To support its ambitions to set itself up as utility provider and to ensure that it stays ahead of the technology development curve, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has recruited ex-Morgan Stanley managing director Robert Garrison to head up its IT division. Garrison will join as chief development officer for the division in October, when he will be responsible for all of DTCC’s IT application development efforts, thus supporting its range of products and services, which could potentially include a reference data utility in the near future.
Michael Bodson, executive managing director of DTCC strategy and business management, is hopeful that Garrison’s 25 years at Morgan Stanley will allow the firm to be technologically innovative and enhance DTCC’s risk management capabilities.
At Morgan Stanley, Garrison was well versed in the area of technology integration and, most recently, he led the technology integration for the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney joint venture, which was finalised in the third quarter of last year. He worked alongside Jim Rosenthal, managing director and head of firm-wide technology and operations at the firm, to establish the governance structure for IT for the merger of Citi’s Smith Barney brokerage unit with Morgan Stanley’s global wealth management unit, leading the discovery process, establishing the organisation and integrating the two departments.
Garrison also previously led the Global Wealth Management technology group for Morgan Stanley from 2007 to 2010, focused on improving the technology capabilities of the business. Prior to that position, he was responsible for applications development for its Institutional Securities Division. He was also responsible for leading the technology integration of Barclay’s Global Custody business into Morgan Stanley Trust Company, which involved eight months of due diligence and analysis.
Given its recent acquisition of Avox, some integration will also likely be required at DTCC when Garrison joins next month. If the vendor is to have a hope of pitching itself as a utility operator for the Office of Financial Research it will have to ensure it has a truly joined up approach to the reference data space, after all.
DTCC also provides global repositories for all OTC credit and equity derivatives trades and is a hub for information services and money settlement for mutual funds and insurance annuities in the US. Last month it gained the approval of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to establish the required UK subsidiary to launch a European-based derivatives trade reporting repository. This endeavour will also, no doubt, entail a degree of technology synchronisation in order to ensure the European and US repositories are on a par with each other in terms of data and operations.
Subscribe to our newsletter
