Interactive Data Corporation, provider of global pricing, reference and corporate actions data, announced that it has released a comprehensive reference data offering to assist financial services firms as they prepare to comply with the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).

Interactive Data’s FATCA service will provide firms with instrument level details to help them determine U.S. federal income tax withholding for instruments generating U.S. sourced income. The service will flag instruments subject to FATCA withholding and classify them as: fully liable, partially liable or exempt.

Under Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations, the exempt status of a grandfathered obligation may change as the result of a “material modification” of the instrument under IRS rules. When a material modification occurs, Interactive Data will reflect the change by updating the FATCA withholding status and the qualifying date in its FATCA service.

"Although firms may have a handle on some of the changes required to client on-boarding systems to comply with FATCA, the instrument data side remains a significant challenge for the majority of firms. As a result, any service that can take some of the pain away from firms in terms of flagging this instrument data is likely to be welcomed," said Virginie O'Shea, senior analyst at Aite Group.

In an effort to assist clients and other market participants, Interactive Data helped to launch an industry advisory group in January 2013 to examine the operational and data complexities created by FATCA requirements. The FATCA working group held a series of meetings earlier this year and submitted a comment letter to the U.S. IRS to request clarification regarding a number of aspects of the FATCA implementing regulations.

“Interactive Data is committed to helping clients ease the burden of regulatory compliance. We have engaged with market participants to discuss industry issues relating to FATCA implementation and it was apparent that many firms are concerned about their ability to comply with the new FATCA regulations,” said Hubert Holmes, Managing Director of Reference Data for Interactive Data. “The new service will enable firms to identity the instruments that may fall within the scope of FATCA and help monitor for the occurrence of material modifications that result in a change in withholding obligations.”

“The financial crisis has driven a plethora of new legislation creating complex data management and reporting requirements,” commented Brendan Beith Managing Director - Pricing and Reference Data, EMEA for Interactive Data. “In this instance, we have worked closely with a broad spectrum of market participants to understand the implications of FATCA and develop a comprehensive approach to identifying the scope of covered instruments and determining loss of grandfathered status.”

The Interactive Data FATCA offering is part of a range of tax-related data services covering Financial Transaction Tax (FTT), EUSD and U.S. NRA withholding data.

SAGE SA develops Prospero, a range of solutions for the financial sector which accurately responds to the needs of different segments of the financial services industry. Prospero solutions cover all financial transactions: asset management, fund management, fund administration, independent wealth management / family office and portfolio optimization. These applications allow financial firms to focus on their core business and therefore improve their productivity. In IBS Intelligence’s Sales League Table report released in 2013, SAGE placed 2nd in the area of private banking with its Prospero offering. "We are very pleased to see the strong acceleration on the adoption of our software, Prospero. This trend is symptomatic of a context where customers emphasize price-performance ratio and return on investment," said Jean-Luc Freymond, CEO of SAGE SA

Senior appointment made following 100% growth in last financial year due to rising demand for client lifecycle management, regulatory onboarding and entity data solutions

Fenergo, the leading provider of Client Lifecycle Management software solutions for investment banks, capital market firms and private banks, has today announced the appointment of Colm Heffernan as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the fast-growing company.
 
With over three decades of industry experience, Heffernan joins Fenergo from Adobe Systems, where he spent 15 years in a variety of senior roles. Most recently, he was Senior Director with Adobe Global Services, with responsibility for the strategy and direction of the $400m Global Services division. In Fenergo, Heffernan will be responsible for the strategic direction of Fenergo’s Global Professional Services division, with specific remit over Client Success, Project Delivery, Pre-Sales, Client Support and Client Training.
 
Speaking on the appointment, Marc Murphy, CEO of Fenergo, said “I am very pleased to welcome Colm to the Fenergo team. Colm brings a huge amount of experience to Fenergo and the role of COO, which will help us scale the business to face off to the growth demand we are experiencing. This is really good news for our clients as he will be primarily focused on delivering a world-class service to all Fenergo clients”.
 
Heffernan’s appointment comes as Fenergo enters a new financial year with strong anticipated growth.
 
“Financial year 2015 was a stellar year for us,” says Murphy. “Our top line revenue growth of 98% last year follows growth of 102% the previous year. In the last 12 months, we doubled headcount across all our regions – New York, London and Dublin. Last September, we opened a new APAC office based out of Sydney, Australia, and relocated a team to grow the business down the there. We have invested heavily in our people and our product, and on top of all this, we’re profitable and cash-generative”.
 
Murphy attributes the company’s continued growth to the regulatory and data challenges being faced by financial institutions and the rising demand for regulatory onboarding and client lifecycle management solutions. In March 2015, Fenergo published the results of a research study which found that institutional client onboarding can take up to 34 weeks and cost up to $25,000 per client, with data quality, operational efficiencies, regulatory compliance and client experience representing the biggest challenges.
 
“Investment banks, corporate banks, private banks – any bank that has to onboard an institutional client is struggling to do it efficiently and compliantly in a timely manner,” explains Murphy. “They need to be able to manage this end-to-end process on a single platform – from entity data, to regulatory compliance, to client onboarding to ongoing lifecycle management. That’s why they are turning to Fenergo.”
 
