Orc Group (STO:ORC), a provider of electronic trading technology for listed derivatives, has expanded its trading solution and services suite to address a host of new requirements that have sprung up from updated European market regulations, according to an Orc statement.
The initiative is the latest move by financial service providers and various firms to prepare for the impending Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) legislation on January 3, 2017. Henceforth, a revised MiFID II Directive as well as a new iteration of MiFIR Regulation will apply throughout the entirety of the European Union, portended to yield major implications expected for market participants such as trading venues and investment firms.
Last month, Orc made headlines after it launched a partnership with OneMarketData, LLC, to assimilate the OneTick product into its Bricks and Execution Bricks platforms. The partnership and integration will aim to help shore up client needs for Analytics and regulatory compliance, namely ahead of the MiFID II/MiFIR rollout.
The latter initiative builds off Orc’s already established commitment to a Market Structure Strategy team. The group has also embarked on a mission to advise and assist clients on market trends and regulatory matters via its Trading Bricks and Execution Bricks platforms that will be fully MiFID II-enabled.
MiFID II will be introducing a number of key changes to the existing European market structure, whilst allowing a level of implementation with minimal impact on the current trading infrastructure. Additionally, MiFID II calls for a significantly increased volume of regulatory reporting and monitoring, resulting in a potentially excessive data collection workload.
To help accomplish this aim, Orc will institute a fully hosted and managed solution, tapped Orc Analyst. This solution was designed to collect and consolidate order/trade data to secure fully compliant reporting and monitoring. Orc Analyst also integrates with existing trading solutions, including Orc Trader, Orc Liquidator, and Orc Tbricks.
According to Jonas Hansbo, Chief Strategy Officer, Orc Group, in a recent statement on the expansion, "The updated European legislation will fundamentally reshape European financial markets. This has significant implications for the majority of our clients in the region and for any firm with trading activities in the EU.
"Our MiFID II initiative will help ease the regulatory burden on Orc clients, so that they can focus on trading and business essentials. In addition, we are building innovative solutions to help clients capture opportunities as the new European market structure emerges," he added.
"Aside from delivering solid trading technology to ensure client success in the new regulatory landscape, Orc's expertise also makes us the preferred speaking partner for clients on their transition to MiFID II," noted Christer Wennerberg, Head of Market Structure, Orc Group.
"One area where the new regulation is certain to have a great impact is OTC trading, for both equities and non-equities, which will be significantly curtailed as MiFID II applies a narrower OTC definition, forcing more volume to regulated venues. For many firms, this is quickly becoming a strategic issue beyond trading technology where Orc can add real value as an adviser."
