In other news, LedgerEdge hires from RBC, FINVASIA buys ActTrader, Digital Asset adds execs, and Liminia links to ESG datasets.
NSCC Also Adds Support for Fixed Income ETFs
National Securities Clearing Corp. (NSCC) officials report that they have launched an automated solution to make the collateral management process for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) more efficient. The changes to this mostly manual process also include new support for fixed income ETF capabilities.
“The new NSCC solution fully automates the exchange of ETF collateral, reducing risks in the ETF fund process from trade date to settlement date,” according to a statement from the NSCC, which is a subsidiary of the DTCC.
“With this enhancement, NSCC will process create/redeem instructions, generate payment orders, and ensure collateral is exchanged between authorized participants and servicing agents,” according to the NSCC.
This close integration of the collateral process with NSCC’s settlement process “can free up capital for its members by reducing the amount of collateral required on components that are eligible for NSCC’s netting process,” officials say.
The NSCC ETF process “automates the creation and redemption of ETFs when the underlying securities are eligible to be cleared through NSCC. NSCC reports, clears and settles ETFs and their underlying securities through its creation/redemption process,” officials say. — EMG
LedgerEdge Taps RBC for New CEO of U.S. Operations
Michelle Neal
LedgerEdge, which intends to employ distributed ledger technology to trade in the corporate bond market, reports the appointment of Michelle Neal as chief executive officer of U.S. operations.
She was most recently head of U.S. fixed income currencies and commodities and global head of senior relationship management at RBC Capital Markets.
Prior to that, she was CEO, markets at BNY Mellon, as well as on the bank’s executive committee. She has also held executive positions at Deutsche Bank, Nomura, and NatWest Markets, per a LedgerEdge statement.
The appointment meant to support the U.S. expansion of the firm, per the statement. LedgerEdge was founded in 2020. — LCh
FINVASIA Acquires ActTrader
FINVASIA Group reports the acquisition of ActTrader Technologies. ActTrader, formerly ActForex, is “among the world’s first ‘Fintech’ companies,” according to a statement.
“From building the first ever online retail forex trading application back in 2000 to launching the first ever WAP [wireless application protocol] based mobile trading app in 2004, they’ve grown to build disruptive multi-asset financial technology products that have been trusted by millions of traders worldwide,” the FINVASIA statement notes.
ActTrader was founded in 2000 and has “processed over $400 trillion in transaction volume and has acted as the core technology provider to some of the largest financial institutions in the world,” the statement adds.
FINVASIA Group characterizes itself as a “multi-disciplinary, multinational organization that owns multiple brands in the financial services, fintech, blockchain and technology sectors.”
Recently, FINVASIA acquired Fxview, a Cyprus-based financial services company, with the intention to expand its presence in the European market, per the statement.
ActTrader will become a subsidiary of the FINVASIA Group, with Ilya Sorokin continuing as CEO and all current management and associates remaining in place, the FINVASIA Group statement notes. — LCh
Digital Asset Hires from AWS, Lightbend
Yuval Rooz
Digital Asset, which offers the Daml application platform, reports the addition of three new senior executives.
The new hires are meant to “support its growing customer base and massive momentum heading into the second half of 2021,” the company says in a statement.
The new additions are: Robin Liebowitz, formerly head of global marketing at AWS Financial Services, who has joined as chief marketing officer; and Craig Blitz and Derek Henninger, both formerly with Lightbend, who have been named chief product officer and chief technology officer, respectively.
The additions are “consistent with the company’s recent growth momentum,” the vendor says in a statement, which notes that its “workforce has increased by roughly 33% over the past six months to more than 180 employees.”
Digital Asset officials also point out that “earlier this year … it raised more than $120 million in Series D funding from 7RIDGE and Eldridge. The company has aimed to use the financing to expand its team globally by 50 percent this year, and that goal remains firmly in sight.”
“The expansion of Daml’s reach into additional exchanges and marketplaces serves as key milestones in our journey to create the global economic network of interconnected businesses,” Yuval Rooz, co-founder and CEO of Digital Asset, says in the statement. — LCh
Bloomberg ESG Datasets Available via Limina
Limina, a provider of cloud-native investment management solutions, reports that it is offering access to Bloomberg Enterprise’s Environmental, Social and Corporate (ESG) datasets to help firms respond to client demands, officials say
Limina’s clients will have access to a suite of ESG metrics and data, spanning 11,500 companies in 80-plus countries, officials say. The ESG data access will help with investment management capabilities such as portfolio forecasting, data automation, and pre-trade compliance controls.
The new data integration will help investors “track key ESG investment criteria, such as carbon emissions and progress against the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals,” according to Limina. — EMG
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