Our FinTech update features news from Torstone, NIBC Bank, Synechron, Standard Chartered, Digital Vega, RBC, Moors & Cabot and LCH.
Schroders Invests in BlueOrchard
Global asset manager Schroders and BlueOrchard Finance Ltd. have announced that they have entered into an agreement “under which Schroders will acquire a majority stake in leading impact investor BlueOrchard,” officials say.
Based in Zurich, Switzerland, BlueOrchard, which is engaged in microfinance and impact investing, was founded in 2001, officials say. The firm offers impact investment solutions across asset classes, including credit, private equity and sustainable infrastructure, and specializes in blended finance mandates.
The firm has approximately $3.5 billion in assets under management (AUM) and operates internationally.
The Schroders’ partnership with BlueOrchard “will help to better serve clients who are increasingly seeking investments which have a beneficial impact on society and the environment, as well as generating positive financial returns. It also accelerates the growth of Schroders in private debt and private equity investments in emerging markets,” officials say. “There will be no changes to the management team, processes or strategies that BlueOrchard manages.”
Peter A. Fanconi will remain as chairman of the BlueOrchard board of directors and Patrick Scheurle as CEO of BlueOrchard, officials say.
Schroders will appoint Peter Harrison (its group chief executive), Georg Wunderlin (global head of private assets), and Stephen Mills (executive chairman of Schroder Adveq) to the BlueOrchard board, which will adopt joint strategic decisions, officials say.
“For nearly 20 years it has been BlueOrchard’s vision and mission to reduce poverty and protect the planet, while providing attractive returns for investors. With Schroders we have found the ideal strategic partner with whom we will further increase our impact and jointly contribute to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” Fanconi says in a statement.
Financial terms of the transaction are not disclosed and the acquisition is expected to complete in the second half of 2019 subject to usual closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, officials add.
Netherlands Bank To Replace Legacy Platform via Torstone
Torstone Technology, a provider of post-trade securities and derivatives processing, reports that Netherlands-based NIBC Bank N.V. has switched to Torstone’s Inferno, its post-trade processing platform.
Torstone’s Inferno is a “multi-asset, multi-entity cloud-based platform, covering trade capture, confirmation, settlement, accounting, corporate actions, reconciliation and regulatory reporting,” according to the vendor.
Torstone’s platform is designed for middle and back office staff, “increasing straight through processing (STP) and reducing manual effort,” Torstone adds.
Inferno was selected to replace NIBC’s legacy systems following an extensive review period, per the firm.
Torstone Technology is headquartered in London, with offices in New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo, the firm adds.
North Western Europe-focused NIBC tallies approximately 600 mid-market businesses and more than 400,000 retail clients.
Synechron Launches LIBOR Analysis Accelerator
Synechron Inc., a digital consultancy for financial services, has launched another Accelerator solution, the Data Science Accelerator for LIBOR Impact Analysis, the addition to Synechron’s existing AI Data Science Accelerator program, officials say.
“The Accelerator will help financial services firms solve complex benchmarking challenges approaching the 2021 London Interbank Offer Rate (LIBOR) phase-out deadline as well as to tap into a robust digital and data science toolkit to help drive larger, global enterprise transformation initiatives,” according to Synechron officials.
“The Accelerator for LIBOR Impact Analysis enables financial institutions to identify and quantify their LIBOR exposure at either a contract level or across all contracts within an institution,” according to Synechron. The offering leverages a combination of optical character recognition (OCR) and three levels natural language processing (NLP) to “quantify LIBOR exposure at the contract level, or across all contracts within an institution.”
The Accelerator offering will allow contracts to be “revalued using alternative rates and valuation models” to reduce manual LIBOR impact assessments and enhance the productivity of the contract review process and cut costs, according to the vendor.
Standard Chartered Goes Live with Digital Vega
Digital Vega, a foreign exchange (FX) options e-trading platform and a provider of foreign-exchange-options processes, reports that Standard Chartered PLC, a London, England-based multinational banking and financial services company, has become a liquidity provider on its Medusa trading platform.
Standard Chartered trades in more than 100 currencies, according to the bank.
“As more of our clients adopt electronic trading it is important that we serve them via their preferred channels on a global basis, which includes Digital Vega’s Medusa platform,” Alex Axentiev, managing director at Standard Chartered, says in a prepared statement.
Moors & Cabot Picks RBC Division for Clearing
RBC Correspondent Services reports that Moors & Cabot picked the RBC division as its new clearing partner and service provider.
Moors & Cabot is a registered broker-dealer and investment advisor founded in 1890 and headquartered in Boston, according to an RBC statement.
RBC Correspondent Services is a division of RBC Capital Markets, LLC, per the statement.
RBC Correspondent Services provides “clearing, custodian and execution services for independent broker-dealers and other financial professionals,” the companies note.
LCH Ltd. Taps Crédit Agricole for New CEO
Isabelle Girolami
Global clearinghouse LCH has appointed Isabelle Girolami as CEO of LCH Ltd. with her term to start November 1 of this year.
Girolami will be moving from Crédit Agricole, where she has most recently served as deputy CEO of its corporate and investment banking business, officials say. Based in London, she will report to Daniel Maguire, CEO of the LCH Group, officials say.
Girolami’s appointment follows the decision by Martin Pluves to step down on July 31 from his post as CEO of LCH Ltd. to pursue other opportunities, officials say. In the interim period, Maguire will serve as CEO of LCH Ltd in addition to his other responsibilities until Girolami joins.
In her new role, Girolami will be responsible for the “continued expansion across LCH’s services, with a focus on continued growth, innovation and operational excellence,” officials say. LCH operates clearing services for many asset classes including interest rate derivatives, foreign exchange (FX), equities and fixed income.
Girolami has been at Crédit Agricole since 2015, initially as global head of financial markets, officials say. Before Crédit Agricole, Girolami spent seven years at Standard Chartered Bank both in London and Singapore where she served as co-head of the wholesale bank ASEAN and head of financial markets ASEAN.
Earlier in her career, Girolami held senior positions at Bear Stearns and BNP Paribas, officials add.
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