New Meritsoft Report Highlights True Costs of Post-Trade Processing

Banks across Europe and North America are spending large sums in post-trade expense fees as a result of inefficient legacy systems, lack of automation, and the inability to persist data through the workflow, new research claims. According to a report on brokerage, clearing, custody and exchange costs from Meritsoft, a subsidiary of Cognizant that specialises in post-trade process automation, trade expenses can reach up to $750 million for the majority of banks surveyed, and have reduced profits by up to 20%. Managing trade expense has now become a priority for nine in ten firms, according to the report, which outlines solutions on how the problems can be addressed.