In other news, TT will acquire ANS, FINRA has a new head of enforcement & CME Group overhauls its FX businesses.
Duo to offer ISO 15022 Corporate Actions Data
Exchange Data International (EDI), a financial and economic data provider, and SimCorp, an investment management solutions provider, have agreed to combine efforts to offer corporate actions data to their clients, officials say.
“The integration of EDI’s Worldwide Corporate Actions Service within SimCorp’s integrated front-to-back investment management platform will offer clients access to comprehensive information on all corporate actions events affecting global equities from over 150 exchanges worldwide, as well as, data for 31,000+ US mutual funds,” officials say.
The corporate actions data “will be delivered using the ISO 15022 format, the established standard securities messaging in transactions between financial institutions, ensuring a smooth and seamless data integration process,” officials say. SimCorp embraces the Software as a Service (SaaS) delivery method for its offerings.
“We are delighted to be able to offer EDI as a ‘pre-integrated source,” says Anders Kirkeby head of Open Innovation at SimCorp.
With the corporate actions data in an ISO 15002 format, “there are no integration costs for the clients,” says Jonathan Bloch, CEO at EDI, in a statement. “SimCorp’s clients will now have access to four feeds a day increasing to seven by the end of the third quarter. By taking these feeds, SimCorp’s clients will be able to supplement and verify their custodian feeds, thus giving them certainty and accuracy.”
Trading Technologies to Buy Abel Noser Solutions
Trading Technologies International (TT), a capital markets technology platform provider, and Abel Noser Solutions (ANS) have signed a definitive agreement that allows TT to acquire ANS from Abel Noser Holdings. ANS provides transaction cost analysis (TCA) for investment managers, brokers, asset owners and consultants.
“Abel Noser LLC, an agency-only brokerage that provides a range of trading services and analytics for investment managers, asset owners, investment consultants and brokers, is not part of the transaction and will continue to operate as an independent agency-only execution broker-dealer,” officials say.
“The acquisition represents TT’s extension into the multi-asset data and analytics space, further building on its expansion into new asset classes,” according to the announcement. “In June, TT announced the establishment of a new foreign exchange (FX) business line, TT FX, following its entry into the fixed income space in March with the acquisition of AxeTrading.”
ANS offers pre-trade, real-time and post-trade TCA products and services to the buy and sell side “for a range of asset classes, including global equities, FX, futures, fixed income and options,” officials say. “Abel Noser also offers a broad range of compliance reporting, trade surveillance and algorithmic trading solutions.”
ANS will introduce its “tools into the listed derivatives space through our vast client base, build on Abel Noser’s FX TCA capabilities as we roll out our new TT FX initiative and offer the firm’s clients the full breadth of TT services available,” says Keith Todd, CEO of TT, in a prepared statement.
“This strategic move represents a significant milestone in our company’s history and will enable us to leverage the global reach of TT to better serve our customers and offer broader opportunities to our employees and partners,” says Peter Weiler, CEO of Abel Noser, in a statement.
In addition, due to the acquisition, “Abel Noser’s TCA and regulatory services will be made available to TT clients. Abel Noser’s clients will be able to leverage the comprehensive services and functionality of the TT platform. Over time, Abel Noser’s analytics will be integrated into the TT platform,” officials say. “TT will acquire START, a broker-neutral trade optimization platform, from Abel Noser LLC in a second transaction expected to close by the first quarter of 2024.”
Officials did not release terms of the transaction, which is expected to close on Aug. 31.
FINRA Names a Permanent Enforcement Head
Bill St. Louis
FINRA, the self-regulatory organization (SRO) for U.S. broker-dealers, has appointed Bill St. Louis as its next head of enforcement, effective immediately, officials say.
St. Louis will replace Christopher J. Kelly, who became acting head of enforcement in February 2023, when Jessica Hopper departed FINRA, officials say. Kelly serves as senior vice president and deputy head of enforcement.
“I thank Chris Kelly for leading FINRA Enforcement through this transition period as well as for his commitment and contributions to the overall success of our regulatory program,” says Robert Cook, CEO of FINRA, in a prepared statement.
St. Louis will manage approximately 350 enforcement staff in 11 offices across the United States and will report directly to Cook.
“St. Louis, an executive vice president, was most recently head of FINRA’s National Cause and Financial Crimes Detection Program (NCFC),” officials say. He joined FINRA in 1998 and held several positions in the enforcement department, including serving as regional chief counsel for FINRA’s North Region.
St. Louis has also served as director of FINRA’s New York Office from 2014 to 2019 as well as senior vice president and regional director of FINRA’s Northeast Region from 2019 to 2020, officials say.
“Most recently, St. Louis oversaw the NCFC team comprised of the National Cause Program, Financial Crimes Surveillance, the Financial Intelligence Unit and specialized investigative units covering anti-money laundering and fraud, cybersecurity, high-risk representatives, and vulnerable adults and seniors,” officials say.
CME Group Revamps Foreign Exchange Businesses
CME Group, a derivatives exchanges company, has realigned its FX futures, options, cash and over-the-counter (OTC) foreign exchange (FX) businesses into a single unit led by Paul Houston, who has previously managed CME Group’s futures and options business for seven years, officials say.
“Under the new structure, Houston will serve as global head of FX Products and will be responsible for the company’s FX derivatives markets as well as its EBS cash markets business,” according to the CME Group announcement.
Jeff Ward, global head of EBS, will be leaving CME Group in September, officials say.
Houston will run “a combined team to further improve client service, increase efficiencies and enhance product development across the entire FX marketplace.”
The “more integrated FX business model” will improve operations “across futures, options, cash and OTC markets,” officials say.
“We will significantly expand trading opportunities for our clients, while also delivering increased efficiencies and an enhanced ability to introduce new products in the dynamic FX marketplace,” says Tim McCourt, senior managing director, head of financial and OTC products at CME Group, in a statement. “We have been working to create tighter alignment among all of our FX businesses since CME Group purchased EBS through its acquisition of NEX in 2018.”
Houston “played a key role in expanding our FX futures and options business, which saw average daily volume increase by 24 percent to 985,000 contracts last year,” McCourt says. “In addition, we thank Jeff Ward for all he has done to make EBS an award-winning, go-to source for liquidity and price discovery in cash FX and look forward to continuing to build on that strong track record going forward.”
CME Group’s exchanges facilitate trading in futures, options, cash and OTC markets, officials say. The company offers futures and options on futures trading through the CME Globex platform, fixed income trading via BrokerTec and foreign exchange trading on the EBS platform. The company also operates central counterparty clearing provider CME Clearing.
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