Athena Integrates BTON Financial’s AI Trader Co-Pilot

Athena, part of United Fintech, and BTON Financial have announced a strategic integration, incorporating BTON’s AI-powered Trader Co-Pilot into Athena’s Order Management System/Portfolio Management System (OMS/PMS). The integration aims to transform trading decision-making across various financial sectors, including institutional asset managers, hedge funds, banks, and family offices. The development facilitates a more streamlined and efficient process, allowing traders to set order parameters and utilise advanced algorithms with a single click.

The collaboration between Athena and BTON Financial is designed to offer a seamless, scalable solution that leverages artificial intelligence and data-driven trading tools to optimise trading strategies without the need for extensive setup or training.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management Adopts DTCC’s ITP Services to Support U.S. T+1 Settlement Transition

DTCC has announced that Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management is utilising its Institutional Trade Processing (ITP) services to enhance trade processing efficiency ahead of the U.S. financial market’s transition to a T+1 settlement cycle on May 28, 2024. The suite includes DTCC’s CTM for central matching, M2i workflow, TradeSuite ID, ALERT, and Settlement Instruction Manager, aiming to fully automate post-trade processes and achieve same-day affirmation (SDA) for APAC region cross-border transactions.

By automating allocation, confirmation, and affirmation, CTM’s M2i workflow and associated services facilitate direct, automated trade affirmations and instruction deliveries for settlement via the U.S. depository, significantly streamlining the management and finality of trade lifecycles. This strategic implementation by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management is designed to enhance transaction efficiency and support the broader industry goals of reduced settlement times.

McKay Brothers International Launches Ultra-Low Latency Bandwidth Service Between London and Stockholm

McKay Brothers International (MBI), the low-latency networking specialist, has unveiled a new bandwidth service providing the lowest latency connection between London’s LD4 data centre and Stockholm’s Stack STO01 data centre. The hybrid wireless-fibre route claims to achieve data transmission speeds that are hundreds of microseconds quicker than existing services, enhancing connectivity for major trading platforms like Cboe Europe in London and Nasdaq-OMX in Stockholm.

MBI, known for its extensive European ultra-low latency wireless network, connects key financial centres across the continent, including Frankfurt, Bergamo, and Madrid, and offers specialised market data services from exchanges such as Eurex and CME. This strategic expansion aims to support high-frequency trading firms, banks, and hedge funds with faster and more reliable data exchange capabilities.

Adaptive Financial Consulting Partners with KCx to Launch New Event-Driven Trading System

Adaptive Financial Consulting (Adaptive) has entered into a strategic partnership with Kepler Cheuvreux’s execution division, KCx, to develop an advanced event-driven trading system utilising Adaptive’s Hydra technology and Aeron, its cloud-native messaging infrastructure for capital markets. The new system aims to enhance KCx’s equities execution platform by integrating a sequencer-based architecture that improves algorithmic trading and simplifies client interactions through a unified interface.

The initiative, marking the first phase of a broader innovation strategy, is designed to boost the firm’s market presence by offering scalable and sophisticated trading solutions across different asset classes. The technology, supporting on-premise and potential future cloud-based operations via AWS, also allows for remote functional testing to meet client performance expectations at launch.

R3 and Quant Selected to Develop Prototype for UK’s Regulated Liability Network

R3 and Quant have been chosen to create the technology prototype for the UK’s Regulated Liability Network (RLN) experimentation phase, an initiative led by UK Finance and supported by EY. This project aims to establish a unified platform facilitating various financial transactions using tokenised and traditional commercial bank deposits. The RLN will serve as a central innovation hub for digital transactions, with confirmed participants including Barclays, HSBC, Citi and Visa, among others. R3 will leverage its Corda platform for shared ledger capabilities, while Quant will enhance money interoperability through its Overledger platform.

The collaboration underscores the strategic aims of R3 and Quant in addressing the complexities of regulated financial environments through advanced ledger and API technologies. The prototype will explore multiple use cases across retail and wholesale payments, including ecommerce and bond issuance, supported by technology partners such as DXC Technology and Coadjute.

T+1 and Voice Analytics to Feature at Symphony Innovate 2024 (NYC)

A-Team Group recently caught up with Ben Chrnelich, President and CFO of Symphony Communications to discuss how their Enterprise Collaboration and Workflow platform is helping firms prepare for T+1 – which goes live on May 28, and the significant uptick in e-comms messaging volume over their Federated Communications offerings. 

Both of these core offerings will be in focus at Symphony Innovate 2024 in NYC on April 18th.   

Bringing Insights to Trader Voice will highlight Cloud9 Transcription and Voice Analytics in Action with representation from Goldman Sachs and Capital One. 

As Chrnelich recalls; “Going into 2024, there were signs that capital flows were opening up. People were looking to invest in areas around RegTech and compliance technology. The seriousness of industry fines related to off-channel communication was definitely being acknowledged and addressed by the industry and regulated participants. We’ve seen the messaging volume on our federated offerings grow by almost 400% since Q1 of 2023.” 

