In other news, DTCC launches T+1 testing, Jefferies helps Maui wildfire victims & Temenos gets CSA’s blessings.
SS&C’s Tier 1 Gains Users & Features
The Tier 1 capital markets and investment banking customer relationship management (CRM) platform from SS&C Technologies has been enhanced, has more than 1,000 new end-users, and has the support of more staff members, officials say.
The new features “include improved data insights and in-app information delivery,” officials say. “The CRM added more than 1,000 users in the past quarter among leading international, U.S., European, and Canadian banks, independent research providers, and broker-dealers. The team also grew headcount by 20 percent.”
Since SS&C acquired Tier 1 in 2022, it has focused on improving Tier 1 “to provide anytime, anywhere access to secure real-time client intelligence,” officials say. The Tier 1 platform has more than 30,000 end-users.
SS&C officials say the Tier 1 enhancements include:
- Data Insights: It offers a “concise presentation of data” to help users “visualize what’s trending across the client’s business across conversations, topics and dialogue;”
- In-app notifications: the application automatically alerts the user about changes in coverage, newly added contacts and critical tasks;
- Trip and Venue Logistics: “The CRM automatically associates event-related information with critical events, reducing the time required to input logistics and providing a full view of the event to participants;” and
- Advanced List Management: “The suite of efficiency features saves scroll time, enables customer grouping and optimizes targeting for better management of client contacts.”
DTCC Kicks Off Industry-Wide T+1 Testing
Val Wotton
The move to shorten settlement cycles from trading day plus 2 days (T+2) to trading day plus 1 day has now moved into the testing phase, reports Val Wotton, managing director and general manager, institutional trade processing, DTCC, in an announcement.
The SEC is requiring U.S. markets to move to T+1 by May 28, 2024.
“Today [August 14] marks a pivotal moment as DTCC’s T+1 testing program kicks off in preparation for the U.S. move to T+1,” Wotton says in a prepared statement. “Due to the number and magnitude of changes that will be required to achieve a T+1 settlement cycle, it is critical that firms conduct a comprehensive and well-coordinated industry test to ensure readiness and a successful implementation.”
The preparation includes “end-to-end testing from trade execution to trade settlement, involving Institutional Trade Processing (ITP), National Securities Clearing Corp. (NSCC) and Depository Trust Company (DTC) as well as other relevant market infrastructures,” Wotton says. “DTCC’s T+1 testing program will run August 14 through May 31, 2024, leveraging 21 bi-weekly testing cycles.”
Wotton is urging securities firms “to take full advantage of our robust testing opportunities. For those firms who may still leverage manual post-trade processes, it is critical that they maximize automation to achieve timely settlement. The SEC has emphasized that institutional trades must be allocated, confirmed, and affirmed as soon as is technologically possible and no later than trade-date, referred to as Same Day affirmation (SDA). This can be best achieved through automation.”
The DTCC’s Consulting Services team will be offering “advice to market participants who wish to test, assess and optimize their post-trade process in advance of T+1,” Wotton adds.
Jefferies Dedicates Trading Day to Maui Wildfire Victims
Jefferies will hold a Global Trading Day on Wednesday, Aug. 16, “to support accredited charities focused on providing humanitarian aid to those in Hawaii who have been impacted by the severe wildfires,” according to an announcement from the investment bank.
“Jefferies will donate 100 percent of net global trading commissions on August 16 for all trading in equities and fixed income by the firm’s clients. In addition, Jefferies as a firm will donate $1 million directly, and its more than 5,300 employees worldwide will be given the opportunity to personally donate to these efforts. These contributions will be carefully allocated to qualified charities to make sure the proceeds go directly to the people most in need,” according to the official announcement.
“We are devastated by what we have seen from the wildfires in Maui, and our hearts go out to the people who have experienced unimaginable loss in the last few days,” say Rich Handler, CEO, and Brian Friedman, president, of Jefferies, in a prepared statement.
“Charities working on the front lines to provide aid and deliver services for those that have been displaced need all of our support. We encourage our employees and clients around the world to join our collective efforts – this day would not be possible without your generosity,” according to the statement.
CSA Designates Temenos as a ‘Trusted Cloud Provider’
Temenos has been designated with the “Trusted Cloud Provider” trustmark from the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), an organization for defining and certifying best practices for secure cloud computing environments, officials say.
“Built upon existing CSA programs, the Trusted Cloud Provider trustmark assists customers including financial institutions in identifying cloud providers that demonstrate their commitment to holistic security and are aligned with their individual security requirements,” according to Temenos officials.
“The accreditation reflects the high-security standards of Temenos’ cloud-based solutions, which are built using international security methodologies and best practices such as OWASP and SANS,” according to Temenos.
“Temenos creates, implements, and maintains security policies and practices that address and adhere to AICPA/SSAE18 SOC2 principles. Temenos is also certified for ISO/IEC 27001, 27017, and 27018 standards. To provide for transparency on the effectiveness of security measures, Temenos makes its attestation reports (SOC 1, 2, 3) and certificates available to its potential and existing customers,” officials say.
The software from Temenos “can be hosted on-premise and any private or public cloud, or as SaaS on Temenos Banking Cloud. As well as providing a high level of security, Temenos Banking Cloud delivers other benefits, including business agility, elasticity, and scalability, while enabling banks to focus on customer-centric innovation and take advantage of new opportunities like Banking-as-a-Service, on a secure and trusted, continuously updated service,” officials say.
Temenos has been a CSA member, “formally adopting and attesting for compliance with the internationally recognized CSA frameworks for Cloud, the Cloud Control Matrix (CCM) and CAIQ since 2021,” officials say. “With this latest recognition, Temenos has become one of only 30 technology providers globally to date, who collectively achieved the STAR Level 1, STAR Level 2 attestation and the Trusted Cloud Provider mark, joining key Temenos partners such as IBM, Microsoft, and AWS.”
Need a Reprint?