HQLAX has successfully closed a Series C strategic investment round led by HSBC, with contribution from existing shareholders including BNP Paribas, BNY Mellon, Citigroup, Deutsche Börse Group, Goldman Sachs and J.P.Morgan.
The funding will fuel the continued development and expansion of the HQLAX Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) platform and support the growth of its client footprint.
As part of HSBC’s investment, Jamie Anderson, Head of Collateral Treasury Trading at HSBC, will join HQLAX’s Board of Directors. Speaking on the appointment, Mr Anderson said: “Digital asset innovation is accelerating at pace around the world, which is why I’m looking forward to working closely with HQLAX to enable us to collaboratively build on our strengths as partners, and to optimise liquidity management and collateral management activities.”
John O’Neill, Global Head of Digital Assets Strategy for Markets and Securities Services at HSBC, added: “We are excited to tap into the opportunity HQLAX’s platform offers. By combining the scale and international network of HSBC with HQLAX’s distributed ledger technology for managing collateral, together we can help drive innovation and efficiency in global markets.”
Moran Levinovitz, Head of Ventures at HSBC, said: “We are pleased to have led this round and partnered with leading fintech, HQLAX. HSBC is committed to undertaking investments in leading companies in the capital markets space, including those that support our digital asset strategy.”
Guido Stroemer, CEO of HQLAX, said: “We are very excited to welcome HSBC as a strategic investor. In addition to investing in our company in support of our strategic platform vision, HSBC is also connecting to our platform, both as an Agent Lender and as a Bank Borrower. We are proud of completing the transaction and grateful for the strong and continued commitment from our existing investors.”
The HQLAX proprietary platform enables clients to execute frictionless, precise and real-time transfer of ownership to meet a wide variety of collateral obligations. It helps the securities finance industry address collateral fragmentation by extending its connectivity to leading triparty agents, custodians and market participants.
About HSBC
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of HSBC, is head quartered in London. HSBC serves customers worldwide from offices in 62 countries and territories. With assets of US$3,039 bn at 31 December 2023, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.
About HQLAX
HQLAX is an innovative financial technology firm that leverages Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to bring game-changing efficiencies to the securities finance and repo industry. Our core clients are banks and asset managers active in the global securities finance and repo markets, and our unique platform enables market participants to execute frictionless, precise and real-time transfer of ownership of securities. www.hqla-x.com
August 2023 – Acquisition of FundsDLT (Announced in Jan 2024) https://blog.fundsdlt.net/index.php/2023/08/03/deutsche-boerse-acquires-fundsdlt/ Deutsche Börse announces successful acquisition closing of leading digitised fund distribution platform FundsDLT
Global market infrastructure provider Deutsche Börse Group today announces the acquisition completion of FundsDLT, following regulatory approval from Luxembourg financial regulator Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF).
Deutsche Börse Group now owns 100 per cent of FundsDLT, a leading Luxembourg-based decentralised platform based on distributed ledger technology (DLT) for end-to-end fund issuance and commercialisation. The company will operate within the Clearstream Fund Services business segment but will operate independently from Clearstream, Deutsche Börse Group’s post-trading infrastructure provider in Luxembourg. It will retain its legal identity and license under the CSSF.
Former shareholders Credit Suisse Asset Management together with UBS Asset Management as well as Natixis Investment Managers remain committed clients, helping Clearstream drive the use case development further.
About Deutsche Börse
As an international exchange organisation and innovative market infrastructure provider, Deutsche Börse Group ensures capital markets that are transparent, reliable and stable. With its wide range of products, services and technologies, the Group organises safe and efficient markets for sustainable economies.It
business areas cover the entire financial market transaction process chain. This includes the provision of indices, data and analytical solutions as well as admission, trading and clearing. Additionally, it comprises services for funds, the settlement and custody of financial instruments as well as the management of collateral and liquidity. As a technology company, the Group develops state-of-the-art IT solutions and offers IT systems all over the world.
With more than 13,000 employees, the Group has its headquarters in the financial centre of Frankfurt/Rhine-Main, as well as a strong global presence in locations such as Luxembourg, Prague, Cork, London, Copenhagen, New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo and Sydney.
