How ICBC Standard Bank's successful, rapid automation of its trade confirmations process led to further roll out to another division
PROBLEM
Operational risk due to manual processing
The crucial, complicated trade confirmation production and counterparty confirmation matching processes were supported in ICBC Standard Bank by disparate legacy systems with a high degree of manual intervention.
- Highly manual processes due to the reliance on legacy systems which could not handle all the requirements of the confirmations process
- Disparate legacy systems were used for different asset classes to handle the discrete differences
- Inconsistencies in the trade confirmation process, increasing operational risk and hindering oversight ability
- Low rates of STP for specific asset classes, caused by manual processes
- Difficult to change legacy systems where required to meet regulatory requirement
SOLUTION
Automating trade confirmations
Xceptor was implemented in a very quick timeframe to immediately start delivering benefits to ICBC Standard Bank:
- Automation of the trade confirmation process across rates, credit, FX, energy derivatives and equity derivatives using a common format that is balance sheet agnostic
- Audit and tracking functions used to increase control over the derivatives operation
- Platform managed by the operations team, who are empowered to make changes and fix any issues themselves without reliance on IT support
Subsequently, Xceptor was rolled out to the South African operations team.
BENEFITS
Operational risk reduction - Significant reduction in operational risk enabling it to satisfy strict regulatory requirements including Dodd Frank
Cost reduction - Reduction in costs of processing confirmations through reduced head count and process cycle time
Multi-asset automation - Automated trade confirmations across rates, credit, FX, energy derivatives and equity derivatives
Using Xceptor we’ve been able to streamline our trade confirmations process, taking cost out of the business and establishing better control over our derivatives operations. The original project was completed in just a few short months creating a real value-add for Standard Bank’s international business and we have subsequently rolled our Xceptor to our South African operation.
XCEPTOR ROI
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Xceptor handles an unmatched scope of simple to complex processes. Download the full Forrester's TEI study to understand the experience and outcomes achieved by our customers.