TMX Group acquires Atrium Network
Canadian exchange group TMX has bought Atrium Network, a provider of low-latency network solutions in North America and Europe.
Atrium Network, which will be rebranded TMX Atrium, will operate as a unit of TMX Datalinx, TMX Group's information services division.
The combined network will offer 25 points of presence in 11 countries, 24 trading venues and 300 data sources, allowing TMX to offer connectivity solutions to a broader audience and enabling the company to add additional content from market centres in Europe and North America.
Both Atrium Network and TMX Datalinx provide capital markets data and connectivity solutions. Atrium Networks' existing connectivity platform covers the service areas that TMX Datalinx planned to build out with its TMXNet network, which currently operates in Canada and key US financial centres.
LSEG buys FSA’s Transaction Reporting Service
The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has entered into an agreement to acquire Transaction Reporting Service (TRS), the approved reporting mechanism (ARM) used by the UK's Financial Services Authority.
Existing TRS clients will be migrated on closing to the LSEG’s own ARM, the UnaVista platform, which will accept brokers’ TRS-formatted data submissions.
TRS customers will benefit from UnaVista’s functionality enhancements, as well as the opportunity to use the same user interface to access other solutions on the UnaVista platform, including reconciliations and the multi asset class trade confirmation portal.
The agreement to acquire the business and assets of TRS was made for a consideration of £15m in cash; the transaction remains subject to Office of Fair Trading clearance.
“UnaVista customers will benefit from a significantly improved product and access to a wide range of value added solutions,” added David Lester, director of information services at LSEG.
FFastFill acquires Spread Intelligence
Derivatives-focused software vendor FFastFill has acquired Spread Intelligence, expanding its suite of spread trading derivatives tools.
The acquisition includes two US patent applications, which FFastfill believes will give it the opportunity to expand its front-office trading solutions, and the engagement of the founder of Spread Intelligence as a consultant to the company.
FFastFill plans to make a related product announcement in October 2011, once the acquired software assets have been incorporated into its core service offering.
“The Spread Intelligence software suite software suite will significantly strengthen the spread trading capability of our existing front office software as a service platform,” said Hamish Purdey, chief executive at FFastFill.
Telehouse builds out London data centre
Data centre and managed service provider Telehouse has opened an additional floor with almost 1000m² of co-location space at Telehouse West, its flagship data centre in London's East India Dock.
Telehouse West was opened in 2010 and offers connectivity to over 400 ISPs, carriers and exchanges. Telehouse now serves over 1,000 major blue-chip corporations worldwide from its 40 plus global data centres.
“Our new floor offers up to 10kW per rack in one of the best locations in London in terms of low latency connectivity, transport infrastructure and security,” said Michelle Reid, sales and marketing director, Telehouse.
Established in 1988, Telehouse is the data centre subsidiary of Japanese network provider KDDI.
Fidessa integrates FINCAD derivatives pricing library
Trading solutions provider Fidessa has integrated derivatives solutions firm FINCAD's derivatives pricing library into its sell-side trading platforms.
The partnership is designed to give sell-side firms access to industry-standard options pricing and associated risk analytics to enhance their benchmarking and multi-asset trading capabilities for global futures and US equity options.
The deal expands the relationship between the two firms, which has been in place since 2005 when FINCAD Analytics was first incorporated into Fidessa’s LatentZero derivatives module for the buy-side. In 2010, FINCAD's pricing library was made available across the complete LatentZero buy-side suite to calculate prices, sensitivities and cash flows for derivatives, money market and other fixed income asset classes.
“The depth of FINCAD's coverage, the transparency of its analysis, and the comprehensive audit trail and reporting functionality it provides allows users to remain ahead of the game as Dodd-Frank and other regulations begin to have a real impact on the marketplace,” said Dan Smalley, director of business development for enterprise services at Fidessa US.
Alpha Alliance offers trading infrastructure
CFN Services, a provider of managed high-frequency trading services, has formed the Alpha Alliance, a network of trading services firms that offers integrated and customisable solutions for the global electronic trading market.
Alpha Alliance partners deploy their solutions on CFN's Alpha Platform, a low-latency trading infrastructure. Applications and services are accessible from a proximity-hosted platform, lowering costs and expanding access to new markets.
Alpha Alliance partners collaborate to develop full service solutions. The idea is for clients and business partners to interact in new ways by bringing different services together.
“Bringing the best technology, product and service firms together on one platform enables trading solutions capable of fully leveraging the growth in global electronic trading,” said Mark Casey, president of CFN Services.
Brazilian broker-dealer Link Investimentos recently joined the Alpha Alliance. The addition of Link, which focuses on exchange-traded and fixed-income commodities in Brazil, allows trading firms to extend their current trading strategies to Brazil through the Alpha Platform.
Meanwhile, in conjunction with Chronos Research, a provider of ultra-low latency algorithmic trading software, CFN Services has also launched Chronos' sub-five microsecond tick-to-trade algorithmic trading suite, Zardoz, hosted on CFN's Alpha Platform.
Zardoz is available as standalone proximity hosted trading system, or via the Alpha Alliance, integrated with applications and services from other Alliance partners.