SIX Launches Digital Collateral Service, Enabling Crypto and Traditional Asset Collateral

SIX has introduced the Digital Collateral Service (DCS), allowing financial institutions to post cryptocurrency assets alongside traditional securities as collateral. This new solution streamlines collateral management by enabling firms to use both asset types to cover a single exposure, improving operational efficiency and reducing counterparty risk.

Developed by integrating expertise from SIX’s international custody business and SDX, DCS enhances collateral management with robust crypto custody infrastructure. The service provides added security measures, addressing concerns of institutional investors and encouraging broader participation in institutional cryptocurrency trading.

David Newns, Head of SDX, commented: “The role of cryptocurrencies in collateral management will become increasingly important. Our new and fully integrated solution empowers product issuers, traders, brokers, and market makers to optimise their collateral usage, whether it’s crypto or traditional securities, with built-in risk management safeguards. This allows financial institutions to embrace crypto collateral on a larger scale.”

Christian Geiger, Head Clients & Products Securities Finance, SIX added: “Building on our role as a trusted financial market infrastructure and leveraging the flexibility of our state-of-the-art Triparty Agent, we are thrilled to expand our offerings to include cryptocurrencies as a new asset class for collateralisation. With the growing institutional appetite for digital assets, we are committed to meeting the needs of this highly risk-conscious investor segment through our established and reliable services.”

ETFbook Secures €4 Million Series A Funding Led by BlackFin Capital Partners

ETFbook, the data and analytics platform focused on the ETF market, has successfully closed a €4 million Series A funding round, led by BlackFin Capital Partners. The Zurich-based company, which also operates in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Dublin, offers a comprehensive ETF platform accessible via web application and APIs.

Since its launch in mid-2020, ETFbook has experienced strong growth, now serving over 35 leading institutional clients. The investment will support further expansion and development of its data-driven solutions, reinforcing its position in the European financial market.

“We are very pleased to announce BlackFin Capital Partners as our first external investor,” commented Pawel Janus, Ph.D., Co-founder and CEO of ETFbook. “This investment will accelerate the execution of our ambitious product roadmap and geographic expansion strategy, enabling ETFbook to better serve the ever-evolving data & analytics needs in the thriving ETF markets, globally.”

Validus Risk Management Secures $45M Growth Investment from FTV Capital

Validus Risk Management, a leading financial risk management software and services provider, has secured a $45 million growth equity investment from FTV Capital. This minority investment will support Validus in accelerating its market expansion across the United States, APAC, and Europe, while also driving advancements in technology and product innovation.

The investment comes as the alternative assets market surpasses $13 trillion in assets under management, with firms increasingly relying on specialized technology for risk management and operational efficiency. Validus, which serves over 750 funds managing a collective $3.2 trillion in assets, offers innovative software and tech-enabled solutions across private debt, private equity, secondaries, infrastructure, and real estate. The company has maintained strong profitability and consistent recurring revenue growth, positioning itself as a key player in the evolving private markets sector.

Kevin Lester, co-founder and chief executive officer at Validus, commented: “For the past 15 years, our relentless commitment to excellence has been the foundation of our success. We are proud to serve some of the world’s largest private capital managers, while maintaining a culture that never stands still. Innovation drives us—whether through designing customised hedging strategies or developing technology that streamlines operations, mitigates risk, and enhances efficiency for our clients. With the backing of FTV Capital, we are poised to scale faster and deliver even greater value to our growing client base.”

Mike Cichowski, partner at FTV Capital, added: “The global alternative asset industry is massive and growing, yet risk management has been largely overlooked. Validus fills this gap in the market, delivering a comprehensive platform and innovative technology solutions that not only address risk management but also drive operational efficiencies in the middle-office. Validus has demonstrated its success and potential, consistently growing market share profitably and proving itself as the solution of choice for many of the world’s leading private capital firms. We’re thrilled to lead this investment and look forward to partnering with Kevin and the Validus team to accelerate the company’s growth.”

Y-Intercept Extends Partnership with TS Imagine

TS Imagine, the global provider of trading, portfolio, and risk management solutions, has announced that Hong Kong-based quantitative investment firm Y-Intercept will continue using RiskSmart+ for another three years. Y-Intercept initially implemented the platform in January 2022 to support its systematic trading operations.

