QuantCube Launches Crude Oil Risk Sentiment Indicator

Alternative data specialist QuantCube Technology has launched the QuantCube Crude Oil Risk Sentiment Indicator, which uses natural language processing (NLP) in Arabic and English to accurately capture short-term market risk and predict price movements. By using Arabic social media data, information available on crude oil is increased more than five-fold, creating the most comprehensive crude oil sentiment indicator in the market, according to the company. The Indicator processes multiple factors impacting crude oil prices in real time, including OPEC meetings, production and stocks. As a result, Quantcube claims it can provide insights several hours in advance of traditional news outlets, giving commodity traders and hedge funds an edge in the market.

Archax Completes First Fundraising Round for Subsidiary Montis Digital

Archax, the UK regulated and registered digital securities exchange, broker and custodian, working with DLA Piper, has completed the first fundraise on its Primary Issuance Platform, an oversubscribed round of $1.5 million for its recently announced Montis Digital subsidiary, which is building blockchain-based market infrastructure for the post-trade ecosystem.

Participants in the raise were onboarded through the Archax website portal, with holdings maintained and recorded in the Archax regulated custody service, ready for future digital token issuance. The DLA Piper regulatory compliance platform was also used to automate the applicable regulatory requirements and to create the required legal documents for participating in a digital issuance. Also party to the raise was US broker/dealer GB Capital Markets, acting as placement agent for US investor participants.

SmartStream Adds Intelligent Exceptions Management Design to SmartStream Air

Financial solutions provider SmartStream Technologies has launched a new intelligent exceptions management design for its cloud-native AI-powered SmartStream Air solution. The enhancement, which follows the release of TLM Aurora Universal Data Control earlier this year, is designed to further simplify the typically complex and manual exceptions management process for data reconciliations. The new design aims to reduce manual touchpoints around identification, prioritisation, allocation and audit, and to provide real-time and dynamic business insights and analytics, for more effective management of risk and greater operational insight.

ION Commodities’ Openlink Replaces 30+ Legacy Systems at Constellation

ION Commodities, a global provider of commodities trading and risk management solutions, has implemented its Openlink CTRM solution at Constellation, a US provider of clean energy solutions. Openlink will manage Constellation’s end-to-end wholesale energy operations, replacing over 30 legacy systems, and will serve as a single source of truth and system of record. The ‘Wholesale Transformation Program’ project enables Constellation to manage its global commodity business through a single CTRM, covering trading and risk management operations for power, natural gas, emissions, renewable energy credits, and other fuels It is expected to save Constellation thousands of hours on manual processes and data reconciliation, and to provide a simplified technology infrastructure, delivering improved operational processes, increased automation, consolidated risk management across business lines, and a scalable solution that supports business growth.

Council of Europe Development Bank Implements Bloomberg MARS Front Office

The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) has adopted its Bloomberg’s Multi-Asset Risk System, MARS Front Office, to enable the bank to assess the impact of trading activity on the risk profile of its books.

MARS Front Office will provide the CEB with consolidated pricing and risk analytics, including pre-trade and daily post-trade valuations, Greeks and scenario analysis. The bank will also use Bloomberg’s new ‘PnL Explain’ reports, which show fluctuations in market value and the contributions of the various underlying market factors.

The CEB is a long-standing customer of Bloomberg and also uses BVAL Derivatives, a pricing service that provides independent valuation for derivatives, and MARS XVA for counterparty risk management.

BSO Partners with EllaLink to Develop Financial Markets Between Europe and Latin America

Infrastructure & connectivity provider BSO has partnered with EllaLink, the express optical platform between Europe and Latin America, to put in place the necessary ultra-low latency connectivity and infrastructure to enable trading firms from around the world to access B3 and other Latin American markets.

To date, European and Asian firms wanting to trade the Brazilian markets have had to transit through the US. EllaLink’s reduced cross-Atlantic latencies between Europe and Brazil are expected to make previously uneconomic trading strategies more viable.

MarketFactory Partners with Tradefeedr

MarketFactory, part of ION Markets, has established a strategic partnership with Tradefeedr, the independent FX data and analytics provider, to broaden access to trading information for clients of both companies.

By integrating the two platforms, the partnership aims to deliver a seamless trading experience and to enhance transparency and trust levels across the FX market by enabling clients to review their trading markouts, impacts, and spreads directly with liquidity providers, using a common platform and shared data sets. Tradefeedr’s data analytics solution will be available as an add-on to new and existing customers using the MarketFactory service.

Deutsche Boerse Partners with Digital Asset for New Digital Post-trade Platform

Digital Asset and Deutsche Boerse have announced a long-term strategic partnership, to build the exchange’s new fully digital post-trade platform, D7. The new cloud-backed and DLT-ready platform will be designed to cover the entire value chain of issuance, custody, settlement, and asset servicing for digital securities. In the first phase of the project roll-out, Deutsche Boerse is working with Digital Asset to build a central registry system. In subsequent rollouts, D7 will also support same-day-issuance and paperless, automated straight-through processing for certificates and warrants.

New Meritsoft Report Highlights True Costs of Post-Trade Processing

Banks across Europe and North America are spending large sums in post-trade expense fees as a result of inefficient legacy systems, lack of automation, and the inability to persist data through the workflow, new research claims. According to a report on brokerage, clearing, custody and exchange costs from Meritsoft, a subsidiary of Cognizant that specialises in post-trade process automation, trade expenses can reach up to $750 million for the majority of banks surveyed, and have reduced profits by up to 20%. Managing trade expense has now become a priority for nine in ten firms, according to the report, which outlines solutions on how the problems can be addressed.

Turquoise Plato Connects to OpenFin to Improve Buy-Side Workflow

Turquoise Plato, the London Stock Exchange’s non-displayed order book, has connected to OpenFin, the operating system for enterprise productivity, to deliver application interoperability and a more unified desktop experience for buy-side trading desks. With this collaboration, Turquoise on OpenFin will leverage OpenFin’s open architecture to deliver data directly into trader workflows to support liquidity discovery and decision-making processes. FlexTrade Systems will be the first platform to deliver the Turquoise data feed into their EMS via the OpenFin message bus, providing traders with the ability to act on that data, automate processes and take advantage of emerging liquidity opportunities.