IBM Builds on Reference Data Initiative with Basel II Suite

Hot on the heels of its reference data deal with Dresdner Bank (Reference Data Review, January 2004), IBM this month launched a suite of data management solutions designed to cater for institutions seeking to comply with the Basel II operational risk regulations. The new suite – with the snappy name of Risk & Compliance-Basel II Information Management – is a combination of IBM hardware and software, including the IBM Banking Data Warehouse and the DB2 Universal Database. The suite also reportedly includes middleware from Ascential and is priced at $350,000 at entry level. The system aims to allow financial institutions to draw on data from multiple repositories in multiple formats in order to meet the requirements of the Basel II framework. IBM reckons the platform has other applications as well: the system “provides banks with a multipurpose framework to subsequently adopt other specific solutions for a variety of regulations, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, anti-money laundering regulations, and international accounting and financial reporting standards,” which would appear to give it appeal beyond the European banking community, the group most affected by Basel II.