UK-based data provider Markit (Nasdaq: MRKT), a global Multi-Asset trading analysis platform which provides users with a range of decision-support tools to assess the quality of their trading activity, announced today a partnership with the Palo Alto headquartered provider for secure collaboration and workflow technology, Symphony Communication Services, LLC, as per an official company statement.
The new deal aims to effectively enable richer workflow and collaboration in the financial industry and other sectors through promoting the adoption of a Collaboration Platform as a Service (CPaaS).
As part of the agreement, Markit is developing hosted applications and data delivery services to be made available via the Symphony service. These applications will enable powerful customization of data feeds, Analytics and other workflow.
Big Backers
Founded in October 2014, Symphony was formed by a group of the world’s leading financial institutions to operate as an alternative to Bloomberg LP’s terminals. However, the company’s platform attracted regulatory attention in the USA due to its encryption technology, though it was initially a strong selling point.
Symphony’s backers, which include a who’s who of Wall Street financial companies, have been using a variety of secure communications applications and content tools, but after the rise of regulatory concerns they had to strike a deal with New York State Department of Financial Services, the top banking watchdog in the state, which was concerned about record-keeping. The agreement was basically signed with four major banks on the record keeping requirements for the use of Symphony's messaging platform, which is similar to that of a Bloomberg terminal.
Commenting in the press release, Brad Levy, Markit’s head of Processing and Loans and CEO of MarkitSERV, said: “As the Symphony network expands, we believe it will become a critical part of the fabric of the financial industry and view it as highly complementary to the spectrum of services provided by Markit. The service offers us innovative ways to collaborate, distribute data and deploy technology apps, such as advanced charting,”
“We also plan to weave Symphony into our platforms and products to enable real-time collaboration among our customers. In addition, it’s exciting for us to contribute open source code to the Symphony Foundation and develop new ways to access data and improve workflow in partnership with the industry," he added.
Expansion in Financial Sector
David Gurle, founder and CEO of Symphony, whose background comes right out of business software central casting with stints at Microsoft Lync, Skype and Thomson Reuters, said: “Markit is a leading and strategic partner as we work toward improving collaboration and streamlining workflows across the financial services ecosystem.”
“Symphony enables a secure and compliant method of communications for financial services. Partnerships with specialists in information services like Markit allow Symphony to offer more complete workflow solutions to our customers,” Gurle concluded.
Markit made headlines earlier this year after having embarked on a number of mergers and acquisitions across a number of different business segments. The financial info specialist announced an equity deal with business research provider IHS Inc., in a step that could shake up the finance and industry information sector, currently dominated by Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters.
