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.

Digital Token Identifier Foundation Issues First Official DTI Code

DTI Foundation, the registration agency for ISO standard Digital Token Identifiers (DTIs), has issued a first official DTI code for FINXFLO’s native FXF token. FINXFLO, a cryptocurrency liquidity aggregator, says the initiative will promote standards for digital assets and provide a step towards a well-regulated marketplace. DTI Foundation, a non-profit organisation established by Etrading Software, has also welcomed FINXFLO as an additional member of its product advisory committee, which acts as a global arbiter in disputes around the classification and/or treatment of tokens and coins.

Arabesque Data Available of GoldenSource ESG Impact Platform

Enterprise data management company GoldenSource is to enable investors to access Arabesque’s S-Ray ESG data offering through its own cloud-based ESG Impact platform. The deal, which includes the use of Frankfurt-based Arabesque’s SFDR Data Solution, comes weeks before asset managers and other financial institutions must begin reporting on their ESG performance under the European regulations. Arabesque’s S-Ray suite provides emissions and other information on global stocks, drawing on four million data points each day, the company said.

Broadridge Launches Web-based ESG Performance Dashboard

FinTech Broadridge Financial Solutions has unveiled its ESG Performance Dashboard, which offers companies a view of their sustainability and governance performance. The rankings and ratings are based on more than 300 million data points drawn from 800-plus sources, the New York-company said. The web-located dashboard will show firms where they can make improvements to their ESG records, it added. An extension also enables clients to compare their scores over the past five years.

IBA Upgrades Aviation Carbon Tracking, Analysis Product

Aviation data and advisory firm IBA has upgraded its Carbon Emissions Calculator to help airlines report and analyse their fleets’ carbon footprints. The service is accessible through the UK-based company’s expanded InsightIQ product. IBA said the improvements had been made after it consulted more than 100 companies following the product’s launch in March. For investors, the new-look InsightIQ will also offer information on companies’ investments for ESG compliance.

SimCorp Adds Investment Accounting as a Service

SimCorp, a provider of Software-as-a-Service investment management solutions, has added Investment Accounting as a Service in response to increased demand from buy-side clients to outsource back-office functions.

The multi-asset class service is based on the SimCorp Dimension platform and is part of the company’s drive to become a technology-enabled services company. It will deliver timely, accurate and transparent multi-jurisdictional and regulatory compliant accounting, analytics and reporting, as well as an advisory overlay. It also provides interoperability and validates post-trade data, performs reconciliations, and ensures international accounting standards compliance.

KB Asset Management Singapore Selects SS&C to Power Operations

KB Asset Management Singapore, the asset management arm of Korea’s KB Financial Group, has selected SS&C Technologies’ front-to-back office solution for its operations. The solution includes SS&C’s fund administration and middle-office services, and integrates the Eze Investment Suite for order and portfolio management, compliance, and client reporting. The platform has been implemented to simplify operations across the asset managers’ portfolio that includes equities, contracts for difference, futures, FX and long/short strategies.

ASEAN Draws Up First ESG Taxonomy Draft

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has published its first draft taxonomy for ESG reporting, saying the move was necessary as many of its member states were on the climate-risk frontline. The Jakarta, Indonesia-headquartered trade bloc said the proposal would introduce “a common language across ASEAN for financing sustainable economic activities”. A region-wide framework would have four environmental objectives and two “essential criteria” for the economy. The Version 1 iteration released on Wednesday also provides for an overlay that can be tweaked to suit individual member states. This initially focuses on six material sectors including agriculture, power supply, manufacturing and transportation.

EFRAG Names 71 Experts to Create Standards Proposals

The body charged with drafting sustainability reporting standards for the European Union’s regulators has put in place a team of 71 experts to begin the process. The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) appointed experts from finance, academia, industry, NGOs and the small business sector. They will sit on 11 Expert Working Groups that have been tasked with hammering out a set of standards that can provide the underpinnings of the union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. EFRAG put out a call for potential members in August and said it had chosen the 71 from “very large number of high quality applications”.

Industry Collaboration Adds LEI Datasets to Amazon Sustainability Data Initiative

A collaboration between the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), OS-Climate and Amazon has resulted in GLEIF’s real-time Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) datasets being made publicly available for the first time in the cloud via Amazon’s Sustainability Data Initiative (ASDI) data catalog. The move was driven by OS-Climate to allow easier integration of LEI data with its own datasets that support development of open data and open source analytics for climate risk management and climate aligned finance and investment. ASDI’s hosting capabilities simplify programmatic access to the LEI data, which is ingested by OS-Climate’s Data Commons platform, essentially an architecture for building, sharing, and running data and analytics services to evaluate climate finance risks and opportunities.