• White Papers
• 05.05.2015 02:44 pm

With the constant introduction of newer and stricter Basel guidelines, the significance of data management has never been higher for banking institutions. As an outcome of the financial crisis, there have been massive changes in the regulatory requirements for compliance, risk management, operating efficiencies and customer relationship management among other areas. Business groups in Banks responsible for these requirements need accurate and quality data for effective decision making and the same data is viewed by different business groups differently. Imperative therefore that certain cardinal rules are observed for all data, i.e. content and purpose of the data, related business rules, ownership and administration, and location.

 Fidessa group plc (LSE: FDSA) has today announced that its Affirmation Management Service (AMS) has been recognised as the best new post-trade solution for buy-side firms in the Financial Technologies Forum and FTF News Technology Innovation Awards 2015. The award was presented in recognition of the innovation that AMS has brought to post-trade operations and the crucial operational efficiency improvements it delivers. Launched in mid-2014, Fidessa's AMS challenges the status quo in confirmation and affirmation processing to deliver real efficiencies and business value. Available as a fully managed service, AMS provides access to the global broker community for all post-trade business workflows. Insulating buyside firms from the technical complexities of affirming and confirming with multiple brokers, and across multiple asset classes and regions, AMS gives a greater level of certainty that the economic and settlement details are captured and agreed with the counterparty. Paul Nokes, CEO, Fidessa Buy-side, commented: "Our clients were increasingly looking at post-trade as an area where they could achieve the much needed efficiencies that have already been applied in the front office. Having recognised this trend, Fidessa worked with a number of key industry stakeholders to develop AMS to provide a cost-effective 'one-stop-shop' that reduces cost and operational risk." "Key to the success of AMS has been our ability to leverage Fidessa's extensive community of buyand sell-side firms that can confirm and affirm with each other," Nokes continued. "AMS provides the industry with a credible alternative to old-style centralised matching facilities and we're delighted to be recognised with this award."

Misys, the leading financial software company, has signed an agreement with Efficiency Management Consulting to become a member of the InFusion Partner Programme. Efficiency is a fast-growing consulting practice, specialising in business management and organisational design, supporting financial institutions in the design and implementation of transformation strategies.

Efficiency specialises in FusionInvest, FusionCapital (Summit and Sophis) and FusionRisk integration projects. It delivers process optimisation, based on the Lean Six Sigma methodology, alongside performance and change management. Efficiency focuses on corporate and investment banking, asset management, private banking and corporate Treasury and supports its customers throughout the value chain, from the front to the back Office. The business has strong synergies with Misys client base in France and Morocco in particular where it delivers a full range of managed services to European and North African clients, both for local and international projects.

Misys Vice President Partners & Ecosystem, Brian Gibson, states: “We are delighted to welcome Efficiency Management Consulting to the Misys InFusion Partner Programme.  They have a significant business and client footprint across Europe and North Africa, especially with their Moroccan client base.

Combining their consulting skills and deep understanding of the Misys solution portfolio, Efficiency offers clients a compelling combination of services to significantly help their clients address their business challenges.  We look forward to working very closely with them in the market as they will be a key partner in our ecosystem across Europe.”

Saïd Guida, Associate Director, Efficiency Management Consulting commented: “We are proud to be a recognised as a Misys InFusion partner and to be working jointly with a renowned market leader in the financial software market. We see our business and integration expertise, combined with geographical synergies from Paris to Casablanca, as an ideal partnership to drive new joint business opportunities and deliver strategic projects.”

Milestone Group has been awarded an FTF Gold Standard Award for Best Operational Risk Management Solution.

The award highlights the company’s position as an industry pioneer for automating efficient and independent fund oversight processes for asset managers and asset owners. Having accurate oversight has become imperative as the SEC continues to ramp up its surveillance of this segment of the market. Fund treasurers and compliance groups within these firms know the importance of independently overseeing calculations on funds daily, by monitoring expected results as compared to the third party administrator. The most recent addition to the Milestone Group Fund Oversight solution suite, Expense Cap Management (ECM) allows for deeper granularity and control in performing these checks, without added cost or infrastructure.

