Our free FinTech update also covers CloudMargin raising $15M, SimCorp hiring from Microsoft, and Canada’s ITG picks a new trade surveillance platform.
Members Exchange Trades in Seven Symbols
Jonathan Kellner
A securities exchange start-up, the Members Exchange (MEMX) launched live trading via the U.S. equity market on Sept. 21, the first phase of MEMX’s rollout schedule.
“A quick update on our first day of trading,” wrote Jonathan Kellner, CEO of MEMX, in a blog posting. “We executed our first trade at 7:48:43 AM, 100 shares of ED at $73.90. Over the course of the day, MEMX traded 60,957 shares on 857 executions and had 25 firms execute trades. All in all, it was a successful first day and another important step in our journey to transform the exchange landscape.”
With 50 MEMX members onboard, the exchange is initially offering “live trading in seven symbols before progressing to Phase Two of its rollout, in which it will trade all National Market System (NMS) listings,” according to MEMX. “The initial seven securities are Acasti Pharma Inc. (ACST), Alphabet Inc. (GOOG), BlackBerry Ltd. (BB), Consolidated Edison Inc. (ED), Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM), Ford Motor Co. 6.20% Notes Due June 1, 2059 (F-B), and the iShares Ultra Short-Term Bond ETF (ICSH).”
“Getting through our first settlement cycle will be an important next step. We look forward to expanding our symbol universe. But, first and foremost, we are committed to minimizing any potential market disruption,” Kellner adds in his blog.
Before the September 21st launch, MEMX has already started production trading in “all NMS [National Market System] test symbols on September 8th. The company also conducted three successful User Acceptance Tests (UATs) with customers in August,” MEMX officials say.
Founded in January 2019, MEMX was approved by the SEC in May 2020. The new exchange, which has been funded via strategic financing led by asset manager BlackRock, has announced its mission is to bring down exchange fees and streamline equities trading. The company is seen as a new competitor to incumbent players such as Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
CloudMargin Raises $15M via Citi, Deutsche Bank & Deutsche Börse
CloudMargin, a cloud-based collateral and margin management solutions provider, reports that it has completed its largest funding round ever, netting $15 million in a Series B capital, officials say.
The primary investors are Deutsche Börse, which encompasses trading exchanges and transaction technologies, and investment banks Deutsche Bank and Citi, which have been CloudMargin clients since 2018, officials say.
The new funds will be put toward innovating the platform and technological capability to improve product and service support for clients and partners, officials say. The vendor will also “expand its sales and client service capabilities in the U.S. and Asia to meet greater demand.”
The COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown “has further reinforced our value proposition by highlighting many challenges the industry has faced for a prolonged period,” says Stuart Connolly, CEO of CloudMargin, in a prepared statement. The pandemic has served “as a catalyst to drive transformational change; firms are placing a strategic priority on adopting modern, Software-as-a-Service based cloud technologies that provide agility as well as operational and cost efficiencies,” Connolly says.
“CloudMargin is a perfect investment opportunity for Deutsche Börse and its post-trading services provider Clearstream,” says Tilman Fechter, head of banking, funding, and financing at Clearstream, part of Deutsche Börse Group, in a statement.
Jefferies LLC served as CloudMargin’s financial advisor on the transaction, officials add.
SimCorp Taps Microsoft to Fill New Cloud Services Post
Jakob Højland
SimCorp, a vendor offering multi-asset investment management solutions, has hired Microsoft veteran Jakob Højland to fill the new position of commercial director for SimCorp’s cloud services, officials say.
At Microsoft, Højland served as global account executive in financial services and fintech, and led a team of more than 20 colleagues that encompassed Microsoft’s portfolio of products, cloud services and professional services, officials say. For his new role, he will oversee the adoption of SimCorp Dimension as a cloud-based service and will oversee the next generation of software-enabled services, officials say
Based in Copenhagen, Højland will report to SimCorp’s Chief Commercial Officer Jochen Müller.
The newly created role will allow Højland to oversee the commercial aspect of SimCorp’s cloud transformation “which aims to complement the client experience and deliver global buy-side institutions with a complete offer, for their operational needs,” officials say.
This will include solutions with cloud-native functions, access to cutting-edge technologies, and a range of cloud-enabled managed services, officials say.
Canada’s ITG to Deploy OneTick Trade Surveillance
Canadian brokerage Independent Trading Group (ITG), will be using the cloud-based OneTick Trade Surveillance from OneMarketData to protect and monitor its US and Canadian equities trading activities, according to the tick data management and analytics vendor.
ITG, based in Toronto, picked the OneTick Surveillance system, “after careful consideration of other competing products used for market monitoring for trade compliance. ITG’s parent company DV Trading is also a OneTick Trade Surveillance client,” officials say
“The cloud-hosted deployment will enable ITG to meet demanding regulatory requirements and create an auditable workflow to monitor and protect all trades,” according to the vendor.
“We wanted to upgrade our legacy surveillance technology and recognized we needed to work with a partner that could provide us with the cutting edge technology, flexibility and scalability we need to manage compliance for our US and Canadian Equities business,” says Nick Savona, chief compliance officer for ITG, in a prepared statement.
OneTick Trade Surveillance helps firms meet the trade surveillance regulations MAR and MiFID II, and the regulators SEC, FINRA and the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), officials say.
“The out-of-the-box library of alerts comes with a calibration tool for choosing alert parameters appropriate for the firm to minimize the number of false positives. Global equities and futures market data is included with the cloud-hosted offering,” vendor officials add.
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