Internal political battles at securities firms can prevent them from considering cost-effective utility models for key operations, say officials at financial services consultancy Capco, which just released a global survey of banking executives’ reactions to utilities. Overall, Capco officials say that the survey finds that firms are “failing to take full advantage of the utilities… Read More >>
LSEG Eyes ETF Growth with XTF Acquisition
The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has added to its exchange-traded fund (ETF) offering with the acquisition of XTF Inc., a US-based provider of ETF data, analytics and ratings. The transaction terms have not been disclosed but following the purchase, XTF will be integrated with LSEG’s Information Services Division, sitting alongside index provider FTSE Russell… Read More >>
Firms Warned to Keep MiFID II Momentum Going Despite Delays
Market participants should use any delay in the implementation of the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) to develop a more strategic approach to compliance with the regulatory reforms, say industry observers. Firms should keep up the momentum as it’s unclear whether politics will play in the industry’s favor and add more time… Read More >>
GLEIF Takes Charge of the LEI Effort
Editor’s note: The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), the body overseeing the Global Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) System, has taken center stage in the effort to promote the usage of the LEI standard. In fact, GLEIF has just launched the Global LEI Index, “a golden copy of all past and current LEI records including… Read More >>
Interactive Data SPreDs the Ops Costs with Trio of A-List Banks
Interactive Data Corp. is serving as a data provider to a new SmartStream reference data utility, nicknamed the Securities Product Reference Data (SPReD), which has the support of Goldman Sachs, JPMorganChase and Morgan Stanley for its potential to cut operational costs. The new utility offers services for instrument reference data normalization and validation across all… Read More >>
Tighter Budgets Make Trading Ops Utility Model More Attractive
Cost-cutting and the crush of regulatory compliance are making a utility model for processing and sharing the costs of trade operations, including core post-trade systems, more likely, according to a new study from by Broadridge Financial Solutions. The utility model, which would incorporate reference data, reconciliations, trade expense management, corporate actions, and tax and regulatory… Read More >>
Alacra Launches Free Website for Accessing Identifiers
In an effort to accelerate the adoption of the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI), Alacra Inc., a provider of reference database solutions for financial institutions, has launched what it is calling a new approach to accessing publicly available entity identifiers. The new website offering Alacra Resolve will help end users access LEI, GIIN, ticker, CIK, FRN… Read More >>
Interactive Data Revamps Fixed-Income Content
Market and reference data vendor Interactive Data Corp. (IDC) has completed “an extensive upgrade to its North American fixed-income reference data content,” say company officials. The content is available on IDC’s Apex platform. “Interactive Data has invested in and enhanced our reference data platform to empower firms to reduce their total cost of ownership and… Read More >>
Alacra Adds Three to Management
Alacra, a specialist vendor in client onboarding, reference data and business research solutions, reports the addition of three new members to its management, with the appointments of Alan Samuels (pictured to the left), Kelvin Dickenson and Kevin Kollar. “Each brings valuable skills and experience and the appointments are a significant step in the company’s continued… Read More >>
J.P. Morgan Re-Masters Its Reference Data Operations
(Editor’s Note: This story will appear in the Winter/Spring digital edition of the FTF News magazine, which will be online next month.) J.P. Morgan’s realignment of its investment-banking and Worldwide Securities Services businesses has yielded not only the Corporate & Investment Bank unit but has led to an overhaul of its reference data operations. The… Read More >>
