The financial services sector needs secure document management to deal with large volumes of personal and confidential information. Adobe Systems’ new enterprise document control software aims to enable organisations to apply consistent confidentiality, privacy and accountability to electronic documents inside and outside the firewall.
Adobe Policy Server, the latest addition to Adobe’s Intelligent Document Platform, is designed to allow organisations to protect intellectual property, and comply with regulations to protect individual and corporate information. It aims to reduce communication costs by diminishing the need to send sensitive information on paper via physical delivery.
As pressure for regulatory compliance continues, Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank, has selected the raft radar solution, from Raft International, a credit risk and operational risk management provider, to assist in managing operational risk and complying with Basel II and Sarbanes-Oxley regulatory requirements.
Standard Chartered Bank has signed a seven-year international outsourcing agreement with IT services company Atos Origin.
The agreement, which is worth $200m, will cover the managed operations of the bank’s data centre infrastructure and is poised to transform the services in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.
Atos Origin is aiming to deliver an improved level of performance and cost of operation to the bank through deployment of new technology, standardisation of processes and opportunities for consolidation.
Linux is especially suited to processing intensive risk management, according to Algorithmics, the enterprise risk management solutions provider. Algorithmics now offers a distributed computing version of its flagship Algo Suite product, which uses its Mark-to-Future framework to leverage the computing power provided by a heterogeneous grid of machines running both the Linux and Solaris operating systems.
TowerGroup estimates that total IT spending on compliance reporting in the global financial services industry will reach nearly $1bn in 2004 and should rise to $1.7bn in 2006.
Banks’ transition to SWIFTNet may lead to SWIFT’s role being called into question as it could become just another software vendor competing with others. It will have to change its culture quickly if it wants to survive, says Chris Skinner.
‘Many chief information officers would rather have a relationship with someone who can provide multiple product sets’
The desire to source technology solutions from one vendor rather than several is on the rise among banks and this is helping to feed an M&A trend, believes Jim Wilson, president of the international division at Fidelity Information Services. Interview by Michael Imeson.
It is not so much an acquisition trail as a voyage of conquest. Fidelity National Financial (FNF), number 326 in the Fortune 500, has picked up five US banking technology companies in the past 12 months and is on the look out for more.
The design of the modern bank branch is worlds apart from its more traditional predecessor in terms of layout, operational effectiveness, equipment and decor, says Michael Imeson.
José María García: Bancomer is trying to tap into the unbanked segment of the population
Some of the big Latin American banks are concentrating on new retail products to attract the unbanked segment of the population and thus grow market share. Monica Campbell reports.
Now that many big foreign banks play a major role in Latin America’s financial system, the race is on to capture a bigger chunk of the market, including its evolving commercial marketplace. Although most banks still thirst for wealthy clients, they are also slowly recognising the potential of Latin America’s enormous unbanked population.
As signs of economic recovery appear in Kenya, banks are being hampered by the government’s unwillingness to let go of market control. Gill Baker reports.
Kala Rao reports on India’s timid yet nevertheless genuine attempts to overhaul its pension system – and on the global players licking their lips in anticipation.
With falling GDP and possible government regulation, Croatia’s banks must find new growth areas as well as preparing for the competitive shock of EU accession.
Croatia’s new government has its work cut out preparing for Nato entry and EU accession negotiations as well as strengthening the country’s external trade balance in a slowing economy. Istvan Lengyel reports from Zagreb.
Russia’s straddling of the investment grade and high-yield ratings is an illustration of the contradictions within the country. Ben Aris reports that its macroeconomic success story is not yet fully supported by the political foundations it requires.
Since its collapse in 1998, Russia’s domestic bond market has made a spectacular comeback. Rosbank chairman Alexander Popov talks to The Banker about its future.
The Kremlin has shifted emphasis away from encouraging growth, which is now strong, to tackling pressing social problems like pension reform. Ben Aris finds out that, although a good plan has got off to a bad start, there is hope for the future.
Marina is standing outside the Valentino shop in tears. She received her monthly Rbs400 pension ($15) yesterday but lost her avoska, the occasional shopping bag that all Russians used to carry, along with her purse.
Moscow City continues to dominate Russia’s regional bond market. With its infrastructure in need of rebuilding, the issue pipeline is looking promising. Ben Aris reports.
Russia’s bond market got off to a magnificent start in January with Gazprom’s record-breaking issue and it looks set to continue in a similar vein. Ben Aris asks if anything can hold it back.
The Gulf region has become a focus of attention for global project financiers. Saudi Arabia has come late to this, but could yet prove the biggest draw of all, writes Kevin Godier.
Rocketing profit levels in 2003 have given the kingdom’s banks a healthy start to the year. Expectations are high for the growth of financial services.
Saudi Arabia had a bumper year in 2003 and the economic outlook remains good. Jon Marks considers where opportunity lies for both the government and investors.
Hopes are high that laws passed, but not yet implemented, will reshape the financial sector and open up business opportunities for banks in the kingdom. By Stephen Timewell in Riyadh.
Romania has come a long way since 1999, says Matei Paun. With hyperinflation just a memory, its banks are now the targets for big European players looking for dramatic growth.
Turkey’s finance minister Kemal Unakitan talks to Stephen Timewell about involvement in a new development bank and the country’s privatisation strategy.
Jim Kharouf explains how The Clearing Corporation lived on despite being dumped by the mighty Chicago Board of Trade.
