The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published a progress report to the G20 on LIBOR transition and remaining issues, noting that with timelines for cessation of LIBOR panels confirmed at the end of 2021 and mid-2023 ‘there should be no remaining doubts as to the urgency of the need to transition away from LIBOR by the end of 2021’. The FSB says the extent of risks associated with a failure to prepare adequately for LIBOR transition means the onus is now on firms to act. With limited time available until end-2021, it urges market participants to complete the steps set out in its Global Transition Roadmap.

Exchange Data International (EDI) has partnered XTAL Strategies with the aim to support XTAL’s regulated private market benchmark initiative. The initiative comes ahead of EU Benchmark Regulation (BMR), which comes into force in 2022 and will require EU supervised users of indices to only use benchmarks that comply with the regulation. XTAL predicts the adoption of BMR standards will make current private market investor benchmarking tools obsolete. The initiative to develop private market benchmarks aims to fill the gap. EDI will source detailed information required to construct private equity indices on unlisted private market funds.

Etrading Software, acting as the exclusive registration authority for the ISO standard for Digital Token Identifiers (DTIs), has gone live with the DTI Registry that will assign the identifiers. Etrading’s Digital Token Identifier Foundation (DTIF), a non-profit division of the company, is responsible for the DTI Registry and will provide golden source reference data for the unique identification of digital tokens based on ISO’s new standard for digital assets, ISO 24165. The DTI Registry has been launched ahead of the ISO standard, which is scheduled to be published in Q3 2021, to meet industry and regulatory need.

Gresham Technologies has closed the acquisition of Electra Information Systems, reinforcing its market position in reconciliation solutions for financial markets and strengthening its expanding operations in North America. Electra is a provider of post-trade automation solutions, with a focus on improving efficiency and mitigating risk for buy-side participants. The investment follows Gresham’s acquisition of Inforalgo Information Technologies in July 2020, and creates a combined business providing data aggregation, control and reconciliation solutions, and supporting 270 customers worldwide.

Deutsche Bank has set up an ESG centre of excellence in Singapore. Its activities include a focus on ESG transactions across all business divisions, including its investment bank, corporate bank, international private bank and asset management. It will also consider innovation at the nexus of ESG and fintech to develop new products addressing gaps in the ESG market, such as impact monitoring, data management, and payments to un-banked communities. Kamran Khan, Deutsche Bank head of ESG for Asia Pacific will lead a sizeable team at the centre.

Opensee, a provider of self-service big data analytics for business users, has opened a US office, adding to headquarters in Paris and a location in London. The company says all its clients have a US presence and many of its executives previously worked in New York, making a third office a natural step. In the US, Opensee will join the fintech community at Rise by Barclays, New York in the centre of the Flatiron district, and will be overseen by US country manager Xavier Menchez, who joined the company at the start of 2021.

The Investment Association (IA) is calling on this year’s G7 Summit to do more to tackle climate change by committing to improve companies’ reporting on climate-related risks. It proposes actions including support for the IFRS Sustainability Standards Board to develop sustainability reporting standards and increased cooperation between national regulators to implement the standards. The IA states: “Investment managers have a vital role to play in the shift to a more sustainable global economy. Ensuring high-quality and comparable data on the risks that companies face from climate change is key to achieving this and meeting net zero targets.”

The Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB) has opened its 2021 industry consultation on 2022 OTC ISIN and CFI service provision. The consultation paper that will shape DSB activity for 2022 is published on the organisation’s website. Industry will be able to respond until 5pm UTC on Monday 31st May, with final results of the consultation delivered on Thursday 1st July. The consultation covers topics including cloud resilience, cybersecurity, enhanced supplier risk assessment, and the DSB technology stack.

Etrading Software, the exclusive registration authority for the ISO standard for digital token identifiers (DTIs), is calling for industry participants to join its product advisory committee – the application deadline is May 17, 2021. The scope of work includes providing advice on the use of DTIs and the issuance process for the identifiers, as well as advising Etrading on future product enhancements. Etrading states: “We are looking for participants who have expertise in standards, and who appreciate the unique considerations digital assets require when creating effective identifiers.”

CNP Assurances Group has selected NeoXam’s DataHub to house all its pricing and reference data on a single platform. The group wanted a centralised platform to shorten the time needed for data management processes that were previously handled manually. By providing increased visibility into data underpinning all investible assets, DataHub supports the group’s UChange programme, which aims to develop data optimisation, security and innovation.