Why CASS Reconciliation Automation is No Longer Optional
Robin Hasson, Product Manager – Reconciliations, SmartStream With the growing complexity of client money rules, financial firms of all sizes are finding it harder to keep up with CASS (Client Assets Sourcebook) reconciliation requirements. What once took a few hours a week has ballooned into full-time workloads, exposing firms to regulatory, reputational, and operational risks. […]
2025 Overhaul of the Systematic Internaliser Regime: What will the FCA and ESMA changes mean for firms?
By Linda Coffman, Executive Vice President, RDS The regulatory landscape for Systematic Internalisers (SIs) is undergoing a major transformation in 2025. Both the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) have introduced significant changes to the SI Regime, shifting from a mandatory, volume-based model to a more flexible, voluntary framework. As a result […]
Guardrails, resilience, and reduced friction – SIFMA Ops 2025
By Adam Cottingham, Product Manager Corporate Actions, SmartStream For me, SIFMA Ops is a must attend event. It offers a chance to listen, learn and engage with ‘the voice of the US securities industry’ – all while enjoying some warmth in the Florida sunshine. The energy at this year’s event was buoyed by the successful […]
It’s a bit like running a marathon in flip-flops
By Harry Scola, Sales Executive, SmartStream Meeting with the attendees at InvestOps in London last week, it’s still very apparent that in today’s fast-paced business environment, many firms are still relying on paper-based processes. This is like trying to run a marathon in flip-flops – inefficient, outdated, and ultimately unsustainable. To scale effectively, organisations must […]
Driving Market Efficiency Through Shared Infrastructure
By Decio Cosme, Head of Sales, SmartStream Last week, we had the pleasure of welcoming our clients and industry peers to SmartStream Connect South Africa in Johannesburg and Cape Town. The events brought together key voices from across the capital markets landscape to discuss innovation, shared infrastructure, and operational efficiency. Among the perspectives shared, Brett […]
AI, Automation, and the Future of Financial Operations
By Tertius Vermeulen, Client Partner, SmartStream At the SmartStream Connect South Africa event in Johannesburg this week, I had the privilege of hosting a fireside chat with Palesa Banda, Head of Custody at Standard Bank. We explored how AI, automation, and emerging technologies are reshaping Capital Market, particularly within South Africa’s capital markets. Our discussion focused on […]
The AI wave – LLM is your surfboard
Vishal Joshi, Head of Technology – Reference Data Services AI advancements in recent times have been fascinating. The evolution from “writing your own model” to “picking an existing model and training” to “using the pre-trained LLM models” to “fine tuning the open-source models for your needs” is nothing but an exciting visual of a virtuous […]
Cost of Income Strategies
Nishant Bhatia, VP Fees and Expense Management In today’s rapidly evolving banking sector, optimising the Cost of Income (COI) has become increasingly fundamental to the controlling market facing fees like brokerage, clearing, exchange, regulatory, settlement and custody, and market data fees. Financial institutions are actively exploring strategies to optimise market facing costs while also ensuring […]
Gaining intelligence from data
Radha Pillay, Regional Director APAC, SmartStream Data has shifted from being a valuable asset to an essential driver in the financial services world. Recently, I had the chance to sit down with Josef Jelinek, Research Director at Kapronasia, to discuss how financial institutions are navigating the landscape of data, AI, and automation. In today’s industry, […]
Adapting systems to support the move to ISO 20022
Adam Cottingham, Asset Servicing Product Manager, SmartStream The impact of ISO 20022 on asset servicing is making itself felt as large global custodians adopt the standard, pushing clients to follow suit. ISO 20022 is an open, global standard for financial information, providing consistent, rich and structured data that can be employed for a wide variety […]