News Analysis
The Waters Cooler: No Singapore Slings
Market microstructure, a prediction exchange, ETF and T+1 woes—does it get any more exciting than this?
Deep in the heart of Texas, market data vets sweat the talent gap
The secrets to unlocking all of market data’s questions and the antidote for all its ills were discussed in Texas last week. Unfortunately, we promised not to tell—not all of them, anyway.
The Waters Cooler: What is going on?
Is it weird that Euronext bought Substantive? It’s weird, right? Plus WFIC, tick sizes, Microsoft and BlackRock want more datacenters for some reason, and, of course, AI. What does it all mean?
Interop after acquisitions remains daunting for buyers
Executives from a variety of vendors speaking at WFIC explained why desktop interoperability is important and why progress has been slow.
The Waters Cooler: Why can’t we be friends?
The ABA vs most every regulator. LSEG vs BBG. AI vs SaaS. Buy vs build. Lots of drama in the capital markets.
Chevron’s absence leaves questions for elusive AI regulation in US
The US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the Chevron deference presents unique considerations for potential AI rules.
Aussie asset managers struggle to meet ‘bank-like’ collateral, margin obligations
New margin and collateral requirements imposed by UMR and its regulator, Apra, are forcing buy-side firms to find tools to help.
Reading the bones: Citi, BNY, Morgan Stanley invest in AI, alt data, & private markets
Investment arms at large US banks are taken with emerging technologies such as generative AI, alternative and unstructured data, and private markets as they look to partner with, acquire, and invest in leading startups.
CrowdStrike outage spurs rethink on ‘critical’ vendors
Some want US regulators to designate tech firms that pose risks to financial stability
Startup helps buy-side firms retain ‘control’ over analytics
ExeQution Analytics provides a structured and flexible analytics framework based on the q programming language that can be integrated with kdb+ platforms.
US Supreme Court clips SEC’s wings with recent rulings
The Supreme Court made a host of decisions at the start of July that spell trouble for regulators—including the SEC.
EU firms press for faster move to T+1 after smooth US rollout
Following the example set by North America, 70% of attendees at a European hearing on shorter settlement cycles favored a Q4 2027 switch to next-day settlement.
Standard Chartered keeps faith with quantum experimentation
The bank is aiming to future-proof itself with the ability to adopt new technology at an early stage.
Zeros and ones: Industry contemplates T+0 as the next step
With the North American transition to T+1 settlement complete, same-day settlement could be the next goalpost set, though skeptics are many.
IEX Cloud closure forces fintech clients to seek data alternatives
IEX says it is ditching its unprofitable data arm to focus on its core exchange business, but other vendors believe they can turn a profit from its former client base of fintechs, retail investors and some institutions.
FRTB data quality issues persist amid shifting implementation dates
Banks are finding market and reference data challenges posed by the FRTB’s standardized model tricky, compounded by uncertainty over when the regulation will take effect.
Cboe pushes rule change to make way for proprietary Opra alternatives
As US options data has grown in volume and cost, Cboe says changing the public feed's governing document would make way for more competition from private alternatives, including its Cboe One Options Feed, launched in 2023.
Firms worry that lack of ‘explainability’ will be regulatory roadblock for AI
Industry experts share their concerns about advanced AI’s ‘black-box’ nature and how that may attract fragmented regulatory scrutiny.
Former Goldman analyst aims to blend GenAI and synthetic data with start-up
Synthera.ai is taking a novel approach to calculating risk. While promising, industry observers are skeptical.
DSB says industry is ready to meet UPI mandate ahead of deadline
The Unique Product Identifier will be required for certain OTC derivatives in the EU at the end of April, following US adoption in January.
Dora technical standards shoot for break in the clouds
One goal of the EU’s latest ICT risk act is to mitigate cloud concentration. Some experts say it may make it worse.
Vanguard cautiously explores neural networks for alt data analysis
John Ameriks, head of Vanguard’s Quantitative Equity Group, explains the rationale behind dataset selection and how the group has been using machine learning.
‘When, not if’: EU plots course for T+1 transition
Not everyone saw eye to eye at a European Commission roundtable discussing how to shorten settlement cycles, but most participants recognized the need to make the transition to T+1.
Politics, public opinion collide in EC identifier consultation
The European Commission has said neither the Isin nor the UPI is ‘suitable’ for price transparency, and proposed modified alternatives in an industry consultation.