Northern Trust Acquires BEx to Expand Foreign Exchange Offering

Delaware-based financial services firm Northern Trust has closed a deal to acquire software provider BEx as it looks to enhance its FX offering to clients, whose trading strategies continue to evolve, and require more refined support and expertise.

The asset manager stated the transaction would enable deeper collaboration between its operations business and Chicago-based BEx to provide solutions to institutional clients worldwide. This includes algorithmic FX trading, global liquidity aggregation, execution, and pricing solutions.

Founded in 2013, BEx is a financial technology software firm dedicated to developing automated FX trading solutions.

Northern Trust will continue to collaborate with BEx to develop customized FX software, including components used in its electronic FX trading platform. The acquisition will also allow Northern Trust, which manages nearly $10.7 trillion in assets, to customize its offering to meet both client and regulatory requirements.

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The deal is also part of a broader industry push to empower market participants with greater levels of transparency and control over their respective trades. The ability of users to not only control how their orders are placed but also how their trades are executed represents one of the more versatile and hands-on approaches in the industry.

Recently, Northern Trust has taken steps to further embrace Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Read this Term and cryptocurrencies into its operations. The 129-year-old company has added blockchain services for managing its private equity workflow. Additionally, the company has reportedly begun offering its fund administration services to a small number of cryptocurrency hedge funds.

Commenting on the news, Pete Cherecwich, head of institutional services at Northern Trust, said: “BEx has been a key differentiator for Northern Trust, increasing the depth and breadth of our global FX execution capabilities. In an evolving FX marketplace, this acquisition provides a foundation for sustained growth and innovation on behalf of our clients.”