LSEG’s shift to data and analytics has been a cash cow as clients have demanded ever-more granular information. Data sales make up about half its revenue, while fixed income and derivatives make up an eighth, post-trade and clearing another eight.

But Market Structure Partners chief executive Niki Beattie said the “average man in the street” and even some policymakers still think of it as the London Stock Exchange.

“They probably don’t understand what clearing is or what Tradeweb does,” she added.

Join us on The Startup Sensations Podcast as we dive deep into the world of Digital Assets, Cryptocurrencies, Tokenisation, and the Distributed Ledger with the exceptional Niki Beattie, a leading expert in financial market infrastructure and Chair of ClearToken.

But Niki Beattie, chief executive of Market Structure Partners said the status quo already favours major investors, and a single data source could help level the playing field.

“Without consolidated data, retail and institutional investors are the victims of arbitrage as they do not have a complete set of data from which to drive their decisions,” she told FN. “The handful of market participants who can currently afford to piece together all the market data can profit from this by spotting anomalies.”

…ClearToken intends “to be at the forefront of the UK’s drive to become a global centre for financial technology innovation.”

Niki Beattie, Chair of ClearToken commented:

“Digital asset technology has the potential to revolutionize financial markets offering enormous innovation in efficiency and transparency but we have also seen that it is a leap of faith to expect Defi to solve all market problems. Clearing houses will remain an essential market participant; their integration into the digital asset market structure can bring much needed stability and allow the innovative nature of this sector to continue within the regulated framework required to fulfill its transformative ambitions.”…

…“Digital asset technology has the potential to revolutionize financial markets offering enormous innovation in efficiency and transparency but we have also seen that it is a leap of faith to expect Defi to solve all market problems,” said Niki Beattie, Chair of ClearToken. “Clearing houses will remain an essential market participant; their integration into the digital asset market structure can bring much needed stability and allow the innovative nature of this sector to continue within the regulated framework required to fulfill its transformative ambitions.”…

Laser Digital, the digital assets subsidiary of Nomura, has made a strategic investment in ClearToken, a startup aiming to provide the scale and structure required for mass institutional engagement with digital assets.

…“Digital asset technology has the potential to revolutionise financial markets offering enormous innovation in efficiency and transparency but we have also seen that it is a leap of faith to expect Defi to solve all market problems,” said Niki Beattie, chair of ClearToken.

As EU policymakers continue their negotiations on the Mifir review, The TRADE speaks with Nick Dutton, chief regulatory officer at Cboe Europe, and Niki Beattie, chief executive of Market Structure Partners, to reflect on some of the key topics and overall importance of the process to the EU.

…The US software group will help LSEG shift its infrastructure to Microsoft’s Cloud, which will give it greater processing power and allow the company to package its data faster and more flexibly.

“Moving on to the cloud is very important as they have to enable themselves for the next generation of computing capability,” said Niki Beattie, chief executive of consultancy Market Structure Partners. She added that without this, “it will be hard to move forward at pace”. …

After more than 10 years, these trading venues are undergoing an identity shift.

Niki Beattie, chief executive of Market Structure Partners, said that over the past decade, exchanges have chipped away at bank MTFs’ original raison d’etre.

“We’ve got to a point where MTFs don’t really add any different value propositions. The fees have been competed away,” she told Financial News. “What we have is a lot of volume going back to the main exchanges, particularly in Europe.”

…“Exchanges are not taking enough responsibility,” says Niki Beattie, founder of Market Structure Partners. “The trading engine is no longer driving profitability and as a result people are taking their foot off the pedal.”…