In other MiFID II FinTech briefs, Charles River works with ICE Data Services, IHS Markit bolsters trade reporting, and Thomson Reuters debuts e-learning courses about MiFID II compliance.
BGC, Integral Get FCA Approvals
Just in time for the onset of MiFID II, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has authorized that BGC Brokers LP, GFI Brokers Ltd., GFI Securities Ltd. can each operate an organized trading facility (OTF), and Sunrise Brokers can operate a multilateral trading facility (MTF) via GFI Brokers Ltd. and GFI Securities Ltd., officials say.
In addition, the French Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has also authorized another OTF via Aurel BGC SAS, officials add.
The authorizations help the BGC Group and its family of companies offer a “significant flexibility” in the choice of venues and execution methods.
In a similar action, the FCA also authorized currency and money markets vendor Integral to operate a MTF that will integrate with Integral’s workflow products — BankFX, InvestorFX, MarginFX, officials say.
Charles River Adds CEP Support from ICE Data Services
Investment systems vendor Charles River moves to expand MiFID II support by adding continuous evaluated pricing (CEP) from ICE Data Services to help firms meet best execution requirements, officials say.
Charles River will incorporate ICE Data Services’ CEP into the Charles River Investment Management Solution (Charles River IMS), officials say. ICE Data Services is part of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) complex of trading venues, including the NYSE.
The CEP support offers an “independent, trade-by-trade measure of price quotes” to help fixed income portfolio managers and traders identify potential trade opportunities, while also assisting fund managers, traders and compliance officers in their efforts to meet their obligation under MiFID II, officials say.
“By incorporating ICE’s CEP, Charles River gives portfolio managers a more realistic measure of quotes so they can make better decisions as well as meet the more stringent requirements of MiFID II,” says Tim Kelly, head of product management, Charles River. “With Charles River’s significant R&D investment we are confident our solution enables clients to meet their MiFID II obligations.”
CEP’s real-time capabilities play “an important role supporting pre-trade price discovery and post-trade execution quality analysis in the fixed income markets,” says Rob Haddad, head of product strategy and innovation at ICE Data Services, in a statement.
The CEP offering from ICE Data Services offers a stream of fixed income evaluations on more than 2.4 million instruments across global corporate bonds, emerging markets, money markets and sovereigns, as well as treasuries, U.S. agencies, U.S. municipal bonds, MBS pass-throughs, TBA mortgages and bank loans, officials say.
IHS Markit Links thinkFolio to TRADEcho for MiFID II Trade Reporting
Financial markets data provider IHS Markit has connected its thinkFolio investment management platform to TRADEcho’s Approved Publication Arrangement (APA), which will provide clients with a trade reporting solution for MiFID II, officials say.
In keeping with the MiFID II rules shifting trade reporting to the buy side for key instruments, trading firms using thinkFolio as their order management and portfolio modeling system “can now form an agreement with TRADEcho to enable real-time trade reporting to the TRADEcho APA and use of the TRADEcho Smart Report Router to report to other APAs,” officials say.
In addition, IHS Markit has introduced a new layer within thinkFolio that enables interfaces to be changed independently of the main platform, officials say. This means that clients will not need to upgrade each time there are changes to regulation or if they want to connect to other venues. The thinkFolio offering can connect to more than 20 venues impacted by MiFID II, officials say.
“Over the past year, we’ve worked diligently with customers and partners such as TRADEcho to adjust to the ever-changing regulatory landscape,” said Spiros Giannaros, managing director and global head of thinkFolio and enterprise data management at IHS Markit.
Thomson Reuters Offers E-learning Courses on MiFID II Compliance
Thomson Reuters has added a MiFID II compliance training course to its e-learning capabilities in order “to give organizations a clear, concise understanding of the regulatory framework mandated by the European Securities & Markets Authority (ESMA),” vendor officials say.
“Thomson Reuters MiFID II compliance training suite clarifies the complexity of the legislation and provides a concise view of what organizations should consider with ongoing MiFID II compliance,” according to the vendor. “Under MiFID II regulations, trading venues, approved reporting mechanisms, organized trading facilities, investment firms and sell-side firms will each have a significant reporting obligation to both ESMA and to their local regulatory body. MiFID II is intended to reduce the risks associated with what has been seen historically as light regulation, and ensure investors are treated fairly.”
The course targets institutions that “are not fully aware of all their MiFID II obligations and therefore do not yet have the most effective compliance processes in place,” says Stuart Martin, managing director, risk information and learning services at Thomson Reuters, in a statement. “Our MiFID II e-learning courses address the many questions we repeatedly hear from our customers, which are not only relevant for the firms themselves, but also apply to the individual employees of those firms.”
The e-learning courses cover the following four main areas:
- MiFID II for the Buy-Side: This course helps buy-side employees grasp the need for “better investor protection, increased market transparency and integrity, and how this affects known market structures. Employees learn about the impact on such core categories as best execution, how different trading venues are defined, and what role a systematic internalizer plays.”
- MiFID II for the Sell-Side: This course “educates employees working in sell-side organizations and positions by informing teams on what to consider differently with regard to trading obligations, high-frequency trading or market making. It details the different obligations on trade, transaction and position reporting,” officials say.
- The MiFID II Market Structure: This course focuses on “the trading venue types allowed after MiFID II takes effect, and the key differences in the operation of these trading venues,” officials say. “Learners will be able to identify MiFID II’s impact on market transparency and integrity, and better understand systematic internalizers and dark pool trading.”
- And the MiFID II International Reach Course: This course explains the wide-ranging impacts of MiFID II beyond the European Union on trading, regulation and governance. “International firms of all types operating in financial markets need to be aware of these changes, and their effect on both their business and the markets,” according to the vendor.
