Refinitiv announced Country Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Scores as a pivotal data-metric in the transition to sustainable investing – providing comparisons at the country level for fund managers, advisors and investors. The Country SDGs scores are informed by Refinitiv’s macroeconomic time series database Datastream and are available through Refinitiv Eikon. They are designed to transparently and objectively measure a country’s relative performance across each of the SDGs and sub-metrics.

Fidelity International announced its acquisition of Legal & General Investment Management’s (LGIM) UK Personal Investing business. The acquisition will form part of Fidelity’s Personal Investing platform. The acquisition will double the number of customers for Fidelity’s Personal Investing business. The transaction is expected to complete in the next 12 months.

FIF CAT Tech Spec Working Group/CAT Committee: The FIF CAT Working Group commenced a detailed review of the Phase 2d requirements, including an overview of the areas covered by Phase 2d and a focus on the reporting of multi-leg orders. The FIF CAT Tech Spec Working Group and broader CAT Committee reviewed and finalized a draft letter to the CAT Operating Committee requesting extensions of the CAT compliance dates for correcting equity interfirm, exchange and TRF linkage validations and options interfirm and exchange linkage validations. The FIF CAT Committee reviewed the recently posted...

On October 15, 2020, FIF submitted a letter to the CAT Operating Committee requesting an extension from October 26, 2020 to December 31, 2020 of the compliance date for requiring Industry Members to correct equity interfirm, exchange and TRF linkage exceptions by 8 am on T+3. FIF also requests in the letter an extension from January 4, 2021 to January 31, 2021 of the compliance date for requiring Industry Members to correct options interfirm and exchange linkage exceptions by 8 am on T+3.

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc provided an update on its plans to launch ICE Futures Abu Dhabi (IFAD) and the world’s first futures contracts based on Murban crude oil. Subject to the completion of regulatory approvals, ICE plans to launch IFAD and trading in Murban futures contracts late in the first quarter of 2021. In November 2019, ICE announced its plans to launch IFAD, with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company and nine of the world’s largest energy traders partnering with ICE on the launch.

Cboe Global Markets, Inc. has issued the following statement: “Cboe Global Markets mourns the loss of Joseph Sullivan III, the Founder and first President of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, who passed away on October 2, 2020. Cboe extends condolences to the Sullivan family and expresses sincere gratitude for Sullivan’s vision and drive to launch Cboe 47 years ago, establishing the listed options industry in the U.S.” Sullivan began his career as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal before joining the Chicago Board of Trade, and eventually launching Cboe on April 26, 1973. For the last...

Deutsche Bank has launched a new service providing early warnings to traders around settlement delays and potential failures in securities transactions. The new service is powered by Elastic, a search technology firm, where the bank will use its machine learning and anomaly detection features, to enable clients to avoid hefty financial penalties under the upcoming implementation of the Settlement Discipline Regime (SDR) in February 2022. Elastic’s machine learning technologies will enable Deutsche Bank’s settlement platform to move from real-time to forward-looking, and will...

Cboe Global Markets, Inc. announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire BIDS Trading, a registered broker-dealer and the operator of the BIDS Alternative Trading System (ATS), the largest block-trading ATS by volume in the U.S., subject to regulatory review and other customary closing conditions. The planned acquisition of BIDS Trading will provide an opportunity for Cboe to diversify its U.S. equities offering beyond traditional exchange products and services. BIDS Trading's block trading capability will provide Cboe with a significant foothold in the...

FIF CAT Tech Spec Working Group/CAT Committee: The Working Group and Committee discussed a recent notification from FINRA CAT removing the Phase 2d requirement to provide a new unique orderID on CAT Order Modification and Order Adjustment events and follow-up clarifications requested by FIF, discussed actions to be taken by FIF relating to the October 26 compliance date for firm to firm, exchange and TRF linkage validations, discussed various linkage error issues identified by FIF members, reviewed various questions to be submitted to FINRA CAT by FIF, reviewed various Phase 2c...