While changes to the OTC derivatives world grab the headlines, trading is moving to a cross asset world, largely driven by regulation and standardisation – and after a few years of pain, firms may find that they are better off as a result.
German clearing and settlement business Clearstream has opened a new link to Russia’s CSD, the National Settlement Depository, that should allow customers based in the west to trade and settle Russian OFZ treasury bonds more easily.
Russian broker Renaissance Capital has built a cross-margining tool for the Moscow FX and derivatives markets Micex Selt and Forts, and the London Stock Exchange’s international order book.
The Luxembourg Stock Exchange is cooperating with IT support company Altus to develop a market infrastructure for European investment funds, which constitute a large part of the Luxembourg economy.
The Qatar Exchange has introduced sponsored access and market making for the first time, in a move intended to boost liquidity and make it easier for a wider pool of investors to access the market.
New guidelines published earlier this month by European regulator ESMA could have a major impact on market making across Europe, according to Matthew Coupe, director of regulation and market structure at NICE Actimize.
European exchanges Eurex and NYSE Liffe are soon to list a host of new derivatives, based on MSCI indices. From March, market participants will be able to trade futures and options based on the MSCI World, MSCI Europe, MSCI All Countries Asia Pacific ex-Japan and futures on the MSCI Frontier Markets.
The Australian Securities Exchange has expanded its efforts to connect to international market with the launch of the ASX Net Global network, which connects to Asia, Europe and North America.
The Philippine Dealing and Exchange has chosen a system to monitor its fixed income markets and make sure that any market abuse is swiftly discovered and dealt with.
Dutch bank Rabobank is to sell its asset management business Robeco to Japanese financial services group Orix for €1.9 billion.
The National Bank of Canada is to use algorithmic trading tools and market access from Nordic technology company Orc, through its subsidiary National Bank Financial.
Market participants using NYSE Technologies’ market data feed SuperFeed and SFTI network will soon be able to get social media sentiment statistics, following a deal between NYSE and specialist company Social Market Analytics.
On February 28, most of the approximately 70 registered swap dealers will stumble across the finishing line for the remaining asset classes of the CFTC implementation of Dodd-Frank trade reporting regulations. Some may be forgiven for breathing a sigh of relief.
Senior market participants have expressed outrage that exchanges continue to charge high fees for market data, while MTFs still lack the means to compete on auctions and are not represented on international indices.
2012 seemed like the year of regulators taking a prolonged look at computer trading – defining what it might be, its potential effects, why it may be problematic. It is still far from clear that we have answers to these fundamental questions.
Speed is becoming less of a competitive advantage for exchanges as regulation and the need to support long-term investors comes to the fore, according to Christian Katz, chief executive at SIX Swiss Exchange.
Bank deleveraging may inadvertently spur a revival of equity markets, Antonio Zoido, chairman and chief executive at Spanish exchange group BME told delegates at the World Exchange Congress in London yesterday.
Emerging markets Brazil, India and Turkey took the spotlight at yesterday’s World Exchange Congress event in London, as senior executives highlighted rising technological investment, growing competition and successful index performance.
As new rules for the reporting of OTC derivatives draw closer around the globe, US post-trade services utility the DTCC is positioning itself as the provider of a global network of trade repositories – but OTC derivatives reform will only work if consistent measures are taken everywhere, says Stewart Macbeth, president and chief executive at the DTCC.
Regulatory data collection tools have been refined, standardised identifiers nearly constructed and more frequent and granular reporting rolled into regulation. Now that regulators have this mass of data, what is the next step in linking it and putting it to use?
Market data and technology company Activ Financial has expanded its risk gateway tool to cover all Canadian exchanges, ahead of new rules that will require market participants in Canada to have pre-trade risk controls in place across all asset classes from next month.
Russian asset manager Alfa Capital has implemented SDX, SuperDerivatives real-time cross-asset front office system, for its structured products business.
HSBC and Barclays have begun trading Singapore-listed stocks on the London Stock Exchange, using the LSE’s newly-created international board.
The Taiwan Futures Exchange is to list futures and options on German derivatives exchange Eurex, following an agreement between the two bourses to make it easier for international investors to access each other’s markets round the clock.
Euroclear Bank has begun clearing and settlement for Russian ruble-denominated OFZ government bonds – a market worth US$100 billion, according to figures provided by Baring Asset Management.
Next month, the European Commission’s EMIR regulation on the central clearing and reporting of OTC derivatives is due to take effect in Germany. Investment managers Insight Investment and OFI Asset Management have begun clearing OTC derivatives on Eurex via its new service, EurexOTC Clear.
The National Bank of Abu Dhabi is strengthening the resilience of its internal technology as it seeks to embrace mobile and expand its coverage beyond the United Arab Emirates.
Indian exchange MCX Stock Exchange has set a date to begin trading in equity derivatives, in a move that opens up a new front in the competition between India’s dominant BSE and NSE exchanges.
As Asian markets continue to lure international investors, participants on Japan’s new Exchange will now be able to get market access and algorithmic trading tools from data and analytics company S&P Capital IQ, which has chosen to locate itself at KVH’s datacentre in Tokyo.
Hats off to Rising Sum, which has built a platform that identifies investment opportunities “using the acquisition criteria favoured by Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet’s highly successful investment vehicle”.
Russia’s central securities depository NSD is to get a complete business intelligence overhaul through a joint project with consultancy Optima Group. The deal should help bolster NSD as one of the key pieces in the government’s strategy to turn Moscow into an international financial centre.
A study shows that 62% of City traders “admit to missing key investment or sell opportunities because they didn’t keep track of time zone differences”.
Seven innovative start-up companies have been chosen to take part in a major new London-based project that aims to bolster advanced technologies in financial services. The seven firms will participate in a twelve-week programme in which they will gain support from the major banks and gather interest from venture capitalists and investors.
Flawed decisions taken by machines are causing financial services firms to lose customers and suffer unexpected costs, according to new report by the Economist Intelligence unit. Yet retail banks are increasingly turning to technology to assess customers.
Four out of five financial institutions are not ready for new regulations governing the trading, reporting and clearing of OTC derivatives, according to a new survey by US communications company IPC.
Peter Reitz, managing director of Eurex Repo and Eurex Bonds since 2006, has stepped down from the posts. He will continue to bear overall responsibility for the two subsidiaries on the Eurex Executive Board.
Online investment bank Saxo Bank has opened an office in Istanbul, Turkey, following its acquisition of local broker Değer Menkul Değerler in May last year.
The newly created East Africa Exchange, which is currently taking its first steps in Rwanda, is part of a regional integration project between Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda that aims to boost liquidity and provide a commodities market for 130 million people across the region.
Chilean broker Banchile, part of Santiago- based Banco de Chile, has deployed a brokerage platform from UK systems supplier Fidessa that will link it to international trading venues.
The upcoming IPO of Russia’s Moscow Exchange on its own bourse is just one step in a titanic effort to transform Russia’s capital markets and attract attention from international investors – and it may not be the most important one, according to Serge Alexandre, electronic trading services at Russian broker Otkritie.
