This Week: Goldman, Cboe, Microsoft and others plan new blockchain network; LSEG taps OpenFin for Workspace; and more

Major industry players partner on blockchain network for institutional assets

Digital Asset and a number of financial firms plan to launch the Canton Network, a privacy-enabled, interoperable blockchain network designed for institutional assets. Other participants in the project include ASX, BNP Paribas, Broadridge, Cboe Global Markets, Deloitte, Deutsche Börse Group, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Moody’s, S&P Global, and several more.

The Canton Network aims to provide a decentralized infrastructure that connects independent applications built with Daml, Digital Asset’s smart-contract language, enabling financial institutions to work within a safer and reconciliation-free environment where assets, data, and cash can synchronize freely across applications.

For example, asset registers and cash payment systems are distinct and siloed systems in today’s markets. With the Canton Network, a digital bond and a digital payment can be composed across two separate applications into a single transaction, providing simultaneous exchange without operational risk. Likewise, a digital asset could be used in a collateralized financial transaction via connection to a repo or leveraged loan application.

Canton Network participants will begin testing interoperability capabilities across a range of applications and use cases in July.

LSEG selects OpenFin to deliver LSEG Workspace to desktops

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has chosen OpenFin’s technology for its Workspace platform. The partnership will use OpenFin’s delivery model and container technology to simplify the distribution of LSEG’s data and analytics to customer desktops.

LSEG Workspace provides wealth advisors, research analysts, portfolio managers, investment bankers, and traders with access to financial data, news, and analytics. Under the partnership, LSEG will migrate LSEG Workspace to OpenFin’s technology, making its platform interoperable with thousands of internal apps developed by banks and buy-side customers.

OpenFin’s container technology is co-stable with Google Chromium, an open-source project that generates the source code behind Google Chrome and other search engines. This means that security patches and other enhancements to the Chromium engine are continuously delivered to end-user desktops. OpenFin’s app also arrives at a desktop via a very lightweight browser, which reduces the need for intervention during the installation process.

TS Imagine adds new features to fixed-income EMS

TS Imagine has updated its TradeSmart Fixed Income Execution Management System (EMS), adding several new features designed to automate workflows for bond traders. Additions include a liquidity aggregator provided via a cloud-based screener, automated leave order tracking, and an email parser. The update also includes a best dealer algo, which enables users to automate their dealer selection process by selecting the criteria to rank dealers most relevant to them.

A week earlier, the vendor launched TS One, a cross-asset tool for hedge funds, which incorporates execution management, risk management, and accounting software.

The new platform includes risk models that can perform stress tests and visualize risk across asset classes, and are delivered as software.

In March, TS Imagine launched RiskSmart X, a risk solution for banks and prime brokers.

State Street executes first centrally cleared repo trades in Europe at Eurex

State Street has chosen Eurex as the first clearinghouse outside the US to trade and centrally clear repo transactions. The first transactions have been successfully executed.

Now that State Street is a Eurex member, clients can trade repos with 160 registered participants, including commercial and central banks, as well as government financing agencies and supranational organizations.

Delta Capita, Reg X launch readiness assessment platform for EMIR refit

Capital markets consulting and technology provider Delta Capita has partnered with regtech startup Reg X Innovations to launch a regulatory readiness assessment platform. The solution is designed to analyze new and existing reportable data against the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) refit ruleset.

The platform crunches data from firms’ trading platforms and trade repositories, producing an automated report that highlights data gaps for the new EMIR Refit fields, and visual representations of data lineage.

The EU Emir refit reporting deadline was recently confirmed as April 29, 2024. The UK will implement its regime from September 30, 2024.

The revised regulation will impact all EU and UK firms trading derivatives, as well as central counterparties and trade repositories. Read more about the EMIR refit here.

Iress, Kaiko partner on digital assets data

Iress has released a digital assets and cryptocurrency data service for institutional clients alongside cryptocurrency market data provider Kaiko. The new data service is available to clients now in Iress’s FeedOS format for integration with existing workflows.

Kaiko provides data, analytics, and research on the digital asset industry, including historical data going back to 2013. Back-testing data models and trading strategies enables clients to benchmark crypto asset performance.

TNS connects to Canadian exchanges

Brokers, analysts, traders, and investors who use Transaction Network Services (TNS) now have access to Canadian markets. TNS has set up network connectivity with seven Canadian financial exchange markets: TradelogiQ, NEO Exchange, Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE), Nasdaq Canada and Cboe Matchnow, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX), and Montreal Exchange (MX).

TNS offers co-location and layer 1 connectivity to TMX exchanges (Toronto and Montreal) out of the Markham datacenter, and provides managed hosting services within Equinix TR2 datacenter where the other exchanges are located. TNS also has added new Canadian datafeeds to its portfolio with the intention of maximizing market data connectivity and order routing efficiency.

In addition to Canada, TNS recently connected to markets in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Madrid and Johannesburg. Further planned network expansion in 2023 includes Stockholm and Sydney.

7 fintechs pitch in on new Natixis investment management platform

Natixis has unveiled an investment management platform for institutional investors, independent financial advisers (IFAs), and private banks. Neoxam, Alpima, Auth0, Envestboard, Heavenize, Lexifi, and WeeFin were all involved in the development of Asset Studio, each contributing to a different aspect of the platform, from data visualization to reporting, hedging, and climate indicators. In a press release, Natixis said that an “ecosystem of APIs” was needed to connect the different fintechs.

The new platform includes a database of extra-financial data aggregated by WeeFin, allowing users to compare data points.

Omba chooses Finbourne for portfolio management and data consolidation

Investment management firm Omba Advisory and Investments has selected Finbourne Technology’s data stack as its operational data hub. Omba will use the fintech company’s Lusid service for portfolio management, and data virtualization platform Luminesce for data consolidation.

Omba, which serves family offices and high-net-worth clients, manages a range of Ucits funds. It will use Luminesce to interpret and store data from custodians, customer relationship management (CRM) providers, and market data vendors, with the aim of reducing the overall cost of data ownership and enabling future system integrations. It will use Lusid for pre-trade compliance, order management, and portfolio rebalancing.

DSB consults industry on OTC Isins

The Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB) has published its 2023 consultation paper on the provision of over-the-counter (OTC) International Securities Identification Numbers (Isins) and Classification of Financial Instrument (CFI) codes.

Market participants have until May 31 to respond. The consultation paper focuses on the next steps for the security operations center investigated as part of the 2022 industry consultation. It will also look at the proprietary index workflow and any industry suggestions for improvement. A review of proposed changes to the release process is another topic raised in the consultation, as well as the search only API user type fee determination based on the infrastructure and support costs for programmatic connectivity.

The final report will be published on June 30.

Exabel, Owl ESG join forces on ESG insights platform

Alternative data fintech company Exabel and ESG data provider Owl ESG have partnered to build a platform providing hedge funds and asset managers with ESG data insights. It includes data visualizations and key performance indicator (KPI) monitoring, and flags trend shifts in the underlying ESG dataset.