Vanguard, in collaboration with the Center for Research in Security Prices, and technology provider Symbiont, is leading an effort to simplify the index data sharing process through blockchain technology. This partnership between the three organizations will enable index data to move instantly between index providers and market participants over one decentralized database. Over the last several months, CRSP has distributed daily index data to Vanguard in a testing environment through Symbiont’s blockchain platform. Delivering the data via a blockchain and automating workflows...

As a reminder, FIF Member Firms have the opportunity to send the program office (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) articles and white papers on new product and service offerings. These articles can then be posted to your industry solution page and/or the Weekly Newsletter under FIF Member News. Make sure you're taking full advantage of membership!

Thomson Reuters has expanded its Connected Risk platform to include a Model Risk Management (MRM) solution. The solution allows institutions to demonstrate a real-time understanding of their model risk landscape, with the ability to report on the model’s governance status, sign-offs and related issues from a single platform source. Financial modeling plays a critical role in several financial institution activities, including credit underwriting, risk management, capital adequacy and instrument valuation. The MRM solution is designed to provide Risk professionals with an...

FIF has issued comments to the SEC and SROs on a revised implementation plan for the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT). To view the letter, please click here

The FIF Reg SCI Working Group has rebranded to the FIF Cybersecurity Working Group to focus more specifically on cybersecurity-related issues effecting FIF member firms.  The working group will focus on data security and protection and will consolidate industry best practices that FIF members can incorporate at their firms.  If you would like to join the working group, please contact the program office at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Nasdaq Inc. and broker Cantor Fitzgerald LP are looking to join the rush on Wall Street to trade bitcoin. Nasdaq aims to launch bitcoin futures in the first half of 2018, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal. Separately, Cantor said it is seeking to launch bitcoin derivatives on an exchange of its own, also in the first half of next year. Nasdaq’s bitcoin contract would debut on Nasdaq Futures, or NFX, a marketplace that the New York-based exchange group launched in 2015 that, until now, has mainly focused on energy trading. Nasdaq isn’t completely new to bitcoin. It...

Exegy Inc., a leading provider of managed services and technology for low-latency financial market data, has hired Karl Dundon as a global FX Product Manager, reporting directly to chief technology officer David Taylor. In this role, Mr. Dundon is responsible for leading the ideation, technical development, and launch of new Exegy real-time data products and services for electronic currency trading. “As an industry veteran, Karl brings over twenty years of experience as an FX trader and innovator of leading FX trading platforms. His deep market knowledge and industry relationships are...

Nasdaq Inc. and the Port Moresby Stock Exchange (POMSoX) have announced that POMSoX has gone live with the Nasdaq Matching Engine that operates on the Nasdaq Financial Framework platform. The launch of the new trading platform is a result of an upgrade from previous Nasdaq trading technology. The new trading engine will handle the trading of equities in the Papua New Guinea market. POMSoX has been a customer of Nasdaq since 1999.

Nasdaq and Strate (Pty) Ltd, the South African CSD, announced an agreement for Nasdaq to deliver a new blockchain solution that would bring electronic voting to the South African capital markets. The solution will allow Strate, in conjunction with key stakeholders in the market, to provide general meeting services and give shareholders a user-friendly and secure tool for voting remotely. The solution is based on the successful proof of concept (PoC) developed for Nasdaq’s Estonia market. In addition, Strate will contribute to the ongoing market development of...