In other FinTech news, Cassini Systems & Margin Reform target the buy side while Axioma, Mizuho Securities and Perella Weinberg Partners focus on Asia-Pacific concerns.
Two Vendors Focus on Noncleared OTC Derivatives
SmartStream Technologies, a post-trade systems and services provider, and Numerix, a risk technology vendor, report an agreement intended to better support end users in complying with the International Swaps and Derivative Association’s (ISDA) standards governing margin requirements for non-centrally cleared derivatives.
In order to facilitate the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives margin requirements mandated by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and the International Organization of Securities Commissions, ISDA offers its standard initial margin model (SIMM) methodology to help market participants calculate initial margin (IM) for noncleared derivatives and to “provide transparency in the collateral management space.”
SmartStream’s automated data management software is intended to reduce operational risks associated with collateral management, while Numerix’s computational capacities make it possible to generate the risk possibilities required by ISDA’s SIMM methodology, the vendors say, adding that their partnership will “reduce counterparty disputes and operational costs for clients dealing in collateral management for OTC derivatives.”
Cassini Systems & Margin Reform Craft Service for Buy Side
Cassini Systems, a provider of pre- and post-trade analytics for margin, collateral, and funding costs, and Margin Reform, a new financial services management consultancy, report a recently formed joint service to help buy-side participants navigate uncleared margin rule regulations.
The duo has crafted an uncleared margin-rule “scoping and planning” workshop, intended to meet each individual buy-side firm’s needs, highlights the “crucial steps and timelines” required to comply with the uncleared-margin rules, including “back-testing and benchmarking,” officials say.
The offering is a combination of Margin Reform’s experience in delivering UMR programs and Cassini’s expertise in over-the-counter (OTC) margin calculation, analysis and optimization, officials say. The vendors will provide a guide for uncleared margin rule (UMR) and ISDA standard initial margin model (SIMM) methodology implementations, Cassini and Margin Reform officials say in a statement.
The vendors will also include a “portfolio analysis snapshot of the margin and collateral impact” of clients’ “in-scope bilateral derivatives,” Cassini and Margin Reform add.
Details of the new service can be found here.
Axioma Unveils APAC Equity Risk Models
Axioma, a provider of enterprise risk management, portfolio management and regulatory reporting procedures, reports the release of its new Asia Pacific and Asia Pacific-excluding-Japan risk models — the most recent updates to the vendor’s equity factor risks suite.
The Asia-Pacific models follow the recent releases of Axioma’s emerging market and China risk models, intended to provide equity investors with “actionable insights” into how to best manage risks and returns across major expanding markets.
The updated risk models cover more than 26,000 active securities across 17 markets in Asia-Pacific with long-term historical pricing data, the company notes in a statement, which also points out that its newest models include “several new fundamental factors such as dividend yield, earnings yield, and profitability that will also allow investors to construct portfolios along with the same fundamental factors that are used to distinguish companies in developed markets.”
Last year “was a wake-up call for Asian-focused investors, with the impact of risk-on / risk-off behavior in an uncertain global environment a significant headwind to return expectations,” Joel Coverdale, Axioma’s managing director, Asia Pacific, says in a statement.
Mizuho Securities & PWP Sign MOU to Collaborate
Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd., a Japanese investment banking and securities firm, and Perella Weinberg Partners (PWP), a global independent advisory firm, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on cross-border M&A advisory involving Japanese companies, officials say.
“Under the MOU, Mizuho Securities and PWP will provide strategic advice to Japanese companies on cross-border M&A transactions in North America and Europe, and to companies in North America, Europe and other areas looking to pursue transactions in Japan,” according to a joint statement.
The agreement means that Mizuho Securities have access to “PWP’s bankers in mergers and acquisitions across a broad range of sectors in North America, Europe and the Middle East,” says Yasuto Hamanishi, head of global investment banking at Mizuho Securities, in a statement. “This collaboration will create new opportunities for the clients of both companies … As part of the collaboration, Mizuho Securities will second personnel to PWP.”
“This is a natural next step in the continuing evolution of our global advisory business,” says Joseph Perella, founding partner and chairman of PWP, in a statement.
Mizuho Securities is a subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group, a major Japanese investment banking and securities firm. Mizuho Securities offers global M&A support to clients via 140 M&A bankers in Tokyo, New York, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing and Mumbai.
Perella Weinberg Partners offers strategic and financial advice and asset management services to corporations, institutions and governments. Together with its affiliates, the asset management business has capital commitments and managed assets of approximately $13.4 billion. PWP has offices in New York, Houston, London, Austin, Calgary, Chicago, Denver, Dubai, Los Angeles, Paris, and San Francisco.
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