News Nuggets | 3 April: GMO's New Investment; Komainu Enhances Custody

Nomura Appoints New Head of Wealth Management

Today, Nomura, a leading Asian investment bank, announced the appointment of Dr Rudolf Hitsch as the Head of North Asia for its International Wealth Management division. In this new position, Dr Hitsch will operate from Hong Kong and oversee client relationship management teams for North Asia within International Wealth Management. He will report directly to Ravi Raju, Nomura's Head of International Wealth Management.

"As we build out our International Wealth Management business and grow our capabilities to serve our clients, we are excited to have Rudolf join us to strengthen our presence in North Asia. We continue to attract top talent from the industry as we make significant investments in people and platforms and enhance our product and services capabilities while integrating our Global Markets and Investment Banking solutions for high-net-worth clients," Rajdu said.

JPX Releases J-Quants API for Retail Traders

JPX Market & Innovation, Inc. (JPXI) fosters a space for data science enthusiasts to encourage trading through IT and data analysis with the 'J-Quants' project, the Japan Stock Exchange informed on Monday.

After trialing the J-Quants API (beta) since July 2022, which offered historical stock prices and financial data, JPXI received favorable responses from numerous users. Consequently, the official J-Quants API (paid version) was launched on 3 April 2023.

Nicole Carroll Becomes Paysafe's CSO

Paysafe named Nicole Carroll as its inaugural Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer. Reporting to Paysafe's CEO, Bruce Lowthers, Carroll assumes her position today. Carroll has a long history of fostering growth and innovation in prominent global companies in the technology, fintech, and payments sectors.

Her main duties at Paysafe will include refining the company's corporate vision and long-term growth strategy and spearheading product innovation and capital expenditure initiatives. Carroll comes to Paysafe from Experian, where she served as the Chief Product Officer for the Decision Analytics division. Before Experian, she held a position as a director at Visa, leading the development of their next-generation global software acceptance.

Clearstream Enables Conversion, Repatriation for Non-Residents

Clearstream, Deutsche Börse Group's ICSD, expands its services for the Ukrainian capital market, offering foreign exchange entitlement on UAH-denominated sovereign bonds' interest payments as of 1 April. Holders now have the option to receive UAH or USD credits, following the National Bank of Ukraine's updated regulation, encouraging non-resident investors to participate in the local government bond market.

Committed to supporting the Ukrainian capital market and the country's infrastructure and economy, Clearstream plans to expand its existing link with additional asset classes for cross-border investments and improved domestic capital market liquidity. Clearstream created its connection to Ukraine's capital market for debt securities in 2019 and remains the sole ICSD and global custodian granting entry to the local UAH-denominated government bond market.

TISE Appoints Non-Executive Director, Julia Chapman

The International Stock Exchange (TISE) has revealed the appointment of Julia Chapman as a Non-Executive Director for its parent organization. Based in Jersey, Chapman has accumulated over 30 years of expertise in the investment fund and capital markets industry. She is a qualified solicitor in England & Wales and Jersey.

Julia Chapman joined The International Stock Exchange Group Limited Board as of Friday, 31 March. The Group Chair, Anderson Whamond, expressed his enthusiasm for Julia's appointment, stating her extensive experience in the corporate services sector and as a Non-Executive Director will bolster the board's skills and knowledge.

"I look forward to Julia working with myself, our fellow Directors, including our CEO, Cees Vermaas, to develop and deliver the Group's strategy to diversify and scale up the business to sustain future growth," Whamond added.

Charges against Octaviar Investment Holdings Director Dropped

ASIC announced today that the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) dropped 27 fraud charges against David Mark Anderson, who had been accused of dishonestly utilising $4.6 million of Octaviar Investment Holdings No 3 Pty Ltd (OIH3) funds for personal use between 2012 and 2015.

The CDPP decided to withdraw charges due to compelling medical evidence regarding Anderson's poor health, deeming it no longer in the public interest to continue the prosecution. The judge discharged him, concluding the case initiated by ASIC's investigation and evidence referral.

GMO Financial Holdings Invests in AWR Capital

Japan's GMO Financial Holdings has taken a 10 percent stake in AWR Capital, an algorithmic trading firm. The deal is strategic as AWR will act as a dedicated crypto market-maker for GMO Coin, GMO's FX and crypto exchange. However, none of the companies has revealed the financials of the deal.

"Our investment will allow AWR to build out its services and solutions to span multiple asset classes and strategies," said Tomitaka Ishimura, the COO at GMO Financial Holdings.

Aquis Launches Aquis Equeinox

Aquis Technologies, a division of Aquis Exchange, announced the launch of Aquis Equinox, a regulated market-grade matching engine with a round-the-clock uptime. It guarantees continuous operation, with no need for shutdown for software upgrades, infrastructure changes, capacity increases, reference data management or member onboarding.

"With the ability to run an exchange system without the need for shut-down, our ambition to offer 'exchanges as a service' has now become a reality," said Adrian Ip, the Managing Director at Aquis Technologies. "Through a shared ecosystem in which downtime is not a requirement, Aquis' matching engine enables the economies of scale to be shared across exchange platforms, delivering significant benefits to customers."

BMLL Adds 3 Asian Exchanges to Expand Data Coverage

BMLL, a provider of historical Level 3 data and analytics for global equity and futures markets, has expanded its coverage by adding CBOE Japan, Japannext, and Singapore Exchange. It came as part of the company's expansion drive following $26 million raised in a Series B funding round.

"The demand for high-quality historic market data has grown exponentially as participants need to understand market or venue behaviour across the US, EMEA, and APAC," said Paul Humphrey, the CEO of BMLL.

Read the full story here.

Komainu Adds Institutional Collateral Management Solution

Komainu, an institutional digital asset custody provider, announced the launch of a collateral management service, Komainu Connect. The new service is now available only to a selection of Komainu clients, allowing them to leverage digital assets keeping them in custody.

"Komainu Connect cements our vision of introducing true trade connectivity to ramp up the utility and velocity of digital assets, while under our secure, institutional grade custody," said Sebastian Widmann, the Head of Strategy at Komainu. "As this industry matures, we will continue to pioneer the development of time-tested traditional finance products to match digital asset requirements."

Swiss Prosecutors Probe UBS and Credit Suisse Merger

Switzerland’s federal prosecutors have opened an investigation against the rushed takeover of Credit Suisse by rival UBS for possible violations of the country’s criminal laws.

The prosecutors have identified “numerous aspects of events around Credit Suisse” that warranted a probe and are now assessing for any “criminal offenses that could fall within [their] competence.”

The merged entity of UBS and Credit Suisse is looking to reduce the workforce by 20 to 30 percent, according to the Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger. However, the banking giant did not confirm anything officially.

Read the full story here.