Data & Analytics


Why is it so hard to know who you’re doing business with?

Every bank wants to achieve a single view of a customer, but no-one has found an easy, cost-effective, scalable way to do it. The simple fact is that there is too much customer information, entering the bank from too many places, to align and maintain into a single view. An effective solution would reduce costs, allow the bank to generate revenue faster, facilitate KYC processes and meet regulatory requirements.

Thomson Reuters to supply reference data to SmartStream utility to carry

Thomson Reuters is to supply reference data to SmartStream’s Securities Product Reference Data utility. As part of the agreement, SmartStream will have access to Thomson Reuters PermID, a machine-readable identifier that creates a unique reference for any data item. The SmartStream utility will provide services for instrument reference data normalisation and validation across all asset. […]

Deutsche creates FX index based on Autbahn data

Deutsche Bank’s Research unit is launching a new set of proprietary foreign exchange positioning indices based on data from its Autobahn FX trading platform. Called Corax – Categorised ORderflow from Autobahn FX – the indices will be published every Wednesday in the Corax Positioning Report.

Goldmans, JPM and Morgan Stanley plan reference data utility

Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley are building a reference data utility with SmartStream, which they say will provide data normalisation and validation for all asset classes. The project aims to reduce costs for consumers of data in capital markets by economies of scale.

Bloomberg and Traiana to automate post-trade for FX options

Post-trade processing company Bloomberg STP Solutions and post-trade and risk specialist Traiana have begun a joint effort to develop a straight-through processing infrastructure for FX options. The partners say it will help to reduce post-trade costs for market participants, which have typically remained higher than execution costs.

Banks can see off new challenges with a flexible but secure approach to data

Even as they cement their recovery from the financial crisis, adherents to traditional banking models are facing a new storm as they grapple with the digital demands of the Facebook generation and heightened regulatory risks surrounding data. At the same time, they must match the customer service levels offered by the “challenger” banks if they are to avoid haemorrhaging business to their nimble and digital-focused rivals.

How the Internet of Things is helping banks put their customers first

At the SAP Financial Services Forum in London last month, the topic of digital transformation dominated the agenda. From legacy banks with lumbering IT systems to nimble fintech startups, the consensus was clear: The long-standing status quo is simply unsustainable in an increasingly digital economy

The role of intelligent analytics in retail banking

Since the financial crash retail banks are faced with more regulatory and financial restrictions than could have been envisioned. This is coupled with increased levels of competition and much reduced consumer trust. Intelligent analytics may offer part of the solution.

Markit acquires Information Mosaic

Financial information company Markit has agreed to acquire Information Mosaic, a software provider for corporate actions and post trade securities processing.  Information Mosaic’s enterprise software will allow Markit to extend its corporate actions service to support the full corporate actions trade lifecycle and enhance Markit’s asset servicing solutions.  Michele Trogni, managing director, cohead of Solutions […]

Things ain’t what they used to be

According to Cisco there are 15.5 billion devices connected to the internet, ranging from routers to telemetry devices, power grid controllers, smartphones and perhaps the odd toaster. Other than in retail situations this so-called Internet of Things does not immediately seem to have much to do with the financial services industry. John Bates thinks otherwise, and sets out why in his recent book Thingalytics.

Nasdaq to introduce blockchain for private equities

Nasdaq is to use the blockchain technology behind controversial alternative currency Bitcoin, as part of a push to improve the exchange’s equity management abilities. The move is the first time a major global exchange has put the blockchain concept to use.

The road towards a better bank

The financial sector is a slow mover in innovation, however no single industry is leading the way in the Digital Identities economy. Banking is one sector that can take advantage of Digital Identities to better develop customer experience given the nature of the engagement and relationship between Banks and their customers. Banks fulfil a very […]

Data integrity and post-crisis regulatory reform

The integrity of data in capital markets – be it, for example, price data, trade facts, collateral balances, or other key business information – has long been a fundamental concern of technologists and business stakeholders. But how do we define integrity?

OMG addresses data sovereignty issues in the cloud

The Object Management Group has formed a new working group to study issues of documenting and controlling data across distributed cloud environments, a big inhibitor of cloud for those with strict data sovereignty requirements such as banks and financial services firms.