Marlena Fitts, Product Management and Marketing Leader at Milestone Group, said: “As regulatory interest mounts, asset managers internationally are setting the standard when it comes to the oversight of their outsourced providers. Across the US, we are seeing more and more fund managers focusing on ramping up and automating their own oversight capabilities.”

Fitts concluded: “We are in the best position in the market to service expanding fund oversight needs and will continue our mission. The adoption of our Fund Oversight Expense Cap Management solution confirms our commitment to continuing to meet the operational needs of fund treasurers, and leverages our globally proven pControl technology platform.”

Temenos  announces that ABN AMRO, the leading Dutch universal banking group, has decided to adopt WealthSuite, Temenos’ best-of-breed, integrated Wealth Management platform for its international Private Banking business.

Following the roll out of WealthSuite, ABN AMRO will use Temenos applications in both its private and corporate banking operations. Since 2009, ABN AMRO has been operating the T24 core banking platform as the hub for its corporate banking activities. With this move, the bank will be able to extend the use of T24 to its Private Banking and Diamond & Jewelry business, meaning it has one operational core banking platform with one operating model across multiple business lines.

Temenos’ WealthSuite is an integrated suite of front to back applications that covers the full private banking value chain including unrivalled and future-proofed multi-channel client access and services, sophisticated portfolio management, fully MiFID compliant advisory and Relationship Management support, full STP order execution and transactions settlement as well as a fully integrated business intelligence solution for management information requirements. By consolidating applications on the Temenos platform, the bank anticipates significant operational efficiencies that will help them better respond to market demands.

Jean-Michel Hilsenkopf, Managing Director EMEA, Temenos, said: “We are delighted extend our partnership with ABN AMRO. To be successful in the digital age, the wealth management industry will need to simultaneously drive back-office efficiency and scalability while developing a highly personalised multi-channel customer experience. This is what WealthSuite enables private wealth managers to do and why ABN AMRO has selected it. We look forward to working with the team at ABN AMRO to deliver a great outcome for its business and its customers.”

Equinix announced it plans to invest over $97M to build a large-scale data center in Sydney. This new International Business Exchange (IBX®) data center, to be called SY4, will address the growing demand for premium data center services in Australia. SY4 will be Equinix’s fourth data center in Sydney, and its fifth in Australia; taking the company’s total investment in Australia close to $360M.

Highlights / Key Facts

·         According to the Frost & Sullivan Australian Data Centre Services Market 2014 report the Australian data center services market is estimated to grow to AUD$1.7B by 2020. Australia's data center services market recorded AUD$698M in revenues for 2013 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 13.9 percent to 2020. Equinix is meeting demand for premium data center services in Australia, with the recent opening of ME1 in Melbourne, and this new, additional investment in Sydney.

·         Located in Alexandria, just south of Sydney’s CBD and in close proximity to the Equinix SY1/2 and 3 campus, SY4 will provide a total of 3,000 cabinets of capacity at full build, with the first phase of 1,500 cabinets scheduled for completion in Q2 2016. The 135,000ft2 facility will help businesses safeguard mission-critical data with the highest levels of security and operational reliability.

·         Demand for premium data centers services has been led by Australia’s early adoption of the hybrid cloud model. In a recent survey, Dimensional Research found that 85 percent of Australian enterprises are planning to deploy to multiple clouds within the next 12 months, with 83 percent enterprises indicating that direct connects to cloud providers are highly valued[2]. The investment in SY4 is meeting this demand with the Equinix Cloud Exchange offering businesses secure, low-latency and high-performance direct connections with public and private cloud providers.

