This Week: HKEX, ICE, Clearstream, Broadridge, IHS Markit and more

HKEX to Launch Sustainable and Green Exchange

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) announced plans to launch the HKEX Sustainable and Green Exchange, Stage. This new information platform will act as a central hub for data and information on sustainable and green finance investments in the Asia Pacific region.

Stage will provide investors with access to a database of sustainable and green investment options that are available on Hong Kong’s securities markets.

The online repository will be launched later this year.

ICE Data Services Launches Real-Time Publication of Key Fixed Income Indices

Intercontinental Exchange, an operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services, announced that ICE Data Services has launched real-time publication of several of its fixed income indices. These indices will continue to be administered by ICE Data Indices.

Among the first indices that are now being published in real time are ICE BofA US Broad Market Index, ICE BofA US Corporate Index and ICE BofA MOVE Index. Real-time updates for these indices are available over the ICE Consolidated Feed as well as on ICE Data Services’ Index platform, which provides full access to top-level and constituent data for the complete line-up of IDI’s fixed income indices.

Clearstream Selects Finomial to Automate Trade Documentation for Funds

Clearstream, Deutsche Börse Group’s post-trading services provider, has selected Finomial’s client lifecycle management technology to automate trade documentation completion for alternative investments, including hedge funds and private equity. 

As an alternative funds custodian specialising in alternative investments, Clearstream places trades with over 40,000 hedge funds across 45 jurisdictions globally. From the end of 2020, Clearstream’s can access a client interface to automate collection and provision of individual customer declarations.

Broadridge Creates AI-Driven Digital Execution Platform for Corporate Bonds

Fintech provider Broadridge announced that its new AI-driven corporate bond trading platform, LTX, has executed its first trades. Broadridge has partnered with Jim Toffey, founder of Tradeweb Markets, to create LTX, which combines artificial intelligence with a new digital execution protocol that enables broker-dealers to significantly improve market liquidity, efficiency and execution for their buy-side customers.

Built on Broadridge’s US Fixed Income post-trade processing platform, LTX uses AI to help broker-dealers digitize their franchise to maximize liquidity for asset managers while delivering improved transparency, best execution, and minimizing information leakage.

IHS Markit adds iBoxx Bond Indices to Securities Lending Performance Reports

IHS Markit, a financial information and analytics provider, has added six global iBoxx bond indices to its monthly securities lending performance reports, including: iBoxx USD Liquid High Yield, iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade, iBoxx EUR Corporates, iBoxx EUR Sovereigns, iBoxx USD Treasuries and iBoxx Global Government indices.

The performance reports leverage IHS Markit Securities Finance analytics on the current and five-year lending returns for constituents of each iBoxx index, expanding the first set of reports that IHS Markit launched for MSCI equity indices in April. For each iBoxx index, insight is provided on monthly, quarterly and annual returns, utilization levels, contribution by securities lending fee categories and returns based on credit ratings and years to maturity.

AST Private Company Solutions Links with Liquidity Solutions Investment Fund Liquid Stock

AST Private Company Solutions introduced a new strategic partnership with Liquid Stock, the venture capital-like investment fund providing liquidity solutions to pre-IPO companies, their investors and employees. Shareholders and CFOs using PCS’s new Astrella capitalization table and ownership data management platform will now be able to access Liquid Stock to more efficiently facilitate liquidity financing that is non-recourse, tax-efficient and does not require the sale of shares.

AST PCS, the Silicon Valley-based unit of ownership data management leader AST, recently launched Astrella as a technology in private company shareholder management. The new cloud-based software-as-a-service platform brings together private blockchain technology, artificial intelligence and predictive analytics, and was built with an API-based ecosystem to quickly integrate with innovative new providers in the private markets, such as Liquid Stock—a fund backed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Coller Capital and Morgan Stanley Alternative Investment Partners.

Value Xd Launches Value Xd Impact Platform

Value Xd, the cloud-based analytics platform with analytical technology, has announced the launch of Value Xd Impact, an analytical ecosystem for sustainable impact investing at the Responsible Investor Digital Festival. 

This new platform provides investors with unique modules that create the ability to design their impact responsibly. Value Xd Impact reinterprets the analytical value chain, allowing investors to transfer their ESG and sustainability values to analytical tools in order to help them deliver on their responsibilities. By doing so, it aims to create greater efficiency, transparency and effectiveness for investors. 

IPC to Leverage OpenFin OS to Build Voice ‘App Store’

IPC, a global provider of secure, compliant communications and networking solutions for the global financial markets, announced a strategic partnership with OpenFin, the operating system for the financial community. 

Through IPC’s “App Store” environment, traders and other regulated users will be able to leverage IPC-developed applications alongside proprietary, client-developed applications without the need for native integration. They can also access market data and trade lifecycle services available in IPC’s Connexus Cloud platform through any OpenFin-enabled desktop, any of IPC’s terminals or any IPC ‘soft’ trading communications solution. Lastly, they can integrate third-party applications available within the OpenFin ecosystem directly into IPC-powered trading communications workflows.

The partnership will be rolled out in multiple phases. The initial phase will allow all users to consume Blotter, a data visualization solution that structures and digitizes voice communications sent over IPC’s innovative IQ/MAX Touch terminal, through OpenFin. When running within the OpenFin environment, Blotter can organically share data across multiple applications and vendor platforms to enable automation of complex trading workflows. 

Trading Technologies Partners with Huatai Futures 

Trading Technologies International, a global provider of high-performance professional trading software, infrastructure and data solutions, and Huatai Futures, the subsidiary of Huatai Securities, headquartered in Guang Zhou, Guang Dong Province, China, announced they have contracted to provide connectivity to the Chinese international derivatives markets through the TT platform.

Through partnering with TT, Huatai’s global customers will be able to trade Chinese international derivatives products listed on the China Financial Futures Exchange, Dalian Commodities Exchange, Shanghai Futures Exchange, Shanghai International Energy Exchange and Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange via the TT platform.

Truvalue Labs Launches AI Insights, Spotlight Events Data Service and Truvalue Developer

Truvalue Labs, a provider of AI-driven environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data, announced the launch of Truvalue AI Insights and Spotlight Events data service to keep investment professionals updated with ESG data in real time. The firm also announced Truvalue Developer, a new platform that directly opens its technology to software developers and financial engineers.

Truvalue Labs’ AI Insights uses a proprietary knowledge graph algorithm to identify significant positive and negative ESG events in real time from more than 100,000 sources in 13 languages. 

The Spotlight Events data service leverages the same proprietary algorithm and delivers ESG event information to clients in the form of a data feed for internal research platforms, trading strategies, or ESG data lakes that serve the enterprise.

Truvalue Developer was designed for financial engineers and developers, as firms focus on creating their own proprietary ESG solutions. The platform enables developers to leverage Truvalue Labs’ AI-driven datasets via data feeds and APIs to create their own custom solutions. Three datasets are now available including Spotlight Events, SASB Scores based on the Sustainability Accounting Standard Board materiality framework, and COVID-19, a dataset that scores company actions related to the pandemic from an ESG perspective.