S&P Capital IQ launches Salesforce app

Financial data and analytics specialist S&P Capital IQ has launched a new app on the Salesforce AppExchange designed to enable sales, marketing and other professionals to rapidly identify, research and vet potential new business clients and partners.

Regulations raise new questions about industry standards

Financial market regulations across the globe are increasingly focusing on risk management. This includes ensuring it is clear who firms are trading with and for, and confirming that firms can identify the instruments being traded. As a result, the field of reference data is increasingly held under the regulatory microscope and that lens extends to the standards used to identify financial instruments, writes Chris Pickles.

Breaking down BCBS 239

January’s Basel Committee on Banking Supervision report on banks’ progress towards BCBS 239 compliance threw up a telling contradiction. While global systemically important banks “are increasingly aware of the importance” of the BCBS 239 project, their sense of preparedness has decreased. In 2013, 10 of the 31 eligible banks reported they would be unable to comply fully by the 2016 deadline. This year, that number rose to 14. It is understandable that there is more work to be done, but how is it that the G-SIBs are moving backwards?

FCA approval takes Bloomberg into European trade reporting space

Continuing its policy of offering products that fit across user workflows, Bloomberg has moved in to the transaction reporting space in Europe. The company’s Trade Order Management System has been granted approval by the Financial Conduct Authority to report securities with an ISIN and OTC derivatives as part of the UK’s Approved Reporting Mechanisms regime.

Bringing it all together

From the early days of internet distribution, New York-based Alacra has been aggregating reference data. Chief executive Steve Goldstein told David Bannister the company’s story

SmartStream acquires Algo Collateral business from IBM

SmartStream Technologies has acquired the assets of IBM’s Algorithmics Collateral solution and will add it to its existing solutions for the automation of the end-to-end post trade lifecycle, rebranding it as TLM Collateral Management. The system provides collateral lifecycle automation for buy- and sell-side institutions, custodians and asset servicers, large and small.

Investment banks can benefit from online intelligence

It’s no secret that more bulge bracket trading desks are turning to online intelligence – predominantly social media – to obtain breaking news and views ahead of traditional wires. Yet, with constant pressure to get the edge over competitors, other departments of major investment banks will start following the trading floor’s lead.

The media as a source of reputational protection, rather than risk

For better or worse, financial institutions are more risk averse than ever. This is the direct result of continuing and growing regulatory scrutiny over a broad range of activities, including the compliance of financial institutions in areas such as international sanctions, the prevention of money laundering, the funding of terrorism or the facilitation of tax evasion.

Orchestral manoeuvres

When first reports of an integrated communications project that had attracted a $66 million investment from a consortium of banks led by Goldman Sachs appeared last year, there was an element of cloak and dagger about the enterprise. The truth is both more prosaic and more interesting according to David Gurle, chief executive and founder of the company behind it.

Data analytics do drive financial growth finds EY study

Firms that excel at data analytics also achieve better financial results according a study by EY. High-growth companies are twice as likely to focus on data and analytics in revenue-generating areas such as marketing and sales,

ICAP brings BrokerTec and EBS under one roof

ICAP is combining its EBS foreign exchange and BrokerTec fixed income electronic trading platforms into one business unit. The change is“an internal management reorganisation” and the platforms will remain separate for the foreseeable future.

Banking on Big Data

The volume, speed and power of technology has transformed the Financial Services industry into one the most sophisticated data driven sectors in the global economy, allowing for the execution of complex global transactions at the push of a button. From high frequency trading to eCommerce to mobile banking, the financial sector is generating a huge amounts of data – in fact, almost too much data. Like individuals, institutions are facing an information overload that is limiting the promise and opportunity of technology.

FIX focuses on high performance with consolidated effort

FIX Trading Community has combined all its high performance trading and market data initiatives into a single working group, emphasising the importance that high performance has in the FIX family of standards. The next generation of the FIX Protocol will fully support high performance on all levels (application, presentation, session) to offer an open standard that can replace today’s proprietary interfaces for high performance trading and market data.

Deutsche Bank hires Salesforce chief scientist for new data role

JP Rangaswami has been appointed as chief data officer at Deutsche Bank, a newly-created role in which he will “play a key role in standardising the bank’s processes, tools and governance around information and in supporting its digital strategy”.