STP LaunchAdvisor Combines Fund Admin and Compliance for New and Emerging Funds

STP Investment Services has released STP LaunchAdvisor, a bundled service aimed at helping emerging hedge fund and private equity managers navigate operational and regulatory complexities. The solution integrates fund administration and compliance into a single offering, reducing the need for multiple service providers and streamlining essential processes.

STP LaunchAdvisor is designed to create efficiencies by leveraging client and portfolio data across fund administration and compliance functions. For example, regulatory filings prepared by STP’s ComplianceAdvisor team utilize the same data used in fund administration, reducing duplication and improving accuracy. The service also includes access to STP’s BluePrint platform, which centralizes investment operations, reporting, and analytics.

In addition to operational support, STP LaunchAdvisor provides hands-on guidance for new managers, helping them understand service requirements, provider coordination, and long-term business setup. The offering connects managers with a network of preferred providers, including audit, tax, prime brokerage, and legal firms, to facilitate essential services at competitive rates.

“With market conditions in 2025 expected to drive increased fund launch activity, new managers need cost-effective, comprehensive solutions to support their operational and regulatory needs,” said David Goldstein, Director of Fund Administration Product at STP Investment Services. “STP LaunchAdvisor is designed to remove complexity, reduce costs and time to market, ensure compliance, and streamline regulatory filings. We provide hands-on expertise, ensuring that managers have the tools and guidance they need from day one.”

STP emphasizes the importance of early-stage support, particularly for managers entering the market for the first time. “STP LaunchAdvisor is more than just a service – STP’s service team builds true partnerships with new managers who need more support in the early stages,” said Emmy Bernard, Chief Revenue Officer at STP Investment Services. “Our solution not only supports new managers but ensures they can adapt and thrive in an ever-changing market, with technology, compliance, and operational efficiency built in to keep them ahead of the curve.”

By integrating fund administration and compliance functions, STP aims to provide emerging managers with the infrastructure needed to scale efficiently while maintaining regulatory oversight. The approach aligns with broader industry trends favoring streamlined operations and cost efficiency in fund management.

DTCC’s NSCC to Extend Clearing Hours to Support Overnight Trading by 2026

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has announced that its subsidiary, the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC), will extend clearing hours to support overnight trading, with implementation targeted for Q2 2026, pending regulatory approval. The expansion aims to enhance liquidity and reduce counterparty risk by applying NSCC’s central counterparty guarantee to global overnight activity.

This initiative builds on NSCC’s September 2024 phase 1 implementation, which allowed trade submissions starting at 1:30 AM ET, 2.5 hours earlier than before. Under phase 2, NSCC will operate 24×5, from Sunday 8:00 PM ET to Friday 8:00 PM ET, accommodating Alternative Trading Systems (ATS) and exchanges. NSCC is collaborating with SIFMA, regulators, and market participants to align extended trading hours across ATS and exchange providers while addressing post-trade process adjustments.

Nasdaq Expands Technology Partnership with nuam to Enhance Latin American Post-Trade Processing

Nasdaq and the merged entity of the Santiago, Lima, and Colombia stock exchanges, have extended their strategic technology partnership to enable all three exchanges’ central securities depositories (CSDs) to adopt Nasdaq’s CSD platform to streamline post-trade processing, enhance market access, and reduce operational barriers in the region.

This initiative builds on Nasdaq’s existing collaboration with nuam, which is already consolidating its trading infrastructure on Nasdaq’s platform. It also leverages Nasdaq’s long-standing relationship with Chile’s CSD, Depósito Central de Valores (DCV). The unified post-trade solution will align with international standards, improving liquidity and efficiency across the three markets. A recent Nasdaq survey highlighted investor interest in Latin America but pointed to structural challenges. The adoption of Nasdaq’s CSD technology aims to address these concerns by increasing automation, reducing fragmentation, and attracting global investment to the region.

SimCorp Axioma Users Have Access to Yield Book Fixed Income Data

Yield Book’s securitised debt analytics have been incorporated into SimCorp’s Axioma risk management system. The partnership builds on the Danish fixed-income data integration provider’s collaboration with Yield Book’s parent LSEG Analytics.

Users of SaaS-based Axioma will now have access to in-depth risk data, said Allen Zimmerman, Managing Director, Head of Americas at SimCorp.

“This partnership extends the depth of our fixed income capabilities by leveraging Yield Book’s market-renowned prepayment models and analytics directly within our products to support the most sophisticated fixed income and multi-asset managers,” Zimmerman said. “This is another step toward enabling faster and more informed investment decisions.”

Mosaic Smart Data Acquired by AI Insights Specialist Behavox

Mosaic Smart Data, which provides institutional investors with tools to mine insights from their transaction data, has been acquired by artificial intelligence insights company Behavox.

London-based Mosaic’s software, which provides liquidity discovery for over-the-counter markets to clients including JPMorgan and ING, will be deployed to enrich Behavox’s trade surveillance technology, which is undergoing customer testing.