Symphony Communications started in 2014 as an industry-backed consortium, to deliver a messaging platform for data security and compliance, and an open architecture platform to facilitate real-time cross-company and inter-company communication. The founding consortium members included BofA Merrill Lynch, BNY Mellon, BlackRock, Citadel, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, JPMorgan, Maverick, Morgan Stanley, Nomura and Wells Fargo. Today, the company’s solutions support over half a million users, servicing more than 1,000 institutions.

Central Asian Stock Exchange Implements QUIK Software from ARQA Technologies

The Central Asian Stock Exchange (CASE) in collaboration with ARQA Technologies, has successfully implemented QUIK software, significantly upgrading its trading platform in Tajikistan. ARQA Technologies was chosen through a competitive tender to replace the existing platform. The new system now serves as the matching backbone for CASE, handling client instructions, market data distribution, and pre-trade risk management.

The QUIK software, implemented within three months, is also used for primary public debt placements in Tajikistan, with plans to expand into secondary bond markets and other securities sectors in the future.

EDM-as-a-Service Provider Rimes to be Bought by Rothschild Unit

Enterprise data management (EDM) services provider Rimes is to be acquired by the private equity arm of Rothschild & Co.

Rimes investor EQT and its co-shareholders didn’t disclose the financial details of the deal to Five Arrows, but Bloomberg estimated the transaction values the business at between €800 million (US$862m) and €900m.

New York and London-based Rimes was founded in 1996 and its cloud-based EDM-as-a-service technology platform is used by 60 of the world’s 100 largest asset managers, the company said in a statement. Its customers oversee more than $75 trillion.

Rimes has been a long-time supporter of A-Team Group and its representatives have regularly occupied speaker seats at the group’s summits and webinars.

The Five Arrows Long Term Fund (FALT) and Five Arrows Principal Investments (FAPI) make up Five Arrows, which focuses its activities on the B2B data and software sectors.

Rimes chief executive Brad Hunt said the company has grown significantly in the past few years.

“Today, Rimes combines the customer-centric ethos and deep domain expertise that has differentiated us since 1996 with the industry’s most modern technology and an innovative, comprehensive product offering designed to address the investment data challenges of the future,” Hunt said in a statement. “We look forward to joining forces with Five Arrows to build upon our strong momentum going forward.”

Seif Khoufi and Constantin Sabet d’Acre, managing director and director of FALT, said in a joint statement that they believe Rimes is “uniquely positioned to continue to support its customers’ expanding needs”.

The deal is yet to be approved by regulators, but in a statement Rimes said it expected the sale to be passed in the coming months.

Corporater Unveils Business Process Management for Enhanced GRC and Performance Management (GPRC)

Corporater, a global leader in software solutions for Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) and Performance Management (jointly addressed as GPRC), is proud to announce the launch of a new Business Process Management Engine.  

First introduced in the Nordic market, this significant functional addition is now available globally. 

Digital GRC programs are being challenged by evolving regulatory requirements such as ESG, Cybersecurity, and DORA/operational resilience. At the same time, market innovations in cross-product and cross-border trading activity add to business process complexity. The convergence of governance, accountability, audit, and resilience sets the stage for Business Process Management (BPM) as a foundational and vital tool for the successful digital transformation of an organization’s GRC program. 

The new Business Process Management Engine (BPME) complements a comprehensive toolbox of existing features including risk quantification, Monte Carlo simulations, a flexible Forms & Survey engine, risk aggregation, and AI assistance that collectively enable enterprises to implement a holistic, easy-to-use, enterprise-wide GRC program. 

The new Corporater BPME offers a complete design-to-execution functionality delivering auditable, measurable business processes that comply with regulatory requirements, increase operational efficiency, align with organizational objectives, and support AI-powered integration with relevant GRC and Performance Management data. The net effect is an uplift in organizational agility, resilience, and overall business performance. 

“With the enhanced Business Process Management Engine, Corporater continues to set the standard for integrated enterprise GRC and Performance Management solutions,” said Owe Lie-Bjelland, GPRC Director at Corporater. “We aim to empower organizations to not only manage risks and compliance effectively across the enterprise but also enhance overall business performance through an integrated business-wide GRC program.” 

DSB Announces 2024 Consultation Schedule for OTC Derivatives Reference Data Services

The Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB) has outlined its 2024 consultation plan focusing on the OTC International Securities Identification Number (ISIN), Unique Product Identifier (UPI), and Classification Financial Instrument (CFI) services. The consultation paper will be released on 30 April 2024, allowing for feedback until 31 May 2024, and concluding with a Final Report on 16 July 2024.

For the first time, the consultation will include the new UPI services. Key topics will include user type functionality, the Traded on a Trading Venue (ToTV) Service; and fair cost apportionment across service provisions. The consultation, in conjunction with the ongoing complementary work of the DSB industry representation groups, aims to align DSB services with evolving market practices, technological advancements, and regulatory demands.