In other news, the SEC approves DTCC’s SDR, Clearwater Analytics hires from Athora, BNP Paribas expands in Mexico, and Tier1 adds an MD.
Abel Noser Bolsters Wares via Acquisition
Brokerage Abel Noser Holdings is hoping to offer a comprehensive suite of trade analysis, compliance products, and agency-only brokerage technology services by acquiring competitor Trade Informatics LLC, officials say.
Like Abel Noser, Trade Informatics provides equities trade cost analysis (TCA), officials say. Trade Informatics also offers the START systematic execution platform.
The START platform and the TAP trade analytics capability will be merged into Abel Noser’s multi-asset class TCA platform Trade Zoom, officials say.
Abel Noser’s sponsor Estancia Capital Management invested in the firm in 2016 and identified Trade Informatics as “a formidable competitor with an enviable depth of analytical experience in developing and providing equity trading and execution services,’ says Takashi Moriuchi, co-founder and managing director at Estancia, in a prepared statement.
Matthew Celebuski, CEO of Trade Informatics, will be joining the combined firm as senior managing director and global head of Abel Noser’s electronic products group, officials say.
Abel Noser did not provide financial details for the transaction. “The acquisition is subject to customary regulatory approval which is expected sometime in the second quarter of 2021,” according to Abel Noser officials.
“Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial adviser and Wilson Sonsini provided legal counsel to Trade Informatics,” officials add. “Seward & Kissell LLP is representing Abel Noser Holdings and Estancia Capital Partners in connection with this transaction and ongoing corporate matters.”
SEC Approves SDR & Sets Compliance Deadline
The security-based swap market has its first swap data repository (SDR) for accepting transaction reports via the SEC’s approval of the DTCC Data Repository (DDR), marking the first registration of an SDR, SEC officials say.
“DDR intends to operate as a registered SDR for security-based swap transactions in the equity, credit, and interest rate derivatives asset classes,” according to the SEC.
The SEC approval also sets in motion Nov. 8, 2021 as “the first compliance date” for Regulation Security-Based Swaps Reporting (SBSR), according to the SEC.
The regulation is “a key component of the security-based swap regulatory regime established by Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,” SEC officials say. “Regulation SBSR provides for the reporting of security-based swap information to registered SDRs and for public dissemination of transaction, volume, and pricing information.”
A database of security-based swap transactions “is an essential reform to better understanding these markets, for surveillance and for enforcement. The data repository also will facilitate public reporting of security-based swap transactions, bringing much-needed transparency to these markets,” says Gary Gensler, SEC chairman, in a prepared statement.
More details about the compliance deadlines be found here: https://bit.ly/3fbwwMo
Clearwater Analytics Taps Athora for EMEA Ops Post
Colin Clunie
Clearwater Analytics, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) specialist in automated investment data aggregation, reconciliation, accounting, and reporting, reports that Colin Clunie has been named to head its operations in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Clunie will be based in Edinburgh.
Most recently, Clunie was the head of investment operations at Athora, a European insurance company, according to a Clearwater Analytics statement. Before his time at Athora, he was the chief operating officer (COO), investment operations at asset management giant BlackRock, Inc.
Clearwater Analytics reports on more than $5.5 trillion in assets for clients in more than 50 countries, including insurers, asset managers, corporations, pension plans, governments, and non-profit organizations, according to the statement.
BNP Paribas Expands Operations in Mexico
French banking giant BNP Paribas reports its acquisition of a full banking license for the Mexican market.
The BNP Paribas Group has had a presence in Mexico for more than 55 years providing corporate and institutional banking services, as well as insurance, asset management and personal finance services through various local entities, officials say in a prepared statement.
With the full banking license, the bank says in a statement, it is “prepared to expand its activities locally, offering a full suite of Global Markets capabilities … including cash, bonds, FX [foreign exchange] and interest rates/FX derivatives, among others.”
BNP Paribas notes that it started operations in Mexico in 1966 and was a founder of Banco Nacional de Mexico (Banamex), one of Mexico’s largest banks, at the end of the 19th century, and stayed a minority shareholder until the nationalization of the banking system in 1982.
BNP Paribas companies currently employ more than 900 people in the country, per the statement.
Tier1 Financial Solutions Adds Managing Director
Tier1 Financial Solutions, a provider of client relationship management (CRM), anti-money laundering (AML) compliance and fraud prevention procedures and processes, has appointed James C. Mitchell as managing director (international), officials say.
Mitchell’s mandate includes “accelerating the adoption of the company’s advanced CRM and compliance solutions across Europe and driving further global expansion in Asia Pacific.” He is based in London and has more than 18 years of experience with financial and capital markets, per the statement.
Tier1 Financial Solutions works with more than 300 companies and nearly 20,000 users worldwide, the vendor notes.
Need a Reprint?