SmartStream - Press Releases

SmartStream wins best Corporate Actions vendor at IMD/IRD awards

Thu, 08 May 2008 11:04:53 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced that it has been awarded “Best Corporate Actions Vendor” at the 2008 Inside Reference Data awards held in New York.

The awards, now in their sixth year, recognise industry excellence within the market data, reference data and enterprise data management sectors.

Candidates were selected by the editorial staff at Inside Market Data (IMD) and Inside Reference Data (IRD) with the winners chosen by their readership, representing operations professionals at investment banks, securities firms, institutional investors, brokers and exchanges. These industry experts selected SmartStream as Inside Reference Data’s “Best Corporate Actions Vendor” from a shortlist including Advent, CheckFree, Information Mosaic and XSP.

“Our readers voted for SmartStream as the best corporate actions vendor, recognising the company for its ability to help financial institutions automate corporate actions processing and improve efficiency,” said Tine Thoresen, Editor of Inside Reference Data. “We introduced the best corporate actions vendor category this year as automating corporate actions processing is continuously being pushed up the agenda due to globalisation of financial markets, increased complexity of notifications and growing volumes of events.”

Steve Miller, Senior Product Manager at SmartStream, commented: “Winning this award means a great deal to SmartStream as it was voted for by the industry and the people who deal with corporate actions on a daily basis. Our continued success with TLM Corporate Actions, as witnessed by the number of new clients signing up to use the solution, demonstrates both the value of automating such a complex area and our ability to deliver solutions that matter. We look forward to building on this as we continue to develop the solution to deliver even greater functionality and support our clients as their corporate actions processing needs evolve.”

TLM Corporate Actions receives B.I.S.S accreditation and high praise in benchmark tests

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 10:13:39 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced that the TLM® Corporate Actions solution has attained accreditation in all three market sectors in the 2007 B.I.S.S. Research Corporate Actions Systems Benchmarking evaluation.

The benchmark tests organised by B.I.S.S. Research and set by an industry panel revealed that SmartStream’s innovative approach to TLM had moved it beyond simple corporate actions processing for Broker/Dealers, Custodians and Asset Managers. The panel noted that TLM Corporate Actions has a significant ability to reduce operational risks in the corporate actions department through proactive monitoring to ensure any errors are escalated to the appropriate user for action.

Gary Wright, C.E.O., B.I.S.S. Research and creator of the B.I.S.S. business benchmarking concept, said: “SmartStream has created a Corporate Actions system that has applied the latest technology, intelligently assembled and imaginatively developed and this is reflected in the impressive scores given by the industry panel. The future of TLM® Corporate Actions along with its other modules is exciting and we anticipate more inspiring developments during the coming year.”

The benchmarking praised TLM Corporate Actions all round functionality and revealed that it was the only system to receive the “excel at” score for both data capture and notification. It also highlighted the depth and breadth of TLM Corporate Actions customers, with a geographical spread that reinforces SmartStream’s ability to support multi-site operations globally.

Steve Miller, Senior Product Manager, SmartStream, said: “We’re delighted with this award as it reflects the investment and creativity that’s gone into developing TLM Corporate Actions one of the strongest solutions in the market. The last 12 months have seen SmartStream gain real momentum in this emerging market with a raft of new deals signed across our regional sales operations and across multiple industry sectors. As a standalone solution TLM Corporate Actions is proving to be one of the most functionally rich corporate actions solutions available today – and integrated with our broader suite of TLM solutions we believe it offers almost unparalleled control to the Operations function.”

“With the market in dire need of replacing the legacy systems, now creaking under the increasing strain of regulatory developments, TLM Corporate Actions can become one of the successful modern systems that springs out of basic Corporate Actions processing into other operational areas where other TLM modules can be integrated into a back office system,” commented Wright.

SmartStream hosts more than 70 leading institutions at Dubai launch reception

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:39:58 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced the successful launch of its new Middle East regional office in Dubai.

Executives representing more than 70 institutions gathered at The Gate, DIFC, to hear SmartStream’s CEO Ken Archer discuss the company’s expansion plans for the region. Archer acknowledged the importance of the Middle Eastern market and described the company’s new office in Dubai as the first entry point into the fast growing and strategically important market.

“This office is a milestone in SmartStream’s history and I hope will be the first of several direct operations that we establish across the Middle East to serve the large and diverse financial services community here,” he said. “The region is an important one both to us as a company and the wider financial services sector when you see the work that is being undertaken here to create innovative post-trade infrastructures.”

During the event, Archer also outlined the reasons for creating a direct operation and the benefits SmartStream’s expertise in delivering greater automation can bring to the middle and back office.

