RISK MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY BRIEFS

JPMorgan will begin this July to beta test MorganRisk, a new ASP(application service provider)-based service to enable buy-side clients to measure market risk in their own investment portfolios using the bank's proprietary methodology. This will save the buy side from needing to purchase expensive risk management software and market data to calculate models. Clients will provide position or transaction feeds to MorganRisk, which will measure the risk exposures using the firm's proprietary VaR (value at risk) and stress testing methods in addition to sensitivity analysis.

ABN AMRO was a awarded a major CLS (Continuous Linked Settlement) third-party services mandate by Banca Akras of Italy, following a competitive pitch by major providers for the new risk-free settlement systems for foreign exchange transactions. ABN AMRO won the mandate after the bank's Working Capital business demonstrated its ability to process large transaction volumes and offer comprehensive services on a global basis.

FNX, the Philadelphia-based trading and risk-management-software developer, established a regional customer support and software development center in Bangkok, Thailand. The center is to be headed by Mark Doucette who was named director, South East Asia. Doucette worked for the trading software vendor for six years. Clients using the vendor's Sierra trading and risk management products will receive support.