London-based global information provider IHS Markit has acquired Catena Technologies, a regulatory trade reporting firm headquartered in Singapore, the firm announced today.
"The acquisition of Catena is a logical extension of IHS Markit's strategy to provide comprehensive solutions that enable our customers to fulfill their global regulatory compliance needs," says John Barneson, Senior Vice President and Head of Platforms and Regulatory Compliance at IHS Markit.
Catena was founded by its Chairman, Randall E. Duran, in 2002 as a fintech consultancy and transformed to become a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) ) provider of trade reporting solutions in 2014.
Its TRACE Reporting platform automates and manages trade reporting, providing cross-asset coverage, valuation and collateral reporting, and reconciliation. TRACE Reporting covers G20 jurisdictions, such as ASIC, MAS, HKMA, and EMIR, as well as MiFID II reporting.
Aaron Hallmark, CEO at Catena, says that as part of IHS Markit, the firm will be able to offer customers a seamless, single-vendor solution that integrates transaction reporting with other post-trade and compliance workflows.
"This capability will enable customers to streamline their trade-reporting processes, reduce costs, and focus on strategic initiatives," he notes.
Overcoming technology hurdles in trade reporting
The MarkitSERV team has been working closely with Catena for several years to help investment firms and banks overcome the numerous data and technology hurdles they face in trade reporting, according to Julian Chesser, Head of Asia Pacific for MarkitSERV at IHS Markit.
"Bringing the expertise and technology from Catena into MarkitSERV and our other compliance platforms will enable us to provide even more comprehensive and efficient trade reporting services to customers globally," he says.
MarkitSERV is IHS’ post-trade business. It provides end-to-end trade processing and workflow solutions that support all participants in OTC trading, from post-trade notices of Execution , trade confirmation, and allocations to clearing and reporting.
MarkitSERV's solutions support a broad range of asset classes and products, working continuously with the global financial industry to ensure swift and efficient coverage of new products.
The financial impact of the transaction will be non-material on IHS Markit earnings or earnings guidance, according to the company. Terms were not disclosed.
