Wealthsimple Adopts Eventus’ Validus Platform for Trade Surveillance

Wealthsimple, one of Canada’s fastest growing financial platforms, has deployed the Validus platform from Eventus, the trade surveillance and financial risk solutions provider, to conduct trade surveillance across asset classes. Wealthsimple manages over $50 billion in assets and serves more than three million clients, spanning trading, saving, and investing services.

The firm continues to expand its global footprint, recently securing trade surveillance, algorithmic monitoring and market risk mandates from a broad spectrum of market participants across the Americas, EMEA and APAC regions. Eventus also plans to roll out a suite of enhancements to Validus in 2025, including a new AI-driven initiative built on large language model (LLM) technology.

Kafi Securities Goes Live on Horizon Trading Platform to Drive Market Expansion in Vietnam

Horizon Trading Solutions, the electronic trading solutions and algorithmic technology provider, has announced that Kafi Securities Corporation, a financial services company based in Vietnam, has gone live on its trading platform. The deployment supports Kafi’s strategic goal of expanding into market making and advanced trading across the Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi Stock Exchanges.

Horizon’s platform, deployed on-premise and integrated with Kafi’s internal systems, provides Kafi with real-time access to Vietnamese markets, supporting its trading operations with tools for quoting, execution, hedging, and risk monitoring. Starting with market making for Warrants, Kafi now plans to extend its activity to ETF market making.

SimCorp Launches Next-Gen Axioma Equity Factor Risk Model with Enhanced Market Volatility Detection

SimCorp, the investment management solutions vendor, has unveiled a new version of its Axioma Worldwide Equity Factor Risk Model, aiming to help portfolio and risk managers better manage market volatility. The updated model integrates proprietary research and academic insights to improve risk identification, offering faster detection of market shifts and stock group rotations. A notable addition is the Non-linear Residual Factor, which uses machine learning to uncover complex factor interactions, enhancing understanding of residual risk.

The model supports a range of portfolio strategies, such as improving Momentum portfolios, enhancing Minimum Variance strategies, and mitigating risks in Value portfolios through sentiment integration. It includes both fundamental and statistical models across various time horizons, accessible via the Axioma Risk platform or as a flat file. This flexibility supports integration into portfolio construction and risk management workflows, helping managers adapt to changing market conditions.

CDS Implements Clearing Technology Upgrade to Modernise Post-Trade Infrastructure

The Canadian Depository for Securities Limited (CDS), a subsidiary of TMX Group, has completed a major upgrade to its clearing and settlement technology as part of its Post Trade Modernisation (PTM) initiative. The changes replace legacy systems used for clearing, settlement, depository services, and entitlement payments.

The upgrade is powered by TCS BaNCS for Market Infrastructure, a high-performance platform developed by Tata Consultancy Services. The implementation marks a significant step in enhancing the resilience and scalability of Canada’s capital markets infrastructure, according to John McKenzie, CEO, TMX Group, who commented: “Post trade modernisation represents a game-changer for Canada’s equities, fixed income and OTC clearinghouse and a key milestone in the evolution of TMX. The launch of the new platform advances our core technology capability and ultimately strengthens Canada’s ability to compete for global investment. TMX’s investment in clearing technology also delivers on our enterprise wide commitment to ensuring these critical systems are efficient, resilient and adaptive.”

The new system is also designed to support recent initiatives, including the Canadian Collateral Management Service, introduced in 2024.

BMLL Technologies Partners with Revelate to Expand Global Data Delivery Capabilities

BMLL Technologies has announced a collaboration with Revelate to enhance the delivery of its data products to capital markets participants worldwide. The partnership leverages Revelate’s platform to streamline and automate the distribution of BMLL’s US options and global Level 3 equities data, aiming to increase accessibility and efficiency for end users.

The integration complements BMLL’s current data delivery channels, including API, Snowflake, and Flat File, by adding support for multiple access options such as SFTP, S3, Azure, and API. Through this collaboration, BMLL strengthens its ability to serve institutional clients with more flexible and rapid data delivery, aligning with its strategy to continuously improve access to its extensive historical data and analytics offerings.

Phillip Nova Expands Integral Partnership to Boost NDF and FX Swap Trading

Singapore-based brokerage firm Phillip Nova is deepening its collaboration with Integral, the currency technology provider, to enhance its trading capabilities in non-deliverable forwards (NDFs) and FX swaps. The move comes in response to rising demand for NDFs in the Asia-Pacific region, where cleared daily volumes have exceeded $65 billion and open interest has crossed $2 trillion as of September 2024.