“SmartStream’s success to date – creating market leading software that brings unparalleled visibility and control to the middle and back office – is due to our desire to be a long-term strategic partner. That desire coupled with our knowledge and technical ability is why today we can count more than 75 of the world’s top 100 banks as our clients. By listening to them and understanding their issues we can help to deliver true operational advantage, whether that is reducing their transactional costs or helping them cope with predicted volume increases,” he explained. “We invest heavily in our client relationships to understand their critical business issues and create compelling solutions. Our Dubai office will work with institutions here in the Middle East to use our existing solutions, or where necessary, invest in building new ones to solve the region’s operational challenges.”

SmartStream is following the launch with a series of workshops that will demonstrate the value the company’s Transaction Lifecycle Management technology to new prospects and how it can benefit their organisations.

Leading Australian Investment Manager selects TLM Corporate Actions

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:16:09 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced that one of Australia’s leading investment managers has selected TLM® Corporate Actions to deliver greater automation and control to its rapidly expanding business.

The institution had experienced scalability issues due to a reliance on manual processing. This led it to examine ways of efficiently automating corporate actions processes to control operational risk and cost in its high growth environment.

TLM Corporate Actions was selected for its lifecycle approach to automating the complete event management process; from cleansing and scrubbing data, creating the golden record and managing the election management process through to voluntary response tracking by investment managers.

Commenting on the deal, Stefan Wawrzyniak, Regional Director for SmartStream in Asia Pacific, said: “We’re delighted that one of Australia’s leading financial institutions has selected SmartStream to create an automated and scalable approach to corporate actions processing. This project is the latest to demonstrate our ability in providing flexible corporate actions solutions to leading firms that are seeking to drive greater control and efficiencies across their middle and back office operations.”

Leading Asset Manager selects TLM to create global reconciliation platform

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 11:52:35 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced that one of the world’s leading Asset Managers has selected TLM® Reconciliations to create a global reconciliation solution.

The firm has a strong control-oriented culture and wanted to replace manual and semi-automated processes across its cash, securities and OTC derivatives reconciliations. TLM Reconciliations was selected to deliver a single solution across its global operations, enabling the firm to introduce more proactive back office processes. As a result, it can concentrate on resolving exceptions rather than managing the entire reconciliation processes, driving down operational risk and cost.

TLM Reconciliations was chosen for its unprecedented matching ability, allowing the firm to process every instrument type, from vanilla cash and stock transactions to more complex instruments such as OTC derivatives. TLM’s volume-insensitive design provides the firm with the scalability to process more and new types of instruments as the organisation grows.

Ease of deployment to a global workforce was also a decisive factor. TLM’s thin client user interface, TLM® WebConnect, removes the need to perform local upgrades in each location, enabling the firm to efficiently add new users through a browser.

Richard Cummings, UK Regional Director, SmartStream, said: “It’s clear that with higher trading volumes and ever more complex instruments, greater back office automation is critical to improving operational efficiency in today’s markets. We are delighted that this leading Asset Manager has selected TLM Reconciliations as the basis for a single reconciliations solution globally and recognised its ability to support its processing needs. This deal is testament to SmartStream’s global delivery capabilities, engaging with the client in each of its key markets to demonstrate TLM’s ability to meet their complex processing requirements. It highlights, once again, that TLM offers a proactive approach to effectively managing the transaction lifecycle, which enables firms to reduce both operational risk and cost.”

SmartStream expands Middle East operations with new office in Dubai

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:10:27 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced that it has expanded its global operations with a new office in Dubai based at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the world’s fastest growing financial centre.

Recognising the importance of one of the world’s fastest growing and dynamic financial centres, SmartStream has opened its Dubai office to serve the large and diverse financial community in the Middle East.

Ken Archer, CEO of SmartStream commented: “Establishing an office in the heart of such a strategically important market was always a central part of SmartStream’s expansion plans. The Middle East is emerging as an important processing hub in financial markets and is home to some of the fastest growing and most innovative financial organisations, which is driving demand in IT innovation. With a local presence we can build on our previous success in the region and support these institutions’ plans to deliver scalable and flexible transaction processing environments.”

The Dubai office is a significant step in SmartStream’s ongoing direct investment in the region. SmartStream will be offering its range of market leading Transaction Lifecycle Management (TLM) solutions, already used by more than 75 of the world’s top 100 banks, direct to the Middle Eastern market. The company’s flexible software design ensures it can rapidly deliver solutions that can create more efficient, customer-focused, cost-effective, compliant operations for the region’s financial institutions.

SmartStream’s office is based within the landmark building The Gate, home of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC). This location, at the heart of a globally important and rapidly expanding financial centre will enable SmartStream to quickly gain momentum in the market, accessing potential customers and partners as well as opinion leaders from day one.

