Progress Made, But More Needed For Difficult, Dull, Deadly CAs
Difficult, dull and deadly – that was how corporate actions were described at a breakfast seminar held by CityCompass earlier this month. Of course, we don’t necessarily agree with the full statement, but difficult they certainly can be. Progress is being made, however, towards the automation of corporate actions processing, reported participants of the event....
London Exchange Engages Firms In Counterparty Data Utility Pilot
The market for counterparty data solutions is heating up, as the London Stock Exchange becomes latest in a slew of firms becoming active in the space. The Exchange is working with six participating financial institutions for an upcoming pilot of a counterparty data utility. Says the exchange’s head of reference data, Mark Husler, “We are...
Standard & Poor’s Offers Cusip Compromise; Users Welcome Move, But Still Want More
Bending to customer pressure, Standard & Poor’s has taken steps to address concerns over its pricing policies for Cusip instrument identifiers by restructuring its pricing and providing some level of transparency. The new pricing policy provides increased flexibility for European clients, some of whom have raised objections to the charges for identifiers relating to U.S.-centric...
Sophis Enters Data Management With Data for Risque and Value
Sophis is entering the data management arena with Data Service, a new module to support its existing Risque and Value portfolio and risk management products. The new combined solution is set to go live with a large hedge fund client in London, and Sophis has also signed up clients in New York and Germany. Sophis...
Telekurs’ Pricing Deal with Exchange Systems Technology
Telekurs (U.K.) is making its delayed prices on equities, bonds and deriva-tives available via Exchange Systems Technology, an IT service provider for clearing and settlement operations. The deal will provide EST’s clients with intra-day valuations in their back office environment, including for valuing collateral holdings for risk management. The data will be made available to...
IDC’s Revenues Grow, Supported by New Evaluated, Descriptive Services
Interactive Data Corp. (IDC) saw annual revenues grow 9.5% to $484.6 million for 2004, with net income rising 11.2% to $80.3 million. For the fourth quarter, revenue grew 4% to $125.2 million, while net income grew 15.7% to $21.1 million. Growth was attributed in part to “continued strength … in FT Interactive Data’s North American...
CSFB Latest Firm to Use DTCC’s Corporate Actions Service
Credit Suisse First Boston has become the sixth company to sign up for the Global Corporate Actions Validation Service from the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC). Joseph Porcello, director of asset servicing for CSFB in the U.S., says, “By signing on to GCA Validation, we’re looking to eliminate the time-consuming, manual process of reconciling...
CCMA Evaluates Lack of Timely Access to ISINs in Canada
The issue of timely access to ISIN securities identifiers in Canada is now being evaluated by the Canadian Capital Markets Association’s (CCMA) Institutional Program Steering Committee. The CCMA has been identifying problems holding up straight through processing and has highlighted asset and counterparty identification as presenting the biggest issues. ISINs are currently issued in Canada...
LaSalle Expands Corporate Actions Deal with XSP
LaSalle Bank, a Midwest U.S. bank owned by ABN Amro, has expanded its license of XcitekSolutionsPlus (XSP) for end-to-end automation of corporate actions processing for another five years. The deal, originally signed in 1999, will now run through 2010. The extension includes the addition of an ISO messaging module as well as eTran for web-based...
Capco Targets Canada
Capco is targeting the Canadian market, opening new offices in Toronto, Ontario, Montreal and Quebec under Jos Schmitt, managing partner for Canadian operations, and head of the Market Infrastructure practice. Capco recently completed a study for the Canadian Capital Markets Association (CCMA), highlighting possible enhancements for the post-trade processing of institutional trades. Making up the...