Electronic Trading Newsflashes: ITG Integrates Its Algorithms and Crossing Networks With ESP’s DMA Network, and more stories

Investment Technology Group (ITG) has teamed up with Electronic Specialist (ESP) to offer more access to its algorithms and liquidity pools in electronic equity trading to financial institutions, hedge funds and broker/dealers worldwide.

ITG has integrated its SmartServer algorithms and its POSIT and TriAct crossing networks with ESP's Global Direct Market Access (DMA) and Electronic Algorithm Routing Network (EARN).

"Now clients across ESP's network can access ITG's algorithms and crossing networks through any of the 20 integrated trading applications that we support," stated Scott Kurland, senior managing director of ESP, a technology provider and registered broker-dealer, in the release.

ITG will add $18.4 billion in average daily institutional match liquidity through POSIT and TriAct collectively, stated Kurland in the release. This "will provide an extremely valuable source of liquidity for clients on our DMA network.

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DrKW to Provide Electronic Book-Building System

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DrKW), the Frankfurt-based investment bank is working with entory, a strategic partner, on the integration of electronic book-building, its new-issue platform, into DZ Bank. DrKW also announced on Tuesday that together with entory, it will offer financial-services providers IT solutions for their electronic-trading business in the future. DZ bank is the first client.

The new-issue platform enables electronic book-building for bonds and replaces most of the manual processes currently performed, the investment bank said in a release. The software supports joint lead activities where several banks work as a syndicate to underwrite an issue. All authorized users are given access to consistent data via a platform. Entory -- which is part of the Deutsche Borse Group's IT division -- is responsible for the implementation of the platform as well as modifying it to meet the specific needs of DZ Bank.

Sean Park, managing director at DrKW, is quoted in the release saying that over the last few years, a number of banks have approached DrW about licensing its technology. Since the bank's focus is not on providing third parties with software services and maintenance support, the cooperation with entory will allow DrW to meet the market demand.

Entory says that the electronic book-building system offers issuers flexibility and transparency while reducing the risk of data errors. The vendor also contends the system will save clients more than 50 percent of the cost of developing their own software solution.

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Wombat Delivers Five Feed Handlers for Direct-Access to Exchanges

Wombat Financial Software rolled out five new feed handlers in the first two months of 2005 spanning foreign exchange, municipal bonds and an alerts feed. Specifically, the vendor is providing direct access to foreign exchange data from EBS, a provider of FX trading systems; the first real-time municipal bond feed from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB); the Chicago Board of Trade (eCBOT); and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE Alerts).

The EBS feed handler augments Wombat's previous FX feed handler offering which includes three previously released feed handlers from Currenex FX, Hotspot FX and Barclays FX. EBS is a broker of interbank spot FX transactions, trading in excess of $110 million per day.

"We're responding quickly to feed offerings," states Danny Moore, Wombat's COO, who notes that firm is moving "in lock step" with the MSRB releasing its first feed handler for municipal bonds. The municipal bond authority previously published price information the day after a transaction was completed.

The five feed handlers are available on common market-data platforms, including Reuters RMDS, TIB Classic, Triarch, Wombat's MAMA platforms (TIB/RV, Elvin and LBM) and various custom interfaces.

In 2004, Wombat added direct-exchange coverage for major European exchanges, Wombat says during 2005, major Pacific exchange feeds will be added.

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INET Phases Out Nasdaq's Act for Risk Management and Clearing

INET, the electronic communications network (ECN), will no longer use Nasdaq's ACT Risk Management for either clearing or risk management for trades matched on INET, the ECN announced last Friday.

As of Monday, April 4, all INET subscribers will be required to clear transactions with INET through a qualified special representative (QSR) clearing arrangement or correspondent clearing arrangement with Instinet Clearing Services.

INET will no longer support ACT clearing or risk management submissions or accept orders from subscribers clearing through ACT, the notice to subscribers says. INET says it can change clearing from ACT to QSR within one trading day of receiving the necessary paperwork. Subscribers must submit the necessary paperwork prior to April 1.

The reason for the move, said INET, is that subscribers and clearing firms can save costs by delivering trades directly to National Securities Clearing Corp. (NSCC) via a QSR or correspondent clearing arrangement with Instinet Clearing Services.

INET says it believes there are many effective alternatives to ACT Risk Management, according to the subscriber notice. For example, INET can provide a drop feed -- an electronic feed of executed orders -- that can supply a clearing firm with real-time information on open orders and executions by correspondent. INET says it can assist clearing firms with risk management. For instance, it is exploring the ability to terminate a correspondent's ability to enter new orders at any time during the trading day.

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BT Acquires Radianz From Reuters

BT, a worldwide telecommunications company, has inked a deal to acquire Radianz, an extranet provider to financial services companies, from Reuters for approximately $175 million. As part of the arrangement, BT will become Reuters supplier of network services in a contract under which Reuters is expected to spend in the region of $3 billion over eight and a half years. As part of the network services agreement, BT will provide and manage secure data networks for Reuters' products and services worldwide.

The purchase of Radianz will help BT transform itself into a global provider of networked IT services. Following the acquisition, Radianz will continue to provide high-quality extranet services for Reuters and the global financial services market, stated the release. The company and its customers will benefit from a broader range of integrated services in the future provided by BT, the release added.