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Anvil Repo Trading System
As the the millennium approaches,
the network-wide testing of our
systems and procedures for year 2000
compliance proceeds at an intense
but orderly pace. At the same time,
the continuing evolution of our
business requires that new systems
and capabilities be added to our
networks - for example to capture
^nformation about trades, manage
our positions, and limit risk.
Increased capacities
Automating tasks
Syste»: Live System V6.5c
IV^-^1 Trader: JOND I DB Name: ANVII RE PO/rep©
g Roles: A D M T Client host: lonstirsvrll
Positions Reports Find Useful Direct Summaries Admin Help Ouit
To ensure business continuity and
allow sufficiënt time for thorough
final testing, it has been decided that the
implementation of all important new
systems must be completed by 1' Octo-
ber. The project team installing the Anvil
Repo Trading System (ARTS) for global
financial management's (GFM) short
term interest rate arm, a team led by
Stephen Richards, has been working hard
to meet this goal. ARTS is a crucial front
and mid-office management tooi
provided by Anvil Software Limited, a
leading player in this specialized field
supplying a large base of globally-active
RI's latest publication tackles the
pharmaceutical industry with the Oiobal
Biotech Review. The report discusses the
importance of
innovative R&D
while looking at
the long-term
revenue
expectations in
this volatile
market. For more
information or to
obtain copies of
this report,
contact Amanda Schoeman or Brigitte
Krijbolder in the London research
department on tel.+44 171 809 3617/809
3900 or fax+44 171 8093541.
investment banks. Although ARTS has
been specially certified for millennium
compliance by the manufacturer, its
importance to our continuing operations
is such that rigorous testing will be
carried out internally as well, particularly
to verify its integration with the rest of
our system architecture.
Richards, who divides his time between
Utrecht and London, describes the ARTS
system, which is designed for trading
support and for the management of risk
and liquidity, as 'a crucial implemen
tation that will substantially improve our
ability to serve clients by upgrading our
information handling capacity in one of
the fastest-moving areas of our global
financial operation.' Among other things,
the ARTS system will provide on-line
analysis of counterparty exposure,
liquidity use, and interest rate risk both
in London (where the system went live
earlier this year) and in Utrecht as well.
It will promote a seamless sharing of
information between London and
Utrecht, create a smooth data flow
between front and back office, and
enable us to deal with higher business
volumes in line with our customer
requirements. It will also enhance the
audit trail for transactions and make it
possible for us to more effieiently work
with the proliferating range of in-
creasingly complex financial products.
Eventually the system may be extended
to directly cover Tokyo (which is already
accessing the system remotely) as well as
New York, thus giving us global
coverage in all of the leading financial
time zones.
'Before we began implementation, a lot
of this work was being done manually.
For instance in Utrecht, repo trades have
been printed off from Bloomberg and
then manually entered into the OMR
back office/settlements system. Potential
profit and loss was calculated by yet
another separate, manual set of steps.
These practices supported a low trading
level, but they posed a clear operational
risk, for example if data was input
incorrectly. It was deemed unacceptable
not only from the standpoint of our own
ambitions, but also the high standards of
regulators and auditors as well,' Richards
explains. 'With the implementation of
ARTS, and the concurrent increase in
Repo trading volumes, the back office
will be less stressed and more able focus
on problent solving rather than losing
time to manual and repetitive tasks.
What's more, the quality of information
available to management and traders will
be substantially increased.
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