Broadridge – Distributed ledger repo trading platform
In June, Broadridge went live with its new trading platform based on distributed ledger technology, with a view of transforming the repo market for banks and investment firms. 
The distributed ledger repo (DLR) trading platform leverages the fixed income platform at Broadridge, which includes 20 of the 24 primary dealers and processes more than $6 trillion in average daily volume. Participants are able to agree, executed and settle repo transactions on the decentralised platform, reducing the operational risk and settlement cost for repurchase agreements.
In its first weeks, the DLR platform executed $35 billion in average daily volumes – a figure that continues to grow. UBS joined the platform in August, with Paul Chiappetta, Americas COO of group treasury at UBS, praising the technology’s ability to reduce risk and improve efficiency.
With the implementation, Broadridge hopes to transform the repo market, where firms have historically swapped high-quality collateral for cash on a bilateral basis. Through DLR, firms can utilise smart contracts to transfer ownership of underlying securities with the need to physically exchange.
Vijay Mayadas, president of capital markets at Broadridge, said: “Within the repo market, distributed ledger technology and smart contracts have shown that they can play an instrumental role in driving efficiencies, reducing risk and enhancing liquidity while leveraging the existing legal and account frameworks.”
BNY Mellon – ESG data analytics system for collateral management clients
ESG is now at the forefront of investment policy, with investors and regulators keener than ever to encourage more sustainable and responsible trading. To support this, BNY Mellon debuted a range of reporting tools to track investments based on ESG issues and United Nations Global Compact principles in March.
The global custodian said it hopes to capture demand from institutional investors that are exploring how ESG and other types of sustainability data can help them fine-tune their risk management practices and investment decisions.
“This new service expands upon our existing post-trade compliance monitoring service, which enables clients to screen and track their investments based on social and ethical factors,” said Fraser Priestley, managing director of global risk solutions, EMEA, BNY Mellon.
Clients of BNY Mellon are be able to view their total ESG and UNGC scores on equities at the account level verses relevant benchmarks over time. The data used for these reports is sourced through an agreement with Arabesque S-Ray, an ESG consultancy that uses machine learning and big data to score the world’s largest companies in terms of their ESG rating.
Citi – Data solution with Snowflake
Citi’s partnership with cloud specialist Snowflake was forged to “re-imagine how data flows across transactions” providing a new solution for post-trade processes across the industry.
The solution has been integrated within Citi’s flagship securities services data platform Velocity Clarity, delivering faster and more complete client data.
Citi’s global head of Citi securities services, Okan Pekin, said of the deal: “We are striving to provide solutions to the challenge of multiple records across multiple systems and the associated costs and data reconciliation consequences that hinder our clients and the industry today.”
As part of Citi’s initiative to develop its processes, the bank announced a major upgrade to its Citi Velocity Clarity platform, in addition to bespoke reporting capabilities, application programming interface (API) functionality and incorporation of company scores on environmental, social and governance (ESG).
State Street – Peer-to-peer repo trading solution
State Street introduced its new peer-to-peer repo trading system to the market in March 2021, providing buy-side clients with a broader range of direct trading capabilities within its agency lending business.
The new platform forms part of the custodian’s strategy to encourage clients such as hedge funds, pension funds and insurance companies to participate in peer-to-peer trading activities in the securities finance market.
Users of the service will be able to trade directly with lenders across a broader range of collateral types. State Street will also guarantee the payment obligations of cash borrowers to lenders within the programme.
In October, State Street said the first transaction between a large asset owner and a non-traditional investment manager took place on the platform.
“This is an exciting milestone for the global markets funding and collateral team,” said Leslie Womack, head of product development for global markets funding and collateral. “We look forward to continuing to partner with our clients to advance the tools they need to more seamlessly manage their financing, collateral management, securities lending, and digital opportunities.”