The Never-ending Story? Progress in the Automation of Corporate Actions

Only a few years ago – but crucially, prior to the financial crisis – surveys which reviewed progress towards corporate actions automation highlighted the key drivers for automation as reducing costs and inefficiencies. Whilst important, these were essentially technical objectives and correspondingly the debate, and its participants, inclined heavily towards the operational parts of the business. There are important signs that this is changing.

In a recent informal survey of corporate actions practitioners in Europe and the US, A-Team Group found that 100% of respondents said that risk reduction was now the top driver for automation of corporate actions. Cost reduction and operational efficiency are still considerations, but were now relegated to the second and third most important drivers.