BLOOMBERG HAS BEEN a leader in refer­ence data for years, and in 2013 it launched new products and services to deal with shifts in the way that data is delivered and con­sumed, as well as regulatory changes that affect how firms use data.

Bloomberg’s reference-data products include security master information, credit risk information, fundamentals, corporate actions, and derived data. “The reference-data busi­ness has been evolving significantly in the last two to three years,” said Andrea Danese, global head of Bloomberg’s Enterprise Con­tent and Delivery business. “The two big themes that we’ve been observing in refer­ence data are first, the technology, delivery, processing and distribution of the data, and second, how that data be utilized to satisfy regulatory reporting requirements.”

“Our primary focus is shifting from the con­tent itself, which is more standardized, to how the content gets delivered, processed and managed by the clients,” Danese continued. “We are also looking at how reference data is used to comply with regulatory requirements that have been created in the years following the 2008 financial crisis.”

For example, counterparty credit risk data helps risk and compliance managers draw clear connections between entities and secu­rities, identify ultimate obligors, and manage credit exposure and capital risk at the enter­prise level with ease and accuracy. “Compa­nies use this data to make informed decisions faster, meet regulatory obligations, and more confidently manage both counterparty and credit risk,” Danese told Markets Media.

Bloomberg provides security master data, which includes detailed terms and conditions firms need for security identification, creation, trading and settlement. Security master spans 6,000 data elements, including descriptive data, security IDs, industry sectors, ratings and fundamentals, and more than 4,000 individual fields.

The Enterprise Content and Distribution business is the reference data, real-time data distribution and pricing services group within Bloomberg’s Enterprise Solutions Group.

Danese has played a pivotal role in restruc­turing Bloomberg’s data business by enhanc­ing its content, building its product portfolio and redesigning its commercial models. He is also responsible for the development of Bloomberg Valuation Services, or BVAL, an evaluated pricing service for corporate and government credit products and derivatives.

Bloomberg Reference Data Services give firms access to terms and conditions and pre­mium reference data for more than 6 million financial instruments across all asset classes. One of the key differentiators for Bloomberg is the ability to allow firms to consume data con­sistently across the firm, and to feed account­ing, portfolio management and compliance systems from the same source.

“Bloomberg has invested significant resources to build the data-management infrastructure necessary to make these con­nections available,” Danese said. “As regu­latory compliance, risk management and investment strategies evolve, users across the enterprise can rest assured they are seeing a complete picture of the firm’s situation.”

In terms of content delivery, Bloomberg has been developing not only its traditional solutions but has also been able to deliver reference data content through its real-time infrastructure. With Bloomberg PolarLake, it provides the ability to have a platform to inte­grate Bloomberg with all data providers in order to create a golden copy, or an official, master version.

“Bloomberg PolarLake has been a powerful tool, enabling customers to be more efficient, and to optimize and manage data across their organizations,” said Danese.

On the regulatory side, Bloomberg “has invested time and energy in developing solutions to comply with regulatory require­ments and the European financial taxation,” Danese said. “Solvency II has been a very successful initiative for us which has helped the insurance industry in significant ways. There is an entire line of products we are developing in order to satisfy Dodd-Frank and Basel II requirements around transpar­ency of pricing. These will be coming to mar­ket over the next year.”