ISS Finds European Corporate ESG Disclosures Soared in 2022

Environmental metrics disclosures by European companies were up 45 per cent in 2022 compared with the year before, according to a study by ISS Corporate Solutions. Social metrics disclosures were 36 per cent higher, the study found. Corporate disclosures add to the body of ESG data on which financial institutions rely to make informed sustainability and impact investments.

Meanwhile, ISS ESG, the company’s sustainable investment business, has said it will update its Environmental & Social Disclosure QualityScore scoring methodology later this year. The update will introduce 60 new scoring factors and remove 50. About 100 more will be adjusted. The reframing of the score comes changes to disclosures and materiality assessments, ISS ESG said.

ISSB Calls for Feedback on Future Priorities

The International Sustainable Standards Board is asking the financial industry what its priorities for the next two years should be. The umbrella body for ESG disclosure standards organisations said it the four options were to focus on biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services; human capital; human rights; and, integration in reporting.

LIST Facilitates Seamless Migration of Borsa Italiana Clients to Euronext’s Optiq Trading Platform

LIST, an ION company, has successfully upgraded its market making and trading FastTrade solution, enabling the migration of Borsa Italiana trading clients to Euronext’s Optiq technology trading platform. This follows Euronext’s acquisition of the Borsa Italiana Cash and Derivatives markets exchange in April 2021 and offers clients advanced trading functionalities specific to Optiq.

To ensure a seamless transition, LIST activated new data centres, communication lines, and software versions. The migration grants Italian trading clients access to an international investor base and a wider range of products and services. This initiative highlights LIST’s commitment to providing optimal solutions for Italian financial markets.

LSEG Introduces Turquoise Retail Max to Support Best Execution for Retail Brokers

LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) has launched Turquoise Retail Max, a new trading service aimed at helping European retail brokers meet their best execution obligations and delivering price improvements for retail investors trading pan-European securities. Available through Turquoise Europe, the service utilises a competitive multilateral auction process and efficient processing from trading to clearing and settlement.

Turquoise Retail Max, accessible via the Turquoise Plato Lit Auctions order book, aims to achieve the best possible outcomes for retail investor orders by using a price formation mechanism based on liquidity from specialist retail liquidity providers and other market participants. The first liquidity providers to utilise the service will be Hudson River Trading and Stifel.

Appital Integrates with Virtu Financial’s Triton Valor EMS for Enhanced Investment Opportunities

Appital, the equity markets technology solution, has announced the integration of Virtu Financial’s Triton Valor Execution Management System (EMS) with Appital Turquoise BookBuilder, the algorithmic bookbuilding platform. The integration will allow buy-side firms to receive Appital liquidity opportunities directly into their workflows and trading infrastructure, enabling them to access previously inaccessible cross-border deal flow opportunities.

Among the first firms to access Appital’s bookbuilding platform via the Triton Valor EMS are Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Unigestion SA, Principal Financial Group, Groupama Asset Management, and BBVA Asset Management.

ION Markets’ LatentZero OMS Integrates with Trumid

ION Markets has announced the integration of its LatentZero OMS with Trumid, a fixed income electronic trading platform. This connection will enable users to interact with a wider group of buy and sell-side market participants, providing greater access to liquidity and trading opportunities while ensuring trade compliance from the LatentZero OMS.

The integration also offers access to Trumid’s integrated market data intelligence tools, delivering enhanced transparency across the trade lifecycle and a personalised experience, including smart notifications to guide and inform trading decisions.

Vancity Investment Management Extends Bloomberg Stack with PORT Enterprise

Vancity Investment Management, one of the first wealth management firms in Canada to focus on investments that deliver competitive returns while making a positive impact on the world, has adopted PORT Enterprise, Bloomberg’s advanced portfolio and risk analytics solution, along with Bloomberg Data License, the technology that delivers Bloomberg’s data content sets across the enterprise to further streamline its portfolio management operations.

This is the latest expansion to Vancity’s suite of Bloomberg buy-side solutions supporting the firm’s investment workflow, adding to its use of Bloomberg AIM, an order and investment management system.

Finastra Offers Clients Alternative Data from Alygne

Financial technology provider Finastra is to offer clients alternative ESG data from Alygne. London-based Finastra said the partnership with the data-scraping specialist would enable investors to manage their ESG objectives through integration with its Fusion Invest tool.

dwpbank and valantic FSA Launch wpNex Digital Assets Platform for German Banks

Deutsche WertpapierService Bank AG (dwpbank) has partnered with valantic FSA to launch the “wpNex” digital assets platform, enabling 1,200 banks and savings banks in Germany to trade digital assets for themselves and their customers. Initially offering cryptocurrency trading, wpNex will gradually expand to include regulated trading of other digital assets.

Valantic FSA’s automation platform connects existing core banking systems with the trading system of the execution broker, wallet provider, and settlement service provider, providing an automated workflow between parties. This enables banks to offer customers access to cryptocurrency trading through existing systems while significantly reducing transaction costs.

Bloomberg to Host ESG Book Data

Bloomberg is to offer ESG Book content to its customers, providing them with company-reported emissions and other climate-related data. ESG Book, which is a collaboration between data provider and asset manager Arabesque as well as a number of major banks and financial companies, covers almost 10,000 companies in its datasets.