Kasikorn Securities Selects ICE’s Portfolio Analytics for Enhanced Derivatives Management

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) has announced that Kasikorn Securities, under the Kasikorn Bank Group of Thailand, has selected ICE’s Portfolio Analytics-Derivatives for its derivatives management needs. The deal will provide Kasikorn Securities with ICE’s derivatives solution for pre-trade pricing, analytics, and post-trade risk management, which will be integrated into their Kasikorn’s OMS.

By leveraging ICE’s analytics application, Kasikorn Securities aims to enhance its capabilities in price discovery, decision support, and risk assessment across various asset classes and instruments.

Zayo Launches Waves on Demand Service Across Europe

Zayo Group, the global provider of fibre network infrastructure, has launched a new Waves on Demand service, providing bandwidth accessibility throughout Europe via its 400G-enabled lit-fibre network. The new service guarantees service activation within just five working days, a significant improvement over the standard 30+ day industry timeframe.

Utilising Ciena’s WaveLogic 5 technology, Waves on Demand allows for rapid scaling of bandwidth with capacities up to 800G on dedicated circuits. Initially available in major European connectivity hubs, including Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, and Paris, Zayo plans to extend the service to Dublin, Manchester, and Milan by year-end.

Confluence Adds MSCI ESG Research Data into Style Analytics

Confluence Technologies, a solutions provider to the investment management industry, has integrated MSCI ESG Research data into its factor investing analytics solution, Style Analytics. The data will help asset managers and fund selectors by offering in-depth analysis, comparison, and enhancement of portfolios.

Damian Handzy, managing director, analytics, at Confluence, comments: “Style Analytics’ integration of MSCI’s ESG data marks a significant step to help our clients make informed investment decisions and achieve sustainable growth.”

The integration supports drill-down capabilities, fund-of-funds capabilities for United Nations SDGs and analytics, as well as factor analysis using an intuitive user interface. Users can gain actionable data, identify optimal investment opportunities and monitor performance over time.

GLEIF Names Certizen Technology as China’s Second LEI Validation Agent

The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) has named Certizen Technology, a Hong Kong-based provider of digital identity and digital certificate solutions, as the latest organisation approved as a Validation Agent in the Global Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) System.

With the support of GLEIF and the People’s Bank of China, Certizen will use the LEI to enrich its product and service offerings across multiple market sectors to further advance ‘opening up’ and strengthen support for free trade and cross-border business interactions. This includes using the data elements of the LEI in conjunction with digital certificates to integrate and associate an organisation’s data with the identity of individuals acting on its behalf. This will contribute to increased market transparency, facilitate trusted cross-border trade, and support global regulatory alignment.

Eva Chan, CEO of Certizen Technology, comments: “Obtaining Validation Agent status is a step forward in our vision to become a leader in corporate identity management. We are committed to using the capabilities of the LEI to enable secure and trustworthy digital interactions across borders, helping realise the full potential of efforts to support opening up and promote increased international recognition of local enterprises.”

Telefónica Goes Live with Alveo Prime Market Data Solution

Telefónica, a global telecommunications company, has gone live on Alveo’s Prime market data solution for its corporate treasury and financial division data management. The company’s sophisticated corporate treasury function, financial transactions and processes require accurate and timely market data for a wide range of purposes including hedge accounting, funding needs, financial reporting, validation and valuation of financial instruments.

Manuel Carreras Ferrer, transformation and change management manager at Telefónica, says: “We needed a new financial data repository for the firm. We use commercial data providers and different complex spreadsheets and needed to streamline the supply of market data into different business applications. Alveo’s market data solution helped us with a centralised data repository for all treasury-required FX and interest rate data, improved our operational efficiency and lowered our total cost of ownership.”

CJC Achieves Cyber Essentials Certification, Enhancing ICT Defence Capabilities

Crown Jewels Consultants (CJC), the market data consultancy and professional services provider, has attained the Cyber Essentials certification, underscoring its commitment to robust cyber defence mechanisms. CJC was assessed to have met the Cyber Essentials implementation profile, with ICT defences deemed satisfactory against a commodity-based cyber-attack.

The UK government-backed certification aligns with the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), which aims to bolster the digital resilience of financial entities and their vital infrastructure against cyber risks. The certification process encompassed several critical areas, including secure configuration, access control, malware protection, patch management, and incident response.

Baader Bank Selects Broadridge for Regulatory Trade and Transaction Reporting

Baader Bank has extended its relationship with Broadridge Financial Solutions with an agreement to use the vendor’s regulatory trade and transaction reporting solution to ensure a more unified and comprehensive regulatory reporting framework. The bank already uses Broadridge’s front- and middle-office solutions for order management, trading and market connectivity.

Baader Bank offers asset classes including equities, bonds, derivatives, and funds/ETFs, as well as primary market transactions. The Broadridge platform will support the bank in fulfilling evolving requirements across multiple jurisdictions including MiFID, FinfraG, EMIR Refit and SFTR.

ANZ Partners with CobaltFX for Enhanced FX Credit Management

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) has integrated CobaltFX’s Dynamic Credit platform to manage its FX trade credit exposure management across interbank trading venues. The move underscores ANZ’s commitment to adopting innovative, real-time solutions for FX credit management that centralise and optimise the distribution of credit across multiple trading venues from a single, global limit.

The partnership with CobaltFX, a United Fintech company specialising in automated pre and post-trade infrastructure, not only eliminates the need for credit carve-outs but also enhances market access for ANZ, offering significant benefits to its customers, counterparties, and the bank itself by reducing credit usage and operational risks while improving liquidity access.

Sigma Broking Expands Partnership with ION to Utilize XTP Execution Suite for LME Trading

ION, the solutions vendor for capital markets, commodities, and treasury management, has extended its partnership with international brokerage firm Sigma Broking. Sigma will now deploy ION’s XTP Execution (XTP-E) suite, enhancing its capability to trade listed derivatives on the London Metal Exchange (LME).

Sigma Broking, offering broking and execution services across various financial markets, provides its institutional customers with access to various exchanges and products, including tailored hedging strategies and execution services. The use of ION’s XTP-E suite is set to bolster Sigma’s front-office execution capabilities, further solidifying its status among the LME’s Category 1 Ring Dealing members, and supporting its strategic objectives in commodities trading and risk management.

Sterling Trading Tech Expands into Asia

Sterling Trading Tech (STT), the independent OMS, risk and trading platform vendor, has unveiled its strategic expansion into Asia for 2024, targeting the key financial hubs of Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore. This initiative is driven by the demand for more sophisticated OMS and Risk solutions in Asia, and will cater to the needs of local and cross-border clients, particularly those operating in the US.

STT’s multi-asset OMS is designed for firms trading in US equities and options, offering features such as real-time balances, advanced margin methods, customisable risk controls, API connectivity and international order processing beyond US trading hours.