FIX Protocol Includes Digital Token Identifier

The Digital Token Identifier (DTI) ISO standard has been added to the Financial Information eXchange (FIX) Protocol, the industry-standard messaging protocol for electronic communication. The addition means financial institutions will be able to use the FIX Protocol to send messages with DTIs both internally and externally.

The DTI standard is increasingly being used as it uniquely identifies digital ledgers, digital tokens and cryptocurrencies using publicly available information. It can also be used by regulators to monitor digital asset trades for anti-money laundering and combating terrorist financing requirements, and for monitoring systemic risks arising from trading of global stable-coins and other digital assets. The DTI has also been recommended by ESMA as a risk management measure under the DLT Pilot regime.

Vancity Investment Management Extends Bloomberg Stack with PORT Enterprise

Vancity Investment Management, one of the first wealth management firms in Canada to focus on investments that deliver competitive returns while making a positive impact on the world, has adopted PORT Enterprise, Bloomberg’s advanced portfolio and risk analytics solution, along with Bloomberg Data License, the technology that delivers Bloomberg’s data content sets across the enterprise to further streamline its portfolio management operations.

This is the latest expansion to Vancity’s suite of Bloomberg buy-side solutions supporting the firm’s investment workflow, adding to its use of Bloomberg AIM, an order and investment management system.

FCA Requires IBA to Continue Publication of US Dollar LIBOR Settings Using Synthetic Methodology

Further to a November 2022 consultation, the FCA has decided to use its powers under UK Benchmarks Regulation (UK BMR) to require ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) to continue publication of 1-, 3- and 6-month US dollar LIBOR settings using an unrepresentative synthetic methodology. The FCA will require IBA to publish these synthetic US dollar LIBOR settings for a temporary period after 30 June 2023, following the end of the US dollar LIBOR bank panel, and intends for them to cease entirely on 30 September 2024.

From 1 July 2023, all new use of synthetic US dollar LIBOR by UK supervised entities will be prohibited under the UK BMR, which the FCA notes will override the exemptions to the prohibition on the new use of US dollar LIBOR imposed by the FCA on 1 January 2022. The FCA will allow the use of the 1-, 3- and 6-month synthetic US dollar LIBOR settings by supervised entities in all legacy contracts, except for cleared derivatives.

Exchange Data International Extends Provision of Corporate Actions Data

Exchange Data International (EDI), a provider of global security corporate actions, pricing, and reference data services, has introduced UK FundsCAB Service to further extend its investment funds coverage. The service covers over 13,700 share class funds from 200 fund management companies to provide comprehensive corporate actions data. Users can access corporate actions as soon as they enter EDI’s corporate actions web-based system. EDI also publishes daily fund distributions on the UK FundsCAB service.

Snowflake Sets Up in Indonesia

Snowflake has extended its reach to Indonesia, bringing the Data Cloud to customers and partners in the country. The company expects its services to be available in the AWS Asia Pacific (Jakarta) Region in April 2023, enabling customers and partners to accelerate migration to the Data Cloud.

Linedata Opens Office in Singapore

Linedata, a global provider of credit and asset management technology, data and services, has opened a new office in Singapore, strengthening its presence in the APAC region following an increase in client need. The company already has presence in Hong Kong and India, with its expansion to Singapore a priority in its development strategy. Linedata plans to recruit new talent and skills for the Singaporean office to support existing and new clients, and says its technological solutions are well suited to the Singaporean financial market and can support local investment fund structures, such as the Variable Capital Company.

IBA Continues Move Away from LIBOR benchmarks with SOFR Spread-Adjusted ICE Swap Rate

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) continues the move away from LIBOR benchmarks with its subsidiary ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) planning to launch a US dollar (USD) SOFR Spread-Adjusted ICE Swap Rate for use as a benchmark in financial contracts and financial instruments by licensees on 3 July 2023.

IBA has been publishing USD SOFR Spread-Adjusted ICE Swap Rate settings on an indicative, beta basis for an initial testing period since October 2021. Assuming continued satisfactory testing and feedback, IBA expects to publish the rate settings as a benchmark for use by licensees on and subject to the terms of current USD ICE Swap Rate licensing agreements.

IBA will cease publication of all USD LIBOR ICE Swap Rate benchmark runs including USD LIBOR 1100, USD LIBOR Spreads 1100 and USD LIBOR 1500 for all tenors immediately after publication on 30 June 2023.

Kensho Classify NLP Solution Sifts Market Signals Form Thousands of Documents

Kensho Technologies, an S&P Global company, has released a natural language processing (NLP) solution, Kensho Classify, that derives value from vast amounts of text and documents by making content more discoverable, enabling analysis of text, smart search, content recommendations, and streamlined research and analysis. The solution is tuned for complex business and finance use cases, allowing users to find concepts and topics within documents in a fast and efficient way, with no machine learning or technical skills required. For capital markets participants, the solution can help find market signals from thousands of documents.

Kensho recently introduced the Named Entity Recognition and Disambiguation (NERD) UI, an NLP solution optimised to extract and understand all types of entities in text documents using a context-aware model. The UI allows users to gain insight into the who, what and where of any document. Classify is a sister solution offering insight on more abstract topics spanning sentences or paragraphs. Together, NERD and Classify can give a complete picture of large amounts of text in a quick and efficient manner.

Qlik Connector Factory Extends Access to SaaS Data for Cloud Analytics

Qlik has introduced Connector Factory in line with its strategy to continually expand access to and delivery of data from hundreds of SaaS applications and data sources to meet enterprise cloud analytics and data integration needs. The company already offers over 250 connectors and through 2023 will add a further 100 connectors for Qlik Cloud Data Integration. The initial delivery of new connectors is expected over the next two quarters and includes support for 30 of the most popular enterprise applications including NetSuite, Workday, SAP SuccessFactors, Salesforce, Epic, Cerner, OSIsoft, ADP, SAP Ariba and HubSpot.

Synechron Offers Data Monetisation Accelerator Programme

Digital transformation consulting firm Synechron has released a data monetisation accelerator programme that offers a suite of building block solutions designed to help asset managers and financial institutions unlock the full potential of their data. The Synechron tools leverage analytics and derive insights to identify revenue opportunities and implement key strategies for monetising data, while preserving data privacy, security, governance and management.