Goldman, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley Unite to Form Ref Data Company
Posted on 08/21/2015
The Wall Street Journal broke news that U.S. financial giants Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley are forming a company to pull together and collect troves of data to determine pricing and transaction costs. They are calling the initiative “SPReD” – standing for Securities Product Reference Data. The newly-formed entity will first focus on referential data on listed derivatives and equities, heading toward fixed-income data next.
Each founding bank is kicking in around seven figures each in the company.
Banks are under continuous pressure to contain costs. Companies like Bloomberg, Markit and Thomson Reuters rake in substantial revenues by providing referential data for asset manager and banking clients.