SunGard has integrated XSP’s global corporate actions software capabilities with its Phase3 multi-asset, multi-currency securities processing solution in a SunGard hosted application service provider (ASP) environment. Tony Scianna, executive vice president of SunGard’s brokerage and clearance business, explains that the integration was in response to requests from the vendors’ mutual client base.
“Mutual XSP and Phase3 clients, as well as prospects, have been asking for a more tightly coupled solution between our two systems in order to bring complete STP to their entire corporate actions lifecycle,” says Scianna. “There is enormous complexity in corporate actions processing, as well as critical aspects in the back office securities processing end of the cycle. Financial institutions today need to be able to reduce the time, cost and risk inherent in corporate actions processing. SunGard and XSP recognised an opportunity to help reduce complexity while passing along efficiencies and savings of an integrated ASP solution.”
Gerry Murphy, president of SunGard’s brokerage and clearance business, adds: “By integrating the XSP solution with SunGard’s Phase3 in a hosted environment, we can offer customers greater flexibility and efficiency as well as reduced cost and fewer errors. This will help customers control the operational risks associated with processing corporate actions, and help them streamline the reconciliation of events and changes in positions and settlement. This solution is suited to large retail broker-dealers, as well as financial institutions that wish to use multiple sources of vendor data and require global corporate actions processing.”
SunGard indicates this will provide its customers with web-based access to the XSP v5 corporate actions platform. According to the vendor, the integration with Phase3 is aimed at improving STP and reducing the cost and complexity of global corporate actions processing. SunGard claims that its Phase3 integrated with the XSP platform provides an automated straight through process for corporate actions that helps customers reduce the cost of hardware, support and maintenance as well as helping simplify their processing environments.
Brendan Farrell, CEO at XSP, says: “The seamless integration of the XSP v5 platform with Phase3 will help SunGard customers to automate their corporate actions processing and mitigate risk in this area, while also helping them to more effectively achieve day to day operational goals.”
SunGard has been working with XSP for several years, as a number of Phase3 customers are also users of XSP, although other corporate action solutions were considered, adds Scianna. “The latest version of their solution, the XSP v5 platform, makes it possible for SunGard to host the product and provide it in an ASP environment,” he explains.
The integration process took around four months to complete and there were no major challenges to the process, he continues. Scianna reckons the integrated ASP offering provides customers with a more robust corporate actions solution integrated with Phase3 and hosted by SunGard. “This gives customers access to a premium solution without having to be concerned with integration or the operational aspects of running the XSP solution,” he explains. “SunGard’s Phase3 solution has always been an ASP platform, and combined with SunGard’s hosting and integration expertise, made the integration of XSP a natural addition to Phase3.”
Scianna believes that the integrated offering is differentiated from the competition in the market because of the higher levels of STP. “The tight coupling of the XSP product to the Phase3 processing solution provides our joint brokerage customers with an unparalleled level of STP,” he claims. “We feel this combined offering is a cost effective, well matched solution for firms that need to reduce their risk by automating their corporate actions process without dealing with the complexities of an in-house implementation.”
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