Nasser Al Shaali, CEO, DIFC Authority, commented: “With the ever expanding concentration of financial firms in Dubai and across the region the demand for industry-proven processing software is increasing. As a leading provider of software to the financial services community, SmartStream has a great deal to offer the institutions in the Middle East. We are pleased to welcome SmartStream to the world’s fastest growing international financial centre and also look forward to working with them on developing the next generation of hosted information and trade processing services.”

To launch SmartStream’s new Middle Eastern operations, the office will be hosting a series of client-focused events over the coming months. This will include an official reception in April at The Gate, with CEO Ken Archer and DIFC representatives outlining the company’s expansion plans in the region. The following month will see a SmartStream Solutions Day providing prospects with an in-depth review of the company’s TLM technology and how it can benefit their organisations.

Capita Financial Group selects TLM to offer outsourced trade process management services

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:06:05 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced Capita Financial Group Limited (CFG) has purchased TLM® Reconciliations and TLM® Control to automate trade processing across its global operations.

CFG is a leading asset service provider to major asset management and hedge fund institutions around the world and provides a full range of outsourced trade processing, operations and back office services. TLM Reconciliations is being implemented to build a common reconciliations platform to replace CFG’s manual processes and deliver more efficient exception management. TLM® Control will replace CFG’s manual trade capture to boost processing efficiency for its range of clients and increase Straight Through Processing (STP) rates.

Karl Midl, Programme Director at Capita Financial Group Limited (CFG), commented: “TLM is enabling CFG to create a global platform capable of processing all transactions irrespective of instrument type or complexity. The implementation is part of our ongoing business transformation and supports our commitment to delivering the most innovative and flexible services to our clients.”

The TLM platform will automate disparate processes to deliver greater operational visibility, drive out cost and enhance control. TLM WebConnect, SmartStream’s functionally rich web portal included as part of the TLM platform, will be used to support rapid and cost-effective deployment of the solution globally and provide users with a consistent user interface.

Richard Cummings, UK Regional Director, SmartStream, said: “We are delighted that CFG has chosen to invest in TLM as a long-term, scalable solution for processing its global transactions. TLM provides a world-class solution enabling CFG to support its operations around the world and provide the highest level of service to its clients.”

Leading US Investment Manager selects TLM Reconciliations

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 14:33:54 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced that a US-based investment manager with one of the world’s largest alternative investment portfolios has selected TLM Reconciliations.

To better support rapidly expanding operations the firm wanted to replace a mixture of in-house systems and manual back office processes with an industry-proven software solution. TLM Reconciliations was selected due to its ability to deliver greater visibility and control to the firm’s cash, transaction and position reconciliations, while also offering the scalability to handle large volumes.

Lou Longhi, Managing Director - Americas, SmartStream Technologies, said: “Investment Managers and hedge funds are some of the most innovative institutions in the financial markets. However, many are now finding that their existing operational models, systems and manual processes no longer provide the levels of visibility and risk control that they require to support their investment strategies and deliver quality customer service. TLM can help these institutions by replacing limited technology and automating manual processes to help reduce operational risk and cost and increase control throughout the transaction lifecycle. We’re delighted that this firm is the latest investment manager to select TLM Reconciliations and look forward to working with them to support their operations.”

UK Hedge Fund selects TLM Reconciliations

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:14:32 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specilaist, today announced that a new London-based Hedge Fund has selected TLM® Reconciliations.

The Hedge Fund will use the SmartStream solution to automate the reconciliation of internal trades with its prime brokers to increase visibility and control to its back office processes. After a thorough review of the market, TLM Reconciliations was selected by the organisation due to its proven technology, market-leading match rates and the short implementation period that would enable the client to adhere to their aggressive project timeline.

The company is the latest in a number of Hedge Funds and Investment Managers choosing to implement TLM to deliver more proactive reconciliation and exception management throughout the transaction lifecycle.

Richard Cummings, UK Regional Director, SmartStream, stated: “This contract builds on our success with other Hedge Funds and further cements our reputation as a provider of best-of-breed solutions in this market. TLM offers asset managers and hedge funds the flexibility they require to reconcile multiple instrument types in a scalable solution that will help to efficiently manage volume increases.”

TLM Reconciliations selected to help deliver Singapore-based clearing service

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 10:49:26 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced that a new Asian clearing entity has selected TLM® Reconciliations as part of its new service offering.

The new institution, based in Singapore and backed by one of the regions largest brokerages, will deliver outsourcing capabilities for buy-side investors and international broker dealers. It is developing an innovative and adaptable trade settlement/agency clearing platform that aims to eliminate complexity and cost through trade aggregation.

