Articles by Rebecca Natale
In 2025, keep reference data weird
The SEC, ESMA, CFTC and other acronyms provided the drama in reference data this year, including in crypto.
It’s just semantics: The web standard that could replace the identifiers you love to hate
Data ontologists say that the IRI, a cousin of the humble URL, could put the various wars over identity resolution to bed—for good.
Waters Wavelength Ep. 298: GenAI in market data, and everything reference data
Reb is back on the podcast to discuss licensing sticking points for market and reference data.
New data granularity rules create opportunities for regtech providers
As evidence, Regnology increased its presence in North America with the addition of Vermeg's Agile business—its 8th acquisition in three years—following a period of constriction and consolidation in the market.
The Waters Cooler: A little crime never hurt nobody
Do you guys remember that 2006 Pitchfork review of Shine On by Jet?
AI set to overhaul market data landscape by 2029, new study finds
A new report by Burton-Taylor says the intersection of advanced AI and market data has big implications for analytics, delivery, licensing, and more.
Waters Wavelength Ep. 293: Reference Data Drama
Tony and Reb discuss the Financial Data Transparency Act's proposed rules around identifiers and the industry reaction.
Industry not sold on FIGI mandate for US reg reporting
Banks’ and asset managers’ tortured relationship with Cusip numbers remains tortured, as they tell regulators to keep the taxonomy in play.
Old dogs and new tricks at Brown Brothers Harriman: Meet Kevin Welch
After two decades of working for the oldest private bank in the US, Welch has mastered keeping his balance—change and stasis, humans and artificial intelligence, work and play.
The Waters Cooler: What is going on?
Is it weird that Euronext bought Substantive? It’s weird, right? Plus WFIC, tick sizes, Microsoft and BlackRock want more datacenters for some reason, and, of course, AI. What does it all mean?
American Bankers Assoc. asks SEC: Do you know what you’re doing?
The industry group disagrees severely with regulators’ interpretation of the Financial Data Transparency Act, hinting at possible legal action in a recently published comment letter.
Facing platform shutdown, former IEX Cloud head buys its assets in 11th-hour bid
Tim Baker, Pedro Aguayo, and a silent partner have come together to purchase IEX Cloud’s assets days before the exchange was to retire all its products on August 31.
New working group to create open framework for managing rising market data costs
Substantive Research is putting together a working group of market data-consuming firms with the aim of crafting quantitative metrics for market data cost avoidance.
Regulators recommend Figi over Cusip, Isin for reporting in FDTA proposal
Another contentious battle in the world of identifiers pits the Figi against Cusip and the Isin, with regulators including the Fed, the SEC, and the CFTC so far backing the Figi.
CME: CFTC OKs clearing move to Google Cloud
The CFTC has given the Chicago-based exchange approval to run its clearing and settlement infrastructure on the Google Cloud Platform, while the exchange and vendor have extended their partnership to last until at least 2037.
Adaptive’s Aeron goes live on Microsoft Azure Marketplace
The messaging software used for building bespoke trading platforms is now available on Microsoft’s marketplace, making it accessible through major cloud providers.
Natixis refines in-house interoperability model
The French asset manager has refined its canonical data model over the last decade, as the interoperability movement continues to evolve.
As legal letters fly, Cusip licensing debate rolls on
Cusip Global Services’ licensing agreements with third-party data providers sit at the heart of the antitrust case against itself and three others.
Bank-led consortium takes aim at position reporting
Five banks, including Barclays, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs and HSBC, have joined forces to mitigate interpretation and implementation errors in position reporting disclosures.
Systematic tools gain favor in fixed income
Automation is enabling systematic strategies in fixed income that were previously reserved for equities trading. The tech gap between the two may be closing, but differences remain.
After contentious Opra upgrades, vendors brace for a faster future
Upgrades to the datafeed widely used to gauge the current market price for options contracts went into effect in February after three separate delays, which market participants say were caused by persistent bandwidth issues at some important recipients.
FCA declines to directly regulate market data prices
A year-long investigation by the UK regulator to determine whether competition is hindered in the wholesale data markets has concluded with its decision not to directly regulate much-maligned data pricing and licensing structures.
Waters Wavelength Podcast: Tim Baker on Cusip lawsuit, data copyrights, and innovation in market data
Expero’s Tim Baker joins the podcast to talk about the ongoing Cusip suit and regulatory intervention in the market data space.
S&P completes ‘operational integration’ of IHS Markit, ups focus on genAI, new regtech tool
With the IHS Markit merger now behind it, S&P Global is set to release RegGPT and other AI-enabled products.