In other news, OSTTRA helps build an ETD standard, GBST rebrands & NewVest taps Apex Group.
SWIFT’s CBDC Connector Shows ‘Potential’
SWIFT headquarters
Officials at SWIFT, the global financial messaging services and systems cooperative, say that 18 central and commercial banks foresee “clear potential and value” in a connector for Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) based upon an application programming interface (API) that is SWIFT’s experimental solution for interlinking CBDCs.
SWIFT reports that it “published the findings of the 12-week period of collaborative sandbox testing, in which almost 5,000 transactions were simulated between two different blockchain networks and with existing fiat-based payment systems. Central and commercial bank participants expressed strong support for the solution’s continued development, noting that it enabled the seamless exchange of CBDCs, even those built on different platforms.”
Interoperability will be “a key challenge for the financial industry as digital currencies develop. According to the Atlantic Council, more than 110 countries are currently exploring CBDCs, with almost a quarter expecting to launch within the next one or two years,” according to SWIFT. “However, most are focusing primarily on domestic usage, which could lead to a fragmented landscape consisting of ‘digital islands.’ ”
SWIFT officials announced in October that they had developed “a solution to enable CBDCs to move between DLT-based and fiat-based systems using existing financial infrastructure. The sandbox testing was set up so that central and commercial banks could experiment with the solution to validate its effectiveness and share insight to guide its development.”
“Our API-based CBDC connector has been proven to be robust across almost 5,000 transactions between two different blockchain networks and traditional fiat currency, and we’re delighted to have the support of our community in developing it further,” says Tom Zschach, chief innovation officer at SWIFT, in a prepared statement.
“Over the coming months, Swift will develop a beta version of the solution for payments that can be tested further by central banks. A second phase of sandbox testing will also be held, in which the Swift community can collaborate further with a focus on new use cases, including in securities settlement (such as a cross-asset exchange), trade finance, and conditional payments,” according to SWIFT.
OSTTRA Helps Develop ETD Post-Trade Data Standards
Post-trade solutions vendor OSTTRA and a member of the Future Industry Association’s Derivatives Market Institute for Standards (DMIST) say that they are “working with fellow DMIST members to identify a data standard for post-trade processing of exchange-traded derivatives (ETD).”
OSTTRA is a joint venture of S&P Global and CME Group that includes MarkitServ, Traiana, TriOptima, and Reset.
For the ETD collaboration, OSTTRA “has provided data and analysis that takes the industry much closer to defining this standard, as detailed in the DMIST Annual Progress Report for 2023,” officials say.
“The application of a common data standard is required to increase data quality, create operational efficiency, and reduce systemic risk by minimizing breaks on trade date,” officials add. “OSTTRA and DMIST have been working with key industry participants to identify the data set required at five stages of the ETD post-trade workflow, from voice trade recaps to clearing broker booking confirmations, addressing the most persistent causes of trade breaks.”
OSSTRA’s data and analysis contributions are from sessions it led “with other DMIST participants” and have been given to DMIST’s data and information working group. This will lead to “significant progress in defining the data standard, which will support the DMIST draft standard on timeliness currently under review by the industry,” officials say.
“The adoption of common data fields in ETD is the next step toward reducing hedging risk through data standardization for voice trading. We’re delighted that market participants are working together to reach this milestone, which presents real practical progress in the effort to foster cross-industry engagement on the DMIST 30/30/30 standard,” says Samina Anwar, global derivatives operations director for Cargill, in a prepared statement.
GBST Revamps Composer & Rebrands Itself
GBST reports that it has launched an enhanced software-as-a-service (SaaS) Composer wealth management administration platform and introduced “a refreshed brand.”
In the wake of its acquisition by Anchorage Capital Partners in December 2021, GBST “is now solely focused on delivering digital-first wealth management technology and services,” company officials say. “Building on existing features and functionality, GBST has invested heavily in Composer’s underlying technology stack.”
“The world around us has changed, the market has changed, and GBST’s technology has changed. The team have worked tirelessly to deliver a leading SaaS solution that’s cloud-ready, accessible, simple to integrate and keeps the customer first in mind,” says Isabel Sanchez, chief technology and operations officer for GBST.
In addition to transforming Composer and making organizational changes, “the GBST rebrand reflects the company’s ongoing commitment to inspiring wealth innovation,” officials say. “With a nod to its origins, GBST has preserved its company name and built a brand proposition and new visual identity using the updated backronym — Global Business Solutions Technology.”
The new branding will be rolled out across the globe over the coming weeks, officials add.
NewVest Taps Apex Group for PE 50 Support
Private equity firm NewVest has appointed Apex Group Ltd., to provide fund administration, transfer agency, and fund of fund middle office services for the NewVest inaugural Private Equity 50 Index Fund (PE 50), officials say.
NewVest says that it is offering “an institutional tech-enabled platform of index funds designed to provide investors with diversified, passive exposure to private markets in the same manner that ETFs and Index Funds,” according to the firm.
“The PE 50 is designed to allow investors to ‘buy the market’ in private equity in an efficient and scalable manner. The PE 50 is anchored by leading institutional investors including insurance, pension, bank, endowment, and family office capital, as well as founders and senior industry professionals of leading, global private markets sponsors,” officials say.
“Apex Group will deliver these solutions in conjunction with Inveniam.io’s patented blockchain technology and the Inveniam.io data operating system to manage and create higher functioning capital account data for NewVest’s portfolio fund commitments. Inveniam.io’s use of blockchain and click-through access to source documents enables a fully auditable data trail for permissioned users without the need for asset owners to relinquish control of their own data,” officials say.
“We are very excited to work with NewVest to deliver automated capture of capital activity notices and statements, financial reports, limited partnership agreements, side letters, and amendments. Inveniam.io will increase scalability, accuracy, auditability, and trust in all the data provided by general partners through which NewVest intends to invest,” says Matt Appel, managing director, fund administration services at Inveniam, in a prepared statement.
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