FCA Urges Refocus of Diversity Data, Reveals ESG Ratings Code Plan

The UK’s financial overseer has urged firms to review their use of data to improve their diversity and inclusion performance. Sheldon Mills, the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) executive director for consumers and competition said firms are focusing too closely on gender and diversity, rather than socio-economic data. The call follows the FCA’s announcement that it would form a code of conduct for ESG ratings firms.

DTCC Launches Report Hub Service

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the post-trade market infrastructure organisation, has launched DTCC Report Hub’s assisted reporting model, allowing sell-side firms to help their buy-side clients manage the complexities of meeting multiple regulatory reporting mandates across jurisdictions and asset classes.

The solution enables sell-side firm to submit trade details for their underlying clients, who can also add supplemental data directly into Report Hub, which then performs reporting eligibility checks across jurisdictional requirements and transmits the trade data for automatic reporting via an authorized trade repository.

Santander Bank Polska Deploys Horizon for Market Making on Global Connect

Horizon Software, the electronic trading solutions provider, is extending its partnership with Santander by supporting Santander Brokerage Poland, a part of Santander Bank Polska, to introduce market makers onto Global Connect, the new equity market recently launched by the Warsaw Stock Exchange, with Horizon’s Platform for Market Making, connecting to the Warsaw Stock Exchange.

Rate of Annual Sanctions Growth Nears 15%, According to Refinitiv Report

The Russia-Ukraine war has caused rapid sanctions inflation since March in several autonomous sanctions programs, contributing to a sanctions inflation rate of 14.6% year on year, according to London Stock Exchange Group’s Refinitiv Global Sanctions Index (GSI).

Refinitiv’s annual GSI white paper, the second edition of which was released last week, measures and analyses rising hyperinflation of autonomously issued sanctions programmes. The rapid inflation since March marks what Refinitiv describes as a major shift in the volumes of sanctions autonomously issued by national governments or regional bodies. The once-prevalent consensus-based sanctions mechanisms created under the aegis of the UN are an increasingly minor component of the GSI, representing just 2% of overall sanctions.

Companies Linked to Climate Risk Surges in Two Years, Says RepRisk

The percentage of companies whose business is at risk of climate impacts has risen 70 per cent in two years, according to technology provider RepRisk, which uses a variety of geolocated datasets to establish ESG hotspots around the world. Of those, 80 per cent were private companies. The number of companies at risk is now 2,200, 1,500 of which are private, RepRisk said.

ICE Service Enables Disclosure According to TCFD Framework

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has unveiled a tool that helps its financial institution clients disclose their sustainability performance in line with Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). The new service pulls in ICE’s climate transition data and analytics, corporate-entity and green bond data.

Proprietary Trading Firms Plan to Increase Tech Spending in 2023, says Industry Report

Proprietary trading firms are increasing their technology budgets in anticipation of another strong year of trading in 2023, according to the latest Acuiti Proprietary Trading Management Insight Report, produced in partnership with Avelacom

The report surveyed over 100 senior proprietary trading executives from across the globe and found that 68% were planning above average technology budgets in 2023. Reflecting the importance of speed in times of volatile market conditions and droughts of liquidity, their stated focus areas will be improving latency, as well as connectivity to new markets.

EFRAG Gives Nod to EU Corporate Sustainable Reporting Standards

ESG reporting standards for European companies have been approved. The European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) gave its backing to the final version of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), which will prescribe how companies must disclose their ESG performance.

EuroCCP Rebrands to Cboe Clear Europe

Pan-European clearing house EuroCCP, which was acquired by Cboe Global Markets in July 2020, has rebranded to Cboe Clear Europe with immediate effect. Under Cboe’s ownership, Cboe Clear Europe has enhanced its position as a leading pan-European cash equities clearing house, as well as diversifying into equity derivatives following the launch of Cboe’s pan-European derivatives exchange, Cboe Europe Derivatives (CEDX), in September 2021.

Cboe Clear Europe will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary of the Cboe group, retaining a separate governance structure and management team.

With Intelligence Launches With HFM Data Service to Provide Actionable Insights on Hedge Fund Market

With Intelligence, the investment intelligence provider, has launch a new data service onto its data and insight platform. With HFM merges insights from the HFM ecosystem with those of EurekaHedge, alongside market insights from a team of specialist journalists, to provide rich data on investors, performance data on funds including indices, and mandates (RFPs).

The new With HFM service also offer a filterable dataset of investors’ intentions and preferences, to provide an actionable overview of the latest market moves.