RiskSmart+ is designed to help larger firms scale their risk operations efficiently. By leveraging the solution, Y-Intercept aims to handle increasing trading volumes and expand into new markets. The platform provides real-time analytics, advanced risk models, and workflow automation across multiple asset classes. Additionally, it enables portfolio and risk managers to manage positions, cash, and P&L, while streamlining trade reconciliation with brokers. The extended partnership reinforces TS Imagine’s role in supporting financial institutions with comprehensive risk and portfolio management solutions.

Simarjit (Sim) Johal, Head of Asia Pacific at TS Imagine, commented: “We’re proud to expand our relationship with Y-Intercept as they expand their footprint in multi-asset trading. With RiskSmart +, Y-Intercept will scale and streamline operations – automating complex workflows while enabling the firm to manage increasing transaction volumes. The growth of our relationship with Y-Intercept demonstrates our ability to support clients at every stage of their evolution, using best-in-breed trading technology to navigate fast-paced risks in real-time – allowing their businesses to scale safely as exposures grow in volume and complexity.  We are excited to continue to support the business as it goes from strength to strength.”

Kevin Chang, Chief Operating Officer at Y-Intercept, added: “Our partnership with TS Imagine has been instrumental in optimising our portfolio management workflows. With the ability to access robust security master, automate trade uploads, extract PMS data, and manage positions, cash, and P&L efficiently, RiskSmart + enables us to stay ahead in fast-moving markets and ever-changing regulatory compliance requirements.  Ensuring our business can scale, minimise operational risk and safeguard our investors’ asset is vitally important, which is why we are excited to be deploying TS Imagine’s advanced technology.”

ICE to Scrape Reddit Communities for Market-Useful Insights

US financial data and technology provider Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is to harvest insights and content from millions of posts made daily to the Reddit social media platform, which it will package into market-useful data products.

ICE said it would access Reddit’s Data API to “research, create and distribute new data and analytics products for the financial industry”.

The company said the posts on the platform would be used for sentiment analysis, early-trend indicators and custom analyses.

“The rich data set that flows across a platform like Reddit has the potential to provide opportunities for our customers as they look for new opportunities in global markets,” said Chris Edmonds, president of fixed-income and data services at ICE, adding that the data gleaned from Reddit posts “would help give our customers valuable insights into the markets and also help them manage risk across their portfolios”.

Broadridge and Symphony Partner to Enhance Post-Trade Communication

Broadridge Financial Solutions partnered with Symphony to integrate secure messaging technology into its NYFIX Matching platform, enhancing communication between asset managers and executing brokers.

The integration allows asset managers to communicate directly with brokers via Symphony’s secure messaging system, improving compliance, transparency, and the resolution of post-trade discrepancies. This marks the first instance of a post-trade matching tool incorporating messaging capabilities, addressing a longstanding industry need.

Developed in response to client feedback, the new functionality aims to accelerate and simplify broker communication. It is now available to all NYFIX customers.

George Rosenberger, Head of NYFIX, Broadridge Trading and Connectivity Solutions, commented: “By integrating Symphony’s messaging functionality, we are enabling clients to resolve post-trade inaccuracies faster and with greater ease, ultimately enhancing operational efficiency. This is the latest example of simplifying the client experience with innovative solutions to meet their evolving needs and help them better operate, innovate and grow.”

Brad Levy, CEO of Symphony, added: “As the financial industry advances towards workflow digitization, it has become increasingly reliant on modern, secure, and interoperable collaboration tools to mitigate?risks and increase efficiencies. Through this collaboration, we are able to accelerate trade flows and improve real-time transactional accuracy for Broadridge’s clients.”

ThaiQuest Partners with SIX to Enhance Financial Data Services in Thailand

ThaiQuest, The Thailand-based financial markets solutions vendor, has entered a multi-year partnership with SIX, the global financial data and market infrastructure provider, which will give ThaiQuest customers access to the comprehensive financial data universe of SIX via the SIX Web API, a modern data gateway designed for digital financial platforms.

The partnership aims to enhance ThaiQuest’s financial information services by integrating reliable and comprehensive market data, improving accuracy and user experience for its clients. It also signifies SIX’s commitment to strengthening its presence in the Asian market by working with Thailand’s leading market data provider. Additionally, the integration of the SIX Web API will bring real-time data processing and seamless delivery of financial insights to ThaiQuest’s platform.

Matthew Nurse, Global Product Director, Financial Information at SIX, commented: “The financial data and API toolset from SIX is the ideal fit for digital applications and platforms, built for reliability and scale.”

