FairXchange Unveils AI-Powered Horizon Sentinel for Enhanced Liquidity Monitoring

FairXchange, the data science firm specialising in FX markets and part of the United Fintech Group, has launched Horizon Sentinel, an AI-driven alerting tool designed to instantly identify commercially relevant changes in a financial institution’s liquidity and counterparty activity. Sentinel aims to significantly reduce the time spent on analysing FX liquidity data, enabling financial institutions to maximise identified opportunities. The tool automatically notifies compliance and management teams of specific changes such as significant transaction cost variations or notable client trading activity shifts.

Available as an optional module within the Horizon data analytics platform, Horizon Sentinel complements FairXchange’s existing analytics by providing rigorous period-to-period comparisons and data-driven insights. The tool has been successfully trialled by several long-standing clients, including Sucden Financial.

Guy Hopkins, Founder and CEO of FairXchange, commented: “During our testing period, Sentinel has had an overwhelmingly positive response, transforming conversations between liquidity consumers and liquidity providers.  In high complexity trading environments, it is becoming progressively harder for people to keep on top of all the recent developments. Sentinel watches your business for you and provides timely, automated notification of important changes as soon as they occur. This improves productivity, substantially reduces opportunity cost and allows clients to focus on what adds the most value both to their own firm and their counterparties”.

Wayne Roworth, Global Head of FX at Sucden Financial, added: “We have been actively using the Sentinel AI tool in Horizon for several months, and it has had a substantial positive impact on our business. Our liquidity providers very much value the fact that we can play an active role in monitoring the flow, highlighting areas of potential concern that we can then work on together.  The dialogue that this data facilitates, and the speed with which we can act upon it, has resulted in numerous improvements to our liquidity that have allowed us to increase our client volumes and associated revenues.”

Delta Capita to Provide CLM to European Unit of Daiwa

Capital markets consulting, managed services and technology firm Delta Capita is to provide its client lifecycle management (CLM) product to investment bank Daiwa Capital Markets Europe.

The investment banking subsidiary of Japanese brokerage Daiwa Securities said Delta’s CLM will help its international clients gain exposure to the Asian nation’s markets at a time of growing demand.

The service offers full management of client onboarding, anti-money laundering, know your customer, risk assessment, screening, ongoing monitoring and periodic review cycles and offboarding.

Capita’s “experience in providing managed services, particularly in CLM, gives us great confidence that we can continue to respond the resurgence of European interest in Japan and continue to support our client base across the region”, said Daiwa Capital Markets Europe chief executive Megan McDonald.

Capita’s CLM was recently complemented with the London-based company’s recent acquisition of LSEG’s CLM technology in May. It works in conjunction with Capita’s Karbon KYC suite of tools.

The LSEG solution is based on Thomson Reuters’ 2013 acquisition of GoldTier Technologies, a provider of client onboarding software. Thomson Reuters Financial and Risk business, of which GoldTier was a part, was later rebranded Refinitiv under the majority ownership of Thomson Reuters and Blackstone, and the whole acquired by LSEG in 2021.

Abaxx Exchange Selects Eventus for Trade Surveillance

Abaxx Exchange, a new marketplace based in Singapore, has chosen Eventus to provide its trade surveillance platform. Abaxx Exchange commenced trading on June 28, 2024, offering global futures on energy, metals, and other energy transition-focused commodities, starting with liquified natural gas (LNG) and carbon, with plans to introduce battery metals soon.

Abaxx Exchange, under the majority ownership of Abaxx Singapore Pte Ltd., is the first new regulated exchange and clearinghouse focused on physical commodities to be built from the ground up in over a decade. The exchange sought a robust, customisable, and scalable market surveillance tool that could be quickly and easily implemented. Eventus’ Validus platform was selected for its flexibility, strong workflow automation, and the support of an experienced and responsive team.

Eventus CEO Travis Schwab commented: “We are incredibly honoured that Abaxx has entrusted our team to provide the backbone of its critical trade surveillance function through the Validus platform. The innovative commodity exchange has generated significant interest in the industry. Market integrity is a high priority for the exchange, and Abaxx will benefit from our expertise and high-performance surveillance technology used by marketplaces and leading financial institutions across the globe.”

The deployment of the Validus platform marks a significant step in ensuring that Abaxx Exchange can maintain rigorous surveillance and control over its market activities, providing a secure and efficient trading environment for its participants.

Avelacom Expands Low Latency Solutions with RCB Certification for Brazil Stock Exchange Access

Avelacom has expanded its low latency solution portfolio by becoming a certified B3 Communications Network provider (RCB) for the Brazil Stock Exchange (B3). The certification allows Avelacom to offer Direct Market Access to B3’s matching engine, enhancing the company’s real-time market data and trading solutions without clients requiring additional infrastructure. The new service aims to provide a cost-efficient and scalable alternative to remote market access, optimising latency and setup processes via virtual connections.

