIN
• Removal of VPN connectivity
• Client onboarding and support platform for OTC ISIN only clients and clients subscribing to both OTC ISIN and UPI.

The 2023 OTC ISIN and CFI service provision consultation paper and the industry responses are available on the DSB website.

GLEIF Initiates Use of Verifiable LEI with Signing of 2021 Annual Report

The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) has achieved a milestone in the realisation of a global ecosystem for digital business identity with the first use of a verifiable Legal Entity Identifier (vLEI) to sign its 2021 annual report. The vLEI, a digitally trusted version of the LEI, has the potential to meet the need for automated digital verification of the legal identities of businesses.

GLEIF’s annual report illustrates that vLEIs can be used to sign specific sections, or even facts, within a report or data set, as well as reports in their entirety. Financial statements have been signed, using individual vLEIs, by GLEIF’s chief financial officer and GLEIF’s auditors. The entire report has been signed by the foundation’s CEO and board chair.

GLEIF is now working to finalise a qualification programme to enable vLEI issuers to become operational later in the year. For the purpose of the proof-of-concept annual report demonstration, GLEIF granted Ubisecure temporary vLEI Issuer status, which enabled Ubisecure to issue GLEIF with vLEIs.

Deepki Acquires Property Sustainability Assessor Fabriq

Real estate ESG data provider Deepki has bought its UK-based competitor Fabriq weeks after revealing to ESG Insight that it wanted to use a €150 million cash injection to expand its global reach. London- and Paris-based Deepki didn’t disclose the value of the latest deal. Fabriq’s software helps real estate owners reduce their carbon footprints by gathering and analysing energy efficiency data.

Linedata Releases Next Generation Portfolio Management Solution

Linedata has introduced its next generation portfolio management solution, Linedata Accumen, a suite of web-based features powered by the company’s asset management platform, and built to work alongside the company’s Longview trade order management system to help asset managers serve clients quickly and continuously. The solution includes interactive dashboards and summaries enabling investment teams to continuously monitor portfolios with a holistic view across entire books of business and investment activity, while receiving automatic notifications when action is needed.

“Leveraging personalisation and automation is the next generation of portfolio management that saves both time and effort for investment teams,” says Timothée Raymond, global head of innovation and technology at Linedata. “We know asset managers are under constant pressure to meet sales objectives, which is why we developed Accumen to provide then with a bird’s-eye view of every portfolio to pinpoint where attention is necessary, and deliver real-time alerts with meaningful insights into both overall and individual accounts.”

SEB Acquires Stake in Swedish Property Data Firm Metry

SEB Greentech Venture Capital has bought a stake in Swedish sustainability data firm Metry to capitalise on rising demand from banks for ESG-related performance indicators on real estate. Metry gathers data from the built environment to help owners and investors make property more efficient and to help them report on their assets’ green credentials.