Baton Systems Partners with J.P. Morgan to Automate Collateral Optimisation

Post-trade specialist Baton Systems has collaborated with J.P. Morgan’s Collateral Services to automate the optimisation of collateral for tri-party clients globally. The integration of Baton’s Core-Collateral solution into J.P. Morgan’s CCP Margin Exchange (CCPMx) went live with its first CCP in November. Baton now plans to extend the solution across its network of 13 major CCPs, representing over 94% of cleared margin by U.S. FCMs.

The collaboration aims to address complexities in the derivatives markets by enabling clients to aggregate, select, and mobilise collateral effectively and rapidly through Baton’s platform. By automating these processes, the initiative promises to alleviate operational burdens, improve funding decisions, and reduce operational risk.

CoinAPI Introduces EMS Trading API

CoinAPI, the provider of cryptocurrency APIs, has added an execution management system (EMS) API to its suite, enabling clients to trade across markets, asset classes, and exchanges in one place, with the ability to carry out transactions directly on cryptocurrency exchanges in real time with sub-millisecond latency.

The solution is geared towards algorithmic traders and professional cryptocurrency traders, for whom Trading APIs have become an essential part of their toolkit of.

TMX Completes VettaFi Acquisition

TMX Group Limited has completed the acquisition of VettaFi Holdings LLC, a US-based indexing, digital distribution and analytics company. In the first half of 2023, TMX aquired approximately 22% of the common units of VettaFi, and has now acquired the remainder.

The addition of VettaFi increases the depth and value of TMX’s data-driven insights, expands the company’s digital capabilities and expertise, and enriches the company’s support for ETF issuers. This acquisition is expected to accelerate TMX Group’s long-term global expansion and to increase its revenue from the Global Solutions, Insights and Analytics business and from recurring sources.

Solidatus Adds Artefact to Partner Portfolio

Solidatus has added Artefact, a data analytics and AI services consultancy specialising in helping organisations deliver measurable value from data, to its partner portfolio. The partnership is expected to simplify data lineage and data management processes for customers in the financial services sector and extend Solidatus’ reach to new financial services customers needing to build faster, automated data infrastructure.

Akhilesh Kale, senior director and financial services and insurance lead at Artefact US, says: “As we join forces, we are looking forward to accelerating value creation through data discovery for our clients’ front office, risk and regulatory use cases.”

Mike Pierce, vice president of global alliances at Solidatus, comments: “We look forward to jointly delivering Solidatus’ unique approach to building data transparency and establishing trust across complex environments, empowering clients to meet governance and regulatory requirements.”

ICE and Blockstream Add Cryptocurrency Options Data to Crypto Data Feed

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), a provider of data, technology and market infrastructure, and Blockstream, a provider of blockchain technologies and financial cryptography, have added cryptocurrency options data to the Cryptocurrency Data Feed launched by the partners in 2018 and offered via the ICE Consolidated Feed.

The Cryptocurrency Data Feed is designed to enable ICE Data Services’ customers to receive global market data in a streaming feed with comprehensive cryptocurrency information. It includes data on over 100 cryptocurrencies from more than 30 globally sourced venues and exchanges. As part of ICE’s exclusive agreement with Blockstream, ICE offers extensive coverage of prices and order book data for cryptocurrencies by exchange.

Appital Announces Substantial Growth in Platform Liquidity and User Base

Appital, the equity markets technology solution vendor, has reported a significant increase in both its user base and liquidity, with liquidity on its platform surging to $800 million notional in November alone, compared to the $200 million recorded between August 2022 and August 2023, prior to the company launching Appital Insights, its liquidity access tool, in September 2023. The expansion of Appital’s client base is partly attributed to integrations with major EMS providers such as Flextrade, Portware from Factset, TS Imagine, Virtu Financial’s Triton EMS, and Bloomberg. These integrations seamlessly incorporate Appital’s liquidity opportunities and bookbuilding functions into clients’ existing trading systems, enabling effective participation in large size market opportunities.

