Our free FinTech roundup includes more about the executive shuffle among regulators, Finastra’s Fusion Invest, Broadridge’s COO for APAC, and SmartSearch’s product launch.
Joint Venture to Launch in Summer 2021
CME Group, an operator of derivatives trading venues, and IHS Markit, an information and analytics vendor, are forming a joint venture of post-trade processing and risk mitigation services that will bring together CME Group’s Traiana, TriOptima, and Reset companies with IHS Markit’s MarkitSERV.
Traiana, TriOptima and Reset offer pre-and post-trade services with the goal of providing end-user firms working in over-the-counter (OTC) markets with “efficiencies across markets, delivering trade processing connectivity, credit controls, optimization, and risk mitigation solutions,” officials say.
“MarkitSERV provides … trade processing and workflow solutions” for participants in derivatives and foreign exchange (FX) markets, “from post-trade notices of execution, trade confirmation and allocations to clearing and reporting,” officials add.
The combination “will provide clients with enhanced platforms and services” for global over-the-counter (OTC) markets that serve interest rate, foreign exchange, equity, and credit asset classes, officials say.
The goal of the joint venture will be “more efficient front-to-back workflow with enhanced connectivity and improved trading certainty … to improve risk management and streamline post-trade operations,” officials add.
“As OTC derivatives markets become increasingly fragmented, market participants are seeking to more effectively manage their risk and optimize their balance sheets,” says Terry Duffy, CME Group chairman, and CEO, in a prepared statement. The joint venture “will be better positioned to serve clients worldwide” via innovation and operational efficiencies, Duffy adds.
“Through our combined resources and best-of-breed services, we will have a strengthened framework to serve dynamic global markets and design new solutions in partnership with our joint customer base,” says Lance Uggla, IHS Markit chairman, and CEO, in a statement.
Vendor officials say the transaction creating the joint venture is expected to close in summer 2021and is subject to antitrust and regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
“At closing, IHS Markit will make an equalization payment of $113 million to CME Group to achieve 50/50 ownership and shared control in the joint venture. Further financial terms were not disclosed,” according to vendor officials.
Biden Names Acting Chair of the SEC; Tarbert Steps Down
Allison Herren Lee
Newly inaugurated President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. has designated Allison Herren Lee, a current SEC commissioner, as Acting Chair of the SEC, days after Gary Gensler, the former chairman of the CFTC, was nominated to be the next SEC chairman.
Lee, who was sworn in as commissioner on July 8, 2019, “has written, lectured, and taught courses internationally on financial regulation and corporate law,” according to SEC. “She served on the staff of the SEC for over a decade in various roles, including as counsel to Commissioner Kara Stein and as senior counsel in the Division of Enforcement’s complex financial instruments unit.”
In a statement, Lee says that during her time as commissioner, “I have focused on climate and sustainability, and those issues will continue to be a priority for me.”
Gensler, who will need to be approved by the U.S. Senate, served as CFTC chairman from May 26, 2009, to January 3, 2014, and oversaw an overhaul and expansion of the regulator’s control over derivatives trading, especially swaps.
Heath Tarbert
In a related move, Heath P. Tarbert stepped down as the CFTC’s 14th chairman and chief executive on Jan. 21, 2021, but will remain as a commissioner, for the time being, officials say.
Tarbert, who took office on July 15, 2019, announced on Dec. 10, 2020, that he would be leaving the chairmanship in light of the incoming administration. His term as one of the agency’s five commissioners lasts until April 13, 2024.
Finastra’s ‘Fusion Invest’ Deploys to the Cloud
Finastra, a software provider based in London, reports that Fusion Invest, its investment management solution, is now available via the cloud.
The cloud-based software system offers asset managers “all the tools they need to support their investment management requirements, with no need to worry about deploying hardware on-premise,” according to the vendor’s statement.
Fusion Invest “is designed to help portfolio and investment managers perform better in a market that is becoming ever more complex and highly regulated,” the vendor statement adds.
The Fusion Invest solution offers transparency and supports collaboration throughout the investment process, ensuring the investment team, portfolio managers, risk department, and operations are optimally aligned. The latest version also supports the transition from LIBOR to alternative risk-free rates,” according to the vendor’s statement.
Broadridge Names COO for Asia-Pacific
Broadridge Financial Solutions, founded in 2007, reports that David Ingleson has been named chief operating officer (COO) for the Asia-Pacific region, effective immediately.
Prior to joining Broadridge, he was at BNY Mellon and was head of Asia Pacific for Eagle Investment Systems. Ingleson will be based in Singapore and will report to Samir Pandiri, president of Broadridge International.
The new COO’s mandate includes oversight of “regional implementation strategies for Broadridge, direct operations and support of capital markets clients in the region and focuses on further investing in Broadridge’s local market expertise and capabilities.”
Ingleson has more than 15 years of experience with APAC financial technology service businesses, according to the Broadridge statement.
Broadridge points out that its “infrastructure underpins proxy voting services for over 50 percent of public companies and mutual funds globally, and processes on average more than U.S. $10 trillion in fixed income and equity securities trades per day.” The vendor tallies more than 12,000 associates in 17 countries.
SmartSearch Launches Enhanced Anti-Fraud System
SmartSearch U.S., a regulatory technology vendor based in Lehi, Utah, has launched a system that provides “enhanced levels of protection against financial fraud for businesses,” the vendor says in a statement.
The vendor expresses its conviction that its “sophisticated facial recognition, document capture, and liveness appraisal will give U.S. firms the confidence they need to comply with the new regulation, as well as protect themselves against potential fraud.”
The company’s “enhanced facial recognition, document capture, and liveness appraisal combines optical character recognition (OCR) and the latest biometric facial recognition techniques to provide a true picture of a customer,” the statement adds. The system “performs an algorithmic check on photo ID documents to ensure they are authentic. Then, using a customer ‘Selfie Liveness Video’ (SLV), it uses biometric and liveness detection to compare the ‘real person’ with the document provided to ensure the image and information is genuine.”
The vendor tallies “over 4,500 client firms and 40,000 users, enabling them to comply with the latest AML [anti-money laundering] regulations and fulfil their AML, Customer Due Diligence (CDD), and Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance obligations.”
SmartSearch’s “individual AML checks” takes “two seconds from start to finish, while business checks take less than three minutes,” the vendor adds.
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