BNP Paribas Asset Management announced the appointment of Christopher Dunn as Global Head of Client Satisfaction within its newly-formed Client Experience team.  He joined in January and reports to Melanie Aimer, Global Head of Client Experience.  Currently based in New York, he will soon relocate to Paris. In this newly created role, Christopher will promote departmental and regional co-operation to define and monitor actions that will improve client satisfaction.  He will also be responsible for initiating client-focused activities globally that will help shape a...

IHS Markit, a provider of information, analytics and solutions, announced the launch of an environmental, social and governance (ESG) data collection and reporting solution for private equity (PE) firms, venture capital (VC) firms, their portfolio companies and investors.  The solution is part of iLEVEL, a platform connecting participants in private capital markets. ESG reporting in iLEVEL covers 29 metrics shown to be relevant to investors seeking data from portfolio companies, and PE or VC funds themselves.   Flexibility in iLEVEL also permits GPs to customize the ESG...

Bloomberg has introduced its first portfolio of available alternative data sets on the vendor’s Bloomberg Enterprise Access Point. The 20 new data sets are added to the data sets that Bloomberg initially included when it launched Bloomberg Enterprise Access Point in September 2018, Gerard Francis, global head of enterprise data at Bloomberg said. The most recent data vendors to join the Bloomberg ecosystem include 280First, Apptopia, Evaluate, Orbital Insight, OWL Analytics, Predata, PredictWallStreet, RS Metrics, Symphony Pharma, Thasos, and TipRanks. The vendor plans to roll out a...

FIF CAT Tech Spec Working Group - Continued our review of the tech spec, starting with a recap of FDID (section 2.3.2). FIF CAT Working Group -  Provided a status update on CAT, followed by a review of SRO recommendations on reporting of handling instructions for Market Access Flow, reporting obligations for Buy-Ins and a look at the Revised FAQ proposal on when firms should use value "O" (Market Making) for AccountHolder Type. FIF SEC Rule 606 Working Group -  Reviewed the first draft of a follow-up comment letter addressed to the Commission on Amended Rule 606...

The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) announced the launch of ICE Bonds, which offers access to deep liquidity pools, multiple trading protocols and a breadth of fixed income data and analytics. ICE Bonds brings together ICE BondPoint, TMC Bonds and ICE Credit Trade under a single management team and will leverage both the continuous and end-of-day fixed income pricing and analytics offered by ICE Data Services. ICE Bonds offers multiple anonymous and disclosed trading protocols, including click-to-trade, request-for-quote and portfolio auctions; providing access to Corporates, Municipals,...

Liquidnet announced the appointment of Brian Conroy as President effective immediately. As President, Conroy will work in partnership with CEO and Founder, Seth Merrin, and share the responsibility of providing strategic leadership for the company with a focus on building out new businesses both organically and through acquisition. Conroy joins Liquidnet from Fidelity International in London where he served as President and was responsible for strategic direction and oversight of the firm’s international asset management and distribution businesses across twenty-five countries. Prior...

State Street Corporation announced that FX Connect, its FX execution venue that helps firms efficiently manage multiple portfolios, connect with brokers and streamline global operations, is enhancing its trading technology to provide a more agile and innovative platform for its clients. FX Connect’s full range of enhancements includes: FX Connect GUI, Automated Order Routers (AOR), Request for Stream (RFS) sessions and FX Connect Order Blotter. Developments include live indicative rates, the estimated percentage away from an order’s limit price, color coding of orders...

JPMorgan Chase & Co said it plans to launch its own digital coins, called “JPM Coin”, that customers will be able to use for instant transfer of payments over a blockchain network, according to a story in Reuters News. The bank said customers, upon depositing money at the bank, will be issued the cryptocurrency which they will be able to use for transactions over the network with other JPMorgan clients. The coin can be redeemed for a U.S. dollar, so its value will largely remain stable, the bank said. JPMorgan said its new coin, which will be issued on its in-house...

Morgan Stanley will pay $900 million to acquire Solium Capital Inc., a Calgary, Alberta company which manages the stock that corporate employees receive as part of their pay. According to a story in The Wall Street Journal, Solium’s 3,000 corporate clients have a combined one million employees. Morgan Stanley’s existing stock-plan business has about 330 corporate clients and covers 1.5 million employees. Morgan Stanley expects the deal to be finalized by June 30.