Capitolis to Speed Up Product Development Citi, JPMorgan, and State Street have invested a total of $11 million in fintech startup Capitolis, whose proprietary technology platform helps trading firms streamline their trading-position strategies. A spokesperson for Capitolis confirms media reports that the funding from the trio is $11 million in total. The spokesperson declines to… Read More >>
Members Exchange Wins SEC’s & BlackRock’s Approval
A securities exchange start-up, the Members Exchange (MEMX), is on a roll via new strategic financing led by asset manager BlackRock, following a key approval by the SEC. While the launch of its first transaction venue was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, MEMX officials want their venue to get underway during the third quarter of… Read More >>
Bitcoin Futures & Options Exchange Gets CFTC Nod
Bitnomial Exchange Designated as a Contract Market Chicago-based Bitnomial Exchange has gotten the greenlight from commodities regulator CFTC to become a designated contract market (DCM), which means that it can launch as a Bitcoin futures and options exchange. “The CFTC issued the order under Section 5 of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulation… Read More >>
Buy Side Faces Costly Ops Changes: SimCorp CEO
(Klaus Holse, CEO for SimCorp, is reaching out to the buy side via an open letter about front-to-back integration issues for investment management technology. His online letter notes that integration issues are caused in part by the “rapid rise of alternatives, which presents new costs and challenges.” This is helping buy-side firms rethink multi-asset, end-to-end… Read More >>
BlackRock & BNY Mellon Streamline Access to Aladdin
The Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BNY Mellon) and BlackRock’s solutions business group have launched a strategic alliance that offers the full suite of BlackRock’s Aladdin platform, tools and capabilities in one place in an effort to closely couple data and optimize operating models to bolster efficiency, officials say. The collaboration is intended to… Read More >>
BlackRock to Broaden Aladdin via eFront Acquisition
The world’s largest asset manager BlackRock is acquiring alternative investment management software provider eFront with the intention of combining its offerings with the Aladdin software system, broadening the reach of BlackRock’s investment platform to include capabilities for private equity and other alternative investment funds. If all goes according to plan, BlackRock will acquire via a… Read More >>
Key Firms Issue Pink Slips During Bonus Season
As the new year got underway, some staff members at A-list financial services firms got pink slips instead of bonuses as more firms lay off staff — a result of rocky 2018 markets that have taken their toll on the bottom line. In particular, on the buy side, firms are reeling from investors’ preference for… Read More >>
Fat Fingers Caused BlackRock’s Data Leak
Fat fingers apparently caused the data leak at asset management giant BlackRock as officials acknowledge that the posting of customer relationship management (CRM) data about client financial advisors was the result of human error. Officials add that no sensitive information or data about the advisors’ end-clients was exposed via the incident. Bloomberg News first reported… Read More >>
Investors Shaken by Uncertainty Look to Private Markets
Institutional investor confidence in financial markets is trending downward and investors may shift their allocations from public to private markets, according to two separate reports upon shareowner activity for 2019. The research and advisory firm Corbin Advisors, which focuses on investor relations (IR), reports that investors started the new year harboring high levels of uncertainty… Read More >>
BlackRock & Thomson Reuters Partner to Launch ESG Fund
BlackRock’s ETF Will Follow a New Thomson Reuters Index BlackRock, considered the world’s largest asset manager, and Thomson Reuters, a provider of market data, trading systems and news, have combined forces on an exchange traded fund (ETF) that helps investors support environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets via companies in developed and emerging markets. The… Read More >>
