12:13 PM
Operations Briefs
Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (MLIM) has awarded JPMorgan Investor Services its domestic assets, consolidating a $7 billion custody mandate with one custodian. JPMorgan, custodian for MLIM's $1.2 billion international assets for more than 10 years, won the $5.8 billion balance of domestic custody in a competitive-tender process that included National Custodial Services, State Street and Royal Bank of Canada.
City Networks, provider of software and services to the treasury, securities and derivatives markets, announced the successful implementation of its CityNet Confirmation Matching (TRAM) module for HSBC's regional treasury operations in the Middle East. Prior to implementing the system, the confirmation-matching process was mainly a manual procedure. Incoming Swift and Telex payment and confirmation messages were being physically checked against information supplied by HSBC's host system.
Fidelity ActionsXchange, a Fidelity Capital company and a provider of corporate-actions-processing services, is reporting reductions in its turnaround time for generating notification and confirmation of corporate-actions events. The new initiative, ActionsXchange Top Holdings (XTOP) augments the existing feeds from ActionsXchange's mix of data vendors by sourcing data directly from more than 6,000 global companies. These 6,000-plus companies represent the most widely held securities of ActionsXchange clients and cover over 95 percent of the world's market capitalization.
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation and The Canadian Depository for Securities Limited have announced the launch of a joint study to assess further business opportunities where these 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 areas such as risk management, transaction services, information-based services, technology platforms and business-continuity planning.