Forefront Fintech Digest Week in Review: Dec 2 – 5
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Broker News
Liquidnet Expands Execution and Quantitative Services Team in EMEA
Press Release | N/A
Liquidnet, a leading technology-driven agency execution specialist, today announced the appointment of three new hires to its European Execution & Quantitative Services (EQS) team. Launched in 2014, the EQS team advises Liquidnet's buy-side Members on algorithmic strategies, trade analytics, and quantitative products and services. Prashanth Manoharan has been appointed Head of Execution Consulting in EMEA. In his new role, he will focus on enhancing Liquidnet's core algorithmic trading offering, deep diving into market microstructure, and collaborating with Members to enhance execution quality.
Art Cashin, New York Stock Exchange Fixture for Decades, Dies at Age 83
CNBC | Bob Pisani
Art Cashin, UBS’ director of floor operations at the New York Stock Exchange and a man The Washington Post called “Wall Street’s version of Walter Cronkite,” has died. He was 83 and had been a regular on CNBC for more than 25 years. In the intensely competitive and often vicious world of stock market commentary, Cashin was that rarest of creatures: a man respected by all, bulls and bears, liberals and conservatives alike. He seemed to have almost no enemies.
Jane Street Reaps $14.2 Billion in First Nine Months of Trading
Bloomberg News | Jill R Shah, Paula Seligson & Katherine Doherty
Jane Street Group LLC, one of the largest market-making firms in the US, posted $14.2 billion of net trading revenue for the first three quarters of 2024, already surpassing the 12-month record it set last year. Net trading revenue for the third period more than doubled on a year-over-year basis to $5.8 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. Added to the $8.4 billion that Jane Street amassed in this year’s first half, the total exceeds the $10.6 billion generated during all of 2023.
Fintech Firm Clear Street Joins LME as Floor-Dealing Broker
Bloomberg News | Mark Burton
Financial technology firm Clear Street has joined the London Metal Exchange as a dealer on its famous open-outcry trading floor. The New York-based company has obtained regulatory approvals to set up a UK trading operation, and is joining the LME as part of a broader expansion drive across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, it said in a statement on Wednesday.?Bloomberg reported in September that the firm was seeking to join the LME, bolstering the prospects of the iconic “Ring” after a decline in volumes and a slew of departures in recent years.
Robinhood’s Hot New Tech Bet: The Desktop Computer
Wall Street Journal | Telis Demos
To go forward, Robinhood Markets? says it must go backward. In its early days, a decade ago at this point, the online brokerage began making headway into the crowded business of stock and options trading partly by making it easy to do so via mobile devices. That helped it become a pathway into investing for many younger people, though it also drove some of the criticism of its service as a “gamification” of the industry.
Exchange, ATS & Clearing News
Startup Stock Exchange Allowed to Offer 23/5 Stock Trading
Wall Street Journal | Alexander Osipovich
A startup looking to provide round-the-clock stock trading has won approval from regulators to run an exchange, but its trading will be limited to 23 hours per day, five days a week. The Securities and Exchange Commission granted the approval to 24X National Exchange in an order posted Wednesday on the SEC website. 24X is a unit of 24 Exchange, a startup that has been pushing for several years to operate a U.S. stock exchange. The startup initially hoped to offer trading 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
HKEX Shakes up Leadership as Wilfred Yiu Retires
Global Trading | Lucy Carter
Wilfred Yiu is retiring at the end of the year, HKEX has announced. Yiu has been with the firm since 2019, and currently serves as deputy chief executive officer, co-chief operating officer and co-head of markets. He is also CEO of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (SEHK) and Hong Kong Futures Exchange (HKFE). HKEX closed Q3 with US$4,852 million in revenue and other income, it reported, the highest it has seen in a third quarter.?
Morgan Stanley Joins LCH’s CDSClear as Part of US Credit Derivatives Clearing Expansion
The TRADE News | Staff
Morgan Stanley has become the latest major sell-side firm to join LCH’s CDSClear service as a US futures commission merchant (FCM). “We are thrilled to be joining LCH CDSClear’s FCM member base for US participants,” said Jason Swankoski, global head of strategy and product, derivatives clearing, at Morgan Stanley & Co in a statement on Wednesday.“We look forward to this collaboration as we continue to invest in our services and expand our product offering.”
LSEG Shelves Replatforming Project for FX Matching Venues
FX Markets | Joe Parsons
London Stock Exchange Group has ditched plans to migrate its two interbank foreign exchange venues to the Millennium technology platform, which powers the exchange group’s equities businesses. ?“Following an internal review, LSEG has decided to continue enhancing its existing technology for its FX Spot and Swaps Matching venues in order to deliver faster, incremental change in the areas most important to our customers,” says James Pearson, head of FX at LSEG Markets.