·         The IBX data centers at the Equinix Sydney campus are home to an increasing number of large enterprises, as well as robust business ecosystems for cloud, mobility, content, and financial services. With Equinix’s three Sydney data centers in close proximity, SY4 will be able to interconnect with the existing facilities via a dense dedicated fiber loop. This enables SY4 customers to leverage Equinix’s vibrant Australian ecosystems and interconnect with 600+ existing Equinix customers, 250+ cloud providers and 130+ networks.

·         The new SY4 phased build is one of many in Equinix’s growing global platform – Platform Equinix™ – which consists of more than 100 data centers in 33 markets. Earlier this year Equinix announced that it is boosting interconnection capacity with five new data centers in London, Melbourne, New York, Singapore and Toronto.

Quotes

    The Hon. Stuart Ayres, MP, New South Wales minister for trade, tourism and major events:

“Sydney is Australia’s leading business center and capital of Australia’s top State economy. It is the first choice for many local and international businesses wanting to grow in our dynamic State. The NSW Government has worked with Equinix to support the company’s growth in Sydney and we welcome the company’s latest investment which will help to ensure that New South Wales businesses have the opportunity to leverage world-class interconnection services. These services assist in unlocking new revenue opportunities and drive growth in our digital economy. Our information and communication technology and digital/creative strengths will be on show next month at CeBIT Australia 2015 in Sydney.”

·         Jeremy Deutsch, managing director, Equinix Australia:
“SY4 shows our ongoing commitment in the Sydney market and will enable our Australian customers to continue to take advantage of innovations including hybrid cloud architectures and the Equinix Cloud Exchange. The new facility will ensure that we continue to deliver on our promise to help businesses safeguard their mission-critical data, aid growth and rapid scalable deployment through our global footprint, and with the highest levels of security and operational reliability”.

Custom House Fund Services, a leading independent global fund services provider, is pleased to announce the official opening of its new Hong Kong office, significantly expanding its presence in Asia-Pacific and offering for hedge and private equity funds operating within the region. With the addition of Hong Kong, Custom House now serves its clients from 13 global locations.

Operating as Custom House Fund Services Limited, the office opened earlier this month and will be headed by Tony Kan. As part of the regional expansion, Custom House is enhancing its technology platform to provide a Chinese-language portal and website for clients and underlying investors allowing them to view their NAV statements and fund data in the Chinese language format, demonstrating Custom House's commitment to a global service offering that is tailored to the demands and requirements of local fund managers and their investors.

Tony Kan, Managing Director of Custom House Fund Services Hong Kong Ltd, said: "Having an excellent understanding of the local regulations and customs, backed with strong operating and relationship teams from Shanghai and Shenzen in China to Singapore, Hong Kong’s central location reinforces our commitment to the industry by supporting our clients across all asset classes and fund strategies in the APAC region. We look forward to extending this level of integrity to all our clients here in Asia”.

Mark Hedderman, CEO, added: “The Asia-Pacific region has seen an explosion of hedge fund activity in recent years with the rapid expansion of the number of institutional investors in the sector. In 2014, Asia-Pacific hedge funds grew by nearly 30%, due in part to recent regulatory reforms. With this trend expected to continue, we are committing to an increased focus on serving new and existing clients with specialized services applicable to their strategies and localized needs”.

Previously a Director at Amicorp Fund Services for four years, Mr. Kan advises hedge funds and private equity funds from pre-launch to various stages of their fund lifecycle to operation and administrative matters, and is a frequent speaker at hedge fund industry conferences and investor roundtables. He has over 17 years’ experience in the funds industry and holds a B.A. (Hons) in Finance from the University of Portsmouth in the UK.

SunGard has released business intelligence (BI) dashboards to help insurance executives readily evaluate the performance and financial health of their organization. This cloud-based and mobile-enabled BI tool provides a visual assessment of key performance indicators, helping executives gain real-time insights that facilitate more timely and reliable business decisions. These dashboards work in conjunction with SunGard’s financial accounting system, EAS.

