Horizon Software Launches Composite Spreader to Automate Spread Execution

Electronic trading solutions vendor Horizon Software has launched a purpose-built Composite Spreader as part of its broader OMS roadmap, to automate the execution of multi-leg spreads. The product, which is now live and can be integrated with Horizon’s algo framework, provides clients with a user interface to define synthetic multi-leg spreads with a set of trading paramaters, which can then be executed automatically.

Horizon leveraged its proven algo technology and expertise in high frequency trading to develop the Composite Spreader, which is designed to respond rapidly to market movements, and comes with advanced safety features in case liquidity cannot be sourced.

McKay Brothers Launches Low-Latency Connectivity Between Chicago Hub and Asian Centres

Low-latency wireless networking specialist McKay Brothers International is now offering private bandwidth between the Chicago exchange data centre hub in Aurora, Illinois, and major trading venues in Asia, expanding the global reach of its low-latency connectivity services. End points McKay offers in Asia include Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore and Shanghai. For ultra-low latency circuits, the company is leveraging its wireless expertise in combination with fibre wherever possible.

The company’s first hybrid wireless/fiber network in Asia – between Tokyo and Singapore – opened in 2016. Last year, McKay launched what it claimed to be the fastest link between Illinois and Busan, Korea, and has since expanded to offer connectivity to Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Equiduct Partners EOSE to Explore New Data Products

Equiduct, a retail focused pan-European exchange, has partnered EOSE, a market data specialist, to strengthen distribution of its market data products that offer a real-time view of pre-trade and post-trade data. EOSE will provide Equiduct with a team of data sales and business development professionals, allowing Equiduct to concentrate on developing core business strategies, while exploring new data products and routes to market. Equiduct says the partnership provides resource to drive growth and innovation in market data products, while ensuring it remains focused on delivering solutions to enhance the trading experience for its clients and end investors in Europe.

SIX Invests in Orenda to Offer Real-time, High-frequency ESG Scores

SIX is taking a majority stake in Orenda Software Solutions, a Canadian AI platform specialising in ESG and alternative data sets, and providing real-time, high-frequency ESG scores and insights into a company’s reputation to measure the sustainability and societal impact of an investment. Marion Leslie, head of financial information at SIX, says: “With Orenda we have found the right partner with unique expertise in alternative data sets, data science and ESG. As we bring our capabilities and the expertise of our teams together, we see a lot of opportunities to build new propositions supporting the growth of impact investing.”

Natwest Markets Taps ipushpull for PPQ Price Negotiation Tool

Natwest Markets has implemented ipullpull’s PPQ (Pushpull Quotes) for price negotiation of non-standard and complex trades. PPQ is a pre-trade workflow tool that automates the negotiation process between the buy and sell side. It uses messaging networks like Symphony and standardised syntax within private bilateral chats to allow trading and sales to communicate detailed pricing and quote information. Chatbots can interpret key data within those messages, display them within a custom application and allow the user to drive the workflow from a single screen. Data mapping transforms incoming and outgoing data into the required format, creating an extensible solution to interoperate between new and existing standards. The inclusion of structured data objects within messages, containing instrument definitions, event descriptions and a wealth of other metadata, can further aid automation of pre-trade workflow.

ION Continues Acquisition Spree with Purchase of Dash Financial

ION Investment Group – owner of such esteemed trading technology brands as Fidessa, Dealogic, Caplin, FfastFill, Iris Financial, OpenLink, FSS and others – has added another property to its portfolio, in the form of New York-based options trading tech specialist Dash Financial Technologies. ION has agreed to acquire Dash from private equity firm Flexpoint Ford. Jefferies LLC served as financial advisor to DASH and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Flexpoint Ford and Dash.

TA Associates Sells ITRS Stake to Montagu Private Equity

Montagu Private Equity has agreed to acquire a majority position in ITRS Group, a global provider of real-time monitoring and analytics software, from TA Associates, which will remain a minority holder alongside Montagu and Management. Financial terms were not disclosed but completion is expected next month, subject to regulatory approvals.London-headquartered ITRS Group has over 3,000 clients worldwide, including nine out of the ten Tier 1 investment banks. In September 2020 it acquired Uptrends, a Netherlands-based web performance monitoring solution, to strengthen its product suite.

Covid-19 is Impacting Banks’ Operational Resilience, Warns EBA

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has issued a preliminary assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the EU banking sector, warning that operational resilience is now under pressure. “Following the outbreak of the pandemic, banks have activated their contingency plans, which have allowed them to keep their core functions broadly unaffected. However, the handling of large volumes of applications for debt moratoria and guaranteed loans, and the insufficient preparation of some offshore units to work remotely added some pressure on their operational capacities,” says the regulator.

Push and Baker Technology Partner on Bespoke Real-Time Trading Systems

California’s Push Technology, which provides real-time data streaming and messaging solutions, has partnered with London-based Baker Technology, a specialist user interface software engineering firm that builds bespoke trading systems for global investment banks and exchanges. Through the partnership, Baker will use Push’s Diffusion Real-Time API Management platform to provide a single, secure, unified gateway for distributing and synchronizing shared data models out to their on-premise and cloud-based trading systems built in HTML5. Financial service firms will be able to outsource UI development to Baker – while using Diffusion, Baker can reduce the development time it spends writing the network stack to connect their user interfaces to a variety of data services.

Intesa Sanpaolo to Build Data Centers with Google Cloud

Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo has signed an agreement with TIM and Google to leverage cloud services from Google, using TIM’s Data Centers in Italy. The collaboration will culminate in the creation of two Google Cloud Regions, in Turin and Milan, using TIM Data Centers and enabling Intesa Sanpaolo to develop its own digital services. Innovative technology infrastructure will also be built in Turin to provide Google Cloud services, including a centre dedicated to AI, training and professional support for start-ups through initiatives to be defined jointly by Intesa Sanpaolo, TIM and Google Cloud. A second Cloud Region is planned for Milan to ensure business continuity.