Vendor News
FlexTRADER EMS Selected by Alecta to Optimise Cross-Asset Trading and Execution
The TRADE News | Wesley Bray
Occupational pension company Alecta has adopted FlexTrade Systems’ FlexTRADER EMS for equities and derivatives trading. Stockholm-based Alecta – with $110 billion in assets under management – stated that it decided to replace its existing EMS solution to support the efficient growth of its equities and derivatives trading activities. Alecta added that its requirements for the new solution included the ability to trade cross-asset, offer innovative new functionality, and connect to Alecta’s existing order management tool, Order Manager.
TP ICAP Extends Collaboration With AWS to Bolster Technology Infrastructure
The TRADE News | Wesley Bray
Market infrastructure provider TP ICAP and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have entered an agreement to streamline and scale TP ICAP’s technology infrastructure. A key element of the multifaceted agreement is the acceleration of the development of TP ICAP’s flagship digital platform, Fusion. The cloud-based platform is designed to improve TP ICAP’s ability to serve clients throughout the transaction lifecycle.
As Vulnerability Patching Gets Overwhelming, it’s No-Code’s Time to Shine
WatersTechnology | Anthony Malakian
It’s around this time of year that I like to catch up with sources I haven’t spoken to in a while. I don’t have any set agenda, but I’m interested in hearing what they think of major trends we may see in the coming year. So it was last week that I talked with the chief information officer of a US bank whom I’ve known for some time. After exchanging pleasantries, they started to tell me about an interesting project they’re currently working on.
Brevan Howard’s AI Spinoff is Using LLMs to Turn Analysts Into Quants
eFinancialCareers | Alex McMurray
As hedge funds build out their own AI platforms, some are already spinning them out as fintechs. Bin Ren, the CEO of a firm in the latter camp, spoke today at Fintech Connect 2024. He decared that LLMs will cause a "quantum leap in productivity." Ren runs SigTech, which spun out of Brevan Howard's systematic investments group back in 2019 and implements multi-agent generative investment copilots (MAGIC). He describes it as a team of highly specialised "AI Avengers" to assist in the investing process.?
BMO Capital and Optimx Markets Partner to Deliver Flow in European Markets
The TRADE News | Wesley Bray
Liquidity management service provider OptimX Markets has partnered with BMO Capital Markets to bring the firm’s institutional algorithmic trading flow to institutional buy-side trading desks in European markets. BMO will now offer a range of trading opportunities tailored to their institutional client base through OptimX. “BMO has been at the forefront of delivering cutting-edge trading technology to its global clients,” said Peter McStay, head of OptimX EMEA. ?
Buy-Side News
Former HSBC CFO Ewen Stevenson Joins Wealth Manager Progeny as Chair
Financial Times | Emma Dunkley
Former HSBC executive Ewen Stevenson has been appointed chair of wealth manager Progeny as it looks to grow internationally and serve non-doms seeking to leave the UK in the wake of the Labour government’s Budget. Stevenson joins Progeny two years after he left his position as chief financial officer of HSBC, having previously held the same role at NatWest. Progeny, which is backed by private equity firm Further Global, was created in 2016 and offers financial planning, legal services, tax, and investment management to wealthy clients with assets of about ￡1mn.
The Secretive World of McKinsey’s $48 Billion Hedge Fund
The Times | Laith Al-Khalaf
McKinsey is best known for advising blue-chip companies and governments the world over, but on the side, it has quietly built a $48 billion hedge fund exclusively to manage its current and former partners’ cash. McKinsey Investment Office (MIO Partners) started out as a pension plan for the firm’s partners, but has morphed over the decades into an investment juggernaut. MIO’s assets have grown by about 50 per cent over the past three years alone, and in recent weeks it has been eagerly soliciting “McKinseyites” to invest more with it.
AQR’s Cliff Asness Says AI Has Now Taken Over Parts of His Job
Bloomberg News | Cliff Asness
AQR Capital Management’s Cliff Asness says the quant firm is actively deploying artificial intelligence — including in the core parts of the investing process that used to be the co-founder’s domain. The technology is being used to help combine and weight the various investment factors that guide stock picking, thereby steering the nuts and bolts of an allocation method where Asness previously used to issue the final call, he said in an interview on Bloomberg Television on Tuesday.
