Watson Wheatley, SWIFT’s Compliance Services unit and the Central Bank of Belize also have FinTech news announcements.
AcadiaSoft Introduces New Suite of Services
AcadiaSoft Inc., the Norwell, Mass.-based provider of margin automation solutions, has launched AcadiaSoft Expert Services, a suite of consultative offerings targeting securities firms complying with new regulations, officials say.
The first available offering within Expert Services is AcadiaSoft’s ISDA SIMM Approval Guidance, a service that to assist firms via “a streamlined, expert-driven process,” intended to help firms get permission from regulators to use the proprietary Standard Initial Margin Model (SIMM) from the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), officials say. AcadiaSoft’s offerings target for counterparties engaged in collateral management.
The ISDA service refers to the “regulatory framework implemented in 2016 by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)” that requires participants in the non-cleared, over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market “will be required to post and collect IM, standardize collateral terms and quickly resolve disputes,” according to AcadiaSoft.
To make the most of the ISDA SIMM, “market participants governed by U.S regulators must first obtain permission from the U.S. Federal Reserve,” AcadiaSoft officials say “AcadiaSoft’s ISDA SIMM Approval Guidance service pairs each firm with an AcadiaSoft expert who advises and directs the approval process. This includes determining any firm-specific requirements, identifying and compiling supporting research materials, and advising on risk management best practices for use prior to and upon approval.”
AcadiaSoft is leveraging its “extensive experience in risk, collateral and change management and its partners are expert in risk modelling, valuation, back testing and validation” says Chris Walsh, CEO of AcadiaSoft, in a prepared statement. “As an industry collaborative, we have unique insight into cutting edge development and we have always been keen to share our knowledge with others and to make processes more efficient across the industry. Through Expert Services, market participants can capitalize on our expertise so that they can focus their efforts on their core business function.”
Watson Wheatley Adds Clients and Interfaces
Watson Wheatley Financial Systems, a securities reconciliation vendor based in Oxfordshire, U.K., has signed four alternative asset management clients over the past month and has launched interfaces between its iRecs platform and five key platforms.
“I can’t name the new clients yet I’m afraid,” Tom Wheatley, chief operating officer (COO) at Watson Wheatley Financial Systems, tells FTF News. “We are delighted to have signed so many new clients recently, especially since they have all come from recommendations and introductions by existing users. … We plan to do individual press releases once they are 100 percent happy with the system and have signed off on the context in which they will be mentioned.”
The additional iRecs interfaces are for five systems:
- Enfusion;
- Orchestrade;
- Eze Tradar;
- Calypso Technology;
- and Bloomberg AIM.
“The iRecs3 reconciliation solution has been further enhanced with an interactive dashboard, allowing users greater control over relevant operational data points,” according to Watson Wheatley officials.
“We needed to interface with these systems for the new clients,” Wheatley says. “They are required to extract data from their portfolio accounting systems on a daily (or in some cases intra-day) basis. The interfaces are for post-trade reconciliation, mainly against prime broker, administrator and custodian data on a T+1 basis. The interfaces were built in only a few hours as we have very flexible data aggregation tools.”
Belize’s Central Bank to Use SWIFT Sanctions Screening
In a bid to stop financial crime, the Central Bank of Belize has adopted the sanctions screening solution from the financial messaging cooperating SWIFT, officials say.
“Since its launch in 2012, SWIFT’s Sanctions Screening service has been adopted by more than 650 customers in more than 140 countries, including entire banking communities,” according to SWIFT officials. “There are also 27 central banks using the service.”
In a statement, officials at the Central Bank of Belize say that “the adoption of SWIFT’s Sanctions Screening further attests our commitment to prevent financial crime. Implementing the right compliance controls within an organization is not only a regulatory responsibility, but also a priority for global security.”
SWIFT’s Compliance Services unit manages several financial crime compliance services in the areas of sanctions, know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML), officials say. The portfolio of offerings includes sanctions screening, sanctions testing and name screening solutions, compliance analytics and payments data quality services, and the KYC registry.
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