It selected SmartStream’s TLM to reconcile its cash, securities transactions, securities positions and inter-system data. TLM Reconciliations was chosen for its proven ability to deliver highly automated, multiple instrument reconciliations and support high volumes. SmartStream’s TLM® WebConnect user interface will also ensure that new users can be efficiently added to the operations team, delivering functionally-rich dashboards to monitor and manage transaction lifecycles in real-time.

Stefan Wawrzyniak, Regional Director for SmartStream, Asia Pacific, said: “We are delighted that this new and innovative entity has chosen to place SmartStream at the heart of its back and middle office processes. It is testament to the relationship we have built with one of Singapore’s most successful financial institutions that its sister company has selected TLM to be at the core of its back office. We look forward to working with them as it develops its service.”

SmartStream automates loan reconciliations for leading US mortgage operator

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:26:25 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced that one of the top US mortgage loans processors has selected TLM® Reconciliations to deliver greater automation to its back office processes.

SmartStream’s client, one of the major participants in the US mortgage loan market, will replace its existing manual and time-consuming approach with TLM Reconciliations to create a fully automated, exceptions-based process. This new approach will be used for reconciling loan data between the mortgage originator and loan underwriter.

Implementing TLM Reconciliations, the firm will reduce the time taken to complete these reconciliations and will run them more frequently, helping to reduce cost and risk while also improving process visibility. As a result of this new approach, the institution will also strengthen data quality and identify patterns of exceptions that can be analysed to deliver continuous process improvement.

Lou Longhi, Managing Director - Americas, SmartStream Technologies, said: “We are very pleased to introduce a new reconciliation model, with the operational efficiencies and risk controls it represents, to the mortgage origination and underwriting marketplace. Many firms, especially those in the US mortgage industry, face demands to improve their operational processes through greater transparency and control, while at the same time reducing operational risks and costs. For mortgage operators, the essential requirement to address these issues is to introduce a proactive exceptions-based process. Our client selected SmartStream’s TLM Reconciliations because of the solution’s unique data model, advanced match rules and integrated workflow, which provides the flexibility to achieve its operational goals.”

TLM delivers single securities reconciliation platform for Asian operations of leading bank

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:37:35 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced that the Asian operations of one of the world’s largest banks has gone live with TLM® Reconciliations.

The banks’ securities operations, based in Hong Kong, has centralised its Asian reconciliations operations onto a single platform managed by the banks’ Global Reconciliations Support Team. TLM Reconciliations was chosen as the platform for this single service centre due to its ability to handle high volumes and the efficiency gains delivered by industry-leading matching rates.

The decision to create a single reconciliations platform was taken to improve back office efficiency and ensure its existing back office staff were used more effectively as transaction volumes continue to rise.

TLM Reconciliations’ thin client user interface, TLM WebConnect, enables the banks’ Asian teams to view the same data in a consistent manner, supporting more flexible operations. TLM’s integrated exception management and workflow ensures only true exceptions are raised, enabling staff to concentrate on more critical and value-added work.

This new approach, combined with TLM’s integrated reporting and audit trail is designed to deliver greater control and visibility to back office operations, reducing operational cost and risk. As a result of these efficiency gains, the bank will have a proven reconciliations infrastructure capable of scaling to meet processing needs at a competitive price.

Stefan Wawrzyniak, Regional Director for SmartStream in Asia Pacific, said: “We are delighted one of the world’s largest banks is using TLM Reconciliations at the heart of its securities processing platform. Once again TLM has demonstrated that its scalability and industry-leading matching rates positions it as the natural choice for firms seeking to build centralised reconciliations hubs.”

Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander automates reconciliations with Corona

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:27:19 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced that Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander Limited has gone live on Corona for reconciliation of cash and securities, investigations and confirmations.

Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander is a specialist banking group offering products and services in corporate and private banking, treasury and asset finance. Corona is being used to automate reconciliations and exception management processes across the bank and its S&F Investment Management (SFIM) subsidiary. The solution replaces its previously manual processes and disparate systems, eliminating the need for re-keying information, reducing errors and minimising risk.

Steve Waldron, Director of Operations at Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander, commented: “As the bank continues to bring in new business, we are finding that our existing manual processes no longer meet our needs. Corona will enable us to move from monthly reconciliations to daily reconciliations, improving exception resolution times and reducing operational risk. The flexibility of the service provides the necessary capability to manage increasing transaction volumes and meet our clients’ demands for new instrument types.”

Richard Cummings, UK Regional Director, SmartStream, said: “While we’ve had a successful and long standing relationship with Kaupthing, we are delighted to have extended this to include Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander as a new client. As Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander continues to grow its operations this implementation will enable the bank to drive greater efficiencies across a broader range of instruments – ultimately supporting its drive to lower operational risk and cost.”

