OSTTRA Launches Repo Confirmation Service Powered by MarkitWire

OSTTRA, the post-trade solutions company formed in 2021 through the combination of MarkitServ, Traiana, TriOptima and Reset, has launched OSTTRA Trade Processing for Repos, powered by MarkitWire, the electronic trade confirmation and processing platform. The new service will establish a set of industry-standard electronic workflows for Repo trade confirmation and lifecycle event management, built on MarkitWire’s global network.

With the Interest Rate and Repo markets coming closer together as a result of the transition to risk free rates, OSTTRA aims to harmonise the post-trade processing of both asset classes by bringing them together on MarkitWire.

Sagard NewGen Acquires Majority Stake in Horizon Software

Following the announcement earlier this year that electronic trading solutions provider Horizon had entered into exclusive negotiations with investment company Sagard NewGen, Sagard NewGen has now acquired a majority stake in the firm, alongside a management buy-out, to support expansion into new markets and strategic capabilities.

With the new investment, Horizon will focus on expanding its Trading-as-a-Service offering, bringing together agency trading and market making on one platform, and on scaling up its asset class coverage to include digital assets. The company also plans to open additional offices in Singapore and Dubai.

FNZ Invests in ESG Data Provider GIST for its Wealth Tools

FNZ has deepened its ties with GIST, making a “strategic investment” in the sustainable data and analytics provider to extend its own ESG offering to wealthy clients. The New Zealand-founded digital wealth management platform said the deal would help enrich corporate data on FNZ Impact, the company’s sustainable investment tool that links its clients with 8,000 wealth management firms and 650 financial institutions.

FIs Spending $1.4m on ESG Analytics, Disclosure

A new study that puts a dollar cost to climate-related performance reporting has found that the cost of gathering, analysing and reporting data by financial institutes is $1.37 million annually, while corporate issuers spend US$533,000 a year on disclosures. The report by The SustainAbility Institute by ERM for Ceres and Persefoni, also found that firms said benefits of disclosure and assessment included improved achievement of sustainability goals, better access to data that can help enhance corporate strategy and, in some cases, lower cost of capital.

Encompass Forms Transformation Team to Help Banks Drive KYC Automation Initiatives

Encompass, a provider of a Know Your Customer (KYC) automation platform, has set up a transformation team charged with ensuring banks reap the benefits of automation initiatives. The team will help companies define what success means and facilitate organisational alignment required to achieve KYC transformation.
Encompass transformation directors include former Barclays senior executive Howard Wimpory, who joined Encompass in London in 2021; Jo Scanlon, who supports customers in APAC; and Darren Marion, also part of the team in Sydney, Australia. Nicola Pickering, vice president, customer success and delivery at Encompass, comments: “It is great to hear from customers how valuable our team’s direction and thought leadership is in navigating KYC transformational change.”

Bloomberg Releases Price Transparency Data Solution for SEC Rule 2a-5

Bloomberg has released a price transparency data solution aimed at helping clients tackle the regulatory challenges presented by SEC Rule 2a-5’s requirements for readily available market quotations. The solution is powered by BVAL, Bloomberg’s evaluated pricing service, and is
available to BVAL customers ahead of the compliance data of 8 September, 2022 for new SEC rule, which is part of a broader regulatory trend around pricing transparency and valuation oversight.

“Given the need to understand in detail what is behind a price, clients approached us seeking a solution to navigate compliance with Rule 2a-5,” says Brad Foster, global head of enterprise data content at Bloomberg. “BVAL’s price transparency data fields and our detailed rules engines enabled us to design a data solution to help compliance and legal teams adapt to the rule’s requirements for readily available market quotations.”

Iress Helps Kepler Cheuvreux Optimise Trading Outcomes

Financial technology provider Iress has helped its client Kepler Cheuvreux to improve trading outcomes in its first full year or use. Iress is now Kepler Cheuvreux’s unique market data provider for all front-office applications, delivering the high-performance API data feeds that power the Kepler Cheuvreux ecosystem.

Kepler Chevreux’s recent review of Iress’ performance highlighted a number of improvements to trading and business outcomes, including improving the firm’s hit rate for smart order routers to 97-99% on most UK-based venues, and delivering additional insights that help Kepler evaluate and predict market movements.

Johannesburg Stock Exchange Collaborates with big xyt to Launch New Equity Market Data Analytics Platform

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the largest stock exchange in Africa, has deployed a new information service, JSE Trade Explorer, in collaboration with data and analytics solutions vendor big xyt. Using peer group rankings, the service will enable firms that trade on JSE to explore their market share, examine how they interact with the order book, and view their trading performance.

The offering will be delivered directly to trading participants of the exchange’s cash equity and ETF markets under a white labelling arrangement. As the tools are fully hosted and web-based, the new service is accessible without the need for IT integration or support by end users.

TNS Goes Live with Managed Level 1 Access in Bergamo IT3 Data Centre

Transaction Network Services (TNS), the infrastructure, connectivity, market data and analytic services provider, has leveraged its Layer 1 switching solution to deliver ultra-low latency mutualised market access and network connectivity to the Aruba Global Data Centre IT3 in Bergamo, Italy, in readiness for Euronext’s planned go-live in June.

The company has announced that operations now live in IT3, and that it has seamlessly moved trading operations from Basildon to Bergamo for both existing and new customers, who can now directly access the Euronext exchange matching engine.

Sustainable Trading Secures Eleven Additional Member Firms

Sustainable Trading, the non-profit organisation dedicated to transforming environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices in the trading industry, founded by industry veteran Duncan Higgins earlier this year, has announced an additional 11 firms have joined its membership network. This brings the total number of members of 41 financial services organisations.

As well as working with its members to drive positive ESG change in their own businesses, Sustainable Trading will also oversee a benchmarking and transparency framework to enable clear and efficient communication of progress on best practice, facilitating an ethos of continuous ESG improvement.