TMX Completes VettaFi Acquisition

TMX Group Limited has completed the acquisition of VettaFi Holdings LLC, a US-based indexing, digital distribution and analytics company. In the first half of 2023, TMX aquired approximately 22% of the common units of VettaFi, and has now acquired the remainder.

The addition of VettaFi increases the depth and value of TMX’s data-driven insights, expands the company’s digital capabilities and expertise, and enriches the company’s support for ETF issuers. This acquisition is expected to accelerate TMX Group’s long-term global expansion and to increase its revenue from the Global Solutions, Insights and Analytics business and from recurring sources.

Solidatus Adds Artefact to Partner Portfolio

Solidatus has added Artefact, a data analytics and AI services consultancy specialising in helping organisations deliver measurable value from data, to its partner portfolio. The partnership is expected to simplify data lineage and data management processes for customers in the financial services sector and extend Solidatus’ reach to new financial services customers needing to build faster, automated data infrastructure.

Akhilesh Kale, senior director and financial services and insurance lead at Artefact US, says: “As we join forces, we are looking forward to accelerating value creation through data discovery for our clients’ front office, risk and regulatory use cases.”

Mike Pierce, vice president of global alliances at Solidatus, comments: “We look forward to jointly delivering Solidatus’ unique approach to building data transparency and establishing trust across complex environments, empowering clients to meet governance and regulatory requirements.”

ICE and Blockstream Add Cryptocurrency Options Data to Crypto Data Feed

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), a provider of data, technology and market infrastructure, and Blockstream, a provider of blockchain technologies and financial cryptography, have added cryptocurrency options data to the Cryptocurrency Data Feed launched by the partners in 2018 and offered via the ICE Consolidated Feed.

The Cryptocurrency Data Feed is designed to enable ICE Data Services’ customers to receive global market data in a streaming feed with comprehensive cryptocurrency information. It includes data on over 100 cryptocurrencies from more than 30 globally sourced venues and exchanges. As part of ICE’s exclusive agreement with Blockstream, ICE offers extensive coverage of prices and order book data for cryptocurrencies by exchange.

Appital Announces Substantial Growth in Platform Liquidity and User Base

Appital, the equity markets technology solution vendor, has reported a significant increase in both its user base and liquidity, with liquidity on its platform surging to $800 million notional in November alone, compared to the $200 million recorded between August 2022 and August 2023, prior to the company launching Appital Insights, its liquidity access tool, in September 2023. The expansion of Appital’s client base is partly attributed to integrations with major EMS providers such as Flextrade, Portware from Factset, TS Imagine, Virtu Financial’s Triton EMS, and Bloomberg. These integrations seamlessly incorporate Appital’s liquidity opportunities and bookbuilding functions into clients’ existing trading systems, enabling effective participation in large size market opportunities.

Matt Jefford, Appital’s Head of Liquidity Solutions, commented: “We see a significant liquidity disconnect in the industry at the moment, as a result of three distinct trends. Firstly, we have witnessed a decline in block liquidity on traditional LIS venues, as the average fill size is down to a very small amount of approximately EUR 20,000.  This is, in part, due to the sellside being involved in those venues. Secondly, we see large volumes pushed into closing auctions; and thirdly, it has also become clear that the banks’ appetite to make prices in small and mid-cap stocks has gone down significantly. These factors have led to a reluctance from buyside traders to enter full orders into traditional matching venues. If they need to sell 20 million, but their first fill is 20,000, everyone knows they want to do more. And this is why they are increasingly using Appital; we are a buyside only venue and firms can be confident in finding the other side of a deal without slippage or information leakage.”

Murex Improves Model Validation and Market Data Sourcing, Leveraging S&P Global Market Intelligence

Murex, the trading & risk management solutions vendor, has broadened its partnership with S&P Global Market Intelligence, to enhance model validation and market data integration in its MX.3 platform. Murex’s model validation team now utilizses S&P Global Market Intelligence for comprehensive monitoring and validation of front office pricing and risk models across various asset classes, enabling Murex’s financial engineers to test and ensure model accuracy under volatile market conditions.

MX.3 is also now directly connected to S&P Global Market Intelligence’s derivatives data services, which draw from diverse sources, offering in-depth curve and volatility surfaces for use in trading to compliance. The extended coverage, which includes less liquid and complex products, aims to provide a comprehensive market perspective for global institutions.

