Europe doesn’t need more trading venues – instead, it needs more innovation, more fairness, more competition and better enforcement, according to panellists speaking at the Trade Tech conference in Paris.
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.
Banks must take note of the way that technology is changing how customers interact with the world around them and develop products and services that address their needs rather than the banks’.
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.
Mobile money service M-Pesa has launched in Romania, bringing an idea hugely successful in Kenya to a European Union member state for the first time.
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.
Orange Business Services and technology infrastructure provider SIA have done a deal aimed at encouraging European banks and merchants to manage more payments via mobile point of sale terminals.
The complexity of regulatory reforms in Europe and the US are placing pressure on the industry and may catch some participants unawares.
Perseus Telecom has launched what it claims is the first ‘trans-Atlantic’ microwave route between New York and Frankfurt, for use by banks, market makers, proprietary trading firms and other market participants.
EBA Clearing has reported that market participants are gradually adapting to SEPA, with peak day volumes on its Step2 clearing platform above 100 million SEPA credit transfers and SEPA direct debits.
European securities regulator ESMA has published a discussion paper asking for public feedback on the technical standards that should be used for CSDs, including registration, settlement discipline, confirmation rules, acceptance or rejection of terms, as well as access to CSDs by other CSDs and market participants.
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.
Post-trade services institutions Clearstream, BNP Paribas Securities Services, Intesa Sanpaolo and BBVA have formed a tie-up in Europe, which they say is aimed at better asset servicing n Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain under the ECB’s forthcoming T2S project.
Regulatory change in the OTC derivatives market has produced serious problems that indicate a clear need for more automation of cleared derivatives post-trade processing, according to a new report published by research house Greenwich Associates.
The Bank of England has become the first central bank to go live with an implementation of the Market Infrastructure Resiliency Service contingency system it has been piloting with Swift over the past few years.
BNP Paribas Securities Services has launched a reporting tool for investment banks, which it says will help them cope with tough new financial regulations by better monitoring their intraday liquidity.
Switzerland’s SIX Group will move to T+2 settlement starting on 6 October 2014, bringing Switzerland into line with the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Russia.
Spain’s CaixaBank has developed an application for Google Glass, the futuristic and controversial new technology that is set to bring augmented reality to the masses when it launches later this year.
EBA Clearing, the European payment services provider owned by 62 European banks, has reported that its MyBank Mandate pilot scheme, which allows online merchants, public institutions and utility companies in Europe to collect SEPA direct debits online, has passed the first and second phases of testing before it launches later this year.
Denmark’s Saxo Bank has introduced futures spread trading onto its online trading and investment platform for retail and institutional clients, in a move the bank says will give investors access to a low-volatility trading style.
Greece’s Hellenic Exchanges Group, which runs the Athens Stock Exchange and Athens Derivatives Exchange, has chosen to buy services from the London Stock Exchange to help it cope with tough new European trade reporting rules.
Europe’s trade repositories have reported a largely smooth transition, following the deadline under EMIR on 12 February – but behind the scenes deep questions remain about the viability of the European Commission’s ambitious derivatives reform.
Orange and Visa Europe have launched a new mobile wallet service called Orange cash in the French cities of Caen and Strasbourg, making Orange the first mobile network operator in France to offer mobile contactless payments to its customers.
European exchange group Euronext is planning to begin trading active open-end funds on its Paris market following a legislative decree in France allowing the funds to be traded on exchanges or MTFs.
A week before the final reporting deadline for the European Commission’s EMIR regulation, tech firms are making a last push to get OTC trade reporting up and running.
Switzerland’s SIX Financial Information has begun delivering FATCA tax information to the US Inland Revenue Service, ahead of the controversial extraterritorial tax’s reporting deadline in July.
Transaction cost analysis has become a staple feature of equities trading since 2007’s watershed piece of European legislation MiFID. But that’s just the beginning of a journey that is increasingly coming to transform the way FX and fixed income asset classes are traded, according to Michael Sparkes, director of analytical products and research at broker ITG.
SIX Payment Services has apologised after a technical glitch caused a number of debit card transactions in Switzerland and Liechtenstein to be accidentally booked twice on 22-23 January. Following the disaster, SIX managed to reverse 99.93% of the double bookings, with the remainder due to be reversed individually in the coming days. On average SIX […]
Hong Kong-based carrier services firm PCCW Global has banded together with 16 other high profile international network operators, including China Unicom, Telecom Egypt, Etisalat and Ooredoo, to construct a high capacity submarine cable system between Asia, Africa and Europe.
Post-trade services company Traiana plans to connect to four trade repositories in preparation for the European Commission’s EMIR legislation, which requires trade reporting and clearing of OTC derivatives.
While many large organisations have already planned and delivered their SEPA compliance, smaller and mid-sized firms have woefully underprepared for the deadline. Banks and payment organisations need to be prepared for a certain amount of confusion and resistance from UK customers who may not understand the reasons for the change, and may be reluctant to put the necessary changes into effect.
The European Central Bank has released statistics that it says show that migration to the Single Euro Payments Area “gathered pace strongly” in December and urged market participants not to relax in their migration efforts. Earlier this month the European Commission announced a six-month extension past the 1 February deadline by which time all payments […]
Tuesday’s landmark deal between the European Parliament, Council and Commission on MiFID II will hurt long-term investors and may paint the regulator into a corner, according to Juan Pablo Urrutia, European general council at broker ITG.
Reforms to the way derivatives trade in the US and Europe are causing a conflict between consumer desire for bespoke solutions and regulatory attempts at standardisation – and the self-inflicted panic as the deadline approaches indicates the cost may be too high, according to a panel of senior capital markets representatives speaking at an event organised by the Futures and Options Association in London on Tuesday.
Switzerland’s Zürcher Kantonalbank has installed a performance monitoring system from latency management specialist firm Corvil to monitor the performance of its market making and FX business, including market data quality, transaction analysis and FX order flow.
Financial messaging cooperative Swift is looking to capitalise on the impending trade reporting deadline for EMIR, the European Commission’s new rulebook for derivatives, which comes into effect next month.
The London Stock Exchange has introduced a set of changes for its international order book, including a shift to T+2 settlement, a reduction in tick sizes and changed opening hours, ahead of upcoming EU regulations designed to harmonise settlement across Europe.
The EC proposes that banks and payment services providers will not be penalised for continuing to process legacy payments during a six-month “transition period” after the February deadline for SEPA migration.
Belgium’s Record Bank has introduced a new mobile banking platform that it says will help customers better manage their money in real time. The features of the new mobile banking service include SEPA payment abilities and the ability for customers to check the status, transaction history and details of their own account. Established in 2001, […]
Dutch bank ABN Amro has become a member of German derivatives exchange Eurex’s OTC Clear service, which clears interest rate swaps, as part of the bank’s compliance with EMIR.
