ICAP buys Abide to capitalise on increased financial regulations

Inter-dealer broker Icap has acquired regulatory reporting specialist Abide Financial for an undisclosed fee in order to capitalise on ever-increasing financial regulations.

Abide, which will become a subsidiary of the group's post trade risk and information (PTRI) division, will integrate its regulatory reporting hub and venues with the Traiana business’s connectivity and the PTRI publication reporting service.

Icap chief executive Michael Spencer said: "Abide is a company with big potential and ambitions, and by capitalising on Icap's relationships, knowledge and resources, it can be propelled to the next level in its growth.

"This acquisition demonstrates how the team at Euclid works and how it will continue to operate as we transition to become NEX."

Icap will be renamed NEX Group once it sells its global broking business and the Icap brand to rival Tullet Prebon for £1.1bn by the end of the year.

With the addition of Abide, PTRI will be able to provide clients with a range of integrated reporting solutions for entities, subject to regulations, in the UK, Europe, US, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Abide acts as a reporting hub for European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) on derivatives, central counterparties and trade repositories, approved reporting mechanism for markets in financial instruments directive (MiFID) and a regulatory reporting mechanism for Regulation on Wholesale Energy Market Integrity and Transparency (REMIT).

Abide, founded in 2011, is currently awaiting approval from the European Securities and Markets Authority to become a trade repository and is developing its MiFiD II offering.

Jenny Knott, chief executive of PTRI, said the increased scrutiny and regulation of the financial services industry has created opportunities for the group to help companies meet new regulatory demands that many do not want to carry out in-house due to costs and manpower involved.

“For many of our clients it is preferable to outsource their trade and transaction reporting requirements to ICAP and increasing numbers are doing exactly that. Traiana and IIS already offer routing of trades and will launch an approved publication arrangement, and so our acquiring Abide is a natural extension of this to ensure a comprehensive seamless service”, she said.