BMLL Expands Data Coverage to Include Canadian Markets

BMLL, Level 3 historical data and analytics provider, has expanded its coverage to include data from key Canadian trading venues and exchanges, including the Toronto Stock Exchange, Canadian Securities Exchange, CBOE Canada, Nasdaq Canada, and Omega ATS. This development enhances BMLL’s North American presence, complementing its existing US Equities and ETF coverage, including recent additions such as US FINRA ATS/OTC Volumes data and data from Brazil’s B3 Stock Exchange.

Clients of BMLL, ranging from banks and hedge funds to academic institutions, now gain access to comprehensive, T+1 order book data and advanced analytics across North American markets, to enable enables a more robust understanding of market dynamics, venue performance, and liquidity trends. Additionally, Canadian exchange operators can now perform in-depth venue comparisons locally and internationally.

Digital Token Identifier Foundation Join FCA Digital Sandbox

The Digital Token Identifier Foundation (DTIF) created by Etrading Software to provide ISO standard identifiers for digital assets has joined the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA’s) Digital Sandbox. The DTIF has been onboarded as a data supplier, with Denis Dounaev, Digital Token Identifier (DTI) product owner recognised as a mentor under the Digital Sandbox Programme.

As Registration Authority for the ISO 24165 standard, the DTIF’s mission is to provide the golden source reference data for the unique identification of digital tokens. DTI use is recommended under the EU’s DLT Pilot Regime and has been proposed by ESMA for crypto-asset identification under MiCA. The DTI Registry includes technical attributes for over 1,800 digital tokens. The data provided by the DTI Foundation to the Sandbox is an accurate representation of all data currently captured by the DTI Registry.

DTCC Completes Acquisition of Securrency, Now Rebranded as DTCC Digital Assets

Following its announcement in October, agreeing to acquire Securrency Inc., a developer of institutional-grade digital asset infrastructure, DTCC today announced the completion of the transaction. The Securrency brand will now be retired and the business will operate as DTCC Digital Assets, headed by Lynn Bishop, Managing Director and Chief Information Officer.

Frank La Salla, DTCC President, CEO and Director, commented: “We are excited to bring together our people, expertise and respective technologies to create a powerful combination that will help the industry unlock the value of digital assets and drive market-wide transformation. We look forward to providing global leadership to establish a robust digital infrastructure that protects the safety and soundness of financial markets and delivers on the enormous promise and potential of institutional DeFi in the coming years.”

BMLL Completes China Data Offering, Expands APAC Market Coverage

BMLL, the Level 3 data and analytics provider, has completed its China data offering, integrating data from all major mainland China Equity Exchanges, including Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong, in a consistent format via the BMLL Data Lab. This complements BMLL’s APAC equities and ETF data coverage by building on existing data from CBOE Japan, Japannext, Singapore Exchange, Tokyo Stock Exchange, ASX, and CBOE Australia.

With access to detailed Level 3, T+1 order book data, alongside advanced pre-and post-trade analytics, BMLL’s broadened data spectrum is designed to aid sell-side and buy-side firms in improving trading decisions across Asian markets, and to enable sell-side execution firms to enhance their product offerings. Asian exchanges can also use this data for venue comparisons and to assess market quality or liquidity provider performance, both locally and globally.

Avelacom Enhances Global Trading with Latency Improvements in Backhaul Network

Connectivity & IT infrastructure solutions provider Avelacom, has significantly upgraded its backhaul network to offer reduced latency between European and US exchanges and major financial hubs in Asia and the Middle East. The upgrade, which shortens fibre optic path lengths by up to 140 kilometres, aims to enable more efficient market data feeds and order execution for global institutional investors and professional traders, particularly for complex trading strategies like algorithmic arbitrage trading.

In the Middle East and Asia regions, Avelacom’s network now provides optimised connections offering low latency connectivity, colocation, managed hosting, and real-time market data feeds, to exchanges including Borsa Istanbul, Dubai Gold and Commodity Exchange (DGCX), Saudi Exchange/Tadawul, Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, Thailand SET, Taipei Futures Exchange (TAIFEX), and Japan Exchange Group (JSE), and various exchanges in India.