About a-team Marketing Services
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry

A-Team Insight Blogs

SmartStream Partners with Numerix on ISDA Collateral Management

Subscribe to our newsletter

Financial software provider SmartStream, has confirmed a new referral agreement between its Transaction Lifecycle Management (TLM) platform and US-based risk technology specialist Numerix. The partnership will support TLM users in complying with the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA)’s margin requirements for non-centrally cleared derivatives.

TLM Collateral Management offers an automated data management solution designed to reduce operational risks associated with collateral management. The new partnership with Numerix will give the platform access to advanced computational abilities making it possible to generate the risk sensitivities required by ISDA SIMM that are leveraged as input into initial margin calculations. As a result of the partnership, therefore, TLM expects a subsequent reduction in counterparty disputes and operational costs for clients dealing in collateral management for OTC derivatives.

“As new transactions become subject to initial margin requirements, front-to-back SIMM calculations, including the generation of fast and accurate SIMM sensitivities, have become critical,” says Steve O’Hanlon, CEO of Numerix. “By partnering with SmartStream we are happy to make Numerix SIMM capabilities available to a greater set of market participants.”

The margining of non-cleared derivatives has long been a central focus of the international financial reform agenda, and key changes on margin requirements for uncleared derivatives were introduced under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) in February 2017, requiring counterparties who are in scope to exchange margin on their over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives contracts that are not cleared through a central counterparty (CCP), implemented in phase-in stages from 2017-2020. With stage four (relating to entities with group notional amounts above €0.75trn) are due to come in from September 2019 and the final stage expected in September 2020, implementation is over halfway to completion already.

To assist the industry in meeting complex margin requirements, ISDA created the Standard Initial Margin Model (SIMM), first introduced in December 2013. In December 2018 the association published the latest ISDA SIMM Version 2.1, including updates based on the full recalibration and industry back-testing of the methodology and a calibrated historical volatility ratio for the interest rate asset class, to help firms to comply with the next phase of margin rule implementation and to provide transparency in the collateral management space.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Related content

WEBINAR

Upcoming Webinar: Hearing from the Experts: AI Governance Best Practices

9 September 2025 10:00am ET | 3:00pm London | 4:00pm CET Duration: 50 Minutes The rapid spread of artificial intelligence in the financial industry presents data teams with novel challenges. AI’s ability to harvest and utilize vast amounts of data has raised concerns about the privacy and security of sensitive proprietary data and the ethical...

BLOG

A (Free) Practical AI Handbook for Capital Markets Professionals

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has swiftly transitioned from a promising concept into an operational reality across the capital markets. Senior executives, compliance leaders, and technology specialists are already well-acquainted with the potential of AI to streamline processes, enhance decision-making, and open new competitive opportunities. Yet, the current challenge isn’t about grasping AI’s transformative potential – it’s...

EVENT

TradingTech Briefing New York

Our TradingTech Briefing in New York is aimed at senior-level decision makers in trading technology, electronic execution, trading architecture and offers a day packed with insight from practitioners and from innovative suppliers happy to share their experiences in dealing with the enterprise challenges facing our marketplace.

GUIDE

AI in Capital Markets: Practical Insight for a Transforming Industry – Free Handbook

AI is no longer on the horizon – it’s embedded in the infrastructure of modern capital markets. But separating real impact from inflated promises requires a grounded, practical understanding. The AI in Capital Markets Handbook 2025 provides exactly that. Designed for data-driven professionals across the trade life-cycle, compliance, infrastructure, and strategy, this handbook goes beyond...