SmartStream creates strategic partnership with Syntel to increase professional services capacity

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:43:06 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced a strategic alliance with Syntel, a leading global IT and business services outsourcing firm, extending the company’s global professional services capability to meet the forecasted demands of its expanding client base.

Syntel, with more than 10,000 employees in 27 locations around the world, is the first SmartStream Preferred Implementation Partner. Under the partnership agreement, Syntel’s certified teams will augment SmartStream’s established professional services group. This partnership will provide clients with access to talented implementation teams, accelerated delivery frameworks and offer flexible onshore/offshore models.

Ken Archer, SmartStream CEO, said: “As we continue to grow our customer base around the world and broaden our suite of TLM solutions, this partnership will maintain our capability and capacity to offer implementation and consulting services ahead of the demand curve. Syntel’s global footprint and flexible resourcing models gives our clients access to highly skilled, SmartStream-certified teams with a range of global delivery options that can easily accommodate individual customer needs and project frameworks.”

“While Syntel and SmartStream have a history of working together, this formal alliance extends our global ability to collaborate and deliver incremental value to our shared clients,” said Syntel President & COO Keshav Murugesh. “We share a common set of customers and a deep understanding of the operational issues they’re wrestling with. With the TLM skills we’ve already acquired from working with our joint client base, the partnership is off to a strong start. Together we believe we offer flexible approaches for firms to deal with these challenges and gain a return on their investment in the shortest possible time.”

DIFC Investments to Acquire SmartStream Technologies from TA Associates, Management and Employees

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:47:47 GMT

DIFC Investments will acquire SmartStream from TA Associates, SmartStream management and employees in an all cash deal, which values the company at approximately £200 million. The management team remains highly committed to the business and will be incentivised to continue SmartStream’s development as a leader in the industry.

His Excellency Dr Omar Bin Sulaiman, Chairman of DIFC Investments, said: “This acquisition enhances the DIFC’s role in the global financial services industry and further establishes the DIFC as a global gateway for international financial business”.

DIFC Investments aims to create a new generation of hosted information and trade processing services, and its intention is that SmartStream will be at the heart of the secure, scaleable trade processing and data management platform it is building.

Commenting on the acquisition, Bisher Barazi, Managing Director of DIFC Investments, said: “We are pleased to acquire SmartStream, a recognized global leader in the development of transaction lifecycle management software used in the back and middle office of many of the world’s leading banks, asset managers, hedge funds and money managers. It has excellent products, a committed management team and exciting plans for future development in what is the world’s largest IT market, financial services technology.”

Ajit Nedungadi, Managing Director of TA Associates said: “We are delighted to reach this agreement with DIFC Investments. This has proven to be a very successful relationship for SmartStream and TA Associates, and we thank the management team for their hard work and support during this period. The DIFC is an exciting strategic platform that will support continued growth and investment in SmartStream.”

Ken Archer, CEO of SmartStream, said: “SmartStream has established itself as a global leader in transaction lifecycle management. As we enter the next phase of our development, we are delighted to have the backing and support of DIFC Investments, which has an obvious interest in and a deep understanding of the global financial services industry in which we operate. For our customers, partners and employees it is very much business as usual. Being at the heart of this massive industry transformation that DIFC Investments are driving will undoubtedly create exciting opportunities for SmartStream to accelerate our growth over the medium and long term.”

The transaction is expected to close in approximately one month from now.

DIFC was advised on the transaction by Deutsche Bank AG, while Close Brothers advised SmartStream and TA Associates.

Ends

For further information, please contact the following:

DIFC Corporate Communications
Elizabeth Maclean
Tel: +971 4 361 1986
Fax: +971 4 362 2236
Mobile: +971 50 884 1862
Email: t-elizabeth.maclean@difc.ae

Tom Wyatt
Tel: + 44 (0)20 7758 2800
Direct: +44 (0)20 7758 2812
Mobile: +44 (0)7776 240145

Amira Abdulla
Tel: +971 4 362 2433
Fax: +971 4 362 2236
E-mail: amira.abdulla@difc.ae

TA Associates
Marcia O’Carroll
Tel: + 1 617-574-6796
E-mail: mocarroll@ta.com

Philip Nunes
BackBay Communications
Tel: + 1 617-536-0366
E-mail: phil.nunes@backbaycommunications.com

Charlotte Townsend
Lawson Dodd Communications Management
E-mail: + 44 (0)20 7535 1364
Mobile +44 (0) 7971 350606

SmartStream
Alastair McGill
Tel +44 (0)20 7847 8021
Mobile +44 (0)7795 096153

Notes to Editors

About the DIFC
The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), which acts as a gateway for international capital flows between Western Europe and East Asia, was established as an onshore hub for global finance. More than 450 firms have joined the DIFC. They operate in an open environment complemented by world-class regulations and standards. The DIFC offers its member institutions incentives such as 100 per cent foreign ownership, zero tax on income and profits, and no restrictions on foreign exchange. In addition, their business benefits from modern infrastructure, operational support and business continuity facilities of uncompromisingly high standards. For further information please refer to: www.difc.ae

