This Week: Linedata acquires DreamQuark, Tradeweb, Rimes, Genesis, and more

Linedata acquires AI startup DreamQuark

Linedata, a global provider of asset management and credit technology, data, and services, has acquired DreamQuark, a French startup specializing in the development of artificial intelligence (AI) platforms and services for the financial services sector.

The relationship between Linedata and DreamQuark goes back two years, beginning when the French startup participated in one of Linedata’s innovation labs. “They were very complimentary to what we’re doing,” says Jamil Jiva, global head of business development, tells WatersTechnology. After going through the proof-of-concept process and discussions with clients, it became clear that it would benefit both sides to have DreamQuark under its belt.

Timothée Raymond, head of innovation and technology at Linedata, says the company has traditionally focused more on the back-to-middle office side, whereas DreamQuark had focused on the front-office side. This combination will now allow for a larger front-to-back offering.

“What’s interesting at the heart of the front-to-back versus best-of-breed approach is the question of data and the question of having a single source of truth—single data model within the asset manager so that you can leverage that data,” Raymond says. “With AI, that need is even more important than it was before because if you apply your AI model to bad or incomplete data or create discrepancies between the systems, then the result will not be what you were expecting.

He says mastering the front-to-back play on the software side means they can then master the data sources. “Now we can apply the AI engine on top of that, and that’s where that front-to-back approach delivers the most value.”

DreamQuark has previously collaborated with entities such as Royal Bank of Scotland and Gambit Financial.

Tradeweb to acquire ICD

Tradeweb Markets, a global operator of electronic marketplaces for rates, credit, equities, and money markets, will acquire Institutional Cash Distributors (ICD), an institutional investment technology provider for corporate treasury organizations trading short-term investments. The deal is valued at $785 million, subject to customary adjustments. The purchase price is expected to be funded with cash on hand.

With the acquisition of ICD and its proprietary technology, Tradeweb will add a new and fast-growing client channel serving corporate treasury professionals, complementing Tradeweb’s existing focus on institutional, wholesale and retail clients. Established in 2003, ICD enables more than 500 corporate treasury organizations from growth and blue-chip companies (including approximately 17% of the S&P 100 as of December 31, 2023) across 65 industries and more than 45 countries to invest in money market funds and other short-term products to manage liquidity.

ICD’s flagship products include the ICD Portal and ICD Portfolio Analytics. The portal is a one-stop shop for researching, trading, analyzing, and reporting on investments across more than 40 available investment providers, primarily offering money market funds and access to other short-term products, including deposits, fixed-term funds, and separately managed accounts (SMAs).

Upon closing of the transaction, ICD’s chief executive officer Tory Hazard will report to Tradeweb president Thomas Pluta and will join Tradeweb’s operating committee.

Rimes to be acquired by Five Arrows

Rimes, a provider of enterprise data management and investment platform solutions to the global investment community, has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Five Arrows, the alternative assets arm of Rothschild & Co.

In late 2019, Barron’s reported that the data management specialist was up for sale. A few months later, Swedish private equity firm EQT, through its Mid Market Europe fund, made “a significant growth investment” in the managed-services provider. The amount was not disclosed and a spokesperson for Rimes declined to provide a number to WatersTechnology.

In October 2021, Rimes complemented its product offering with the acquisition of Matrix IDM, which added an investment management platform and data distribution and warehousing solutions. That same year, Rimes shuttered its market surveillance business and Brad Hunt, the newly appointed CEO of Rimes, told WatersTechnology that soon after taking on the role, he decided the market surveillance solutions were not central to the Rimes business and no longer aligned with the firm’s strategic direction.

The investment was led jointly by the Five Arrows Long Term Fund (“FALT”) and Five Arrows Principal Investments. The firm targets B2B data and software sectors across a focused set of end‑markets, including financial technology.

Genesis launches credit insurance application

Low-code application developer Genesis Global has launched the Genesis Credit Insurance Application (CIA) to help lenders build and manage global portfolios of credit insurance and risk participation agreements. It is applicable to a range of commercial, investment, and transaction banking activities, including commercial lines, term loans, trade finance, project finance, letters of credit, and bank guarantees.

CIA replaces a series of manual processes typically managed on spreadsheets with an integrated solution that consolidates global insurance portfolio data and facilitates an efficient workflow for distributing risk. It enables banks to modernize how they reduce credit exposure while mitigating operational and financial risk in the process.

McKay Brothers introduce London-Stockholm private bandwidth

McKay Brothers International (MBI) has launched a low-latency private bandwidth connection between London and Stockholm. McKay’s service connects key European exchanges: London’s LD4 data center, home of Cboe Europe, and Stockholm’s Stack STO01 data center, which houses Nasdaq-OMX’s markets. The service also allows data to be transmitted and received at London’s Interxion and Telehouse North 2 data centers.

MBI’s long-haul microwave networks connect London, Frankfurt, Bergamo, Zurich, and Madrid, and McKay’s London Metro service connects the major UK trading centers. MBI’s market data services also distribute select exchange data from Eurex, LME, Cboe Europe, CME, and the Intercontinental Exchange at major trading centers in Europe.

Nice Actimize unveils new integrated fraud management platform

Nice Actimize has announced the availability of IFM 11 (Integrated Fraud Management), a new release of its AI-driven fraud management and detection platform. The new release leverages recent advancements in artificial intelligence together with Nice Actimize’s collective intelligence capabilities to introduce fraud detection accuracy, agility, and efficiency to protect financial services firms and their customers from the next generation of AI-driven fraud and scams.

With this new platform, aims to prevent more scams by building “deeper and richer” entity risk profiles and incorporating network analytics and generative AI capabilities in fraud detection, fraud strategy, alert triage, investigations, and claims management.

Nice Actimize’s collective intelligence further fortifies firms with day one protection using AI models trained on industry fraud data. The release also allows financial institutions to stay ahead of new fraud threats with advanced connected analytics capability, harnessing industry learnings and recent risk signals to prevent these threats.

Cohesity brings Intel’s confidential computing capabilities to Cohesity Data Cloud

Cohesity, a provider of AI-powered data security and management, is collaborating with Intel to bring Intel’s confidential computing capabilities to the Cohesity Data Cloud. Leveraged with Fort Knox, Cohesity’s cyber vault service, this data-in-use encryption innovation aims to bring new opportunities to the data management industry.

Traditionally, options have been limited for protecting data in use while it is actively processed in memory, which can leave data unencrypted and vulnerable to insider attacks. Confidential computing enabled by Intel Software Guard Extensions (Intel SGX) will support Cohesity customers to reduce the risk posed by potential bad actors accessing data while it is being processed in main memory. This is especially critical for highly regulated industries like financial institutions, healthcare, and government.

Kyte Broking allows broker connections via WhatsApp and Telegram

Futures and options broker Kyte Broking Limited, a part of the Market Securities Group, has enabled clients to reach their brokers via WhatsApp and Telegram. The channels, which were previously considered ‘off-channel’ communications by the firm, are now fully compliant and approved for use thanks to a joint solution by LeapXpert and SteelEye.

The integrated solution offered by LeapXpert and SteelEye allows Kyte Broking to capture, archive, and monitor communications across various channels, including WhatsApp and Telegram. As a result, Kyte Broking can communicate with clients on their preferred messaging platforms while ensuring full compliance with regulatory requirements by the FCA, SEC, and other global regulators.