“We are excited to join Behavox at a time when AI adoption in financial markets is accelerating,” said Mosaic chief executive Matthew Hodgson. “Customers increasingly seek AI-driven insights to analyse pre-trade journeys and extract intelligence from communication data to help them make more money.”

Snowflake Provides Access to OpenAi Models in Expanded Microsoft Collaboration

Users of Snowflake’s Cortex AI platform now have access to OpenAI’s models through an expanded partnership with Microsoft, enabling them to create artificial intelligence data agents to streamline workflows.

Described by Snowflake as a “watershed moment”, the new capabilities will be available by the integration of Snowflake Cortex AI with Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service in Azure AI Foundry. Snowflake said the new offering will save businesses time and money.

“There’s enormous power in our customers being able to use OpenAI models directly in Snowflake’s secure platform, unlocking multimodal, agentic, and conversational AI use cases that drive high impact,” said Christian Kleinerman, executive vice president of product at Snowflake.

Oracle Adds Agentic AI to Investigation Hub for Financial Crime

Oracle Financial Services has added a broad set of agentic AI capabilities to its Investigation Hub Cloud Service, aimed at helping financial institutions automate parts of their investigative workflow and reduce manual effort when tackling financial crime.

The new AI agents are designed to assist investigators by gathering evidence, surfacing key insights, and generating detailed case narratives—tasks that often require significant time and effort. By handling these elements automatically, the system allows investigators to focus on the more complex aspects of cases, particularly those involving sophisticated criminal schemes.

Jason Somrak, head of financial crime product strategy at Oracle Financial Services, described the development as a “paradigm shift in financial crime investigations,” noting that Oracle’s approach allows AI agents to “follow investigative plans, collect evidence, and recommend actions while providing investigators with robust narratives documenting the findings.” According to Somrak, this process “enables firms to drive consistency in decision making and thoroughly investigate all risks automatically.”

The move reflects growing demands on financial institutions to detect and respond to increasingly complex financial crime threats, all while navigating heightened regulatory expectations. Traditional investigation methods—often reliant on manual data collection and analysis—can be slow and inconsistent, exposing firms to risks from bad actors and regulatory risks of non-compliance.

Unlike AI chatbots that depend on investigators asking specific questions, Oracle’s AI agents are built to proactively analyse alert data, identify connections (such as matches with sanction lists), and generate comprehensive narratives that summarize each case. The goal is to provide investigators with clear, relevant information to support more informed and timely decisions.

These AI-driven features form part of Oracle’s broader suite of financial crime and compliance tools, which are increasingly leveraging generative AI to improve the speed, consistency, and reliability of financial investigations.

DTCC to Expand Global Trade Repository Service with MiFID/R Reporting

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has announced plans to introduce a Markets in Financial Instruments Directive/Regulation (MiFID/R) Approved Reporting Mechanism (ARM) service within its Global Trade Repository (GTR). Pending regulatory approval, the service is set to launch in the UK by Q1 2026 and in the EU in alignment with forthcoming regulatory changes.

The new MiFID/R ARM service will support firms in meeting transaction reporting obligations, offering data quality analytics, smart monitoring tools, and exception management features. It will also include a back-reporting channel with queuing and in-sequence processing, along with end-of-day reports for issue resolution. As the only industry-owned global trade reporting provider, DTCC’s GTR will now integrate derivatives and securities trade reporting, enabling firms to enhance cost efficiency, governance, and operational risk management through a unified platform.

BlockFills and CQG Partner to Stream Cryptocurrency Liquidity on CQG Platform

BlockFills, the digital asset trading and market technology company, has partnered with CQG, the global provider of trading technology, to stream BlockFills’ cryptocurrency liquidity onto the CQG platform. This collaboration will provide CQG’s client base with reliable cryptocurrency pricing while enabling BlockFills market participants to access CQG’s institutional-grade trading tools. The partnership also expands liquidity access to CQG’s network of exchanges, brokers, and trading firms worldwide.

Integration is already underway, with the launch expected by the end of Q2. Initially, BlockFills’ Bitcoin CFD products will be streamed, followed by spot and forward contracts. Eligible BlockFills customers will also gain access to CQG’s applications and API, including advanced trading tools. Fiat cash-settled derivatives will be available via BlockFills’ UK affiliate, Basis Capital Markets UK Ltd, regulated by the FCA. More digital assets will be added in the future.

SimCorp Successfully Implements Front-Office Solution for Ampega

SimCorp has successfully implemented its front-office solution for Ampega, a German asset manager overseeing over EUR 180 billion in assets. By adopting SimCorp One, Ampega has streamlined its system landscape, reducing costs and improving efficiency. The phased implementation was completed on time and within budget, ensuring minimal business disruption.

Ampega, the asset manager for Talanx Group, has been a SimCorp client for 20 years, previously utilising its middle and back-office solutions. The transition to a full front-to-back setup consolidates core functionalities within a single system, enhancing operational efficiency. SimCorp’s multi-asset IBOR enables real-time data integration across front, middle, and back-office functions, improving risk management and investment decision-making.