BlockFills Partners with Fordefi to Expand DeFi Trading Access and Token Coverage

BlockFills, the digital asset trading platform for institutions and professional traders, has partnered with Fordefi, a self-custody MPC wallet provider. The collaboration allows BlockFills to utilise Fordefi’s secure wallet infrastructure to broaden its token offering and respond to increased client demand for decentralised finance (DeFi) trading opportunities. Fordefi supports access to thousands of digital applications across over 90 blockchain networks, including major platforms such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.

Through the partnership, Fordefi’s clients, including venture capital firms and the DeFi community, gain access to BlockFills’ full suite of trading services across a wide array of digital assets. Fordefi’s MPC wallet technology enhances security by splitting private keys across multiple parties, preventing single-point control. Its proprietary browser extension further secures the transaction process by protecting the entire technology stack from end to end.

Zema Global Acquires cQuant.io to Strengthen Advanced Analytics Capabilities in Energy and Commodities

Zema Global,thea data management and analytics provider for the energy, commodities, and financial sectors, has acquired cQuant.io, a specialist in analytic solutions for energy and commodity companies. The acquisition, backed by investor FTV Capital, enhances Zema Global’s offering by integrating cQuant.io’s advanced analytics platform with its own enterprise data management solutions. This combined capability aims to improve decision-making speed and accuracy for clients operating in complex and volatile markets.

As part of the deal, cQuant.io will continue to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary under the brand “A Zema Global Company,” with its former CEO David Leevan taking on the role of President at Zema Global. The partnership expands Zema Global’s global analytics team and deepens its capabilities in areas such as quantitative modelling, asset valuation, and renewable forecasting. The move reinforces the company’s strategy to provide seamless, real-time insights for global operations.

Euroclear Bank Enhances Collateral Management with Taskize Integration

Euroclear Bank’s Collateral Management Services has adopted Taskize, the platform for investment operations collaboration, to streamline query resolution. The integration with Taskize, along with its support for email and Symphony Messaging, aims to simplify communication across various technologies, and improve efficiency in managing collateral-related tasks.

Taskize creates a unified ecosystem where stakeholders can exchange information, negotiate, and finalise deals in real time. This integration enables front-office traders and other users to maintain updated collateral sets and adjust workflows to suit counterparty preferences with fewer resources. Communication is continuous and centralised, involving both Euroclear as the tri-party agent and trading counterparties through Symphony Messaging integration.

S&P Global Extends ESG Data Offering with Snowflake

A new public and private entity ESG data service is available to clients of S&P Global Market Intelligence on the Snowflake platform, extending a tie-up between the two companies.

Part of S&P Global’s Enterprise Data Management (EDM) Insights Platform, the Global Entity Linking and ESG Data Management Services offering enables clients to clean and map ESG data to traded entities and then subject it to artificial intelligence-led analytics and models on Snowflake’s AI Data Cloud.

The companies said this gives a “unique” view of clients’ entities, hierarchies and linked reference data.

The new tool will “effectively manage the vast volumes associated with sustainability data while offering our clients the flexibility to quickly and seamlessly onboard and integrate new data sources”, said Vikas Sahni, Head of Software for Enterprise Solutions at S&P Global.

The latest innovation from S&P Global and Snowflake is among a number of products and services that vendors are offering as they seek to meet growing demand from financial institutions for private as well as public entity data. Volatility in equity markets and narrowing spreads on once-illiquid fixed-income assets has prompted investors to seek higher returns in alternative assets, such as private equity and credit.

Alternative markets are more opaque than the public markets in which institutions have hitherto largely operated, forcing them to retool their data operations to source intel on companies, funds and lenders. Data on private companies is also often lacking the lineage and metadata to link it to reference and other datasets.

The Global Entity Linking and ESG Data Management Services builds on a collaboration between the two companies forged in 2020 when S&P Global announced that its financial, textual, ESG and alternative data would be made available through Snowflake.

Thai Identity Tech Firm Finema Named Latest Asian Virtual GLEIF Issuer

Finema, a Thailand-based digital identity technology company, has become the first Southeast Asian issuer of the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation’s verifiable Legal Entity Identifiers (vLEI).

As a Qualified vLEI Issuer, Finema will be responsible for providing the digital equivalent of GLEIF’s ISO-recognised identity recognition and validation certifier to participating companies in the region.

The vLEI is a virtual identifier that is attached to participating companies and people associated with them, enabling investors and counterpanes to establish a trust-based relationship safe in the knowledge that the organisation is who it claims to be.

Finema is the latest Asian QVI to be announced by GLEIF, following the appointment of China Financial Certification Authority (CFCA) as the first such body in China. GLEIF chief executive Alexandre Kech told Data Management Insight earlier this year that the Basel, Switzerland-based not-for-profit would focus on expanding in Asia as it seeks to bring transparency and trust to often opaque markets.

