Clive Triance, head of securities and fund services and direct custody and clearing, Europe, Middle East and Africa, at Citi, tells Heather McKenzie how the EU clearing and settlement landscape is moving towards better processing, increased efficiency and general market transparency.

By providing a standard approach across multiple vendors and technologies, service-orientated architecture will become simpler to manage. Heather McKenzie highlights the latest initiatives.

Unless banks take a more holistic view of their data management systems, they will find regulatory compliance and cross-asset analysis increasingly difficult. Heather McKenzie explains.

The European Central Bank says Sepa will give banks a competitive edge but banks themselves beg to differ. They believe it may increase costs while cutting their revenues. Heather McKenzie reports.

M&A considerations, namely cutting costs, are becoming a major driver for core system replacement. Heather McKenzie explains.

Without the buy-in of top management, SOA implementation is likely to fail. And management must understand it is not just a technology issue. Heather McKenzie reports.

Eastern European countries that are joining the EU at this stage have the advantage of having the latest banking transaction technologies already in place. Heather McKenzie reports.

Any combination of factors will be considered before a financial institution makes the decision to outsource, says Heather McKenzie. But cost and efficiency are basic requirements.
When it comes to outsourcing, definitions are as varied as the deals that are done. The simplest definition is the handing over of processes for a third party to run.