Ultimus Fund Solutions and Xceptor, maker of data automation platforms for financial markets, have expanded their six-year partnership to help Ultimus’ clients streamline operations and reduce risk, officials say. Ultimus offers fund administration, accounting, and investor solutions. The expanded partnership encompasses “global verticals and business lines” that use the data automation and reconciliation of Ultimus’… Read More >>
‘Suboptimal Ops’ Will Fail via T+1 in U.K. & E.U.
(John Bevil, a senior product manager at data automation platform provider Xceptor, recently took questions from FTF News about a key European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) report on the E.U.’s transition to T+1 settlement and some of the lessons learned from the U.S. adoption. Bevil says that he has watched the financial services industry’s… Read More >>
Trump’s EO Could Shake Up 401(k) Portfolios
Financial planning managers for retirees and others might get the green light and new guardrails from federal officials, helping them include alternative assets, such as private equity, real estate, and digital assets, in 401(k) portfolios, as President Donald J. Trump recently signed an executive order (EO) to that effect. “More than 90 million Americans participate… Read More >>
Regulators Want the U.S. to Rule Crypto Markets
The highly touted “Crypto Week” of July 14-18 — when Congress mulled over major legislation to kick-start the digital asset era for U.S. markets — was just the start of the Trump team’s push to have the United States dominate global crypto markets. Toward the end of last month, “The President’s Working Group on Digital… Read More >>
KYC & Compliance Reap Rewards from Agentic A.I.: Survey
A growing number of global financial institutions are using agentic artificial intelligence (A.I.) to evolve the efficiency of their compliance operations and to automate key tasks such as know your customer (KYC) efforts, according to a new study from Fenergo, a provider of digital solutions for KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance. Hopes are running… Read More >>
SS&C Acquires Calastone to Revamp Global Funds Ops
SS&C Technologies, a post-trade securities operations services and systems provider, is acquiring Calastone, a global funds network and financial technology solutions provider, from the Carlyle Group for $1.03 billion (£766 million) in an effort to build “a more connected, automated, and intelligent global fund ecosystem,” say SS&C officials. Calastone’s network and technology solutions are expected… Read More >>
Franklin Templeton Taps BNY for ETF Servicing
Global asset manager Franklin Templeton has appointed custody giant the Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BNY) to provide “a full suite of asset servicing and foreign exchange capabilities” for U.S.-listed, exchange-traded fund (ETF) offerings, officials say. “Franklin Templeton is expanding its long-standing relationship with BNY to leverage additional services for one of its fastest-growing… Read More >>
Equity Data Science Unveils ‘Fusion’ Initiative
Equity Data Science (EDS), a provider of investment process management (IPM) technology to hedge funds and asset managers, has launched a new generative artificial intelligence (A.I.) initiative called Fusion. Generative A.I. — designed to produce new content rather than simply analyze or categorize existing data — is being adopted across industries, including financial services. EDS… Read More >>
‘Genius Act’ Hopes to Launch a Stablecoin Revolution
Late last week, President Donald J. Trump signed the Genius Act into law, creating “the first-ever Federal regulatory system for stablecoins, ensuring their stability and trust through strong reserve requirements,” according to the White House. The legislation is intended to “pave the way for the United States to lead the global digital currency revolution.” However,… Read More >>
SEC Designates Acting Chair for the PCAOB
Independent watchdog, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), will soon have a new acting chair, George R. Botic, who will take over for PCAOB Chair Erica Y. Williams after her resignation takes effect July 22, 2025. This is according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which designated the line of succession for the… Read More >>