Finastra Adds €STR, TONAR and SORA Rates to Fusion LIBOR Transition Calculator

Finastra has introduced additional Alternative Reference Rates (ARR) and Risk-Free Rates (RFRs) to its Fusion LIBOR Transition Calculator. The move enables banks, corporates and borrowers to calculate ARR in preparation for the end of the majority of LIBOR rates on December 31, 2021. In addition to SOFR for the US dollar and SONIA for pounds sterling, the calculator service now incorporates ARR rates €STR for the euro and TONAR for the Japanese yen, and the RFR rate SORA for the Singapore dollar.

The calculator service is available through Finastra’s FusionFabric.cloud open innovation platform and can be integrated with a bank’s existing lending systems. The use of Open APIs facilitates integration with legacy systems that have not been prepared for the LIBOR transition and are unable to perform complex ARR calculations. The Finastra calculated ARR rates can be directly consumed by these legacy applications, avoiding the need for complex and costly system changes.

ICE Benchmark Administration Updates on LIBOR Cessation and Synthetic LIBOR

ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA), the authorised and regulated administrator of LIBOR, has provided an update regarding LIBOR cessation and synthetic LIBOR following announcements from the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) made over the past year and focusing on when LIBOR settings will cease and the creation of a synthetic methodology for selected LIBOR settings through 2022.

SmartStream Partners with Acadia to Automate Collateral Interest Payments

Financial transaction solutions vendor SmartStream has partnered with risk management services provider Acadia to automate the processing and calculation of interest statements for SmartStream’s customers and their counterparties. Acadia’s Margin Manager platform will work alongside SmartStream’s TLM Collateral Management solution, to dispatch interest statements, reconcile, and resolve issues with counterparties in a standardised messaging format, removing the reliance on email exchanges and the uploading of statement data to resolve disputes. Acadia’s matching engine will pair statements, highlight discrepancies, and produce final interest statements for clients and their relevant counterparties.

KeyBank Goes Live with SmartStream’s Cloud Collateral Management Solution

US-based KeyBank has deployed transaction management solutions vendor SmartStream Technologies’ TLM Collateral Management OnDemand solution to handle margining for its cleared and non-cleared OTC derivatives, repos and securities lending business.

The cloud-based solution is now live and is helping to streamline efficiencies within KeyBank’s collateral management operations, handling data capture, validation, calculation and processing. The use of APIs links the application to other reporting solutions and downstream systems, and a management dashboard provides trend analysis and decision-making capabilities, enabling the bank to further improve and automate operational and credit risk strategies, and reduce internal infrastructure and support costs.

Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank Chooses Fenergo for CLM Solution

The world’s first digital trade finance bank, Anglo-Gulf Trade Bank (AGTB), based in the UAE, has chosen Fenergo to deploy its CLM platform.

Fenergo will enable AGTB to meet its strategic objective to disrupt the trade finance market with a cloud-based, digital-first and client-centric model leveraging emerging technologies such as data analytics and API connectivity.

AGTB aims to address the gap in the trade finance market by becoming the first digital bank servicing the sector. Fenergo’s API-first CLM solutions will provide AGTB with a single client view across all departments, jurisdictions and products, while expediating Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML) processes and time to revenue. 

FCA & FRC Remind Firms Of Extended Financial Information Timelines

The FCA and FRC have issued a statement reminding companies of the measures issued in 2020 that provide more time for the work necessary to ensure that published financial information continues to be of the quality that preparers and users of financial information expect. These include allowing listed companies an additional two months to publish their audited annual financial reports.

“This is because we recognise that we are now in the busiest period of the year for preparing, auditing and publishing financial information. This has coincided with further restrictions imposed through the recent national lockdowns in the UK,” says the statement. “The FCA and FRC would like to encourage all stakeholders including in particular boards of listed companies to (1) re-familiarise themselves with the measures and (2) use them in light of any resourcing constraints in finance and/or audit teams to ensure the quality of reporting is not compromised during this period.”

EBA Announces Timing for 2021 EU-wide Stress Test Exercise

The European Banking Authority (EBA) will launch its 2021 EU-wide stress test exercise with the publication of the macroeconomic scenarios on 29 January at 18:00 CET. The EBA expects to publish the results of the exercise by July  31, 2021.

KBC Bank chooses Finastra for LIBOR transition

KBC Bank, a Belgium-based bank with operations across Europe, US and Asia Pacific, has chosen Finastra to help manage its transition through the upcoming interbank references rates changes. It has selected Fusion Loan IQ Alternate Reference Rates (ARR) module to manage new rates and to expand its lending business. The bank has also opted for the Fusion LIBOR Transition Calculator to help calculate rates ahead of the transition period.

DTCC Releases White Paper on Managing Post-Covid Risk

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), a provider of market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, has released a white paper identifying key priorities where financial market infrastructures (FMIs) should focus in the coming years to proactively and effectively manage risk in a post-pandemic environment. FMIs around the globe performed remarkably well amid unprecedented market volatility and record trade volumes in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. However, the pandemic’s impact will likely cause structural changes to the financial services industry, as well as the regulatory landscape and legislative agendas.

ATP Goes Live with SimCorp’s SFTR Solution

ATP, Denmark’s largest public pension fund, has gone live on SimCorp’s cloud-based SFTR solution. ATP’s go-live coincides with the reporting start date for the third phase of SFTR, on January 11, where it joins several SimCorp clients who have smoothly transitioned to the cloud-based regulatory reporting platform, and successfully automated reporting to their chosen Trade Repository.