Fenergo’s business outlook for FY16 will see the company recruiting for 55 new positions across professional services, client support and software development.

Reval, a world leading Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider of comprehensive and integrated Treasury and Risk Management (TRM) solutions, has announced that it has hired enterprise sales veteran John Mitchell to assist lead the company to its next level of growth. Mitchell joins Reval as Executive Vice President of Global Sales. “John has a proven track record with deep experience in financial technology and global markets, which solidifies the value he brings to both Reval and the markets we serve,” says Reval CEO and Co-founder Jiro Okochi. “We are excited that he is onboard Reval’s executive management team as we head into this next phase of the company’s growth.” Reval’s year-over-year growth in 2013 of over 20% has made it a category leader for SaaS Treasury and Risk Management solutions. According to research firm Apps Run the World (ARW), Reval ranked the largest and fastest growing SaaS provider by revenue in the Top 10 TRM application vendors. In addition, Reval ranked 80 on ARW’s recent Cloud Top 500 list. “The market is clearly ripe for the innovation that Reval delivers to the industry,” says Mitchell. “Not only is Reval recognized as a leader in its industry, but it also ranks high among the cloud-based providers in the broader market. There is no better time to join Reval, and I look forward to helping treasury organizations everywhere transform the way they manage treasury and risk.” Mitchell brings over 25 years of global sales experience across large, public enterprises, growth companies, and nascent start-ups. His leadership experience includes establishing sales teams and growing revenue for companies in the U.S., U.K. and Asia-Pacific region.  He has held leadership roles at Asset Control, a Fidelity Ventures company with focus on capital markets data management, for which he expanded its geographic and segment footprint as Vice President, Global Sales & Marketing; Fortent, an anti-money-laundering and anti-terrorist funding solution for the world’s top 50 banks, where he was Vice President Sales, Americas and Japan; and Bradmark Technologies, a database software provider, which he expanded into 20 new countries as Senior Vice President, Global Sales & Marketing. His senior roles also include President and CEO of DACG, a NASDAQ-listed global consulting group, and Group Director and Senior Vice President at Equifax in Europe. He also spent 19 years with IBM in the U.S. and U.K.  

Reval (www.reval.com) announced today that it has released Reval 14.0, a new version of its comprehensive and integrated Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution for Treasury and Risk Management (TRM). The first of two annual upgrades, Reval 14.0 enables treasurers to lead their organizations through global growth.   “Companies are more than multinational, they are global,” says Philip Pettinato, Reval’s Chief Technology Officer. “As companies enter new and emerging markets and work toward corporate growth mandates, treasuries need the operational foundation and the capabilities for cross-collaboration, better communication, and compliance with emerging regulatory requirements. Reval 14.0 builds upon the integrated nature of our single-version SaaS TRM solution to enable treasurers to lead their organizations, globally.” The new version of Reval’s all-in-one SaaS TRM solution includes enhancements to flexible and dynamic dashboard and reporting capabilities that provide treasurers with an integrated and global view of exposures, derivatives and cash positions, in real time. These reports are highly configurable, enabling treasury to aggregate and view their information in various ways, according to specific user and entity preferences.  Access and presentation across various data sources allows for advanced analysis and informed, strategic decision-making.With the ability to gather and translate data into actionable intelligence, treasurers can more effectively advise their internal business partners, CFOs and boards regarding the interrelationships between cash, debt, investments and hedging activities.  As the global regulatory environment introduces further complexity into treasury, Reval remains committed to keeping corporates ahead of new requirements. With version 14.0, Reval introduces enhancements to its Dodd-Frank and EMIR capabilities for trade capture and reporting to trade repositories. In addition, because financial reform demands collateral from counterparties entering into over-the-counter derivative contracts, only Reval 14.0 has made Overnight Indexed Swap (OIS) discounting available to corporates as an alternative benchmark to LIBOR. Discounting cash flows and marking to market in the same way banks are beginning to will become increasingly important to corporates, especially as auditors are likely to make OIS discounting a requirement over time. Reval also keeps treasury ahead of the curve with other enhancements for the global enterprise, such as the ISO CAMT standard format – a new XML-based standard for bank account statement reporting, expected to eventually replace SWIFT standards MT940 and MT942 and possibly the BA12 format. In addition, Reval 14.0 allows payments to be scheduled according to local timezones, automatically taking into account the dispersing bank’s cut-off time.   

Reval, a global Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider of comprehensive and integrated Treasury and Risk Management (TRM) solutions, announced today that British Sky Broadcasting Group plc (BSkyB), the UK and Ireland’s leading home entertainment and communications company, is now live on Reval, with the ability to incorporate new accounting standards into its financial reporting. “As we were looking to upgrade our legacy treasury system, we took the opportunity to review our manual processes and to incorporate the new IFRS13 requirements for Credit Value Adjustments (CVA) into our financial reporting,” says Simon Morley, Group Treasurer at BSkyB. "In addition to supporting the new standards, Reval´s SaaS TRM solution enables us to improve the efficiency in risk management processes, provide more accurate mark-to-market valuations and benefit from its integrated capabilities for hedge accounting. We are also planning to leverage Reval´s straight-through processing (STP) community to more effectively manage our money market fund investments." “New regulations and accounting standards always add complexity to the treasury function," says Nigel Sirett, Managing Director EMEA at Reval. “Trying to adapt simple tools with more manual workarounds increases operational risk and is extremely inefficient. Reval is therefore delighted to help BSkyB significantly reduce manual efforts, improve their risk management, and ensure compliance today and in the future.”