About DIFC Investments
Operating under the umbrella of the DIFC, DIFC Investments administers commercial activities such as the operation and management of any current and future subsidiaries, the development of the centre's investment strategy and relevant policies, and any other strategic investments or alliances that will further the goals and objectives of the DIFC and contribute to the fulfillment of its vision. The broad mandate of DIFC Investments also includes responsibility for all non-public administration activities previously carried out by the DIFC Authority, the body of the DIFC charged with developing overall strategy and providing direction and supervision to the centre.

TA Associates
Founded in 1968, TA Associates is one of the largest and most experienced private equity firms. With offices in Boston, London and Menlo Park, the firm manages $10 billion in capital and has invested in more than 380 companies. TA provides management buyout, leveraged recapitalization and growth equity capital primarily for technology, financial services, business services, healthcare and consumer businesses. TA has been an active investor in the European markets with numerous investments, including eDreams, GlobeOp Financial Services, ION Trading Group, Jupiter Asset Management, M and M Direct, Sophos Plc and Tempur-Pedic International. The firm opened its London office in 2003 and is continuing to expand its investment efforts in Europe. More information about TA Associates can be found at www.ta.com.

Banco Santander goes live on TLM Reconciliations to create shared service model

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 10:21:05 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced that Banco Santander, part of the Spanish Santander Group, has gone live on TLM Reconciliations.

Banco Santander, the eighth largest bank globally by market capitalisation, selected TLM Reconciliations after a competitive review process in May 2007. The company has since implemented TLM Reconciliations to support the group’s reconciliation consolidation strategy and to better respond to current and future market and regulatory challenges.

The implementation is based on a centralised shared service centre model that will support the whole Santander Group. The solution includes reconciliations capabilities for cash, securities, and FX confirmations, as well as intersystems reconciliation, and reconciliation of complex treasury products such as SWAPS and OTC Derivatives.

Commenting on the project, Luis Corbolan, Director of Reconciliation Operations, Santander, said: "TLM Reconciliations has provided us with the flexibility and scalability we needed to build a common reconciliation platform for the group. By creating an agnostic reconciliations processing capability we are able to handle complex transactions like OTC derivatives as well as more standard instruments. This on-time, on-budget project has enabled us to gain even greater control over our processes and further reduce operational risk and cost."

Christian Schiebl, Regional Director, Europe, SmartStream Technologies, stated: "We are delighted that a long standing customer such as Santander has decided to base their strategic reconciliations operations around TLM. Santander is renowned for its operating efficiency and we are very pleased that it has selected and implemented TLM to deliver its vision of a shared service centre."

SmartStream automates multiple asset class reconciliations for Global Top Ten Investment Bank

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 10:56:40 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced that one of the world’s largest investment banks, headquartered in the United States and with worldwide operations, has gone live with TLM® Reconciliations as its enterprise-wide reconciliation platform.

SmartStream’s client, a global leader in wholesale financial services serving one of the largest client franchises in the world, has deployed TLM Reconciliations to create an enterprise-wide centre of excellence for reconciliations. This will cover global cash reconciliations, global securities reconciliations and all asset classes, including equities, fixed income and OTC derivatives.

Implementing TLM Reconciliations in five operations centres including New York, London and Singapore, has allowed the bank to standardise and consolidate its reconciliation processes across business lines. It has also enabled the bank to move to handling intra-day reconciliations, strengthening its operational controls while reducing both cost and risk.

Lou Longhi, Regional Director, Americas, SmartStream Technologies, said the company has extensive experience building enterprise reconciliation utilities for customers. “TLM Reconciliations has the performance and scalability essential to support a global implementation and offers the flexible data model and match rules to handle every type of traded instrument,” he added. “SmartStream has worked closely with this client on the successful large scale deployment of the TLM Reconciliations platform, which will enable the firm to manage an increasing number of instrument types and their associated volume.”

Aite research reveals manual processes stifles European cash management strategies and innovation

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 11:14:57 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced the release of new research by Aite Group, “The Primary Challenges, Trends, and IT Priorities of Banks in the European Cash Management Space: The Drive Toward Cash Optimisation”.

The research points to a number of critical trends. Cash management, both internal and corporate, is still heavily reliant on manual processes and the use of Excel spreadsheets for cash forecasting.

The changing nature of the corporate treasurer is now the driving force behind banks examining the solutions and services they offer. The need for real or near real-time data and an enterprise-wide view were also highlighted as critical issues over the next 24 months.