Dennis Dutterer is seen as the gutsy player who stood up against the bullying tactics of the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) and helped forge a new era of US futures competition in which Eurex US began trading last month. “I don’t mind that,” chuckles Mr Dutterer, president and CEO of The Clearing Corporation (CCorp) – formerly the Board of Trade Clearing Corporation (BOTCC).
Opinions on the future fate of the dollar differ in the extreme. Will the bulls or the bears win out? William Essex reports on factors weighing against the currency and those that could boost it.
Swaps have not proved the easiest sector of the market to take electronic. Vast as the market is, the main counterparties are a handful of international banks who know each other well and are used to dealing with each other by phone. But this has not stopped players such as independent trading platform Swapstream attacking the market.
But will they be successful? The danger is that Swapstream wins the war but loses the peace – that is the market converts but not by using a third-party provider.
Still being negative, and with big deal plays like Comcast/Disney and Cingular/AT&TW dominating the headlines, few investment bankers or analysts may have noticed or even care about a tiny accounting detail that could undermine their work. While IAS32 (International Accounting Standard), IAS39 and the vexed question of marking derivative positions to market are firmly on the radar, who is worrying about changes to IAS 36 (impairment of assets) and ZAS38 (intangible assets), and the proposals on business combinations, Exposure Draft 3, due to be formalised at the end of this quarter.
In the “it all ends happily ever after” view of capital markets, companies have spent a couple of productive years lowering debt levels and restructuring, and are now ready to grow, issue and acquire. Hence there is lots of work for everybody and mega bonuses are back.
Nice scenario but one that is not completely true if you believe Barclays Capital’s research team, who, being detached eggheads, think they will stay in a job whether the European corporate bond market’s golden 2003 continues into 2004 or not.
UK’s Vodafone loses out to American competitor in a mega mobile phone deal that should represent a ‘clean, one-stage transaction’ – it also pleased the markets and the unions. Geraldine Lambe explains.
Cutting edge deal making: (clockwise from left) Robin Lumsdaine, Sarah Salih, Steve Lazarus, Ralph Segreti, Sarah Pinneo and Jeanmarie Genirs
With hindsight, Deutsche’s foray into the unknown – a joint venture with Fannie Mae to market an inflation-linked bond to institutional investors – seems as if it could not have failed. But it did not always look that way. Sophie Roell reports.
When Jeanmarie Genirs, managing director for US agency trading at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York, left for work on the morning of February 4, she did something she never does: she asked her husband to wish her luck. “I need good luck, because today is either going to be a really good day or a really bad one,” she told him.
Since ABN AMRO announced structural changes, it has posted good figures and is climbing the league tables. The bank’s global head of Financial Markets tells Geraldine Lambe that the two developments are closely related.
Monica Campbell examines the Inter-American Development Bank’s record and finds it has little to show for its 45 years of existence but it is taking small steps to strengthen standards.
Even though almost one in four Malaysians bank with Maybank, Mr Aziz wants to increase the bank’s market share
Maybank CEO Amirsham Aziz believes Malay banks are ready to face foreign competition, he tells Karina Robinson.
A grey-haired man wearing a grey shirt and grey trousers is not a promising subject. But Amirsham Aziz, the unassuming president and CEO of Maybank, Malaysia’s banking behemoth, turns out to be a fan of the Havana-based Tropicana nightclub. He goes on about “the trees, the music, the sound, the acoustics, the colours”. (My emphasis would have been on the three dozen gorgeous mulatas (mixed race girls) who form the chorus line of probably the oldest outdoor cabaret show in the world, but perhaps only women can say these things nowadays.)
Technology spend by financial institutions continues to rise despite an apparently poor track record of producing value for money. Parveen Bansal explains why success can only occur when technology, processes and people share the same goals and objectives.
When Albert Einstein was asked how his brain worked differently from the rest of us, he replied: “I just use more than the 10% that most people use”.
Israel’s finance minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prioritising the sale of the banks in which the government has controlling interests. He is intent on selling off Israel’s largest banks, Leumi and Discount, within the coming year and a half.
The central bank of Iraq (CBI) announced in early February that three foreign banks, HSBC Holdings, National Bank of Kuwait and Standard Chartered Bank, had been selected to proceed to the final stage of the foreign bank licensing process.
The European Banking Federation (FBE) is working with the European Commission to assess whether any EU legislation is required for the rating agencies industry.
Banorte is now the bank to watch in Mexico. It is the only 100% Mexican-owned institution left in a market that is receiving a strong vote of confidence from outsiders, most recently shown by Spain’s BBVA offering $4.1bn for the 40% of Bancomer it does not already own.
Foreign banks are already checking out local acquisitions in the run up to the full liberalisation of the Malaysian banking market in 2007. Bank Negara, the central bank of Malaysia, will then allow foreign banks to buy local ones, although in the next few years it will gradually allow some foreign banks to open more branches and have off-site ATMs.
Are banks’ IT systems providing value or are they effectively brain dead? This month our technology editor, Parveen Bansal, considers how little banks get back from their huge investment in IT and what can be done to improve it. Financial sector reform is also high on the agenda of Asian Development Bank president Tadao Chino who insists it is key to sustaining high growth across the region. And in Malaysia, Maybank’s chief executive, Amirsham Aziz, discusses corruption, Havana nightclubs and the upcoming elections.
