In other news, CFTC approves SpectrAxe, INDATA has a new client, and BNP Paribas expands into the Americas.
BNY Mellon & Baton Systems Form Partnership
Distributed ledger technology (DLT) is at the heart of a new post-trade, collateral management collaboration between BNY Mellon and Baton Systems.
The joint offering links Baton’s central clearing counterparty (CCP) network with BNY Mellon’s Enterprise Continuous Portfolio Optimization (ECPO) service in an effort to help mutual clients improve collateral management across cleared and uncleared collateral portfolios, officials say.
The Baton suite of CORE solutions is based upon DLT, and its CCP network “comprises more than 93 percent of cleared margin posted by U.S. registered [futures commission merchants],” officials say.
The BNY Mellon collateral management system will also “orchestrate the collateral allocation workflow and reporting for a consistent client experience across triparty repo, securities lending, and cleared / uncleared derivatives margining,” officials say.
“The rapid mobilization of assets and the enhanced optimization of margin collateralization is a game-changer for the market,” says Jerome Kemp, president at Baton Systems, in a prepared statement.
Officials add that “the integration is contingent upon the execution of a definitive collaboration agreement, which is expected to be completed in the near term.
CFTC Allows SpectrAxe to Become a SEF
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is allowing SpectrAxe to become a swap execution facility (SEF), which means that there are 20 SEFs registered with the regulator, officials say.
SpectrAxe, a Delaware limited liability company based in New York City, is an affiliate of Spectra FX Solutions LLC, an introducing broker, the CFTC notes.
“Spectraxe SEF will offer a central limit order book for all products listed for trading by Spectraxe SEF,” the SEF says on its website.
SpectrAxe is offering “a proprietary electronic trading platform for the electronic execution of foreign exchange options and will not be permitting or facilitating voice execution on its swap execution facility,” according to the CFTC order.
“SpectrAxe will utilize a prime brokerage model for credit intermediation and settlement of transactions, and SpectrAxe will not be facilitating clearing of transactions and has not entered into a clearing agreement with a derivatives clearing organization,” the CFTC order adds.
Dana Investment Advisors Deploys INDATA’s Cloud Platform
Asset manager Dana Investment Advisors, based in Waukesha, Wisc., reports that it has implemented the Intelligent Portfolio Management (iPM) Private Cloud Platform from INDATA, a provider of software, technology and managed outsourcing services for buy-side firms.
“The INDATA implementation team was great to work with on our cloud migration. They exceeded our expectations resulting in a smooth transition to the cloud,” says George Tsiamis, director of trading and operations for Dana Investment Advisors, in a prepared statement.
In addition to its move to private cloud computing, Dana “implemented INDATA’s latest suite of products for portfolio management, trading and reporting, including client portal,” officials say.
“Our private cloud model is unique and in line with industry best practices for data privacy and security,” says David Csiki, president of INDATA, in a statement.
Dana Investment Advisors, which has more than $6 billion in assets under management (AUM), manages “a broad range of public U.S. equity and fixed income investment strategies for corporations, endowments, foundations, family offices and individuals,” officials say.
The iPM Cloud platform is “a dedicated environment” that encompasses hardware and physical infrastructure security, and includes “hardware, software, and ongoing maintenance costs, including high availability DR (Disaster Recovery),” officials say.
BNP Paribas Bolsters Foray into the Americas
BNP Paribas reports that it has made several senior executive appointments to its Global Markets Americas division to show its commitment to the region and plans to grow the French banking giant’s global equities, global credit and global macro franchises.
The firm has appointed:
- Kunal Maini to the role of co-head of global macro — Americas. Maini joins BNP Paribas from Morgan Stanley, where he was global head of government bond, inflation and e-trading. In his new post, he will “support the bank’s effort to strengthen its client-centric global macro business featuring a state-of-the-art digital offering and expertise across rates, FX and commodities. In addition, he will be responsible for globalizing our U.S. rates franchise by developing stronger client connectivity and product innovation;”
- John Hanisch to the position of co-head of secondary credit Americas and global head of securitized products trading. “Hanisch joins BNP Paribas following two years on the buy side at Hayfin Capital Management prior to which he was at Deutsche Bank for 12 years, most recently as global head of securitized products trading.” He will become a member of the management team “overseeing the Americas credit platform,” and will support the “continued development of the bank’s secondary credit franchise in the region and he will direct the securitized products trading franchise globally.”
- Charlie Shah to post of head of IG & CDS trading Americas, and Bo Bazylevsky to head of LatAm flow credit trading. Shah joins from RBC “where he ran the US investment grade trading business. He will focus on delivering a full IG product suite across cash and derivatives to the bank’s clients.” Bazylevsky was previously at Stifel “where he was head of emerging markets. He brings over 20 years of trading experience in emerging markets fixed income and has worked at institutions like JP Morgan, Bank of America — Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns.”
- Michael Rietbrock to be head of research within the bank’s global equities business. “He will support the development of BNP Paribas Exane as a leading provider of equity research in the U.S.” He will also help scale up equity research and cash execution in the US. Over the years, Rietbrock has served as an analyst and a research manager. He has worked at Bank of America, Nomura and MoffettNathanson.
- Robert McDonald to head of strategic equity solutions and equity-linked origination and Nadim Siddique to head of strategic equity derivatives trading within the bank’s global equities business. McDonald and Siddique “will structure and execute convertible transactions and equity derivative solutions, including share buyback programs, hedging and monetizing positions through margin loans, variable pre-paid forwards, and other innovative structures.”
