OpenFin Expands to Government Sector

OpenFin, the operating system of enterprise productivity, has expanded out outside of the finance sector for the first time by entered into a strategic partnership with, and securing investment from, In-Q-Tel (IQT), the not-for-profit strategic investor serving the U.S. intelligence and national security community.

The company has also announced record growth for the first half of 2022, with a number of significant wins in the finance space. The software is now used at more than 3,800 banks, wealth and asset management firms in 60+ countries.

Rimes Offers Clients DEI Data from Denominator

Diversity, equity and inclusivity (DEI) metrics specialist Denominator is to provide data and scores to financial institution clients of ESG data management company Rimes Technologies. Rimes, which won two gongs in this year’s A-Team Innovation Awards, described the new partnership as a “great addition to our data universe”. Denominator’s metrics are based on more than 650 DEI variables applied to more than 1.5 million private and public companies.

McObject Extends Capabilities of eXtremeDB in Version 8.3

McObject has released version 8.3 of eXtremeDB, a hybrid in-memory and persistent database management systems (DBMS) that can be used as an embedded database with or without SQL, a client/server database, and a distributed database. New features in eXtremeDB 8.3 include: server-side authentication when using eXtremeDB as a client/server DBMS; addition of authentication to the JDBC driver; C# SQL API for .NET 5 and .NET 6;  and SQL execution engine improvements.

FactSet Partners Brazilian News and Market Data Vendor Agência Estado

FactSet has struck a strategic partnership with Agência Estado, a real-time news and market data vendor in Brazil. The partnership integrates Agência Estado’s Portuguese-language newswire into FactSet’s workstation to create the Broadcast+ FactSet Workstation, a co-branded solution combining local Brazilian news and content from Agência Estado with FactSet’s data, analytics, and technology services.

FI Feedback Sought in Creation of GFANZ Corporate Climate Data Hub

Financial institutions and auditing companies have been invited to offer their expertise and feedback on the creation of a global corporate climate performance database backed by the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). The One Planet Data Hub would be handed over to the United Nations once it is complete, and a prototype service is expected to be unveiled next year. Regulators and standards setters are already involved in the project, as are data providers including Moody’s and S&P.

Bloomberg Expands Sustainable Fixed Income Index Offering

Bloomberg has added new sustainable bond indices to its suite of ESG-focused products. The Bloomberg Global Aggregate Green, Social, Sustainability Bond Indices will be built on the financial data giant’s Bloomberg Global Aggregate Index, the Bloomberg Sustainable Finance Group’s green, social and sustainability bond indicators, and metrics aligned to the International Capital Market Association Green Bond, Social Bond and Sustainability Bond Principles and Guidelines.

CQG Partners with Lime to Offer Trade Execution on US Equities

Trading technology solutions provider CQG has expanded its partnership with technology-driven broker-dealer Lime Trading Corp. CQG’s front-end trading platforms are now integrated and certified into Lime’s back end for trade execution, giving CQG clients the ability to seamlessly access Lime’s low-latency gateways to US exchanges and dark pool venues for equity trading.

CQG clients also gain access to Lime’s execution services, including its liquidity-seeking algorithm, a smart order router that searches for optimal liquidity in a fragmented marketplace.

Bloomberg Widens Carbon Emissions Scores to 100,000 Companies

Bloomberg has expanded its carbon emissions dataset to 100,000 companies thanks in part to a newly developed in-house estimation model. The new tech has been used to derive carbon scores from companies that haven’t reported their own data. Bloomberg said the latest dataset offers “greater precision in Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions”.

S and G Being Overlooked by Most Reporting Companies: KPMG

Social and governance data is being left out of disclosures by more than half of companies, according to a survey by professional services firm KPMG. In its latest bi-annual Survey of Sustainability Reporting, established in 1993, KPMG also found that 79 per cent of “leading companies” now provide sustainability reports. The report said there remains a “disconnect between the urgency of addressing climate change and social equity”.

Broadway Upgrades Duration Trader to Cater for Increased Bond Volatility

Front office solutions vendor Broadway has introduced major upgrades to its Duration Trader algorithm. During an ongoing period of volatile European interest rates, the upgrades provide clients with an enhanced ability to efficiently unwind risk, eliminate inefficient manual hedging processes and reduce market leakage.

By enabling customers to move to an automated hedging process, Duration Trader empowers them to keep pace with rapid market movements, reduce trading costs and minimize information leakage, according to the company.