Following the extended implementation of its solution at index provider FTSE Group in December, XSP has completed the rollout of its v5 corporate actions platform at Markit in London, New York and Singapore. Markit will use the solution to assist in the automation of some of the complex processes within its bespoke index calculation and management business, says Paul Hodge, managing director of equities at the OTC data specialist vendor.
Neil Sheppard, managing director and chief operating officer for the EMEA region at XSP, explains that the vendors have been in discussions about the implementation for over a year. “XSP initiated the implementation of the XSP v5 platform at Markit last year. They needed a solution to automate processing within their index calculation and management business. The deployment of the XSP platform was driven by an initiative within Markit’s equities team, led by Paul Hodge, to supply buy and sell side firms with daily calculations on 500 customised equity indices. Over 10 business units within Markit will benefit from the XSP deployment,” he explains.
“By making our systems more scalable, we will be able to meet increased demand for our services,” adds Hodge. Prior to this implementation, the vendor was forced to process the data manually, requiring a dedicated headcount of around 20 employees.
Markit was also keen to cut overheads in light of the current tough financial climate via increased automation. To this end, the vendor implemented XSP’s data management and scrubbing module and integrated the XSP messaging module for automated notifications and the XSP workflow management module, which converts corporate actions data into golden records based on predetermined rules.
The vendor did evaluate the marketplace before it selected XSP, however, says Sheppard. He reckons the deciding factor was XSP’s “strong product offering”, its positioning in the corporate actions space and its client services. “The XSP global client base represents a diverse range of market participants. Service providers such as Markit can benefit from the XSP platform for use in their index calculations and increase the scalability of their systems,” he adds.
The installation was not especially lengthy or difficult, adds Sheppard: “Markit followed a phased-in approach, initially implementing the XSP data management and scrubbing module and corporate actions export function. Markit will further look to utilise the various distribution methods within the application. The subsequent phase will focus on meeting Markit’s reporting requirements.”
Sheppard reckons the implementation has allowed Markit to offer an improved level of service to its clients. “The XSP software reduces risk by generating a composite record, reducing resource constraints in the collation of this data,”” he adds.
In December, XSP also rolled out its solution at FTSE Group in New York, following its prior implementation at its London offices. Given the slowdown in some of the corporate actions automation projects at a number of financial institutions due to the unfavourable economic climate, it seems that vendors in this space must increasingly seek opportunities such as these to increase their customer base. As traditional business comes under pressure due to cost cutting measures it is likely that more of these vendor wins will be announced over the coming months.
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