NYSE plans new venue, Levy leaves Symphony, and more

It is the 146^th of January. Hang in there.

Announced this week

NYSE develops tokenized securities platform

The New York Stock Exchange, part of Intercontinental Exchange, announced its development of a platform for trading and on-chain settlement of tokenized securities, for which it will seek regulatory approvals.

NYSE’s digital platform will enable 24/7 operations, instant settlement, orders sized in dollar amounts, and stablecoin-based funding. Its design combines the NYSE’s Pillar matching engine with blockchain-based post-trade systems, including the capability to support multiple chains for settlement and custody.

Subject to regulatory approvals, the platform will power a new NYSE venue that supports trading of tokenized shares fungible with traditionally issued securities as well as tokens natively issued as digital securities. Tokenized shareholders will participate in traditional shareholder dividends and governance rights. The venue is designed to align with established principles for market structure, with distribution via non-discriminatory access to all qualified broker-dealers.

Synechron launches AI agents to automate complex workflows

Synechron, a global digital transformation consulting firm, has launched Synechron Agentic, a portfolio of production-ready AI agents built for complex, regulated workflows.

The first release will be focused on showcasing the power of agentic AI in the banking, financial services, wealth management, payments and insurance sectors.

The new suite of agents is governed and ready to deploy. Synechron’s agents integrate with enterprise platforms, including ServiceNow, Salesforce, Appian, and Datadog, so organizations can embed AI into existing workflows without disruption.

BNY integrates Morningstar DBRS into global collateral platform

BNY has integrated Morningstar DBRS credit ratings into its global collateral platform, enhancing eligibility customization and expanding the universe of rated securities available for collateral allocation. This integration unlocks a substantial volume of Canadian fixed income and US structured fixed income assets, which can now be evaluated for allocation to trades with rating criteria on BNY’s platform.

For issuers, the inclusion of Morningstar DBRS credit ratings on BNY’s global collateral platform provides enhanced liquidity, a larger investor pool, and risk reduction.

Miami Exchange sells MIAXdx to joint venture by Robinhood, Susquehanna

Miami International Holdings (MIAX) has completed the sale of 90% of the issued and outstanding equity in MIAX Derivatives Exchange (MIAXdx) to a joint venture established by Robinhood Markets in partnership with Susquehanna International Group. MIAX has retained 10% of the issued and outstanding equity of MIAXdx.

MIAXdx is a designated contract market (DCM) and derivatives clearing organization (DCO) with regulatory approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to list and clear fully collateralized futures, options on futures, and swaps.

State Street, QNB Group sign agreement to launch new custody servicing model

State Street Corporation and QNB Group have formed a strategic alliance to introduce a new custody servicing model in Qatar. Service agreements are to be finalized and executed at a later date.

The co‑operation agreement was signed during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, marking a significant milestone in State Street’s ongoing expansion within the Gulf Cooperation Council and supporting QNB’s accelerating international growth.

What you might have missed from us

Waters Wavelength Ep. 345: Patrick McGarry’s Ride to Remember

Patrick McGarry’s sister, Katie, was one of 71 delegates in attendance that day at the World Trade Center’s Windows on the World, which was hosting our first-ever conference. For the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Patrick will ride his bicycle from San Diego, California, straight across the US to St. Augustine, Florida, starting on March 8.

He’s doing this to honor his sister and first responders, as well as raise $100,000 for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. If you want to learn more about Patrick and Katie, or learn how to donate, visit his website: https://www.aridetoremember2026.com/

Private markets boom exposes data weak points

GoldenSource’s James Corrigan writes in this op-ed that the blending of asset types, both public and private, is fundamentally changing how investment firms operate and placing new demands on the data that underpins investment strategy, risk management, and reporting.

The rise of private market investment is revealing cracks in investment managers’ data and in how they use it across very different asset classes, writes Corrigan, who is CEO of GoldenSource, a software provider for enterprise data management.

Corrigan urges investment managers to implement a system with a single extensible data model that can support both standardized public securities data and bespoke private market instruments, entities, and deal structures, and he offers some practical advice for implementation.

Brokers must shift HFT servers after China colocation ban

Futures brokers are rushing to relocate high-frequency trading clients’ servers away from on-exchange facilities to comply with new guidelines from Chinese venues that restrict direct co-location.

Firms engaging in HFT at China’s commodities futures exchanges must relocate their servers out of the exchanges by the end of February to a third-party internet datacenter, with a similar timeline also rumored to apply in other asset classes. Other participants have been given until the end of April to make the move.

The tight deadline places a significant operational burden on brokerage firms. Per China’s colocation model, exchanges offer space only to brokers, who then sub-let to clients. For brokers, complying with the new guidance involves physically moving and reconfiguring dozens of equipment racks—each hosting multiple servers—outside exchange trading hours.

Brad Levy takes the reins at ThetaRay

After almost six years at communication platform provider Symphony—the last five of which were as CEO—Brad Levy is leaving to run ThetaRay, which uses cognitive AI to monitor for financial crime. He will replace Peter Reynolds, who became CEO in 2023. Reynolds will stay on in an advisory role.

“This is important as financial crime becomes more fragmented and adaptive,” Levy says. “This isn’t experimental AI or innovation looking for a purpose. It’s technology that banks and fintechs already deeply depend on to make high-stakes decisions. The opportunity now is about scale, discipline, and long-term trust, and that’s the kind of challenge I find most compelling.”

Ben Chrnelich, who had served recently as co-CEO of Symphony alongside Levy, will assume the roles of CEO and president. Shortly after the news broke, Symphony released an update on its 2026 product roadmap.

Vendors are winning the AI buy-vs-build debate

In the fourth installment of our first-ever WatersTechnology Benchmarking series, Emma Hilary Gould’s survey and research shows that most firms are buying large language models from third parties, a reversal from earlier bets on building in-house.

With a special focus on firms’ data offices, no one LLM provider emerged as a clear favorite among respondents. Half of the 12 firms surveyed are relying on a combined approach to LLMs—incorporating open-source models with in-house and third-party tools—but a third of respondents report primarily using an LLM from a cloud partner like Amazon, Google or Microsoft. A large asset manager reported relying on a specialist AI technology vendor.

All of this suggests that more than three years after ChatGPT’s debut, firms are still throwing mud at the wall to see what sticks.

Identity resolution is key to future of tokenization

Cusip Global Services’ Matthew Bastian writes in this op-ed that reference data is the backbone to the 24/7, always-on market dream of tokenized securities. But, he says, that dream will never be realized if investors can’t be sure that the token being purchased represents a specific security and conveys specific economic rights in relation to that security.

Though it is still early in the evolution of tokenized assets, the field is evolving quickly, and it will not be long before tokenized securities start showing up in the 401ks and nest eggs of Main Street investors, Bastian writes. Firms need to start thinking hard about not just the exciting potential of new volume and new forms of liquidity that can be created, but also about the underlying infrastructure that will act as a catalyst and allow these markets to grow safely and reliably.

In other news

Ummm… lots to choose from…

A bite-size column about delight and wonder in science, The New York Times

Maybe you’re like me, and you’ve reached your limit with bad and high-stakes news. In which case, I offer a reprieve: this piece from NYT’s science desk, which most commonly reports on gloom and doom—but not here.

Here you’ll find an interview with the science desk’s Michael Roston, who edits Trilobites, a column about new discoveries that will delight and surprise readers. Recent columns explore topics like unexpected animal friendships, a peekaboo squid and even seal milk.

It’s a reminder that this world may be singularly defined by catastrophe(s), but it’s also worth saving.