According to a 2014 SunGard BI study, 45% of financial and energy company executives said they fulfill reporting needs through manual data extraction, massaging and presentation using tools such as spreadsheets, and less than one in five (17%) has timely access to desired reports and analytics. By automating the aggregation and analysis of the data, SunGard’s EAS BI dashboards help remove the human error inherent in manual processes to help improve accuracy and efficiency. SunGard’s EAS BI dashboards give financial leaders a comprehensive view of financial accounting performance at a single glance with configurable dashboards that provide immediate visibility into the insurer’s summary of operations, investment income, premiums and balance sheet.

“As insurers look to compete efficiently, the ability to reuse financial data for strategic planning has become a top priority. Leading carriers are ratcheting up business intelligence investments to provide senior leaders with actionable analytics using intuitive dashboards. In reviewing SunGard’s EAS BI dashboards, we saw a quality solution that works regardless of the data source.” – CEB TowerGroup research director Sam Stuckal

“Insurance executives are being asked to accomplish more in shorter periods of time, and they can no longer wait for reports to be cobbled together from various spreadsheets. They need immediate access to information that is accurate and up to date. SunGard’s EAS BI dashboards give executives the ability to focus on interpreting the insights rather than gathering and verifying all of the information. This is especially true as they continue to expand the volume, sources and types of data used in their decision-making processes.” – John Vercellino, vice president, product management, SunGard’s insurance business

The release of the EAS BI dashboards is part of SunGard’s initiative to provide insurers with tools that help transform raw financial data into actionable insights and timely analysis. SunGard has already released investments BI dashboards to help chief financial and investment officers drive better business decisions by monitoring and analyzing investment performance, risk, accounting and compliance.

 KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, and Appian, the leading provider of Business Process Management (BPM)-based Application Platforms, today jointly announced at Appian World 2015 an alliance that will help clients automate their business processes and harness the power of disruptive technologies -- mobility, enterprise data/analytics, cloud computing, and social collaboration -- to gain a competitive advantage in their marketplace.

A recent Appian survey illustrated the need for business applications that are easily configurable and customizable to respond faster to business and customer needs. Eighty-seven percent of respondents said that custom software is driving innovation in business software, with 72 percent stating that traditional development solutions are too slow to keep pace with business demand. In addition, 90 percent believe a new market is emerging for modern cloud-based application platforms that dramatically reduce the time and cost required to build, deploy, and maintain custom software solutions.

"IT and business teams faced with the urgent need to innovate, while optimizing processes and reducing costs, are increasingly turning to BPM solutions to increase their speed of delivery," says Jerry Iacouzzi, Advisory principal, KPMG. "With Appian, we're designing and implementing future-state technology programs for our clients to address these key business issues quickly and efficiently."

The strategic alliance combines Appian's modern application platform with KPMG's business insights and extensive BPM program delivery qualifications. KPMG and Appian's combined capabilities help clients transform current operational processes, boost efficiency, mitigate risk, provide end-to-end visibility, and comply with regulations.

Joe Kozak, vice president, Global Alliances and Partners at Appian, said, "KPMG is a strategic partner in delivering exceptional value to customers in record time across industry verticals all around the globe."

About KPMG LLP
KPMG LLP, the audit, tax and advisory firm (www.kpmg.com/us), is the U.S. member firm of KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"). KPMG International's member firms have 162,000 professionals, including more than 9,000 partners, in 155 countries.

About Appian 
As the market leader in modern Business Process Management (BPM) software, Appian delivers an enterprise application platform that unites users with all their data, processes, and collaborations -- in one environment, on any mobile device, through a simple social interface. On-premise and in the cloud, Appian is the fastest way to deliver innovative business applications. For more information, visit www.appian.com.

About Appian World 2015
KPMG is a Diamond sponsor of Appian's premier event of the year, Appian World 2015 (#Appian15), heldApril 27 - 29 in Washington, DC. The event will bring together more than 1,000 Appian customers and partners, IT thought-leaders, and members of the BPM community at-large, representing large businesses across a variety of industries as well as federal and state government agencies.