News Nuggets | 30 March: Saxo's New Portal; JPX Gets into DeFi

LTX Boosts Data-Driven Corporate Bond Trading Proficiency

LTX, a division of Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc. (NYSE: BR), has effectively transitioned its corporate bond e-trading platform to Amazon Web Services (AWS). By completing this migration, LTX can now harness the robust security and scalability offered by AWS cloud services and further refine its data science methodologies. This enhancement empowers clients to make well-informed corporate bond trading choices, drawing from real-time insights and transparency.

"By moving its trading platform and critical business applications to AWS, LTX can bring even more intelligence and improved functionality for corporate bond traders in an environment where security and resiliency are the highest priority," Scott Mullins, the Managing Director of Worldwide Financial Services at AWS, commented.

"As LTX and AWS continue working together, we will modernize e-trading technology while providing increased privacy, agility and scalability for LTX clients."

Derivatives Trading Obligation for Specific CDS

In September 2022, ICE Clear Europe declared the termination of clearing for all credit default swaps (CDS) contracts, effective October 2023. Counterparties must settle their CDS positions on ICE Clear Europe and create corresponding positions on alternative central counterparties (CCPs) before the 27^th October deadline.

According to the UK’s FCA statement, for a smooth transition of positions, market participants plan to conduct trades beyond the confines of a trading venue. To aid this migration, counterparties subject to the trading obligation will not be mandated to enforce that obligation for transactions in the relevant CDS aimed at relocating existing positions to a new CCP. Additionally, the FCA does not anticipate that counterparties will need to disclose these trades as per UK MiFIR regulations publicly.

EU Regulators Step Back from Credit Suisse Writedowns

European authorities emphasized their separation from Switzerland's move to eliminate $17 billion of Credit Suisse's bonds following the bank's bailout, asserting they would prioritize writing down shareholders' investments. In an interview with CNBC, Dominique Laboureix, the Chair of the EU's Single Resolution Board, conveyed a distinct message to investors.

“In [a banking] resolution here, in the European context, we would follow the hierarchy, and we wanted to tell it very clearly to the investors, to avoid to be misunderstood: we have no choice but to respect this hierarchy,” Laboureix said.

LINE and Mizuho Stop New Bank Project

LINE Corporation and Mizuho Financial Group have announced their joint decision to cease the development of a new ‘smartphone bank’. The project, spearheaded by LINE Bank Preparatory Company, aimed to combine Mizuho Bank's vast banking expertise with LINE's user-friendly UI/UX and over 94 million active users to create an unprecedented banking experience within the LINE app.

However, due to recent trends in financial digital transformation and growing concerns over service security, both companies have agreed that the project would require more time and investment than initially anticipated to meet customer expectations.

Gemini to Launch Crypto Derivatives Trading Platform

Gemini, the cryptocurrency exchange owned by the Winklevoss twins, is examining possibilities to launch an international crypto derivatives trading platform, according to The Information report from Wednesday.

The new platform from Gemini would offer trading in perpetual futures. Derivatives of this type are banned in the United States for retail investors due to their somewhat risky nature. Making them available in another jurisdiction would allow Gemini to offer users a product with no expiration date and the possibility of high leverage.

Read the full story here.

Nordnet Expands Google Cloud Partnership

Nordnet, a pan-Nordic digital savings and investments platform, has expanded its partnership with Google Cloud by five years, aiming to drive innovation and accelerate its transition to the cloud.

The company leverages Google Cloud's secure infrastructure and data analytics and expects to offer most of its online services under cloud technology by 2025. Nordnet's 1.7 million customers.

"The transition to the cloud has made us more agile when handling complex workloads and creating new or improved customer experiences," said Elias Lindholm, the CTO at Nordnet.

Japan Exchange Group Gets Minority Stake in BOOSTRY

Japan Exchange Group has acquired a 5 percent stake in BOOSTRY, a decentralized finance platform, from Nomura. With this, Nomura now holds 51 percent of BOOSTRY, while NRI and SBI have 34 and 10 percent, respectively, stakes.

BOOSTRY, operated by a consortium of 15 companies, issue security tokens for securitized products and corporate bonds. Each company in the consortium performs a specific service, eliminating the chance of a monopoly in the industry.

Saxo to Launch New Marketing Portal

Denmark-headquartered Saxo Bank announced the expected rollout of a new marketing portal within SaxoPartnerConnect in the second half of April. With the new launch, Saxo will decommission the existing marketing portal, WebConnect. The fresh portal will consist of both new content as well as relevant content from the existing portal.

Saxo has been developing SaxoPartnerConnect since 2020 as the new flagship that can serve all types of partners. It is optimized for handling a client base with client screeners as well as bulk modules for corporate actions and case management.

Axi Expands Manchester City Sponsorship Deal

Australia-headquartered FX/CFDs broker, Axi (previously AxiTrader) announced the extension of its sports partnership with the top English football club, Manchester City FC. It has also expanded its sponsorship rights to include Manchester City women's team.

Axi originally became a sponsor of Manchester City FC in September 2020, which coincided with its branding overhaul.

Louis Cooper, the Chief Commercial Officer at Axi, said: "From a commercial perspective, the relationship has been extremely successful. Our alignment on a global scale with Manchester City's brand and global fanbase has elevated our position in the marketplace."

Read the full story here.

Crypto Exchange Beaxy Shutters

Beaxy has shuttered its operations after over three years of launching, following a lawsuit from the US Securities and Exchange (SEC) that charged the platform and its executives for operating an unregistered exchange, brokerage and clearing agency.

The lawsuit alleged that Artak Hamazaspyan, the crypto exchange’s Founder, and his company, Beaxy Digital Limited, for raising $8 million in an unregistered offering of the Beaxy token (BXY). The securities regulator further alleged that Hamazaspyan “misappropriated at least $900,000 for personal use, including gambling.”

Read the full report here.