KPMG has acquired fintech platform Markets IT for an undisclosed sum, in an effort to expand its “big data” capability and help banking clients grapple with a barrage of regulatory change, according to the Financial Review. KPMG Australia CEO Gary Wingrove referred to the merger as a “timely and strategic” acquisition. Markets IT is KPMG’seleventh bolt-on acquisition in two years, according to the post.Founded in 2011 Markets IT Founded in 2011 by ex-ABN AMRO investment bankers Tim Robinson and Craig Snell, the company billed itself as the dominant supplier of Murex software in Australia – a trading platform used by Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Westpac and NAB, as well as second tier lenders, for foreign exchange, bonds, interest rate and commodities transactions — has already been added to the KPMG’s virtual network. Robinson has joined KPMG as a partner, reporting to KPMG head of technology Richard Marrison.
Robinson hopes to leverage KPMG’s global network to expand offshore, although he admitted there was plenty of work in the domestic market to keep his consultants busy. “There is a shortage of Murex resources in the banks globally,” Robinson told Financial Review.The tie-up between KPMG and Markets IT coincides with reports that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission is on the verge of launching legal action against ANZ Banking Group, noted the Financial Review, amid a massive industry-wide investigation into manipulation of the bank bill swap rate (BBSW), originally launched in 2013. To recap, last August, KPMG partnered with peer-to-peer business lender MarketInvoice and with FinTech matchmaking platform Matchi and initiated The KPMG Fintech Innovation Challenge to promote collaboration and innovation between both FinTech firms and financial institutions.