However, while demands have evolved dramatically, with a greater emphasis on analysis and strategy with cash management, the tools used to support it have not.
Banks and corporates increasingly want to move away from siloed country operations to regional or global cash management, however, just 36% of those banks surveyed can currently offer a single view into global data by product line or region.

RZB launches online investigation self-service based on TLM Corona

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 11:02:32 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced that RZB has upgraded to TLM Corona to enhance its client offering with a new self-service tool.

RZB, which aims to provide tailor-made solutions and services that meet the needs of each of the various markets it serves, has implemented TLM Corona to extend its integrated reconciliation and investigation capabilities to customers over the internet. Using the TLM® WebConnect thin client solution as a secure browser interface, RZB will enable customers to proactively raise exception cases. This approach is designed to reduce risk and cost for customers across RZB and its 17 subsidiary banks operating in Central and Eastern Europe.

"Clearly if we can reduce the costs in the investigations department, we can deliver a more cost-effective service to our clients," said Walfried Lemerz, Head of Transaction Services, Infrastructure Department at RZB. "We believe with TLM Corona we have the solution that will enable us to deliver greater self-service elements and efficient, more personal customer service that will differentiate us from other banks."

The web-based solution will negate the need for data re-entry that is a source of potential errors and risk. RZB customers can enter transaction details via a secure browser, open a query and trigger an investigation case with the click of a mouse. RZB has piloted the online service with two Baltic banks and is aiming for at least 20% of customers – banks, private individuals and corporates – to take up the service.

"We want to create a near-STP process, so that the data goes from TLM Corona to the core bank system to provide an automated response. We're at the beginning of that vision, but we feel that with TLM Corona we have the foundations in place to make that a reality," explained Lemerz. "We've calculated an ROI within three years by reducing the amount of time our employees spend on investigations. That will enable us to use their time more effectively to perform higher value work."

Christian Schiebl, Regional Director, Europe, SmartStream Technologies, commented: "Having a long-standing partnership with RZB we are delighted to see that TLM Corona has been and will continue to be a key element in delivering their vision. By using TLM Corona, RZB has already achieved a high success rate in investigations, but is looking to improve that even further through the use of TLM WebConnect."

Danish IT service provider expands services portfolio with TLM Corporate Actions

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:55:23 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced that a leading Danish IT service provider has selected TLM Corporate Actions to create a new service offering for its customers.

The solution, which was selected after a competitive review process, enables the organisation to offer outsourced corporate actions processing based on leading technology to a variety of financial institutions in the Nordic region. TLM Corporate Actions will be the heart of an ASP service automating the complete event management, from data cleansing to creating the golden record and managing the entitlement process.

Christian Schiebl, Regional Director, Europe, SmartStream Technologies, commented: "This is an exciting opportunity for SmartStream to partner with one of the leading Nordic service providers. Once the implementation is live TLM Corporate Actions will be used by more than 40 firms across the region – making it one of the most heavily franchised corporate actions solutions. We are delighted we've been selected to help those firms make a big step forward in improving their efficiency and reducing operational risk."

SmartStream and Tata launch outsourced reconciliations service with Deutsche Bank as first client

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:36:23 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced the launch of an outsourced reconciliations service in conjunction with leading BPO specialist, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

The TCS Aspire Service utilises TCS' expertise in delivering proven, cost-effective outsourced solutions with SmartStream's TLM Reconciliations technology to deliver scalable, industry leading processing of core and client-specific transactions. The service is designed to increase STP rates to drive down cost and risk, while removing operational limitations through industry best practice reconciliations and investigations operations.

By standardising reconciliation and exception management processes users can reduce operational risk and gain greater insight that will allow them to reengineer and strengthen their business processes. Additionally, by moving to this new utility structure they are able to convert their fixed costs to variable costs.

The service is launching with Deutsche Bank as its first customer. Martin Slumbers, Head of Investment Banking Operations, Deutsche Bank, explained: "As we develop our Operations Strategy, there are considerable benefits in being able to move our reconciliation requirements across our organisation onto a single enterprise wide solution and benefit from the scale effects that such internal and external utilities will ultimately deliver."

Leading US Investment Advisory firm selects TLM Reconciliations

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 12:05:25 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced that a large US asset manager has selected TLM Reconciliations as its enterprise-wide reconciliations platform. With more than $100 billion in assets under management, the institution is a leading investment advisory firm, managing equity and fixed income assets for institutional and private clients worldwide.

The firm will deploy TLM Reconciliations to help manage its increasingly diverse portfolio, by increasing control and visibility in the transaction lifecycle through more efficient reconciliation and exception management processes.