“Sweeping digitalisation across the global economy provides unprecedented opportunities and incentives to transform the underlying systems organisations use to trust and be trusted,” Kech said after the Finema announcement. “This will free international capital flows and unlock access to the unlimited opportunities of the global market.”

SIX Builds API to Accelerate Database and Security Master Updates

SIX, the data aggregator and operator of financial exchanges in Switzerland and Spain, has launched a new API to accelerate the update of databases and security masters.

The faster data transfer system is designed to enable clients to access and process larger volumes of information, reducing the total cost of data ownership, the Zurich-based organisation said.

The SIX Bulk API is built to ensure market participants have the most up-to-date data to better inform investment, trading, banking, risk management and compliance decision making and reduce processing times from hours to minutes.

Data is delivered through the API in JSON format and can be integrated into multi-threaded Python- or Java-based applications, SIX said in a statement.

“The launch of SIX Bulk API marks a significant milestone in our commitment to innovation and excellence in financial data management,” said SIX Head of Product Development Henk D’Hoore.

“It allows our customer to gain instant access to large data sets and supports super-fast initial load and delta deliveries into their security masters. Financial institutions who wish to move away from traditional file transfer services can now take full control by opting for SIX Bulk API instead.”

GoldenSource Leads Australian Pension Fund’s Digital Transformation

GoldenSource has built an investment data management infrastructure for Australia’s Aware Super, one of the country’s largest superannuation funds, providing the enterprise data management company with a foothold in a country that is forecast to become the world’s second-largest pension market.

Under the first phase of the so-called Project Odin, GoldenSource has deployed its SaaS-based EDM platform as the foundation for a digital transformation of the fund, which oversees the equivalent of US$120 billion in assets.

Operation Odin has also included the integration of the fund’s performance, attribution analytics and reporting tool.

It has been designed to enable the fund to meet an anticipated growth in investment. The Australian pension market was valued at $2.6 trillion in 2024, according to Willis Towers Watson.

“Partnering with GoldenSource has produced the strong foundations of a sophisticated data platform which will not only enable us to stay competitive in a fast-evolving landscape, but maintain our focus on returning the strongest possible risk-adjusted returns for our 1.15 million members,” Michael Clavin, Aware Super Head of Income and Markets and sponsor of Project Odin, said in a statement.

ION to Support Day-One Connectivity to MIAX Futures’ New Onyx Platform

ION is to provide seamless, day-one connectivity to MIAX Futures’ new matching engine, Onyx, as the exchange transitions its Minneapolis Hard Red Spring Wheat (HRSW) Futures from CME Globex in Q2 2025. This support ensures that users of ION’s cleared derivatives front-office trading platform will have immediate access to execution and clearing services on the new system.

Additionally, ION will enable trading of MIAX Futures’ upcoming Bloomberg 500 (B500) Index futures, anticipated for launch in the second half of 2025, subject to regulatory approval by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Onyx, developed using proprietary MIAX technology, is designed to power trading in both agricultural and financial futures and options across various markets.

Cboe Clear Europe Launches Central Clearing for European Securities Financing Transactions

Cboe Global Markets has announced that Cboe Clear Europe has begun clearing European Securities Financing Transactions (SFTs), marking a significant step in its strategy to expand as a multi-asset class clearing house. The initial cleared trades involved Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking as Principal Lender and JP Morgan as Borrower. This new service transitions SFTs in European equities and ETFs from a bilateral to a centrally cleared model, aiming to improve capital efficiency and support market growth.

The platform leverages the infrastructure of Cboe Clear Europe, the largest pan-European cash equities clearing house. Key features include the use of BNY and JP Morgan as Tri-Party Collateral Agents and Pirum for trade instruction management. The service covers settlement across 19 European CSDs and is designed to reduce capital burdens under regulations such as CSDR, SFTR, and Basel IV. Additional benefits include cross-margining efficiencies, streamlined settlement, and enhanced operational practices.

Quincy Data Launches Ultra-Low Latency Transatlantic Signal Feeds for CME Market Data

Quincy Data has launched new Transatlantic Signal Feeds delivering critical CME market data to London, Frankfurt, and Mumbai. The service is designed to provide real-time insights into major trade events for CME futures instruments, with a one-way latency of under 24 milliseconds from Aurora, Illinois to the Slough-LD4 data centre in the UK. This positions Quincy’s service as one of the fastest available for global price discovery.

Quincy Data categorises its offerings into three types: Snapshot Feeds for normalised global data distribution, Raw Feeds optimised for high-capacity wireless use, and Signal Feeds focused on speed for remote market access. All services are offered on an equal-access basis, maintaining fairness for all subscribers.