The expanded partnership enables Phillip Nova to leverage Integral’s fixed-fee subscription model, helping the brokerage to reduce operational costs, manage cost volatility, and scale its services efficiently. This builds on their initial deployment of Integral’s FX trading solution in 2021, which supported the firm’s FX spot and contract for difference (CFD) trading growth.

Bowmoor Capital and SummerHaven Adopt TT Futures TCA for Enhanced Trading Insights

Trading Technologies International, Inc. (TT) has announced that Bowmoor Capital and SummerHaven Investment Management have deployed TT Futures TCA to support their trading and execution strategies. TT Futures TCA, launched last year, offers a robust transaction cost analysis tool tailored for futures trading. It leverages a significant dataset comprising anonymised, aggregated microsecond-level market and trade data, allowing firms to customise metrics to suit their trading goals and confirm best execution practices.

The product is part of TT’s Data & Analytics division, bolstered by the 2023 acquisition of Abel Noser Solutions. It includes depth-of-market insights and will soon feature pre-trade cost estimation capabilities. This enhancement is designed to aid firms in forecasting execution outcomes based on historical data and market conditions. These tools align with TT’s broader initiatives to provide transparency and efficiency in institutional trading.

Xceptor and OnCorps AI Partner to Deliver AI-Driven Reconciliation and Confirmation Solutions

Xceptor, the financial markets data automation platform, has announced a strategic partnership with OnCorps AI, provider of pre-trained AI agents for financial operations. The collaboration aims to enhance reconciliations, confirmations, and exception management through the integration of advanced AI capabilities and intelligent automation.

By combining Xceptor’s flexible data platform with OnCorps AI’s decision-making and analytics tools, the partnership aims to offer financial institutions predictive insights to minimise manual intervention, errors, and operational risks. The joint solution is set to streamline data processing across various formats, improving efficiency and reliability in financial operations.

ACA Adds Transaction Cost Analysis Capabilities with Global Trading Analytics Acquisition

ACA Group has acquired Global Trading Analytics (GTA), expanding its capabilities in transaction cost analysis (TCA) and best execution support across global financial markets. The move strengthens ACA’s positioning as a provider of technology-enabled governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) solutions, particularly for firms navigating increasingly complex regulatory expectations.

GTA, based in Rutherford, New Jersey, brings with it a long-established reputation in multi-asset class TCA, including equities, fixed income, foreign exchange, futures, and derivatives. Its client base—comprising investment advisers, asset managers, broker-dealers, and wealth managers—will now have access to ACA’s broader suite of compliance and risk solutions. Nearly half of GTA’s clients already work with ACA, offering opportunities for deeper integration.

TCA has grown in importance as regulators continue to scrutinize execution quality. The data-intensive process helps firms measure both explicit and implicit trading costs, allowing them to evaluate broker performance, refine algorithmic strategies, and demonstrate compliance with best execution standards.

Commenting on the rationale behind the deal, ACA CEO Patrick Olson said: “The acquisition of GTA underscores our ongoing commitment to expanding our offerings and equipping our clients with the tools and expertise they need to meet evolving compliance requirements.”

GTA’s leadership sees the transaction as an opportunity to scale while maintaining continuity for existing clients. “Along with my fellow co-founders, Joe Arleo and Clem Cheng, we’re pleased that this partnership ensures our clients will continue to receive the high-touch service they rely on, now strengthened by ACA’s complementary capabilities and broad resources,” said John Halligan, Co-Founder and President of GTA.

The combined offering is expected to deliver enhanced support for firms seeking to reduce trading costs, optimize execution quality, and meet regulatory obligations with confidence.

24 Exchange Launches Live FX Swaps Trading with CobaltFX’s Dynamic Credit Technology

24 Exchange has launched live FX swaps trading, supported by CobaltFX’s Dynamic Credit process, which optimises real-time credit allocation and provides enhanced liquidity access. The move is aimed at improving credit intermediation, reducing operational risk, and enabling more flexible trade execution.

As part of United Fintech, CobaltFX provides infrastructure that allows trading counterparties to pre-set credit limits and adjust them dynamically during market activity. This enables participants on 24 Exchange’s platform to maximise credit usage, minimise pre-funding requirements, and lower settlement risk. The adoption of this technology is expected to drive broader market efficiency in FX Swaps and support continued growth in automated and capital-efficient trading practices.