Matt Jefford, Appital’s Head of Liquidity Solutions, commented: “We see a significant liquidity disconnect in the industry at the moment, as a result of three distinct trends. Firstly, we have witnessed a decline in block liquidity on traditional LIS venues, as the average fill size is down to a very small amount of approximately EUR 20,000.  This is, in part, due to the sellside being involved in those venues. Secondly, we see large volumes pushed into closing auctions; and thirdly, it has also become clear that the banks’ appetite to make prices in small and mid-cap stocks has gone down significantly. These factors have led to a reluctance from buyside traders to enter full orders into traditional matching venues. If they need to sell 20 million, but their first fill is 20,000, everyone knows they want to do more. And this is why they are increasingly using Appital; we are a buyside only venue and firms can be confident in finding the other side of a deal without slippage or information leakage.”

Murex Improves Model Validation and Market Data Sourcing, Leveraging S&P Global Market Intelligence

Murex, the trading & risk management solutions vendor, has broadened its partnership with S&P Global Market Intelligence, to enhance model validation and market data integration in its MX.3 platform. Murex’s model validation team now utilizses S&P Global Market Intelligence for comprehensive monitoring and validation of front office pricing and risk models across various asset classes, enabling Murex’s financial engineers to test and ensure model accuracy under volatile market conditions.

MX.3 is also now directly connected to S&P Global Market Intelligence’s derivatives data services, which draw from diverse sources, offering in-depth curve and volatility surfaces for use in trading to compliance. The extended coverage, which includes less liquid and complex products, aims to provide a comprehensive market perspective for global institutions.

BMLL Expands Data Coverage to Include Canadian Markets

BMLL, Level 3 historical data and analytics provider, has expanded its coverage to include data from key Canadian trading venues and exchanges, including the Toronto Stock Exchange, Canadian Securities Exchange, CBOE Canada, Nasdaq Canada, and Omega ATS. This development enhances BMLL’s North American presence, complementing its existing US Equities and ETF coverage, including recent additions such as US FINRA ATS/OTC Volumes data and data from Brazil’s B3 Stock Exchange.

Clients of BMLL, ranging from banks and hedge funds to academic institutions, now gain access to comprehensive, T+1 order book data and advanced analytics across North American markets, to enable enables a more robust understanding of market dynamics, venue performance, and liquidity trends. Additionally, Canadian exchange operators can now perform in-depth venue comparisons locally and internationally.

Digital Token Identifier Foundation Join FCA Digital Sandbox

The Digital Token Identifier Foundation (DTIF) created by Etrading Software to provide ISO standard identifiers for digital assets has joined the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) Digital Sandbox. The DTIF has been onboarded as a data supplier, with Denis Dounaev, Digital Token Identifier (DTI) product owner recognised as a mentor under the Digital Sandbox Programme.

As Registration Authority for the ISO 24165 standard, the DTIF’s mission is to provide the golden source reference data for the unique identification of digital tokens. DTI use is recommended under the EU’s DLT Pilot Regime and has been proposed by ESMA for crypto-asset identification under MiCA. The DTI Registry includes technical attributes for over 1,800 digital tokens. The data provided by the DTI Foundation to the Sandbox is an accurate representation of all data currently captured by the DTI Registry.

DTCC Completes Acquisition of Securrency, Now Rebranded as DTCC Digital Assets

Following its announcement in October, agreeing to acquire Securrency Inc., a developer of institutional-grade digital asset infrastructure, DTCC today announced the completion of the transaction. The Securrency brand will now be retired and the business will operate as DTCC Digital Assets, headed by Lynn Bishop, Managing Director and Chief Information Officer.

Frank La Salla, DTCC President, CEO and Director, commented: “We are excited to bring together our people, expertise and respective technologies to create a powerful combination that will help the industry unlock the value of digital assets and drive market-wide transformation. We look forward to providing global leadership to establish a robust digital infrastructure that protects the safety and soundness of financial markets and delivers on the enormous promise and potential of institutional DeFi in the coming years.”