Millennium Backs Pair of Hedge Fund Traders With $3.3 Billion
Bloomberg News | Bei Hu & Nishant Kumar
Millennium Management is allocating nearly $3.3 billion to two new teams as Izzy Englander’s hedge fund juggernaut continues to hoover up talent in its push to expand internal and external investments. Hong Kong-based Robert Tau will receive $1.5 billion for his macro trading firm and manage money exclusively for Millennium, according to people familiar with the matter. Daniel Engel-Hall, a former Marshall Wace money manager, is getting $1.75 billion to trade under Millennium’s Andora Partners brand, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing non-public information.
JP Morgan Structuring Provides Bespoke Solutions for Buy-Side Clients
Markets Media | Staff
Structuring is commonly defined as to construct or arrange according to a plan; to give a pattern or organization to. It sounds straightforward and benign enough, but in financial markets, structuring is perceived as one of the more esoteric business lines, sometimes misunderstood and perceived as overly complex. Rui Fernandes and his team are on a mission to help change that perception– one client solution at a time. “Structuring doesn’t necessarily mean complexity,” said Fernandes, Global Head of Markets Trading Structuring at JP Morgan. “What it is, is bespoke. It is a very specific way to address a very specific client need.”
M&A / Investment News
Natixis and Generali in Talks to Create €2 Trillion Asset Manager
Global Trading | Lucy Carter
Natixis and Generali are in talks to merge their wealth management divisions, according to industry reports. French firm Natixis holds €1.3 trillion in AUM, while Italy’s Generali is a far smaller player with just €840 billion. If the merger is completed, the resulting more than €2 trillion asset manager would be in Europe’s top five. The partnership would follow a similar Earlier this year, BNP Paribas entered negotiations to acquire the smaller AXA Investment Managers for €5.1 billion. If completed, this would create a €1.5 trillion European asset manager.
BlackRock Agrees to Buy Investment Firm HPS in $12BN Deal
Financial Times | Eric Platt, Antoine Gara & Brooke Masters?
BlackRock has agreed to buy HPS Investment Partners in a $12bn deal, as the world’s largest money manager races to expand its share of the fast-growing and lucrative market for alternative assets. New York-based HPS is one of a handful of groups that dominate private credit, a market that has taken over swaths of corporate lending from traditional banks.
Capitolis Acquires BGC Group’s Compression & Optimization Business, Capitalab, to Accelerate Rapid Growth
Press Release | N/A
Capitolis, the technology company helping to create safer and more vibrant capital markets, has today announced the acquisition of Capitalab, a leader in Rates Portfolio Compression and Margin Optimization, from BGC Group for a purchase amount of $46 million. This acquisition will allow Capitolis, a market leader in the optimization and compression space, to offer more solutions to the industry and unlock additional innovation to address emerging client needs.
9fin Raises $50m to Build Debt Capital Markets Technology
Markets Media | Staff
9fin, the AI-powered analytics platform for debt capital markets, has raised $50m in a Series B round led by Highland Europe, with participation from existing investors Spark Capital, Redalpine, Seedcamp, 500 Startups and Ilavska Vuillermoz Capital. The new funding will enable 9fin to invest further in its market-leading AI technology, grow its analytics team, and accelerate its expansion in the US.
Uptiq.AI Acquires Financial Data Integration Fintech UpSwot for Undisclosed Sum
Fintech Futures | Tyler Pathe
US-based Uptiq.AI has acquired financial data integration fintech UpSwot for an undisclosed sum.?Backed by the likes of CFV Ventures, ICBA and First Southern National Bank, UpSwot’s financial data gateway enables businesses to retrieve, analyse and utilise financial data more effectively. Uptiq.AI is an enterprise AI platform that provides pre-packed AI agents to support advisors, loan officers and other financial professionals to easily find essential business data and insights needed to improve decision-making and automate workflows.
Regulatory & Legal News
Trump’s Embrace of Crypto Poised to Increase CFTC’s Power Over Industry
Bloomberg News | Lydia Beyoud & Nicola M. White
The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the underfunded regulator overshadowed by the SEC, has a path to prominence if the incoming Trump administration revamps crypto policy and installs an industry-leaning chair. Most or all the names that have been circulating as potential contenders to replace Rostin Behnam as head of the derivatives regulator would likely be friendly toward the roughly $3 trillion crypto market. Republican commissioners Summer Mersinger and Caroline Pham have been considered, according to people familiar with the discussions.
