Colt PrizmNet is a financial extranet that connects a global capital markets ecosystem of 85+ exchanges, venues and service providers and 10,000+ participants. It provides connectivity to all major venues, ensuring best execution and visibility into global markets - increasing algorithmic trading efficiency.

Adding access to Verne Global’s campus is designed to help clients with cost savings and the growing requirement for computationally intensive technologies such as high-performance computing (HPC) and grid applications. Iceland’s data privacy laws will also enable Colt’s financial customers to meet regulatory requirements for secure data storage and the ability to monitor and manage new cyber security risks. In today’s highly competitive financial markets, firms are seeing an increasing demand for data and analytics that is driving the need for more compute resources and higher capital and operational costs. This move enables Colt to address the following customer needs and market opportunities:

• Investment Banks - mid-and back-office systems, back-up and disaster recovery;
• Hedge Funds - quant research platforms and data storage;
• Systematic Trading firms - data storage, pre-trade analytics;
• Exchange groups and integrated market infrastructure groups - disaster recovery;
• Information service providers - data storage and distribution; and
• Interdealer brokers - back-up, disaster recovery and hosting trading applications.

“We are seeing tremendous growth in customer need for data from executable sources, as well as storage and risk modelling analytic tools, as new regulations continue to overhaul the market risk capital requirements,” said Andrew Housden, VP Capital Markets at Colt. “Our partnership with Verne Global provides Colt customers with access to Iceland’s abundance of renewable energy, making it a prime location for the growing demands for big data storage and non-latency sensitive services. We can now offer dedicated hosting in Iceland for firms that require high density cooling and processing, giving them the ability to optimise and scale their intensive compute applications, meet regulatory compliance requirements, and lower their operational costs and carbon footprint with no premium for going green.”

“The financial markets are increasingly relying on artificial intelligence and machine learning as an essential element of that, to manage the development of trading strategies requiring the analysis and interpretation of large structured and unstructured data sets,” said Stef Weegels, Sales Director, Finance & Capital Markets at Verne Global. “Verne Global’s HPC-optimised location provides the infrastructure, access to abundant, low-cost power, and technical expertise to help companies capitalise on these developments safely and securely.”

Verne Global's data center, located on a former NATO campus in Iceland, draws its electricity from hydroelectric and geothermal energy. The cool, temperate climate in Iceland enables free cooling, that when combined with the low-cost, renewable power, means companies can save more than 70% on the total cost of operations for their compute resources over traditional financial hubs like London, Frankfurt and New York. The combination of innovative, technical design and an optimal location make Verne Global one of the world’s most efficient data centre campuses.