Special report: Technology

As Hong Kong prepares to host the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications' annual Sibos meeting in mid-September, a couple of issues are likely to stand out. The first is the importance of keeping a firm lid on risk through the deployment of technology solutions at appropriate cost - whether that's at a firm level or an industry-wide initiative. The second is the rising prominence of Asian financial institutions, both for their financial strength during the crisis, as well as their sheer scale; anyone visiting the Chinese bank exhibitions will understand that China's ambitions were not limited to the 2008
Olympic Games.

Other financial institutions, however, have had a much tighter rein on costs - although, unlike elsewhere in the world, they are spending. Voters in Asia Risk's third annual technology survey made it clear they placed significant value on tried and tested solutions. Against this backdrop, Thomson Reuters narrowly edged out Murex to take the top ranking across the risk management and trading categories. Other companies with a strong track record in their areas of core competency also performed well, notably Misys and Algorithmics.

There are also efforts under way to improve market infrastructure. Malaysia, for example, is leading efforts in the region to establish specific guidelines to better tag data and central counterparty (CCP) clearings, both domestic and those already established in Europe and the US, are also seeking to improve the infrastructure of the over-the-counter derivatives business in the region. A lack of regulatory will to push trades into CCP, however, may make it difficult to get these initiatives off the ground.

The financial crisis has led to many institutions battening down the hatches and dealing with their own issues. But collaborating to improve the overall risk in the financial system is also of fundamental importance.

 

Christopher Jeffery, Editor

 

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Further reading

• Rankings

Asia Risk technology survey 2009

• 01 Sep 2009

• Infrastructure

Data, data everywhere

• 01 Sep 2009

• Credit risk

A state of flux

• 01 Sep 2009

• Trading systems

March of the machines

• 01 Sep 2009

• Corporates

Treasury tech trials

• 01 Sep 2009