About Clearstream Fund Services
Clearstream is the innovative and trusted post-trade business for the global markets. Its segment Clearstream Fund Services delivers solutions for the entire fund ecosystem via its three key business lines:
Vestima as the world’s largest fund processing platform provides order execution, settlement and custody services for more than 230,000 funds, ensuring highest asset safety for over 50 fund markets worldwide.
Fund Centre, one of the leading European fund distribution platforms, connects international asset managers and fund houses with distribution partners, providing access to over 80,000 funds.
Kneip as one of the leading European fund data hubs provides premier fund data management and reporting solutions for the asset management industry.
Clearstream is part of Deutsche Börse Group, an international exchange organisation and provider of innovative market infrastructures.
FundsDLT enables all actors of the investment fund distribution chain (asset managers, asset services, distributors and advisors) to sell funds through a new generation and decentralised platform, significantly reducing administration costs and the time to process transactions. FundsDLT streamlines a range of repetitive fund operational activities in transfer agency and fund commercialisation by using blockchain to automate several processes in a secure manner.
August 2023 – Initial Investment in OptimX https://www.deutsche-boerse.com/dbg-de/media/news-stories/media-releases/Deutsche-B-rse-s-DB1-Ventures-to-invest-in-block-trading-platform-OptimX-Markets-3612096 Deutsche Börse’s Corporate Venture Capital arm DB1 Ventures has led the Seed funding round in OptimX Markets, a future block trading platform.
Based in New York, OptimX is an independent, venue-neutral block trading solution in the global cash equities space. OptimX has developed an advanced technology suite that provides investment banks, brokers, and institutions with a unique platform for sharing and processing institutional block orders. To support their go-to market launch in the EU and UK, a partnership with co-investor Aquis Exchange will be established.
Eric Leupold, Managing Director Cash Market at Deutsche Börse, commented: “Buy side firms in the EU have a continued preference for executing large cash equity transactions in blocks, which has been reinforced by MiFID II. OptimX has a compelling value proposition for this off-order book market. We look forward to working closely with the team and our co-investors to build and scale the business.”
David Barnett, CEO and Founder of OptimX Markets, commented: “Our collaboration with Deutsche Börse paves the way for our advanced technology suite to make waves in the European marketplace. As one of the world’s most renowned financial market operators, Deutsche Börse’s rich heritage and a steadfast commitment to fostering burgeoning technologies provides OptimX with the critical support and guidance that will allow us to reshape the landscape of European equities liquidity and beyond.”
About Deutsche Börse Group and DB1 Ventures
DB1 Ventures is the Corporate Venture Capital arm of Deutsche Börse Group. Its vision is to be a strategic partner of choice for early-stage to growth-stage companies which are core or adjacent to Deutsche Börse Group’s strategy, generate attractive investment returns and add strategic value to its growth plans.
As an international exchange organisation and innovative market infrastructure provider, Deutsche Börse Group ensures markets characterised by integrity, transparency and stability. With its wide range of products, services and technologies, the Group organises safe and efficient markets for sustainable economies. Its business areas extend along the entire value chain in exchange trading, including the admission, trading and clearing, and custody of securities and other financial instruments, the dissemination of market data, as well as the management of collateral and liquidity. As a technology company, the Group develops state-of-the-art IT solutions and offers IT systems all over the world.
With more than 11,000 employees, the Group has its headquarters in the financial centre of Frankfurt/Rhine-Main, as well as a strong global presence in locations such as Luxembourg, Prague, Cork, London, New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo and Sydney.
About OptimX
OptimX Markets Inc. forges a new dynamic in institutional trading by restoring transparency and simplicity to sourcing block trades. Committed to preserving the fragile ecosystem between brokers and institutional investors in financial transactions, OptimX believes that great technology should enhance relationships rather than replace them, ensuring a seamless experience for both consumers and providers of liquidity. OptimX offers unique and comprehensive trading solutions in both US and EMEA capital markets. For more information, please go to www.optimx.com
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