OperationsNewsflashes: Bank of America Appoints Second FBI Official, and more

Bank of America Appoints Second FBI Official, Threadneedle Outsources through JPMorgan, Sophis Launches Securities Lending and Repo Module

Bank of America Appoints Second FBI Official

Bank of America recently announced the appointment of Donna Bucella to the position of Business Continuity Executive. Bucella, who currently works for the Department of Homeland Security heading the U.S. Terrorist Screening Center for the FBI, will join the bank in mid-October, reporting directly to Corporate Information Security & Business Continuity Executive Doug Smith. "Donna brings a unique set of skills to the bank along with a broad background in continuity planning and implementation," said Smith, in a release. "We are pleased to have someone with her level of expertise and leadership skills in this critically important role."

Bucella marks the second hiring of a senior FBI official in three months to Bank Of America. Her responsibilities include leading all aspects of business continuity planning coordination and recovery efforts for Bank of America, both domestically and internationally. She will be responsible for establishing plans, policies, guidelines and practices in support of line of business and corporate preparedness and event management. Bucella has more than 25 years of private and public sector experience, including senior litigation roles with the U.S. Army, U.S. Department of Justice and in private law practice.

Threadneedle Outsources Through JPMorgan

Threadneedle Investments recently signed a contract to appoint JPMorgan as Threadneedle's chosen provider of outsourced Investment Operations services. Threadneedle and JPMorgan expect to transfer operational control of Threadneedle's Swindon-based Investment Operations function to JPMorgan in October 2006.

The outsourcing will be achieved by way of an initial "lift out" of Threadneedle's operations covering confirmation and settlement, valuations and pricing, and accounting activities for all of Threadneedle's funds, said the company. JP Morgan plans to transition from the Threadneedle systems platform to the JPMorgan platform by early 2008. Threadneedle's Swindon operations and staff will form an integral part of JPMorgan's expanded European service offering.

"We are pleased to have finalized a deal that allows us to focus on our key strength as a fund manager," said Crispin Henderson, managing director of Threadneedle Investments. "Our clients can look forward to the support from JPMorgan's strengths in service administration and commitment to providing state-of-the-art capabilities in derivatives and complex instruments." "We are looking forward to working with a leading fund manager like Threadneedle, and as we continue to build upon our European outsourcing platform we think they will be an excellent partner," said Conrad Kozak, JPMorgan Securities Company Executive. "Their needs fit with our strengths."

Sophis Launches Securities Lending and Repo Module

Sophis , a provider of cross-asset, front-to-back-office solutions, recently launched a securities lending and repo module. As follow-up to the collateral management module launched last year, Sophis' securities lending and repo module is designed to enhance straight-through processing (STP) throughout the entire cash and securities financing chain, improve risk control and optimize collateral. The new module provides specialized front, middle and back-office functionalities, including:

Front Office: Global view of assets' availability, access to all known market practices and related pricing (multi-currency lending transactions, coupon rebates, all commissioning models including feemarks, etc.).

Middle Office: Cross-asset and stock lending collateral management, high usability of the securities and cash margining process, real-time control of exposure per agreement based on effective settlement events instead of forecasted events.

Back Office: Automated settlement/payment process, tri-party reconciliation, real-time P&L and billing computation.

"As our equity finance business continues to grow, we handle increasingly complex cross-asset products, thousands of margin calls daily, and have to mitigate against growing counterparty credit risk issues," said Etienne Bur, global head, equity & arbitrage, IXIS Corporate & Investment Bank. "It is critical we have a system we can rely on to effectively manage all of our collateral positions and contracts. Sophis was a natural partner as we have been working with them on the equity derivatives business for years now, and all our positions are already in the Sophis Database."