TradingTech Insight Brief
Moody’s Analytics Knowledge Services Rebrand to Acuity Following Sale
Moody’s Corporation has completed the sale of Moody’s Analytics Knowledge Services (MAKS) to private equity firm Equistone Partners Europe. MAKS is a knowledge process outsourcing service providing high-value research and analytical support. With backing from Equistone, MAKS has rebranded to Acuity Knowledge Partners and will continue to provide customised knowledge services to a client base of over 300 financial services firms globally, in domains such as investment banking and investment research. The business is headquartered in London and operates from nine locations worldwide, employing a workforce of subject matter experts supported by its proprietary business excellence and automation tools.
Open:FactSet Marketplace Adds State Street MediaStats Equity Indicators
FactSet has added State Street’s MediaStats Equity Indicators to its Open:FactSet Marketplace. The MediaStats indicators have been developed in partnership with MKT MediaStats, an academic research firm, and scour more than 100,000 media sources as well as other big data sources to estimate future price changes and risks pertaining to individual equities, country equity indexes, and foreign exchange rates. The indicators use natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to account for biases and filter out noise in the media. Media-derived insights are aggregated to provide broader industry and macroeconomic trends, and help users improve investment decisions.
Trading Technologies Adds Connectivity to Mexican Derivatives Exchange
Trading Technologies International (TT) and the Mexican Derivatives Exchange (MexDer), a subsidiary of the Mexican stock exchange Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, have announced that all derivative products listed on MexDer will be available globally to users of the TT platform in Q4 2019. TT clients will be able to leverage TT’s suite of tools, which includes functionality for charting and analytics, mobile trading, options, FIX services and API development, to trade all derivatives listed on MexDer. This includes the widely followed futures and options contracts on the S&P/BMV IPC Mexican Equity Index, MXN/USD FX and Mexican Government Bond.
Nomura Makes Tsuwamono FX Algorithms Available on BidFX
Nomura has made its five FX algorithmic strategies, the FX Algo Tsuwamono Series, available on the BidFX platform. Each strategy offers a wide range of flexibility on executions suited to client requirements and trading preferences. The deal builds on an existing relationship between Nomura and BidFX, and is expected to benefit mutual institutional FX clients.
MoonX Releases Super-Fast Trading Technology in UK
MoonX has released its trading technology in the UK, offering software and hardware systems, including blockchain technology, to exchanges, brokerages, hedge funds, financial institutions and traders. It claims the world’s fastest exchange software, matching 25 million transactions per second and processing one order in 6 nano seconds, with processing speed delivered by patent pending matching engine technology that produces computational and processing speed advantages the company says have never previously been achieved. The exchange is built with enterprise-grade security, is hosted on physical servers, and uses AI, facial and mood recognition technology to exceed two-factor authentication.
Tradeteq Partners with Wroclaw University to Boost AI capabilities for Supply Chain Credit Analysis
Tradeteq, an electronic trading platform for institutional trade finance investors, has partnered with researchers at Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (WUST) to explore and develop new models for data analysis using artificial intelligence (AI). Tradeteq has developed an advanced credit-scoring model for SMEs and corporations that uses machine learning tools to apply an evidence-based credit score for each company. The six-month collaboration with WUST’s Computer Science department, led by Dr Tomasz Kajdanowicz, will explore how company and trade flow data can be better analysed to improve supply chain credit analysis.
Refinitiv and NRI Go-live with Automated International Post-Trade Brokerage Processing
Refinitiv and Nomura Research Institute (NRI) have finally completed and taken live the software integration of NRI’s I-STAR/GX software platform into Refinitiv’s BETA wealth management brokerage processing platform, first mooted in the firms’ strategic partnership announced back in 2018. The partnership enables global diversification for Refinitiv’s retail and institutional clients, providing wealth management firms with automated settlement and straight-through processing of trades executed across all markets. I-STAR/GX allows these processes through a high-volume solution with single-stock record across all asset classes and markets, and real-time updates of intra-day transaction status changes across the settlement lifecycle.
FCA Authorises Bloomberg Index Services as a Regulated Benchmark Administrator
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has authorised Bloomberg Index Services Limited (BISL) as a regulated UK benchmark administrator under the European Union Benchmark Regulation. BISL has conducted index administration since 2014, including serving as the administrator of the Bloomberg Barclays fixed income indices. In addition, it administers the Bloomberg Commodity Index, the UBS Bloomberg CMCI index, the Bloomberg AusBond family, Bloomberg’s BFIX, the Bloomberg Currency Indices and a number of strategy and custom index offerings.
IHS Markit Expands Global Dividend Forecasting Service
IHS Markit has doubled the number of companies covered by its Dividend Forecasting service. The expanded global service covers 28,000 stocks in more than 90 markets, providing up to five years of dividend forecast data for each stock covered and offering index providers, derivatives desks, asset managers and hedge funds with one of the broadest sets of dividend forecasts available. The model underpinning the expanded coverage was developed by the company’s data science team and includes machine learning, statistical modelling and time series analysis techniques that uncover patterns in multiple datasets and enable extended coverage of dividend forecasting.
TRG Screen Integrates Axon PEAR Information into FITS and INFOmatch
Following TRG Screen’s June 2019 acquisition of Axon and its PEAR (Policies, Explanations, Analytics, Repository) solution that consolidates exchange information including policies and pricing into a searchable online database, Axon says PEAR has reached coverage of over 250 markets and monitors over 650 documents and exchange notices daily. Over the past year, Axon has also added functionality to PEAR including vendor data notifications and comPEAR, which provides users with the ability to relate older versions of agreements with more recent iterations. TRG is working to integrate PEAR information into its FITS and INFOmatch spend management platforms.