By Uri Inspector, Staff Reporter
Post-trade specialist Trax has entered an agreement with Thomson Reuters to use the latter’s market and reference data to support its Systematic Internaliser (SI) determination service and MiFID II regulatory reporting. The deal is designed to help firms meet the regulatory obligations of the expanded SI regime that comes into force on 1st September 2018, and improve regulatory reporting.
Real-time market data from Thomson Reuters will allow Trax to inform its clients if they are approaching the trading thresholds that require them to become SIs. This will be done by estimating the total market size at a per instrument or sub-asset class level and performing quarterly SI assessments that calculate a firm’s market share. Trax will also provide a daily indication of a firm’s potential to become an SI per instrument ahead of the official assessment period.
On the MiFID II reporting side, Thomson Reuters reference data will feed the Trax rules-based engine for trade and transaction reporting, which Trax delivers via its approved publication arrangement (APA) and approved reporting mechanism (ARM).
Chris Smith, head of Trax, comments: “Although MiFID II implementation took place on 3rd January 2018, the industry is still confronted with impending regulatory obligations, including the start of the SI regime. As a provider of both trade and transaction reporting services through a centralised platform and also SI determination services, working with a reputable partner like Thomson Reuters is paramount.”
Brennan Carley, global head of enterprise for the Financial & Risk business at Thomson Reuters, adds: “Our trusted market and reference data has been comprehensively upgraded for MiFID II to power industry compliance and enable firms to benefit from all the market transparency data that is now available. As the industry grapples with the SI regime, our mission is to make it easy for firms to access the trusted data they need to comply, including assessing in real time whether they may breach the SI thresholds for different instruments so they can adjust their trading strategies accordingly.”