Pongsaya Hongswadhi, ThaiQuest’s Chief Executive Officer, added: “With the reliable data and modern API technology from SIX, we’re better equipped to serve our clients and meet the demands of a rapidly evolving financial landscape.”

Delta Capita Partners with Gieom to Strengthen Financial Institutions’ Operational Resilience

Delta Capita, the global provider of consulting, solutions, and managed services, has entered a strategic partnership with Gieom, the operational risk and resilience solutions vendor. The collaboration aims to enhance operational resilience by leveraging Gieom’s AI-enabled software to automate risk management, compliance, and operational frameworks for financial institutions.

Gieom’s technology supports key regulatory frameworks, including the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), the UK’s Operational Resilience requirements, and APRA CPS 230. The partnership will enable financial institutions to automate policy management, digital identity verification, and compliance monitoring, ensuring proactive risk mitigation.

By integrating Gieom’s ten-step operational resilience management system, Delta Capita expands its Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) capabilities, particularly in third-party management.

Karan Kapoor, Head of Regulatory Consulting and Solutions at Delta Capita, commented:  “This partnership marks a significant step forward in our mission to empower financial institutions with the tools and expertise they need to thrive in a complex regulatory landscape. Gieom’s pioneering solutions perfectly complement Delta Capita’s consulting expertise, enabling us to deliver exceptional value to our clients.”

Vinod Menon, Chief Products Officer at Gieom, added: “Given the influx of operational resilience regulations coming into effect globally during 2025 and beyond, this partnership comes at a pivotal time. Financial institutions are recognising the need to approach their risk and resilience frameworks in a more structured way, with future-proofing in mind. Leveraging Delta Capita’s business transformation expertise and Gieom’s proven operational resilience platform, financial services firms can meet both regulatory requirements and stakeholder expectations in an appropriate, complete, and defensible manner.”

Devexperts Launches Turnkey Futures Trading Platform for Brokers

Devexperts, the global capital markets software developer, has introduced a ready-to-deploy futures trading platform, enabling brokers to expand into futures and options trading. The platform offers out-of-the-box deployment or customisation and supports trading on CME and ICE, with integration into executing destinations like CQG and StoneX. It features one-click order execution, a real-time order management system (OMS), and automated SPAN margin calculations.

The platform also includes real-time market data from dxFeed, built-in option strategies, and post-trade monitoring for portfolio liquidation. Available in a web browser and via dedicated mobile apps for both IOS and Android, the white-labelled solution is scalable for additional asset classes.

Ben Hurley, CEO of Devexperts, commented: “A number of international market factors mean we are seeing ongoing interest in futures trading worldwide. This is particularly the case in the US however, where the regulatory environment can make derivatives, such as futures, particularly appealing.”

He continued: “We try to anticipate our clients’ – and the wider markets’ – needs. We have been developing this platform for some time and are now able to provide our customers with the software they need to meet the demand they are seeing from within the market.”

Texture Capital Integrates with Canton Network to Advance Tokenized Securities Trading

Texture Capital Holdings and its subsidiaries have joined the Canton Network, the blockchain designed for institutional assets, marking a key step in expanding their tokenized securities trading capabilities. By operating a Canton node, Texture Capital is preparing to deploy its Alternative Trading System (ATS) and transfer agent services in the coming weeks.

Texture’s ATS, run by subsidiary Texture Capital Inc., will enable institutional investors to match and execute orders for tokenized securities on the Canton Network. Additionally, Texture Transfer Services LLC will provide registered transfer agent services, maintaining official securities ownership records. The ATS is set to launch in Q1, supporting greater adoption of blockchain-based financial markets.

Richard Johnson, CEO of Texture Capital, commented: “Canton has clearly found deep product market fit as evidenced by the robust ecosystem comprising dozens of global investment banks, exchanges, and institutional asset managers. As a specialist in tokenization and digital assets, Texture Capital looks forward to working with other Canton Network participants and enhancing capital markets workflows leveraging blockchain technology.”

Eric Saraniecki, Co-Founder and Head of Network Strategy at Digital Asset, added: “Texture Capital’s expertise in digital securities marketplaces aligns seamlessly with our mission to revolutionize the management of real-world assets through Canton’s privacy-enabled public blockchain solutions. Texture Capital’s integration, and their plans to launch tokenization and trading services on Canton, highlight the growing strength and diversity of our ecosystem.”