Torstone, Thomson Reuters, Corvil and more…

London-based software provider Torstone Technology has launched Inferno, a clearing, settlement and accounting application that it claims is the first major release of post-trade securities and derivatives processing software in almost a decade.

Torstone Technology stokes post-trade Inferno 

London-based software provider Torstone Technology has launched Inferno, a clearing, settlement and accounting application that it claims is the first major release of post-trade securities and derivatives processing software in almost a decade.

Inferno is intended to tackle the need to capture trades from multiple front office systems and interface with global clearing houses. Built as a Software as a Service solution, Inferno supports management with real-time event-driven settlement status and trade accounting and the ability to centrally manage multiple cross-border operations.

The management team behind Torstone Technology reached an agreement with the KBC Group on a management buy-out of the software and the development and support team. So although Torstone Technology is new, the business is supporting existing clients in New York, Hong Kong and London.

“Inferno was born out of the shortcomings and inflexibility of other settlement systems to meet the processing requirements of a wide range of instruments, complex trades, multiple venues and the demands of very high volumes,” said Brian Collings, chairman and CEO, Torstone Technology.

Thomson Reuters Kondor+ acquired by US private equity firm 

US-based private equity firm Vista Equity Partners has completed its acquisition of Thomson Reuters Trade and Risk Management business, provider of Kondor+, following the original agreement in September. The new company will be called Turaz.

The value of the deal was not disclosed. Headquartered in London, Turaz will be headed by Bret Bolin, the newly-appointed president and CEO. Bret joins Turaz from the position of CEO at P2 Energy Solutions, a provider of software, data and services to the oil and gas industry.

Turaz has also unveiled the latest version of Kondor+, its trade and risk management software. Kondor+ has been given a new architecture to make it more open and flexible for integrating third-party pricing, analytics and market data. It also has new real-time reporting and simulation abilities and has been expanded to cover more assets, including full support for commodities, cash and derivatives trading.

“This is an exciting time to be joining a company that’s singularly focused on delivering trading and risk management software,” said Bolin. “Moving forward, our strategic priority will be to look at how we build on our current product roadmaps to ensure our customers receive maximum added value from the software and services we deliver.”

Corvil and TS-Associates offer latency-busting technologies 

Latency management systems company Corvil has updated its CorvilNet platform to allow multiple teams in the same organisation to be managed together.

The new release extends the reach of the CorvilNet latency management platform into multiple asset classes and departments. Executives, trading desks, trade support teams and infrastructure teams will now be able to use CorvilNet for real-time and historical views tailored to their requirements.

The technology also includes the option to restrict access to specific order flow. For example, multiple trading desks in different asset classes can share a single CorvilNet installation with the assurance that other trading desks cannot access their order flow analysis.

Meanwhile, TS-Associates, a supplier of technology for latency-sensitive trading systems, has released high-bandwidth appliances that support 12x1GE, 8x10GE and 2x40GE capture ports. TS-Associates technology is used by high-frequency traders to minimise the latency of their trading systems.

“By offering this unprecedented port density and high bandwidth capture capability, we are extending the TipOff G5 product range at the high end to support our customers’ most demanding requirements.”

Steve Rodgers, TS-Associates CTO, added that the increased port density would offer better value by reducing the number of TipOff appliances required for small-scale use and remove the necessity for tap aggregation devises in mid-scale operations. It should also improve precision by reducing the number of separate hardware clocks that need to be synchronised, he said.

Data Explorers debuts iPhone app for sec-lending 

Securities lending data provider Data Explorers has launched a new iPhone app, designed to track short selling and institutional fund activity across all global market sectors.

The new app has been built to provide market data and news applications with market and sector overviews, single security tear sheets and a customisable watch list, as well as daily news, videos and features about short selling and institutional fund activity.

Data is updated throughout the day, live from the Data Exlporers application programming interface, DX Open. The app is being offered free to Data Explorers clients using their existing password.

“We have squeezed three million transactions covering US$12 trillion of securities in the lending programs of over 20,000 institutional funds into an iPhone app,” said Jonathan Morris, COO at Data Explorers. "Our clients can monitor live changes in short selling activity and holdings of institutional investors at a stock, sector and market level, as well access our newswire and video features throughout the day.”

MarketAxess signs NFA to help regulate SEF  

The National Futures Association (NFA) and MarketAxess Holdings have entered an agreement that paves the way for NFA to perform regulatory services for MarketAxess’ planned swap execution facility (SEF).

The agreement establishes a preliminary framework for the exchange of information and the development of technology standards that will enable MarketAxess and NFA to develop, test and launch automated trade practice and surveillance systems and help MarketAxess fulfil its SEF self-regulatory obligations.

According to the current draft of Dodd-Frank, SEFs will have surveillance and other regulatory responsibilities. The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has proposed to allow SEFs to contract with a registered futures association, such as the NFA for regulatory services.

“This is a significant step forward as we engage in new regulatory activity on behalf of SEFs,” said NFA president Daniel Roth. “For over ten years, NFA has been successfully performing trade practice and market surveillance functions on behalf of futures exchanges.”

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