Ullink, a leading global provider of electronic trading and connectivity services to the financial community, today announced a new partnership with LiquidMetrix, experts in financial data research and execution quality analysis. The partnership enables Ullink to provide its global community of market participants trading over Ullink’s NYFIX network with cutting edge post-trade analytics powered by LiquidMetrix analytics.

I have considered before that the fintech/alternative finance marketplace represents an evolution, not a revolution. A cynic might question the value of alternative finance in the first place, but the fact is this sector is making waves.

 ITG (NYSE: ITG), a leading independent execution broker and research provider, announced this week the appointment of Nick Johnston as Managing Director, European Head of Sales Trading. He will lead ITG’s European high-touch business. Sales trading at ITG is part of a global high-touch agency trading service, which also includes Portfolio/Index Trading and ETF Trading.

Barclays has launched a first of its kind cloud-based contingency payment service banking access channel in order to boost its commitment to corporate clients.

There has a been a lot of talk about how to trade blocks that are smaller than the LIS waiver but that are still too big to go to regular lit markets. The debate has been ratcheted up by the 4 and 8% dark pool caps that are part of the MiFID II spectre looming above us all. One approach, of course, is to chop your block into smaller pieces with an algo but this is becoming increasingly unattractive in an HFT-dominated world.

Venues like Turquoise have done their bit to help solve for this with their innovative Block Discovery service which has been gaining momentum steadily.

Chicago-based Rival Systems, LLC (Rival), a trading software company established earlier this year, today officially launched its new low latency derivatives trading and risk management platform.

 Geoswift, a leading provider of cross-border payments between China and the rest of the world, announced today that Michael Kireopoulos has joined the company as Global Head of Compliance. He is based in Geoswift’s San Francisco office.

 A new report from GreySpark Partners, a leading global capital markets consulting firm, shows how investment bank equities trading businesses are returning to profitability in 2015 after a sustained period of declining revenues following the onset of the financial crisis.