As companies assess the impact of OpenSSL 'Heartbleed' Vulnerability (CVE-2014-0160) on web based applications, Reval reports that its clients remain unaffected.  Reval was not impacted by the OpenSSL 'Heartbleed' Vulnerability and is not directly open to the threat from the OpenSSL security flaw. Reval's number one concern is the security of its application, and the robust security protocol it has in place includes independent assessments by its third-party security provider.​ 

Reval , a salient global Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider of comprehensive and integrated Treasury and Risk Management (TRM) solutions, today announced that Nissan Motor Co. Australia, a subsidiary of the multinational automotive manufacturer, has selected Reval to increase visibility, efficiency and control of its regional cash, liquidity and risk positions. "By integrating treasury and risk management on one platform, Reval´s SaaS TRM solution will provide Nissan with a holistic view of our overall financial status and exposures, enabling us to better support our significant business growth," says Peter Jones, Managing Director and CEO at Nissan Motor Co. Australia. "Nissan will not only benefit from straight-through processing of our core treasury workflows, but it will also gain visibility of enterprise-wide cash positions and be able to better manage its debt programs." “Reval is delighted to add an iconic brand such as Nissan to our growing client community and support the company´s growth plans through our robust and proven SaaS TRM solution," says Tony Singleton, Managing Director Asia Pacific at Reval. “The broad spectrum of our capabilities, especially in cash and liquidity management, and our SaaS technology is increasingly attracting global players like Nissan." 

Derivative Path chose Reval’s outsourced service, Reval CenterTM, to provide award-winning hedge accounting service to its regional and community bank clients, the companies announced today. Reval (www.reval.com) is a leading global provider of Software-as-a-Service solutions for Treasury and Risk Management. “Our aim is to ensure that banks aren’t stymied by the headwinds of regulatory change in the over-the-counter derivatives market,” says Derivative Path Co-founder and Co-CEO Pradeep Bhatia. “By leveraging Reval’s unmatched hedge accounting expertise and robust SaaS platform, we can offer a more powerful solution to banks that don’t have the technology or the in-house accounting expertise to handle the complexities of using OTC derivatives. We looked at several other providers to complement our state-of-the-art trade pricing and portfolio management services, but none had the depth of reporting capabilities and expertise around hedge accounting that Reval has. Reval will enable our clients to access the market and feel confident that their trades will be properly accounted for.” Derivative Path currently services banks and their use of interest rate swaps and other derivatives in the management of interest rate risk. Leveraging Reval’s Software-as-a-Service platform, Derivative Path will be able to scale in size and in asset class coverage, and will always benefit from the most current version of the software, enabling their clients to meet continuously evolving compliance requirements. Reval was founded in 1999 specifically to bring an internet solution to the underserved corporate treasury market struggling to meet stringent new hedge accounting requirements. Over the past 15 years, Reval continued to broaden its offering to a comprehensive and integrated suite of Treasury and Risk Management solutions on a single-version SaaS platform. It continues to lead the market in solutions that help companies comply with rules governing the use of derivatives, such as those mandated from Dodd-Frank in the U.S. and the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR). “We have a long history with the experienced leaders of Derivative Path and are happy that they are continuing to put their trust in Reval,” says Reval CEO and Co-founder Jiro Okochi. “The team at Derivative Path has decades of capital markets experience, and now, leveraging Reval’s expertise in hedge accounting, they will be able to serve their clients well across all aspects of the derivatives business.”

Corporate end-users of derivatives who want to understand the similarities and differences in compliance requirements under Dodd-Frank and European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) can participate in, “Checking it Twice: Dodd-Frank and EMIR,” a live webinar on Tuesday, January 28 at 11:00 am EST/4:00 pm GMT, hosted by Reval, a leading global provider of SaaS Treasury and Risk Management (TRM) solutions. Law firm Covington & Burling LLP will join Reval to discuss the latest developments and what compliance means for corporates in the coming year.

Who:

• Stephen Humenik, Of Counsel at Covington & Burling LLP
• Günther Peer, Regional Vice President, Solution Consulting EMEA, Reval
• Krishnan Iyengar, Vice President, RevalPatrick Trozzo, Vice President, Reval

What:
“Checking it Twice: Dodd-Frank and EMIR,” a complimentary, live webinar with Reval and Covington & Burling LLP.

When:
Tuesday, January 28, 2014 11:00 am EST / 4:00 pm GMT, duration one hour.

Where:
Register at: http://engage.vevent.com/index.jsp?eid=1811&seid=94

Why:
Corporates need insight into the implications of Dodd-Frank and EMIR on their businesses, as they prepare for trade reporting obligations, clearing and portfolio reconciliation requirements.