Paris-based portfolio and risk management technology vendor Sophis has become the first software vendor to pass the testing criteria for the integration of its interface to the Reuters Data Access Control System (DACS). Reuters Open DACS can now establish a connection between Sophis’ RISQUE derivatives trading and processing solution and Reuters DACS, enabling clients to both report on and control access to market data.

Alphacet has formed a partnership with OneMarketData (OMD), in which OMD’s OneTick solution for tick data management and analytics will be included as a fully integrated feature of Alphacet Discovery, the straight through processing solution for quantitative strategy development and deployment. The commercial launch of Alphacet Discovery, which has been in development and testing for more than four years, is planned for Q2 2008.

Fitch Solutions has launched a new search engine and features for its online portal, FitchResearch.com, which will provide subscribers with improved, bespoke search functionality across Fitch’s interactive archive of research, data and analytics.

READ THE REST

Vhayu has launched a new easy to use data management solution for the quantitative research community: Velocity for Quantitative Research (VFQR).

READ THE REST

KPMG in Turkey has chosen SuperDerivatives’ real-time, multi-asset options pricing and analytics platform for foreign currencies and interest rates. KPMG in Turkey joins other ”Big 4” accounting offices in standardizing on SuperDerivatives’ platform for the accurate verification of its audit clients’ portfolios. This allows KPMG auditors to ensure that their clients adhere to standards such as IAS 39, FAS 133, FAS 157 and the upcoming FAS 161 which strictly demands ”fair market value” pricing of derivatives.

IPC Systems is collaborating with Cisco, Avaya and Nortel in the development of its SIP-based Nexus Suite, an open, flexible, end-to-end communications platform for the trading floor that unifies communications technology in real time.

READ THE REST

Tullett Prebon Information and Shanghai Wind Information (“Wind Info”), China’s integrated service provider of financial data and software, have signed a multi-year agreement for the supply of interest rate, fixed income and money and fx data to the Chinese market.

READ THE REST

TSX Datalinx has approved Reliance Globalcom’s financial Extranet, Yipes FinancialConnect!, as a provider of high-speed, low-latency access to real-time quote and trade information. Yipes is connected to TSX Datalinx’s LinxPointOne platform, which disseminates a variety of Canadian equity and other marketplace content from Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange and Canadian equity ATS’s.

Following its implementation of Arcontech’s CityVision StarNet market data platform in 2005 (Market Data Insight, January 2005), Tradition Group has extended this system to manage contributions to Bloomberg in London. The Tokyo hub has also been rolled out, to support local contributions to a number of vendors in that region. The deployment is integrated with the London hub and provides data transfer between the locations. Other data collection hubs are in the process of roll-out. Currently the data platform collects data from 10 offices globally with further expansion planned for 2008.

READ THE REST

NYSE Euronext has completed its $200 million acquisition of Wombat Financial Software, provider of market data management solutions, announced on January 14 (Market Data Insight, January 2008). Wombat will join TransactTools as part of the newly formed NYSE Euronext Advanced Trading Solutions division.

QuoteMedia has won a two-year contract to provide portfolio management, financial market data and research information to Zecco Trading, a wholly owned subsidiary of Zecco Holdings which powers online investing and trading communities at zecco.com. QuoteMedia will provide streaming real-time portfolio management solutions, including QuoteMedia’s newly launched Quotestream II, as well as charting packages, stock screening and market depth data, for Zecco Trading’s customer base.

Interdealer broker ICAP’s real-time data is now available for use in enterprise-wide business applications through the Reuters Integrated Data Network (IDN), a high-performance network collecting, collating and distributing real-time market data.

READ THE REST

Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) has launched an upgrade to its market data system SGX DerivativesQuote, powered by OMX’s next generation distribution system for market data, Genium Market Info. The new system enables SGX to enhance data dissemination services to market participants, allowing brokers and data vendors to offer more comprehensive data to their customers. Key benefits of the new system include its ability to support 10 levels of bid and ask sizes (compared to three previously), as well as calendar spreads data for all futures contracts on SGX (compared to only for Euroyen futures contract previously).

Winterflood Securities has extended its contract with Fixnetix, which currently provides direct market access trading service with connection to the London Stock Exchange via the Fixnetix low latency infrastructure, to receive LSE, Euronext and Xetra market data directly via Fixnetix to support its European trading desk and also to enable its direct market access service to connect to these additional exchanges.

READ THE REST

SuperDerivatives and Liffe have formed a partnership to provide SuperDerivatives’ users with direct access to the Liffe Connect electronic trading platform. SuperDerivatives users will be able to see streaming prices from the Euronext exchange and interact with the market through SuperDerivatives’ web-based applications. SuperDerivatives pricing system will merge OTC prices with exchange prices to maximise transparency for users with the target of tightening the bid/offer spreads in the corresponding exchange products.

Reuters has launched a high-speed data feed that is directly connected to OMX Nordic Exchange’s full order book. Reuters Data Feed Direct allows professional investors and vendors to receive market data directly from the OMX trading system with the same low latency as members of the OMX Nordic Exchange. Reuters says it is the first vendor to offer this data feed, which provides market data for equity and related products. The data is derived from OMX’s low latency data feed based on Genium FIX that launched in November 2007. The new Reuters Data Feed Direct provides data to fuel algorithms, pricing engines and other latency sensitive applications.

Nasdaq has released a tool that supplies an ‘instant replay’ of market activity for testing and review at dealer desks. Based on Adobe technology, Market Replay allows users to quickly view the order book at any point in time, replay the market in simulated real-time, or at an accelerated/decelerated speed, and zoom in to view events at the millisecond level to see exactly what happened. Following the completion of a trade, Market Replay allows users to analyse whether their trade received best execution and risk managers to confirm if a trade met compliance standards. Market Replay is accessible on the Nasdaq Technology Services’ DataStore site, and as a plug and play deployment for market data vendors.

Dow Jones & Company has acquired Betten Financial News BV, the Dutch-language news service covering the corporate sector in the Netherlands. Dow Jones will combine Betten’s coverage with Dow Jones Newswires’s Dutch-language financial news service, Dow Jones Nieuwsdienst, to offer its customers expanded reporting and strengthened insight into the Dutch financial markets. Betten is known in the Netherlands under the name Betten Beursmedia News. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

KBC Group, one of the largest European bank/insurance combinations, has implemented INFOmatch, the market data management system. KBC deploys INFOmatch’s ASP version, having the system and its database run on Screen INFOmatch’s server farm, with client connections initially to KBC’s headquarters in Brussels, as well as to KBC Group entities in London and Luxembourg. In a second stage, additional KBC Group entities, among others including sites in Central and Eastern Europe, will connect to the system.

Nordea will be using SuperDerivatives’ derivatives market data to calculate market values and risk. The bank will use SuperDerivatives’ foreign currency volatility surfaces to make calculations on a daily basis. Says Mikkel Fruelund, head of product control FX/MM: “The recent market turmoil has demonstrated the importance of accurate daily valuation to manage risk and comply with accounting regulations. This begins with precise, quality independent market data. We were looking for a provider with broad coverage across currencies and asset classes which we found in SuperDerivatives.”