Emerging Technologies
T+1—A Step in the Right Direction
Next-day or T+1 settlement of fixed income trades might seem a pipe dream, but there are few insurmountable operational or technology reasons why such a move cannot happen. As is invariably the case with the capital markets, the regulators hold the key,…
As fixed income edges toward automation, the interop movement is cutting in
Valantic FSA, a European solutions provider, wants to remake the fixed-income tech scene in interoperability's image, taking on incumbents like Ion Group.
Cloud-based Data Services—Identifying the Benefits and Potential Pitfalls
At least one silver lining emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic for the financial services industry: most capital markets firms on both sides of the industry appear to have coped well with the initial disruption. Pretty much all of these firms have adapted…
Waters Wrap: Google-Symphony—Something to see here?
Anthony wonders if there are any tea leaves to be read as a result of Symphony migrating its platform from AWS to Google Cloud.
People Moves: Theta, Google, B2C2, Tourmaline, and more
A look at some of the key "people moves" from this week, including Paul Flanagan (pictured), who joins Theta as strategic sales advisor.
Show your workings: Lenders push to demystify AI models
Machine learning could help with loan decisions—but only if banks can explain how it works. And that’s not easy.
Burden of Proof: Meet the IEX breakaways looking to shake up broker algos
Founded with the principles of “transparency and academic rigor,” some say Proof’s model and technical approach is a test case for a new generation of cloud-native broker startups.
People Moves: LedgerEdge, JP Morgan, MarketAxess, Enfusion, and more
A look at some of the key people moves from this week, including Michelle Neal (pictured), who has joined enterprise software vendor LedgerEdge as CEO of US operations.
Waters Wavelength Podcast: Episode 239 (The ‘E’ in ESG and quarantine woes)
Wei-Shen and Tony talk about climate migration and opportunities that might come about from a data perspective.
EBA to consult on banks’ machine learning use
The watchdog will set out a new stance on ML-based capital models at a time of conflicting guidance from other supervisors.
Waters Wrap: On outages, teamwork & greed (And ESG innovation & consultants)
Anthony examines a proposed protocol in Europe that would help keep liquidity flowing if there’s a major exchange outage. He also discusses innovation in the realm of ESG, and Esma’s new data analytics platform.
Regulators must find a balance with artificial intelligence
There's rapid digital transformation underway in the industry and regulators must get with the game plan while not over-regulating the use of AI.
Accenture wins contract for Esma’s big data analytics project
The consultancy will provide on-demand tooling for analyzing data collected from Data Reporting Service Providers.
SF quant firm uses 'nearest neighbor' machine learning for equities predictions
Creighton AI is using a regression-based approach to machine learning to help make predictions about the excess return of a stock relative to the market.
Waters Wrap: A blockchain problem (And an alt data problem)
Anthony first looks at the alternative data industry and connects to QAnon, before explaining why there needs to be more hard numbers in the world of blockchain.
Disinformation campaigns coming to a Wall Street near you
Rebecca examines the tangled web woven between Reddit, meme stocks, and QAnon, and asks how well prepared data providers looking to jump on the meme stocks bandwagon are to recognize organized disinformation campaigns.
A blockchain believer: Broadridge looks to expand its DLT influence
The market infrastructure provider has rolled out its blockchain-based repo transaction platform with plans to further build on the emerging technology.
Waters Wavelength Podcast: Episode 238 (Trying to get back on track)
Wei-Shen and Tony talk about how the pandemic has changed their habits and how they’re trying to do something about it.
AML models face explainability challenges
Data gaps and potential biases must be accounted for in approaches to tackling money laundering.
Quants turn to machine learning to unlock private data
Replication could allow financial firms to use—and monetize—data that was previously off-limits
Brown Brothers Harriman continues AI ‘transformation’ of fund accounting unit
A new tool that helps business users test and validate their own POCs is set to join the bank’s ranks alongside its other AI projects implemented over the last two years: Linc, Guardrail, and Ants.
Deep XVAs and the promise of super-fast pricing
Intelligent robots can value complex derivatives in minutes rather than hours
Made to Measure
It is no secret that pre-developed applications offering commoditized, off-the-shelf functionality continue to dominate the capital markets technology landscape. Sinara discusses how capital markets firms often turn to tried-and-trusted industry…