Trading and Risk Management for Investment Banks
Investment banks operate in a market beset by global crises and that is in the midst of restructuring. Financial institutions need to recover their stability through stringent cost-cutting, improved risk management and improvement of operational controls. At the same time some financial institutions are seizing the opportunity to increase investments in certain areas as others are scaling back.
As a result, banks are under unprecedented pressure to create operational efficiencies and tighten up their risk management procedures. Given the circumstances of the past few months, this can no longer happen in isolated silos. One of the legacies of the banking crisis is that banks need trade and risk management systems and processes that are capable of delivering stability and security in the 'new world'.
In a consolidating marketplace, banks need to be at the forefront of innovation. To achieve this, they need a flexible platform that can support new products that are developed in response to changing market conditions. At the same time, front-to-back automation is key to achieve efficiencies through increased STP. Comprehensive front-to-back workflow capabilities are also vital to achieve optimal operational controls on the management of complex products.
A bank's IT infrastructure is an open ecosystem of different solutions: customisation and integration are important so that data can flow easily between systems.
Finally, banks need to grow their businesses with the system, which means they need scalability and fast data access, so that they can process high volumes of trades, a high message flow, and the complicated calculations demanded by complex products.
So the technology challenge is to find the right platform: a system that is open, flexible and scalable and can be implemented quickly. A system that supports day-to-day operations in the most efficient and controlled manner and that provides flexibility for innovation in the future. Investment banks need the promise of efficient implementation: IT projects delivered on time to support rapid changes in regulation, market demand and new products.
Our expertise
Misys Sophis has more than 20 years' experience working with investment banks. We know our clients' business problems and we understand their challenges - whether they are involved in proprietary trading, client services or security services. Our systems support the following:
- Equity flow derivatives
- Exotic OTC equity derivatives and structured products
- Equity cash
- Delta One / Arbitrage trading
- Security financing
- Synthetic prime brokerage
- Clients market access
- Convertible bonds
- Structured funds / CPPI
- Commodities
- Hybrid products
- Fixed income / credit
- Credit derivatives
- Rates / Money markets / interest rate derivatives
- Repo desk
- Forex, FX options
- ALM
Thanks to long-term investment in R&D, Misys Sophis has evolved over time from a system for front office equity derivatives to one that supports investment banks with cross-asset, multi-location, front-to-back functionality as well as the potential for new functionality when it is required. Misys Sophis RISQUE� is used today by thousands of traders, sales, structurers, quants, risk controllers, operations, middle/back office and IT/developers.
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