Nasdaq acquires market surveillance start-up

Sybenetix provides behavioural analytics and cognitive computing for surveillance in asset management firms.

Nasdaq has entered into definitive agreement to acquire market surveillance and RegTech firm Sybenetix.

Sybenetix provides a combination of behavioural analytics and cognitive computing to tackle market surveillance in asset management firms.

It will be added to Nasdaq’s risk and surveillance business, which includes SMARTS and TradeGuard, in a bid to provide improved technology and expertise to the buy-side.

The deal is also expected to provide further support for compliance departments dealing with regulations like MAR, MiFID II and Dodd-Frank.

Adena Friedman, CEO at Nasdaq, explained the exchange operator sees behavioral science, cognitive computing and machine intelligence as essential to a successful surveillance service.

“This acquisition accelerates our offering to the buy-side and advances our ambitions to expand market integrity controls into all segments of the capital markets,” she added.

Founders of Sybenetix, Taras Chaban and Wendy Jephson, said being part of Nasdaq will provide “enormous growth opportunities for Sybenetix’s surveillance technologies and will also accelerate new product development for the buy-side industry.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, although Nasdaq said it does not expect the acquisition to have a material impact on its financial leverage.  

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