The LSE (London Stock Exchange) yesterday announced that it was extending its UnaVista business service to the swaps market, automating the trading of contracts for differences and other security derivatives and allowing brokers, hedge funds and prime brokers to communicate and match data through a central, secure, audited platform. It is understood that the new service is being tested by a number of hedge funds, prime brokers and executing brokers.
Mark Husler, Head of Information Services Business Development at London Stock Exchange Group, said: ‘For the first time UnaVista is now available for Swaps, helping our customers to streamline trade processing. The new Swaps Portal from UnaVista avoids the need for time-intensive, manual processes such as emails and faxes. It allows both small and large firms alike to connect in a cost-efficient manner, and provides the functionality to match trades and resolve exceptions on trade date.’
The service is connected to the LSE’s FIX Gateway, allowing access to an international pool of over 200 brokers and buy-side firms. The service empowers each party to send orders, allocations and cash trades which can be normalised (meaning that they put everything into a common format), validated and matched automatically. UnaVista uses strict data segregation to make sure that all compliance regulations are met, while improving overall transparency to all parties where applicable. It can also provide comprehensive, real-time MIS reporting to check counterparty performance. Data can be transferred in a number of formats, including FIX, SWIFT, automated file uploads or via a web browser which requires no technical installation.
