FinTech news from Deutsche Bank & Red Hat, PIMCO & Algomi Alfa, ICAP Information, Edison Group & GK Investor Relations, SS&C’s Black Diamond, and BondWave.
Manual Brings New Transparency to DOE
In a first for the CFTC, the regulator’s Division of Enforcement (DOE) is publishing and distributing an Enforcement Manual that provides an overview of the CFTC and DOE.
The manual is also intended to establish general policies and procedures to guide the work of DOE staff in “detecting, investigating, and prosecuting violations of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and the CFTC Regulations,” officials say.
“The publication of the Enforcement Manual is part of a broader agency effort to advance policy-neutral reforms designed to make us better regulators,” says James McDonald, enforcement director for the CFTC. “Clarity and transparency in our policies should promote fairness, increase predictability, and enhance respect for the rule of law.”
The DOE’s office of chief counsel “prepared the manual and it reflects the views and policies of DOE and does not necessarily reflect the position or views of the CFTC or any of the individual commissioners,” according to DOE officials. “DOE is also not intending to waive any applicable privileges or protections in the publication of the manual. The manual also is not intended to, does not, and may not be relied upon to create any rights, substantive or procedural, enforceable by any party in any matter, civil or criminal.”
The manual, available here, will be periodically revised and updated, officials add.
Deutsche Bank Uses Red Hat to Bolster ‘Fabric’
Germany’s largest bank Deutsche Bank has announced that it is basing its Fabric application platform upon the open hybrid cloud technologies from open source software vendor Red Hat, officials say.
“Fabric is a key component of Deutsche Bank’s digital transformation strategy and serves as an automated, self-service hybrid cloud platform that enables application teams to develop, deliver and scale applications faster and more efficiently,” officials say.
The Red Hat-based Fabric helps the bank “offer flexible, on-demand and always-on services to customers” via cloud-native application development methodologies like containers, micro services, officials say. “Deutsche Bank built Fabric, a next-generation strategic platform capable of providing an ‘Everything-as-a-Service’ experience for its application teams as they build and deploy new applications across the bank’s hybrid infrastructure.”
“Specifically, it deployed Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform on Microsoft Azure as part of a security-focused new hybrid cloud platform for building, hosting and managing banking applications,” officials say. “The bank also deployed OpenShift on its on-premise infrastructure, enabling it to continue using technologies already in production.”
The bank’s Fabric system supports 6,000 internal users across 4,000 projects on 15 unique computing environments, and more than 10,000 end users globally, officials say.
PIMCO Uses Algomi Alfa for Key Infrastructures
Fixed income investment manager PIMCO is using the fixed income data aggregation and market surveillance tool, Algomi’s Alfa, officials say.
The firm reports that with the implementation will give the firm “access to bond price information from all major electronic venues, messaging platforms and dealer inventory feeds combined into a single consolidated landscape,” officials say.
“PIMCO will integrate Algomi ALFA into its 100 strong bond trading desk-based in California along with its domestic and international offices,” according to a prepared statement. “Unlike the equity markets, fixed income inventory includes corporate investment grade, high yield, emerging markets, municipal, structured credit and government debt. This is scattered across many electronic venues globally along with the thousands of securities typically traded through voice trading.”
“Fixed income asset managers need to quickly integrate and analyze data to stay competitive and Algomi ALFA’s strategic fixed income technology will capture, normalize and create a centralized repository of information that will help PIMCO optimize efficiencies and cut costs,” explains Dirk Manelski, chief technology officer (CTO) of PIMCO, in a statement.
“Algomi ALFA is AWS [Amazon Web Services] cloud-enabled, compatible with API [application program interface] integration and built on top of OpenFin open-source technology, giving our customers the flexibility they need for tomorrow,” adds Richard Colucci, head of Algomi Americas, in a statement.
ICAP Information Debuts Euro Interest Rate Options Data Service
ICAP Information, part of interdealer broker TP ICAP, has launched two new data sets, covering Euro Interest Rate Options (IRO) and global inflation, officials say.
“The information contained within both packages will be for price discovery and accurate securities pricing in the front office, as well as risk management, valuation and independent price verification in middle and back office functions. The information also comes with a large amount of historical data,” according to ICAP Information.
“By making this data commercially available for the first time TP ICAP aims to provide market participants with greater transparency in a traditionally opaque asset class. The release of this new data follows ongoing efforts to strengthen the group’s leading position in providing superior data products, working closely with TP ICAP’s Global Broking division,” officials say.
“The Global Inflation package is a broader offering, encompassing a wide variety of inflation data from across the world, including Australian and Israeli data. It marks the first time that such a comprehensive range of inflation data, from across all major regions, has been made commercially available to the wider market from a single source,” according to ICAP.
ICAP Information is the market data and price information division of ICAP Group.
Edison Group & GK Investor Relations Form Joint Venture
Edison Group, an investment research, investor-relations and consulting firm, and GK Investor Relations, an investor-relations consultancy based in Tel Aviv, Israel, have formed Edison Israel, a joint venture.
The joint venture will “significantly increase Edison’s presence in Israel and will enhance its [investor relations] services to local Israeli companies looking to access international capital,” according Edison, which points out that the joint venture “also increases our presence in Israel supporting international companies looking to engage with the rapidly growing local investment market. In addition, private and early stage, fast growth companies will be able to benefit from our investor networks and deep sector expertise.”
Edison Israel includes Ehud Helft, Kenny Green and Gavriel Frohwein, from GK Investor Relations, and Will Manuel, head of Edison’s Israeli business for six years, Edison also notes.
“Assets under management in Israel exceeded US$1 trillion in 2018, according to Bank of Israel, which equated to a compound average growth rate (CAGR) of 7.7% from 2011-2018 due to pension and savings reforms, which now requires savings schemes to invest in Israeli capital markets. Institutional inflows currently are approximately US$3bn per month,” Edison says.
Edison’s research is read by more than 50,000 investors worldwide, according to the firm.
Black Diamond Platform Reaches $1 Trillion in Assets: SS&C
SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. reports that its Black Diamond Wealth Platform now manages more than $1 trillion in assets for more than 1,400 clients.
The 1,400-plus firms include more than 260 that signed on in 2018, per SS&C.
Advisory clients include Salomon & Ludwin, Patriot Financial Group, Plante Moran Financial Advisors, LLC, Western International Securities, Inc., F3Logic, Eclectic Associates and Slatestone Wealth, LLC, SS&C says.
Founded in 1986, SS&C is headquartered in Windsor, Connecticut.
BondWave Launches Proposals Tool for the Fixed Income Desk
BondWave LLC, a financial technology vendor specializing in fixed income support, reports the launch of its Effi Proposals tool, which enables “fixed income participants to generate customized proposals across multiple accounts at one time.”
The tool “helps users identify, customize, communicate and efficiently drive fixed income transactions,” the firm says in a statement. It “streamlines proposal creation, making trade ideas actionable system-wide, and is designed to aid in the swift communication of fixed income trade ideas while seamlessly connecting trading desks with advisors. The tool also enables fixed income specialists to identify trade opportunities and create consistent, accurate and detailed proposals.”
BondWave was founded in 2001. Its customers include broker-dealers and custody providers in the financial services industry.
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