Driving Diverse Regional Growth: How Nasdaq is Supporting LatAm Banks and Brokers

While united by similar cultures, there are significant differences in the how Latin American markets have historically operated and how local market conventions work, as well as differences in regulatory requirements and standards from one country to the next. However, some of that is changing as we see more traction toward a convergence of norms, practices and even cross-border collaboration in certain sub-regions. That being said, there is an undeniable energy and confidence within Latin America’s financial ecosystem. It’s brimming with activity, new participants and investment as the region’s capital markets evolve and mature.

This is especially true for the regional banks and brokers landscape, which is being shaped by a variety of forces both global and regional as it grows and becomes more diverse. At a high level, technology continues to pace innovation and advancements in markets, changing how firms approach day-to-day operations as they seek automation and AI. Further downstream, more local factors like consolidation and regulation are top-of-mind strategic considerations and business drivers.

These are some of the takeaways I had after attending the first LatAm Nasdaq Client Conference in Bogotá, Colombia, in late March. There’s no substitute for first-hand listening, and what I heard from clients is they’re focused on modernization, risk management and how Nasdaq’s comprehensive technology presence can help them achieve their goals.

An ecosystem in flux

Recent years for LatAm markets have been marked by growth and diversification, particularly in digital assets and financial technology. It’s all fostered a growing landscape whose players stretch from regional banks and broker-dealers to digital banks, megabanks, and investment and asset management firms.

These different, yet intrinsically connected, institutions all have their unique considerations. They are also driven in the same direction of modernization not only for their own needs but for their clients’ needs. For example, I sensed that a cloud-first mentality had taken root with clients. Businesses that were behind are catching up and realizing the benefits of agility, self-service and scale that cloud-enabled systems can provide. This is a critical point to stress, as cloud is foundational to actioning data and deploying emerging technologies like AI, which everyone was interested in. Extending the model to additional services, such as rebase programs or level 2 managed services, can help manage risk and disruptive programs so that institutions can focus on their core revenue-generating business.

Despite this, reliance on legacy systems can be restrictive and a blocker for business diversification and growth. Aging, disparate systems are a barrier to modernization and a drain on resources that could otherwise help firms modernize. This impacts not only operations but also product agility and competitiveness, which come at a premium in the rapidly evolving LatAm market. As institutions look to innovate and roll out new products, the quick time to market is essential and only made possible by the latest, proven technology to enable and facilitate the strategic vision of the business.

Bridging local and global

As much as banks and brokers are looking for technology to alleviate their challenges, they’re looking for the right partner that can combine a proven, global track record with local knowledge. 

Another theme I heard consistently from clients in Bogotá was that Nasdaq Financial Technology is meeting those expectations, pairing local teams attuned to local conventions, standards and reporting with a known name that’s committed to innovation. Uniting the newly integrated Nasdaq Calypso and Nasdaq AxiomSL with the existing Market Surveillance and Market Technology product portfolios has unlocked new perspectives, efficiencies and capabilities for our clients, from front to back, helping them to optimize operations and capitalize on opportunities with cloud-enabled AI to predict settlement failures or machine learning to generate large risk calculations.

More importantly, we’re helping our clients to bring new value to their own clients.. As a trusted technology provider, we’re helping them plug into modernization technologies to accelerate business and help firms evolve with markets. It’s all part of our comprehensive plan to bring “One Nasdaq” in full breadth to the benefit of the entire LatAm capital markets ecosystem, from banks and brokers, to asset managers and pensions funds, to financial market infrastructures including exchanges and central counterparty clearing houses. Our priority is to foster capital markets that work better for all and lead to economic growth for all.

I’m excited to meet and talk to Nasdaq clients around the globe as we continue to bring new innovation to bear and deliver speed, scale and pathways to modernization. Read more about Nasdaq Financial Technology here and how it might be able to help your organization.