FINsights: Navigating mergers and mitigating risks in Securities
Securities Operations
Financial Services firms need to address challenges in their operations including post-merger IT integration, reducing the cost of operations and technology, and managing risk. The current issue of FINsights focuses on Securities Operations. We evaluate the emerging trends and strategies in the middle-and-back office infrastructure of firms in the Securities industry. Our experts share insights into managing client risk, creating an enterprise risk view for investment banks and leveraging existing Anti Money Laundering (AML) infrastructure to mitigate rogue trading risks.
Strategic IT Cost Reduction: Doing More with Less
By Anita Ballaney, Michael Gavigan and Vishwanath Shenoy
The current economic climate will force Financial Services companies to examine their cost structures. Their IT costs constitute a higher percentage of the revenue compared to other industries. CIOs will have mandates to do more with less, within aggressive timeframes. By taking an enterprise-wide and a holistic approach, CIOs must examine IT spend and prioritize IT cost reduction opportunities to successfully meet their objectives.
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Investment Banking Transformation into a Bank Holding Company
By Karthik Balasubaramanian, Nikhil Bhindgarde and Pankaj Kumar Sharma
The current liquidity crisis and falling asset prices have seen many non-banks consider converting into Bank Holding Companies (BHC). Under the US regulations, non-banks need a BHC structure to co-exist with a deposit-taking bank. The BHC or a Financial Holding Company (FHC) structure and the banking charters present new opportunities and challenges for non-banks.
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Post-merger Integration: Best Practices for Information Technology Mergers and Integrations
By Greg Root and Jim Shand
Mergers in the US and European Financial Services industry will take place in an effort to stabilize the securities sector. In such Merger and Integration (M&I) events, the business expects "synergy" – the business value from two companies should be more together than apart. These synergies typically include increased market share, reduced operating costs and/or the ability to enter new markets. The key to achieving these synergies is the successful integration of the companies' Information Technology.
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Alternative Investments: Leveraging Event-based Processing for Real-time Information
By Muthukumar Krishnan and Prashant Gupta
Our white paper analyses how event-based processing plays a key role in providing real-time information to various users in the Alternative Investments industry. It makes a case for real-time information, identifies challenges and discusses event-based processing and its usage to ensure real-time information availability to decision makers in the industry.
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Securities Operations: Operating Model Best Practices
By Richard Gerry, Venkatesh V and Sanjai Taneja
Our article focuses on the best practices for a securities firm while creating a future state 'best-in- class' operating model across strategic and operational dimensions. Infosys helps leading securities firms and investment banks restructure their operating model. We have conducted primary and secondary research on securities firms to understand how their businesses are organized and how their operating models work to identify behavior patterns across trading and client relationship teams, operations and technology support.
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Maximizing the Impact of Business Transformation
By Geetha Bellu and Arun Vasu Nair
Business transformation becomes an imperative in dire times where the only option for financial firms is to swim or sink. Our article sheds light on business transformation for maximum impact with a special focus on securities operations.
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Processing Corporate Actions: A Continuing Challenge
By Omesh Sundaramguru and Roy Antony
Financial Services firms have invested millions of dollars to automate the Corporate Actions process. However, the risk quotient of the process has not changed significantly. Our article discusses the challenges and risks in the corporate actions process, the impact it has on other fund administration, back office processes and recommendations for mitigating risks in the process.
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Securities Processing: Evolution and Trends in Exception Management
By Navin Shankar Patel and Rajesh Subbarao
Securities firms have achieved a high degree of Straight Through Processing (STP) for key business processes. It has helped them improve efficiencies and lower operational risk. However, a small but significant percentage of 'exceptions' continue to occur, requiring manual intervention. Delayed or incorrect handling of these exceptions poses an operational risk. Managers realize that efficiency in exception management impacts the overall efficiencies of operations.
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Trends in Clearing and Settlement in Europe
By Hari Shankar Gupta and Praveen Daga
In the European Union (EU), the clearing and settlement industry is undergoing consolidation. Organizations are seeking ways to achieve unified procedures and economies of scale for process efficiency and cost reductions. Our article discusses the emerging trends in the clearing and settlement industry, the challenges and technological advancements.
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Offering Managed Products: Challenges in the Middle and Back Office
By Yogesh Mishra and Dilip Karadge
The managed products industry is growing exponentially. Operational procedures for servicing managed products are evolving and sponsors face challenges from rigid legacy systems, redundant processes and the changing business environment. Strategic transformational changes are required in the industry to capitalize on opportunities.
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Mitigating Rogue Trading Risks by Leveraging Your Investments in AML
By Satnam Pal Singh Gill and Uttam Purushottam
Financial firms often modify internal controls to mitigate any weakness in the management of trading risk. However, modifying internal controls without augmenting the supporting infrastructure will not suffice. Financial institutions can leverage the experience and assets of their Anti Money Laundering (AML) compliance program to mitigate rogue trading risk. Our article discusses how to efficiently reuse the infrastructure created for AML and Trade Compliance to mitigate rogue trading risk.
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Creating an Enterprise Risk View for the New Age Investment Bank
By Vinayak Shanbhag and Thadi Murali
Investment banking has changed after the consolidation of investment banks with commercial banks and the Fed's conversion of others into bank holding companies. Wall Street, as we know, will cease to exist and investment banks will be subjected to increased regulation. Our article explores the impact of increased regulation from a risk management perspective. It argues for more synergies in risk management between investment and commercial banking functions. It discusses the challenges and imperatives in creating an integrated risk view.
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