WealthTech


EU financial markets – from fragmentation to harmony?

Consolidation of market infrastructure in Europe will continue, as firms choose post-trade service providers that meet their needs in terms of cost-effectiveness or value-added services. However, some of the real cost issues in Europe are still to be addressed.

You think SEPA is over? Think again

Banks should be wary of jumping the gun and assuming that SEPA implementation is a done deal. Far from being over, the task of learning to live with SEPA is just beginning.

EBS rolls out mobile FX app

FX trading service EBS has launched Watch EBS, a new mobile app that is designed to show users the global spot FX market in as close to real time as possible.

Transparency: the new wonder drug?

While transparency may be seen as a new wonder drug that will cure all the industry’s ills, it does not come without side effects, so it was refreshing to see ESMA promoting a collaborative approach with the industry in defining the details of how MiFID II and MiFIR are implemented.

Outfoxing the fixed income fracas

Fixed income is a bit like the tortoise of Aesop’s fables, while equities is unquestionably the rambunctious hare. While equities finished the race towards an agency trading model many years ago, fixed income is just plodding onto the starting lines now. But a little outsourcing may provide the rocket boost the industry needs to push ahead, according to Carl James, managing director of dealing services UK at BNP Paribas.

Ukraine, Turkey and Russia crises pose banking challenge

Political turbulence in the Ukraine, Russia and Turkey this year produced disagreement between senior financial industry executives at a FIX Trading Community conference in London yesterday, with some arguing that politics should not be allowed to detract from the longer-term rise of non-western economies and others arguing the opposite.

ABN Amro launches global FIX trading push

ABN Amro Clearing has launched a new global trading platform for equities and futures which it says can route clients between Asia, Europe and the US using a single FIX connection.

BGC Partners to launch Islamic murabaha contracts in Dubai

US broker BGC Partners and UAE government-run free zone the Dubai Multi Commodity Centre have done a deal to promote Islamic ‘Murabaha’ products, as part of a drive to turn Dubai into an Islamic finance hub. The DMCC has a trade platform called DMCC Tradeflow, which operates in the Jumeirah Lakes Towers Free Zone. A […]

FIX publishes guidelines for equities TCA

Industry standards organisation the FIX Trading Community has published its guidelines for transaction cost analysis in equities, which it says will help to create a better market by clearing up the competing methodologies and definitions that are currently in use.

Known Unknowns: preparing for SEF-traded FX options

The Dodd-Frank Act launched the acronym SEF into the alphabet soup of modern capital markets, After three years of repeated discussions, consultations, submissions and furious wrangling, Swap Execution Facilities finally come into operation this week.

Futures algos come of age

Long-only institutional investors are increasingly turning towards advanced futures trading strategies that have previously been the preserve of hedge funds and proprietary trading shops, according to a new report published by Tabb Group and Fidessa.

ISDA begins radical overhaul of ISDAFIX swap rates

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association has set a date for the first stage of sweeping changes to the ISDAFIX benchmark for annual swap rates, as part of a major global push to clean up rates and make them more accountable.

Euronext and Markit target ETF opportunities

January has been a good month for ETFs, with the launch of two new products aimed at making it safer and cheaper to trade – and easier to get the information needed to make trading decisions.

Russian bonds make debut at Euroclear Bank

Russia’s securities markets have taken another step forward with the decision by Euroclear Bank to launch post-trade services for Russian corporate and municipal bonds on 30 January, via its relationship with Russia’s newly established CSD the National Settlement Depository.

Capital markets on a firmer footing for 2014

Following the tumultuous change that came in the wake of the subprime crisis, capital markets firms have yet to regain a strong foothold but 2014 is showing increasing evidence of a shift to a higher gear.

ICE reveals a design for Liffe

IntercontinentalExchange has revealed further details of its plans for Liffe, following its acquisition of NYSE Euronext in November.

Bitcoin boom prompts banking dilemma

Bitcoin is more traceable but less regulated, less expensive but more volatile, and more decentralised but less accountable, than a regular currency. Feeling confused? That’s not the half of it, according to Ernst & Young.

Caplin targets regional banks with FX platform as a service

Smaller regional banks may want a single-dealer FX platform; unfortunately, they’re not cheap, so UK technology company Caplin Systems is targeting regional banks that want a single-dealer FX platform without building it themselves.

London calling to the Chinese renminbi

Standard Chartered and Agricultural Bank of China have launched renminbi-denominated clearing services in the UK in a deal that reflects the ongoing internationalisation of the currency.

Is it safe to trust the machines?

Bank algos may superficially appear to be well-tested – but the process may be open to any number of unexpected flaws, according to Steve Wilcockson, industry manager at big data specialist firm MathWorks.

Breaking dawn: the new reality for the buy-side

Enlightened buy-side firms are facing the challenges of high-touch regulation, fragmented liquidity and ongoing cost pressures head on and developing new business models and approaches at every stage of their workflow.

Fidessa and Celent call for MiFID II clemency on dark pools

Regulators should consider carefully the implications of their actions, and not be too hasty to censure or restrict trading activity on dark pools, according to a report released by analyst firm Celent this week. The findings have been supported by senior financial services executives at Fidessa, who have called for investor choice to be maintained.

Scaling up in Asia

The burgeoning wealth of Asia represents a huge opportunity for asset managers that can scale their businesses across the region, but it will place huge strains on firms’ operations, driving them to explore a new approach to outsourcing.

ICE acquires Singapore Mercantile Exchange and clearing house

IntercontinentalExchange is to acquire Singapore Mercantile Exchange, including the venue’s clearing house, in a deal that will give it a foothold in Asia for the first time. SMX offers futures for metals, currencies, energy and agricultural commodities.

Exchange tie-ups “not worth the air miles they are written with”

The wisdom of emerging market exchange deals was a subject of controversy at the Mondo Visione exchange forum in London on Wednesday, with some participants lambasting such deals as “not worth the air miles they were written on”. Others had a more positive view.

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