By incorporating RCB services, Avelacom can facilitate seamless data transfer between global financial hubs, supporting rapid activation of trading and market data services. This expansion aligns with the growing popularity of Brazil’s markets, enabling clients worldwide to engage with B3’s extensive range of markets, including equities, derivatives, digital assets, and OTC products.

Aleksey Larichev, CEO of Avelacom, commented: “Becoming an RCB authorised party allows us to provide more flexible and cost-effective solutions with various capacity options, helping financial firms operate more efficiently. With our network’s global coverage, clients from Asia, EMEA, and North America can access B3’s trading platform with the ease of cloud-based solutions.”

Marcos Guimaraes, Managing Director of Avelacom, LATAM, said: “With this development, B3 markets becomes available at all markets on Avelacom´s global network. It also lowers the barrier of entering B3’s market from abroad by facilitating access to the trading floor and lowering costs for local brokers and trading participants.”

Coming hot on the heels of the company’s new routes between Seoul, Hong Kong and Singapore, this new project included significant investments in network infrastructure to support disaster recovery services at B3’s primary and secondary data centres.

Adaptive Makes Aeron Premium Available on Microsoft Azure Marketplace

Adaptive Financial Consulting has made Aeron Premium, its low-latency messaging and high-availability clustering technology, available on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, in a strategic collaboration that enables Aeron users to leverage Azure’s robust cloud platform for streamlined deployment and management. Aeron Premium, widely used in capital markets, enhances trading systems with enterprise-grade software and support, offering high performance, security, and 24/7 availability. Built on open-source Aeron technology, it includes additional software components, enterprise-level SLAs, architectural design consulting, and developer resources.

The partnership aims to accelerate the development of low-latency, high-performance, and resilient trading systems in the cloud. Key benefits for developers include scalability, improved performance, and high availability, supported by Azure’s infrastructure.

Matt Barrett, co-founder and CEO at Adaptive, commented: “As capital market firms increasingly migrate their infrastructure to the cloud, it is crucial that they have easy access to powerful technology and expert advice to accelerate the development of next-generation trading systems. Working with Microsoft achieves this – improving the availability of Aeron Premium via the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, enabling developers to leverage powerful Azure cloud technology.”

Jake Zborowski, General Manager, Microsoft Azure Platform at Microsoft Corp., added: “We’re pleased to welcome Aeron to the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, which gives our partners great exposure to cloud customers around the globe. Azure Marketplace offers world-class quality experiences from global trusted partners with solutions tested to work seamlessly with Azure.”

BNP Paribas Expands Use of CobaltFX’s Dynamic Credit to Enhance Market Efficiency and Regulatory Compliance

BNP Paribas has further expanded its use of CobaltFX’s Dynamic Credit solution, to improve the allocation of credit for FX transactions. The move aims to simplify credit distribution among over 100 counterparty banks, and to optimise global credit management across 12 Electronic Communication Networks (ECNs). The initiative is designed to address regulatory and industry concerns, setting a new benchmark for precision and effectiveness in market operations.

The expansion highlights BNP Paribas’s commitment to innovation and efficiency in credit allocation, enhancing market access for financial institutions worldwide. With the integration of CobaltFX’s Dynamic Credit and the newly developed CobaltFX Analytics, BNP Paribas continues to address regulatory concerns, further establishing its leadership in market operations, according to Joe Nash, Head of Global Macro Digital at BNP, who commented: “We see this as an important initiative to address regulatory and industry body concerns about the over-allocation and inefficiencies of credit distribution on dealer to dealer venues. Moreover, this approach, combined with CobaltFX Analytics allows us to right size our limit for each counterparty whilst improving market access with them.”

Darren Coote, CEO of CobaltFX, part of United Fintech, added: “This systemic problem has been long over-looked but there are a group of leaders in the industry that understand the benefits of this unique approach. We are very grateful for BNP’s leadership in this regard.”

Trading Technologies Introduces Access to Abaxx Exchange

Trading Technologies International, Inc. (TT), the capital markets technology platform provider, has introduced access to Abaxx Exchange, the Singapore-based global commodity futures exchange and clearinghouse. The market launched on June 28, with StoneX Financial executing the first trade via the TT platform. Clients can now trade Abaxx’s energy and carbon derivatives contracts using TT.