Lou Longhi, Regional Director, Americas, SmartStream Technologies, said: "As both the institutional and Separately Managed Account (SMA) businesses continue to grow strongly, many investment managers are looking to build their operational controls for these products and offer improved customer service. TLM Reconciliations was selected by this leading asset manager to help deliver greater control due to its flexible, generic matching capabilities and rich workflow. We are pleased that it has recognised these capabilities to meet its operational needs and named SmartStream as the strategic supplier for reconciliations.”

SmartStream announces TLM Cash Management 2.0

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 11:41:57 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced the launch of TLM Cash Management 2.0, supporting banks as they drive to proactively manage, monitor and forecast cash flows based on real-time rather than projected balances.

In response to demands for greater visibility and predictability of cash flows, TLM Cash Management 2.0 captures transaction data from any source, facilitating the calculation and projection of funding, borrowing and lending requirements on an enterprise-wide basis.

"Banks are struggling with error prone manual cash management processes that create poor quality data and as a result can lead firms to make poor decisions. At a time when regulation is threatening to stifle product innovation, solutions such as TLM Cash Management that can deliver greater automation and real or near real-time cash management are an essential step forward in effectively managing liquidity," said Christine Barry, Research Director, Aite Group.

Equally applicable to corporate or internal cash management, TLM Cash Management 2.0 enables banks to use real-time information and implement proactive cash management practices. As a result, banks can determine the probability of settlement failure, assess the risk of potential losses and eliminate the costs of incurring unnecessary settlement and operational risk exposure in the market.

Tim Martin, Senior Business Development Consultant, SmartStream, said: "The traditional method of basing decisions on statements is fundamentally flawed, like trying to drive a car by looking in the rear view mirror. With this latest version of TLM Cash Management, banks can deliver more proactive cash management services to nostro accounts and support corporates more effectively through the provision of accurate forecasting."

TLM Cash Management 2.0 provides visibility into cash exposure for future value dates. This allows the bank or corporate to operate with more efficient liquidity ratios and make better use of collateral and resources. It combines centralised cash management with intra-day reconciliation, enabling banks to build cash ladders for forecasting daily cash flows accurately. As a result, banks can initiate realignments while markets are still open, reducing liquidity risk and managing balances and exposures across accounts and currencies.

Customer self-service is also boosted through integration with TLM WebConnect, SmartStream's thin client user interface, supporting banks to deliver account and liquidity data to customers via a browser. "As products become increasingly commoditised and margins continue to decrease, customer service, including tools that enable greater self-service, will become a critical differentiator," said Martin.

Top 10 US Hedge Fund selects TLM Corporate Actions to automate event lifecycle

Thu, 20 Sep 2007 16:20:05 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced that a major U.S. hedge fund has selected TLM Corporate Actions. Based in New York City, the hedge fund is ranked in the Top 10 globally by asset size.

The hedge fund selected TLM Corporate Actions to achieve a "near-STP process" by automating the firm’s end-to-end corporate actions event lifecycle: cleansing external data and prime broker feeds to create the "Golden Record" for all events, managing timely responses to events through TLM Corporate Action's rich diary function, including voluntary response tracking, and then calculating and applying entitlements.

Lou Longhi, Regional Director, Americas, SmartStream Technologies, said: "Our hedge fund client's operational vision matches its investment strategy vision. It is explicitly global, integrated front to back office, flexible to handle changing strategies and comprehensively treats all components of the corporate actions lifecycle. We are very pleased that TLM Corporate Actions was chosen to meet the tough requirements of this hedge fund's demanding operations team."

South African bank consolidates reconciliations and exception management operations on TLM

Wed, 22 Aug 2007 14:37:30 GMT

SmartStream Technologies, the Transaction Lifecycle Management specialist, today announced that one of South Africa’s largest banks has selected TLM Reconciliations and TLM Control as part of a technology consolidation programme.

The bank decided to eliminate its fragmented environment of multiple disparate systems and implement a single, automated reconciliations and exception management solution. By automating its reconciliations process the organisation will eliminate operational silos to create a volume insensitive business capable of scaling to support its continued growth and manage the associated risk. SmartStream’s TLM Reconciliations was selected by the bank due to its advanced matching functionality and integrated exception management.

TLM Reconciliations will be used within the bank’s group finance operations to manage cash and inter-systems reconciliations and investigations. Additionally, the bank will use TLM Control, SmartStream’s BPM solution developed specifically for enterprise wide STP deployments, for processing ISO20022 SWIFTNet Exceptions and Investigations messages.

Richard Cummings, Regional Director, SmartStream Technologies, said: “This agreement demonstrates SmartStream’s ability to deliver flexible, scalable solutions to financial institutions around the globe. It also shows that TLM can assist organisations of all sizes to increase control, manage growth and minimise operational risk.”