The London Stock Exchange Group is said to be well positioned to maximize the potential of the post-trade platform for equity swaps.
Axoni, a provider of trade workflow applications and real-time data replication, has sold its Veris business and intellectual property to the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG), which intends to maximize the business potential of the post-trade platform for equity swaps, officials say.
Axoni and LSEG officials are not disclosing the financial terms for the transaction, which is subject to closing conditions and is expected to be completed during the last quarter of this year. Officials also decline to comment about the possibility that Axoni executives and/or staff will join the LSEG.
Veris is a distributed ledger network that facilitates post-trade reconciliation and lifecycle management for equity swaps. Axoni launched Veris four years ago, officials say.
“This acquisition represents a significant step forward in our efforts to modernize OTC derivative post-trade infrastructure. In recent years, we’ve partnered closely with LSEG to develop our trade processing applications and are confident they are the right party to help realize its growth potential,” says Greg Schvey, CEO of Axoni, in a prepared statement.
“Veris streamlines the post-trade data reconciliation process and prevents cash flow breaks by enabling counterparties to share and compare data associated with equity swap deals, positions, trades, and related cash flows throughout the post-trade lifecycle,” according to the announcement. “Following the transaction, LSEG will own and operate the Veris network after a transition period. Additional software to support post-trade processing in other derivative asset classes will also be transferred as part of the transaction.”
Three years ago, BlackRock announced that it began using Veris, which was in addition to Citi, Goldman Sachs, and other counterparties, officials say.
Axoni has a history of working with the LSEG.
“Over the last few years, we have partnered with LSEG on other initiatives and this sale is a testament to the impact our technology can bring to their client base,” Greg Schvey, CEO of Axoni, tells FTF News.
“Historically, our focus has included building market infrastructures for the world’s largest institutions,” says Schvey, referring to the Options Clearing Corp. (OCC) and DirectBooks. “And given its global footprint and vast client network, we believe LSEG will help maximize the business potential of Veris.”
With Veris sold, Axoni will be adjusting its focus.
“Going forward, we will be increasingly focused on HYDRA, our data platform that offers the easiest and most secure way to share and consume critical data between institutions,” Schvey says.
Last week, Axoni rebranded its flagship data platform, AxCore, to HYDRA, to signify the product’s evolution, officials say.
The name HYDRA symbolizes “the platform’s ability to replicate data to various destinations from a single source. In mythology, the Hydra is a multi-headed creature known for its ability to replicate, reflecting the core strength of the HYDRA platform: the capacity to handle the most demanding data challenges in capital markets,” according to the announcement.
“HYDRA’s versatility allows it to support various destination datastores, including Postgres, MongoDB, Kafka, and others, whether managed within cloud platforms or on-prem environments,” officials add. HYDRA has customers among central counterparty clearinghouses (CCPs) and sell- and buy-side firms.
Schvey declined to comment on whether Axoni and the LSEG would be working together in the future on areas other than the Veris network.
Founded in 2017, Axoni serves banks, asset managers, hedge funds, and financial market infrastructure firms across the globe from offices in New York and London, officials say.
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