Abaxx Exchange introduces five new commodity benchmark futures contracts, featuring centrally cleared, physically deliverable contracts. These offerings aim to enhance market participants’ ability to execute energy transition strategies, with improved price discovery and risk management tools in the LNG and carbon markets, with plans to expand into battery metals.

Alun Green, EVP Managing Director, Futures & Options for TT, commented: “We’re delighted to bring our clients access to this unique new marketplace from day one of trading. We’re also a trusted partner to global and regional energy suppliers and commodity firms looking to hedge their risks in both physical and derivatives markets. Abaxx will bring new risk management capabilities with the option of physical delivery or offset through the sale of the contracts before delivery.”

Dan McElduff, Abaxx Exchange President, Strategy & Development, added: “By combining the advanced TT platform with our industry-leading, physically deliverable commodity futures contracts, market participants can now leverage our shared expertise and resources to access the price discovery and risk management tools essential for meeting the commercial needs of the energy transition and unlocking the investment capital required for a low-carbon economy.”

TT recently connected to the European Power Exchange (EPEX SPOT), the largest power exchange in Europe, enabling clients to trade European physical power markets for the first time on the TT platform. This collaboration includes a fully co-located continuous intraday power trading service, developed in partnership with a major European energy supplier.

SIX and Avaloq Launch Independent Valuation Service for Financial Instruments

SIX has introduced an Independent Valuation Service for financial instruments, developed in partnership with Avaloq, the wealth management technology provider. This new service meets the international market demand for end-of-day product valuations from an independent source, aiding in client reporting, risk management, and benchmarking.

The service offers support for asset and risk managers, custodians, and other financial institutions by providing transparent, stable, and simplified valuations, essential for guiding investment decisions, managing risks, and ensuring compliance with complex regulatory requirements, especially concerning securitised derivatives. The Independent Valuation Service, accessible through the CONNEXOR API, allows users to subscribe flexibly to instruments via ISIN requests, ensuring the availability of end-of-day valuations for non-listed structured products.

By integrating valuations and risk figures across financial markets through various pricing engines and real-time data analysis, the service guarantees comprehensive data coverage and cost transparency.

Genesis Global and interop.io Forge Alliance to Enhance Financial Markets Software Interoperability

Genesis Global and interop.io have formed a technology alliance aimed at driving software innovation and developing customised multi-application workflows for the financial markets industry. This partnership facilitates the integration of high-performance front-, middle-, and back-office applications on the Genesis platform with third-party systems using interop.io, enhancing efficiency and reducing risk for financial firms.

Leslie Spiro, CEO and Co-founder of interop.io, highlighted the Genesis platform’s ability to integrate multiple data sources and financial technology systems, commenting: “With interop.io and FDC3, third-party systems that must run on the desktop such as Salesforce or Bloomberg can more easily interoperate with Genesis applications.”

Devry Ross, Head of Partnerships at Genesis Global, emphasised the importance of flexibility between web and desktop applications. “Integrating multiple systems, data sources and trade-related services is a strength of Genesis. Our work with specialists like interop.io and new capabilities in our platform expand how our philosophy of flexibility and openness translates to desktop integrations,” said Ross.

The alliance is further supported by the release of Version 8 of the Genesis Application Platform, which includes enhanced FDC3 support to embed interoperability in applications. Both firms stress the significance of partnerships in advancing interoperability within the finance industry. Through their Partner Programs, Genesis and interop.io aim to optimise productivity, enhance compliance, and create competitive advantages for their clients.

Digital Vega Integrates with FactSet’s Portware to Expand FX Options Trading

Digital Vega, theFX Options e-trading platform, has integrated with FactSet’s FX execution management system, Portware. The partnership aims to broaden Digital Vega’s client base and distribution network, while enhancing FactSet’s product coverage to include FX Options alongside Fixed Income, Equities, Futures, and FX.

FactSet’s Portware platform provides Asset Managers with a unified execution method across all asset classes, offering deep liquidity and high automation levels. The integration with Digital Vega allows clients to automate complex FX Options workflows and access extensive pricing from a broad range of Liquidity Providers.

Mark Suter, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Digital Vega, stated: “By partnering with FactSet we are able to extend our coverage to large Asset Managers, which will deepen liquidity for the benefit of all our clients.”

John Marchese, Head of FX Sales at FactSet, added: “As the FX Options market has become increasingly electronic, we wanted to work with a best-in-class e-FX Options provider in that market. Adding FX Options to Portware was a logical decision.”

Toby Baker, Head of FX Trading at T. Rowe Price, a firm that has been using Portware for the  day-to-day cash trading requirements for some time, commented: “Adding Digital Vega’s FX Options liquidity and workflow management into Portware’s EMS to provide a single, fully integrated solution will bring huge benefits to the team.”