12:23 PM
Risk Management Briefs
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and The Canadian Depository for Securities Limited (CDS) are launching a joint study to assess opportunities where the two organizations can collaborate to deliver enhanced services to their respective members. The study, to be completed over the next four to six months, will focus on risk management, transaction services, information-based services, technology platforms and business-continuity planning. Both CDS and DTCC indicate that the study is not a precursor to a merger or acquisition.
Northern Ireland Building Society Progressive inked a contract to implement Dart+Pricing, as part of the Dart derivatives product suite from London-based AFA Systems. The Society uses Dart+Pricing, a price discovery system, as a stand-alone application to improve its front-office-pricing and hedging functionality for interest-rate derivatives and to increase its audit capabilities.
Japan's Mizuho Bank is extending its use of FNX's Sierra System to use interest rate futures and options processing. Mizuho and its predecessor banks have been using the system for FX options trading and risk management since 1997. Features include real-time position and risk-management blotters, sensitivity analysis, stress testing and other simulation tools.
Bank of Israel is live in production with Decalog from SunGard Investment Management Systems. The bank, which manages $24 billion of foreign currency reserves in various assets, is using Decalog to perform portfolio modeling, pre-trade compliance, performance measurement and attribution. States Barry Topf, director foreign currency department, "Decalog made it possible for us to manage the reserves in real time and to apply advanced risk and reporting techniques."