In other FinTech news, TriOptima launches end-to-end margin processing support, market maker Optiver is using Inferno SL from Torstone Technology, and Oppenheimer Asset Management (OAM) is issuing a ‘Passport.’
Markit Signs On for Amazon Web Services
A provider of data services and systems, Markit has adopted the low-rent cloud computing support of Amazon Web Services (AWS) to support “Markit products and services including enterprise data management (EDM), thinkFolio, WSO, indices and processing,” according to Markit officials.
Markit EDM and WSO customers across North America and Europe are now live on Markit’s hosted and managed service, say Markit officials.
“By embracing AWS’ services, we are extending our capabilities across divisions. … Our industry faces many dynamic challenges and this new partnership will enable us to be more creative in finding solutions to challenges faced by our customers,” said Andrew Eisen, managing director, cloud strategy, enterprise software for Markit, in a prepared statement.
“Markit’s migration of applications to AWS demonstrates the growing importance of data-driven decision making, increased risk management, accelerated go-to-market speed, and improved automation in financial services,” said Scott Mullins, head of worldwide financial services business development, Amazon Web Services, in a statement. Like others, Markit hopes to benefit from AWS’s “global scale, cost efficiencies, and world-class security — all of which are also enjoyed by their customers,” Mullins says.
TriOptima Launches TriResolve Margin
TriOptima, post trade infrastructure provider, has launched triResolve Margin, a web-based, “end-to-end margin processing solution delivered in collaboration with AcadiaSoft,” which delivers exception-based processing, TriOptima officials say.
The TriResolve Margin offering is targeting TriResolve clients and other market participants challenged by new regulatory requirements “for margining uncleared OTC derivatives by automating the margin process in a comprehensive, scalable and cost-effective solution,” TriOptima officials say.
The TriResolve Margin system calculates margin requirements via TriResolve’s reconciled trade, collateral balance, and CSA data, and communicates the automated margin calls through AcadiaSoft’s MarginSphere, vendor officials say. “TriResolve Margin flags disputed calls and references portfolio reconciliation data for further investigation. Rules-based eligibility checks enable automated agreement of collateral pledges,” officials add.
Market Maker Optiver Deploys Torstone System
Electronic market maker Optiver has signed a multi-year deal to use sub-ledger system Inferno SL from Torstone Technology to provide a consolidated balance sheet and perform reconciliations with clearing banks, say vendor and Optiver officials. Torstone is a post-trade securities and derivatives processing vendor.
After a pilot project, begun in October, Optiver has chosen to deploy Inferno SL in support of its European business, officials say. “A key element of the pilot project was to demonstrate that Inferno SL could meet Optiver’s high-volume performance requirements, and during tests, the system processed more than one million trades per hour,” say vendor officials. Inferno SL is “a double-entry, multi-currency, multi-entity sub-ledger environment that generates trial balance, P&L and a full suite of financial reports.”
Torstone Technology is headquartered in London and has offices in New York, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Optiver, which says it puts only its own capital at risk, got its start in 1986 with a single trader on the floor of the European Options Exchange in Amsterdam, officials say. The firm currently employs around 800 colleagues from 40 different nationalities across offices based in Amsterdam, Chicago, Sydney, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan, enabling 24-hour trading.
Oppenheimer Asset Management Issues ‘Passport’
Oppenheimer Asset Management (OAM) is introducing to the financial advisors of its affiliate, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. (Oppenheimer), a new platform, Passport, touted as a way to consolidate accounting and trading platforms in order to manage all fee-based offerings, officials say.
The news follows the June 2015 OAM announcement that it would consolidate its entire advisory business representing more than $20 billion in assets to vendor Vestmark’s Unified Wealth Management platform, VestmarkOne, OAM officials say.
“The announcement of this platform is the first step in a significant OAM platform improvement project,” according to OAM. “This project will replace a number of legacy systems and streamline operational processes to improve the advisory and trading tools available to advisors as well as enable OAM to provide better guidance and improve the oversight of its advisory programs. As part of this initial launch, Vestmark and OAM have integrated VestmarkOne with Oppenheimer’s underlying custody and trading platforms.”
“Before, Oppenheimer advisors were using different systems to piece together their client’s financial story,” says Bryan McKigney, president of OAM. “With Passport, they will have a full suite of applications right at their fingertips, giving them the power to successfully and holistically provide financial advice, while managing a better relationship with their clients.”
The VestmarkOne system has alert-driven workflows to help advisors to more efficiently manage client’s assets, says Heeren Pathak, chief technology officer (CTO) of Vestmark, in a prepared statement. “These efficient workflows … reduce the manual effort advisors spend on executing advice, allowing them to spend more time advising clients and improving their practice,” Pathak says.
The Passport platform will be made available to Oppenheimer’s advisors in winter 2016, officials say.
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