U.S. exchange company Nasdaq Inc. announced today that it has acquired British regulatory technology firm Sybenetix, to bolster its market surveillance capabilities.
Sybenetix develops technology to enhance surveillance for the asset-management industry, utilizing behavioural analytics and cognitive computing.
Nasdaqsaid it will fund the transaction, for which a price was not disclosed, with its cash on hand. The acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on Nasdaq’s financial leverage or capital return strategy.
“Nasdaq is investing in the technologies, talent and capabilities that solve the complex challenges our clients face,” said Adena Friedman, president and CEO of Nasdaq, in a statement. “We believe behavioral science, cognitive computing and machine intelligence are essential to a successful, holistic surveillance offering and critical to efficient and effective organizational compliance with an increasingly intricate global regulatory environment.
“Their bespoke compliance, surveillance and performance management technology can meet the needs of the world’s largest asset managers and will be complementary to Nasdaq’s risk and surveillance suite,” she added. “This acquisition accelerates our offering to the buy-side and advances our ambitions to expand market integrity controls into all segments of the capital markets.”
Recently, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada announced that it will adopt the latest edition of Nasdaq’s SMARTS surveillance technology to bolster its market oversight capabilities.