New CME Guidance to Drive Tighter Margin Call Management
Risk.net | Janice Kirkel
New guidance from US clearing house CME will help to clarify policy on margin calls for futures commission merchants (FCMs) and their clients, experts say, potentially obliging market participants to up their game in terms of risk management. “I don’t see it as a fundamental tying of the FCMs’ hands,” says Joshua Hurley, a clearing consultant at Davies Group. “It’s about creating a level playing field across the FCMs and not allowing for weakening of risk management standards.”
FCA Sets Out Steps for Bond Consolidated Tape
Markets Media | Staff
The FCA is establishing a bond consolidated tape (CT) to ensure that data is accessible in a cost-effective way. A bond CT collates data on transactions, such as prices and volumes, bringing together data on trades executed on trading venues as well as those arranged over-the-counter. We are starting the process of appointing a bond CT provider. On 3 December 2025 we published a Concession NoticeLink is external setting out our next steps for running the tender process.
Trump Nominates Cryptocurrency Advocate Paul Atkins as SEC Chair
AP News | Alex Veiga
President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he intends to nominate cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to chair the Securities and Exchange Commission. Trump said Atkins, the CEO of Patomak Partners and a former SEC commissioner, was a “proven leader for common sense regulations.” In the years since leaving the SEC, Atkins has made the case against too much market regulation.
A Look Into the Centrally Cleared Future
The TRADE News | Wesley Bray
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is in the process of introducing noteworthy rule changes to the clearing of fixed income securities, a development which is set to reshape the landscape for fixed income trading. These changes are designed to improve market stability, increase transparency, and mitigate systemic risks in bond markets, affecting everything from Treasury securities to corporate debt.? For trading desks, the new rules will result in a range of operational and regulatory shifts. Clearing obligations will become stricter, with enhanced oversight of margin requirements and risk management processes.?
Crypto?& Digital Asset News
Planned Crypto ETF Fleet Grows After Options Milestone
Blockworks | Ben Strack
First came the SEC’s approval of US spot bitcoin ETFs in January. Then, ether fund launches in July.? In November alone, crypto-friendly Donald Trump (and a slew of segment-friendly congressional candidates) won their races for office. Options on the BTC ETFs started trading and Gary Gensler said he would step down from his SEC chair post in January.? These events have contributed to momentum around even more crypto ETF filings, and it might not slow down anytime soon. Let’s review the latest: Bitwise on Tuesday filed an S-1 for an ETF that would hold both bitcoin and ether.
Fidelity, Schwab, Citadel-Backed Crypto Exchange EDX Markets Appoints New CEO
CoinDesk | Helene Braun
EDX Markets, the institution-only crypto exchange that started operations in June 2023 with support from Wall Street giants like Fidelity, Charles Schwab and Citadel Securities, has appointed its current chief technology officer, Tony Acu?a-Rohter, as CEO. Wall Street veteran Jamil Nazarali, the founder and current CEO of the exchange, will move to the position of executive chairman of the board, according to a press release.
21X Secures First EU License for Blockchain Trading Venue
Markets Media | Staff
In a groundbreaking development poised to redefine global capital markets, 21X has become the first ever entity to receive a license to operate a blockchain-based trading and settlement system that is fully regulated in accordance with European ?Union (EU) law. Granted by BaFin, Germany’s financial supervisory authority, this license marks a milestone moment for tokenized capital markets globally. 21X, now regulated as a financial institution following the award of this license, plans to launch its exchange for tokenized financial instruments from its Frankfurt headquarters in the first quarter of 2025.
Grayscale Files with SEC for Spot Solana ETF
Cointelegraph | Brayden Lindrea
Digital asset manager Grayscale Investments filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a spot Solana exchange-traded fund (ETF). If approved, the Grayscale Solana Trust, under the ticker GSOL, would trade on the New York Stock Exchange, according to a 19b-4 filing with the SEC on Dec. 3. The ETF would be a conversion of its existing Grayscale Solana Trust into a spot ETF, just as it converted its spot Bitcoin?and Ether trusts into ETFs.
Bitcoin Hit $100,000. What’s Next?
Financial Times | Alexandra Scaggs?
Bitcoin’s hit $100,000. Congrats on the money, everyone! It’s challenging to discern what’s on the horizon for crypto after this big round number, given the well-known and glaring problems with trying to figure out how much a bitcoin should be worth. The CFA Institute has a guide through four valuation options: Total Addressable Market (what if every money user switches to bitcoin); Stock-to-Flow method (pretend scarcity always creates value); Metcalfe’s law (bitcoin is a social network); and the Cost of Production model (bitcoin is a derivative of electricity and computing-power costs).