SIX and TP ICAP Partner to Allow Clearing of TP ICAP MTF Trades on SIX x-clear

Clearing services provider SIX has partnered with market infrastructure provider TP ICAP, to allow participants of TP ICAP’s markets to clear their UK and EU MTF trades on SIX x-clear. The partnership with SIX introduces CCP clearing to TP ICAP’s trading venues for the first time.

SIX already offers clearing services to 19 different trading platforms, based in several European countries and the UK. The addition of TP ICAP’s UK & EU MTFs will increase the market coverage of SIX and allow TP ICAP members to increase their settlement efficiency even further. Compared to bilateral settlement, CCP clearing is expected to be particularly advantageous for the capital treatment, liquidity and risk aspects of high value transactions.

Broadridge Releases Blockchain-Based Multi-Jurisdictional Version of Private Market Hub

Broadridge Financial Solutions has released a multi-jurisdictional version of its private equity platform, Private Market Hub, based on blockchain technology, available to funds domiciled in North America, and designed to ease the complexities faced by asset managers with funds in multiple geographies. The hub was previously operational for funds domiciled in Guernsey

Broadridge says its new capabilities are the first of their kind in the private equity industry, allowing all stakeholders in a fund’s lifecycle to participate around a common set of data and workflows via a unified user interface, irrespective of the fund’s jurisdiction. Northern Trust, the cornerstone client, has gone live with the first group of North American clients – marking a new milestone in the evolution of the platform.

UK Offers ESG Reporting Guidance to Financial Institutions

The UK’s accounting overseer has issued the first set of guidelines on gathering, using and reporting ESG data. The Financial Reporting Council’s initial report focuses on producing better data to improve decision making among financial institutions. Describing the ESG data landscape as “complex” and “with challenges”, the report offers solutions to overcoming these shortcomings.

Infront Acquires Assetmax

Financial solutions vendor Infront AS has entered an agreement to acquire Swiss asset management software company Assetmax for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition will strengthen Infront’s product offering for wealth management customers across Europe. Assetmax launched its first product in 2016 and expects revenues of approximately EUR 5.5m for 2022, having achieved 35% CAGR between 2018 and 2021.

The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of September at the latest, subject to conditions.

Finbourne to Offer Denominator DEI Data on its LUSID Platform

Financial institutions have a new way to assess the S factor in their ESG investments. Finbourne Technology has signed a deal to offer Denominator’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) data to the buy-side. The information will be integrated into Finbourne’s LUSID investment management platform.

Baton Systems Adds OCC to Collateral Management Network

Post-trade fintech Baton Systems has expanded its Baton Core-Collateral network to include connectivity to the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC).

Baton’s Core-Collateral solution enables Clearing Members to automate and optimise their collateral management processes by providing intraday visibility of current margin obligations and collateral holdings at chosen CCPs. With the addition of OCC, clearing firms will be able to automate collateral management across 11 major CCPs globally, together comprising more than 93% of margin, placed by U.S. registered FCMs.

DTCC’s Project Ion Goes Live, Processing Over 100,000 Transactions Per Day on DLT

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the market infrastructure provider, has gone live in a parallel production environment with the Project Ion platform, an alternative equities settlement platform that leverages distributed ledger technology (DLT). The platform is now parallel processing an average of over 100,000 bilateral equity transactions per day, and almost 160,000 transactions on peak days.

DTCC claims that Project Ion represents one of the largest DLT initiatives in equities settlement across the financial services industry. DTCC partnered with enterprise technology provider R3 to develop and launch the Project Ion platform, leveraging R3’s Corda DLT software.

Norges Bank Investment Management Completes First Trade on Appital Turquoise Book Builder

Appital, the equity capital markets technology solution, and Turquoise, the pan-European MTF majority owned by London Stock Exchange Group, have gone live with the Appital Turquoise BookBuilder, with Norges Bank Investment Management successfully originating and executing the first trade, through a series of bilateral transactions.

According to Appital, this is the world’s first algorithmic buy side to buy-side bookbuilding platform that enables institutional investors to proactively participate in liquidity discovery, price formation and execution opportunities in multiple days’ volume in listed equities. EMS vendors connected at the time of first trade included Flextrade, Factset’s Portware and TS Imagine.

Push Technology Adds Enhanced Monitoring Capabilities and New REST Adapter to Diffusion Cloud

Real-time data streaming and messaging solutions provider Push Technology has enhanced its Diffusion Cloud offering with the addition of a new REST adapter and improved data monitoring capabilities.

The new REST adapter enables development teams to transform existing APIs into streaming data feeds, without the need to re-architect backend systems. The monitoring improvements now makes it easier for Ops teams to understand how their Diffusion Cloud services are being used, identify anomalous behavior, and pro-actively respond to any potential issues before they impact end users.

Raymond James Selects FactSet for Virtual Wealth Workstations

Raymond James US private client group has selected FactSet as its primary technology and market data provider. FactSet has worked alongside Raymond James to virtually deploy over 7,500 advanced wealth workstations to financial advisors throughout the US, providing advisors with FactSet’s content and analytics within a modern, web-based interface to reduce the firm’s dependence on locally installed applications.