Pictet Asset Management is adding to SimCorp’s remit for the investment management firm as the provider has been tapped to help the firm move beyond fragmented systems and disconnected datasets spread across front-, middle-, and back-office functions, officials say. The unified data layer to come will replace fragmented data and batch processes with a real-time… Read More >>
The Buy Side Is Riding the Tokenization Wave
A new survey-based report finds that buy-side firms are embracing tokenization strategies because they will broaden the investor community by “democratizing access to tokenized assets,” and more than half of survey respondents have a team focused on tokenization-related or digital assets initiatives. The new report, “Tokenization gaining altitude: From pilot projects to industry standard,” is… Read More >>
NBG in Cyprus Deploys Smartstream’s Recs Platform
The National Bank of Greece (NBG) in Cyprus has gone live with a reconciliation solution that leverages artificial intelligence (A.I.) technologies — the Air system from Smartstream — and has replaced four incumbent systems, officials say. The implementation is intended to help the bank’s operational efficiency by “reducing daily manual processing effort and eliminating the… Read More >>
Is Ops Paying a Hidden ‘Manual Processing Tax?’
(Murray Campbell, principal product manager at AutoRek, recently took questions from FTF News about the hidden costs of manual processes that remain in place because firms think they’re more cost-effective than automated solutions. In this Q&A, Campbell makes the case that firms face many ongoing, unknown costs associated with manual processes that carry price tags… Read More >>
SEB Implements BBH’s Account-Opening Connectivity Solution
Private bank Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) reports that it is expanding its account-opening application programming interface (API) connectivity to custodians that want to better serve their clients. Nordic bank SEB was the first to take advantage of it. “Custodians are expected to deliver a faster, more transparent digital onboarding experience, but workflows can still depend… Read More >>
GitHub Incident Could Put Firms at Risk: FINRA
Officials at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) are warning broker-dealers and other securities firms about the potential ripple effects of a cyber-attack upon the popular open source code platform GitHub. The cyber incident “involving GitHub could compromise software supply chains and expose sensitive code across thousands of organizations,” FINRA says in its cyber alert…. Read More >>
CACEIS Debuts Digital Platform for Transfer Agency Services
CACEIS, an asset servicing provider for E.U. firms, has launched a digital platform for transfer agency services, named NOVA, that leverages a cloud-native, microservices architecture intended to facilitate faster onboarding of new funds and new distribution channels, officials say. “In an environment where the diversification of investment funds is accelerating – from traditional funds to… Read More >>
Standard Chartered to Consolidate Digital Custody Offerings
Standard Chartered (SC) will integrate the regulated custodian activities of Zodia Custody (ZC) into the bank’s existing digital asset custody services, offered via its Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) group, officials say. This will happen as a result of SC’s acquisition of Zodia Custody, which has the backing of SC Ventures (SCV), the bank’s venture… Read More >>
Digital Assets Are Spurring Ops Concerns
Securities operations for digital assets constitute the “greatest operational challenge” for nearly 40 percent of those surveyed by provider AutoRek for the new report, “The Infrastructure Gap: Capital Markets Operations 2026.” The cutting-edge asset class is causing survey participants to adjust to new settlement and custody models, and a “significantly higher reconciliation complexity” that strains… Read More >>
ISI Launches REDD Platform to Track EM Corporates
Market intelligence provider ISI (formerly ISI Markets) has launched REDD for Corporate Debt, a platform that offers data and insights about emerging market corporates across public bonds, private credit, and primary debt issuance from financial news outlet REDD, officials say. The platform is intended to help end-users “identify credit risks and event-driven dislocations ahead of… Read More >>
