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The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry

A-Team Insight Brief

DTCC Introduces Trade Reporting Analytics and UTI Exchange to Report Hub Service

DTCC has announced the launch of Trade Reporting Analytics and UTI Exchange as enhancements to Report Hub, its cloud-based pre- and post-trade reporting platform, designed to help firms meet derivatives and securities financing transactions mandates.

Trade Reporting Analytics provides access to a library of over 100 data insights to identify potential errors, highlight trends, and benchmark performance against anonymized peers. The system’s capabilities have been validated by a pilot user group including J.P. Morgan, Nomura Americas Services, LLC and Wells Fargo.

Substantive Research Uncovers Rapid Increases in Market Data Pricing Amidst Regulatory Scrutiny

The latest analysis of 2023 market data pricing from research discovery and analytics provider Substantive Research, reveals that market data prices are going up faster than ever, identical products and use cases are charged inconsistently, and agreements are persistently unclear.

This comes despite the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) ongoing review into market data pricing practices. In August 2023, the FCA indicated that its highly anticipated Wholesale Market Data Study, due for publication in March 2024, will outline several concerns, including restrictive terms around data usage, high barriers to entry, high contract renewal charges, and a lack of meaningful innovation in the market.

Although the FCA has found that some aspects of the market prevent, restrict or distort competition, it has stated it not proposing to make a referral to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, believing it is best positioned to address these issues within the FCA itself.

Substantive Research’s data shows ratings agencies have increased prices by an average 12%, index providers by an average 13%, and some outliers have charged clients up to 600% more. For specific products, some consumers are paying more than 26 times than others for very similar requirements, according to the analysis.

Tokyo Stock Exchange Partners with Broadridge for Enhanced ETF Trading

Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. (TSE) has collaborated with Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. to introduce a direct connection between CONNEQTOR, TSE’s exchange traded funds (ETFs) trading platform, and Xilix, Broadridge’s execution management system (EMS).

The new integration will offer asset management firms, including Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Co., Ltd., a streamlined and more efficient ETF trading process directly from Xilix.

Murex and Rabobank Strengthen IT Partnership with Successful MX.3 Implementation in Brazil

Murex has expanded its partnership with Rabobank, completing a key phase in a global IT transformation with the successful launch of back office, operations, and finance functions on the MX.3 platform in Rabobank Brazil. This upgrade follows earlier front office and risk integrations.

The MX.3 platform in Rabobank Brazil now supports an extensive range of both onshore and offshore products, offering features from trade capture to risk management and regulatory compliance. This initiative consolidates the Markets and Treasury IT systems for Rabobank Brazil, ensuring alignment with local regulatory and banking standards.

LIST Completes Phase Two of Borsa Italiana’s Migration to Euronext’s Optiq Platform

LIST, an ION company, has completed the second phase of transitioning its Borsa Italiana clients onto Euronext’s Optiq technology trading platform. After successfully completing the equity segment in March 2023, LIST has now enhanced its FastTrade trading solution to support the shift of Italian bond markets to the new platform.

The move also involves introducing new software versions to accommodate market model changes, entirely revamping data centres and telecom infrastructure, and managing colocation services, building on the equity rollout in March 2023.

R3’s Corda Supports First Live Digital Bond Issuance with Euroclear’s ICSD

R3’s Corda, an enterprise distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform, has facilitated the first live digital bond issuance in collaboration with Euroclear’s International Central Securities Depository (ICSD).

This significant step forms part of Euroclear’s Distributed Financial Market Infrastructure initiative, aiming to optimise bond issuance with enhanced transparency and efficiency. The bond was issued by the World Bank, with Citi acting as the issuer agent and TD Bank as the dealer.

Liquidnet Launches Pre-Trade Analytics for Listed Derivatives in Europe and US

Agency execution specialist Liquidnet has unveiled a new pre-trade analytics solution specifically designed for listed derivatives, available in both Europe and the US. The offering delivers actionable insights, including details on volume, liquidity, activity and projected volume.

Designed to assist investors in making informed decisions before executing trades, the development utilises the existing infrastructure of Liquidnet Investment Analytics and marks Liquidnet’s debut in the listed derivatives sector.

Legal Entity Identifier Endorsed by CPMI for Use in Cross-Border Payments

The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) has welcomed the endorsement of the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) by the Bank for International Settlements Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) ‘Harmonized ISO 20022 data requirements for enhancing cross-border payments’. The CPMI ISO 20022 data requirements establish a consistent minimum set of messaging data for more efficient processing of cross-border payments in support of G20 targets.

The CPMI has recognised the LEI as an equivalent identifier to the Business Identifier Code (BIC) for identifying financial institutions and legal entities within a payment message. Specifically, the data structuring requirements suggest the LEI and/or BIC for identifying all financial institutions involved in a cross-border payment. The LEI and/or BIC may also substitute or complement name and postal address information to aid the identification of all legal entities involved in a cross-border payment in a standardised and structured way.

Tradeweb and FTSE Russell Partner to Develop Next-Gen Fixed Income Index Pricing

Tradeweb Markets, a global operator of electronic marketplaces for rates, credit, equities and money markets, and FTSE Russell, an LSEG business, have made a strategic partnership to develop next-generation fixed income index pricing and index trading products. The firms aim to provide next-generation pricing across a broader range of fixed income securities, which will be administered by FTSE Russell as benchmarks and will deliver robust, algorithmic, and reliable pricing. The closing prices amalgamate trading activity from Tradeweb’s electronic platform, enabling closer alignment with actual trading levels and intraday pricing.

In the coming months, the firms will also continue to collaborate on fixed income pricing sets to extend coverage across multiple regions and fixed income asset classes. Over time, FTSE Russell will explore incorporating Tradeweb pricing into FTSE Fixed Income indices, starting with FTSE World Government Bond Index (WGBI), a flagship index comprised of sovereign debt from over 20 countries and denominated in a variety of currencies.

Lisa Schirf, global head of data and analytics at Tradeweb, says: “Tradeweb’s collaboration with FTSE Russell will provide clients with verified benchmarks they can use as reliable closing prices for their end-of-day trading strategies and other purposes. The Tradeweb FTSE closing prices will create a foundation across global fixed income markets for consistent end-of-day and intraday prices.”

Ofi Invest Asset Management Selects Clearwater Solution to Power Investment Accounting

Ofi Invest Asset Management, part of France’s Ofi Invest Group, has chosen Clearwater Analytics SaaS platform to power its investment accounting management, reporting, and services. The asset manager offers its institutional clients the service of managing their investment accounting function across their entire portfolios. In this context, Ofi Invest Asset Management has chosen Clearwater Analytics to automate the aggregation, reconciliation, and validation of the firm’s investment data across all asset classes. The Clearwater platform will also give end users a daily view of portfolio data for accurate investment accounting and regulatory reporting.