WestLB dumps top systems for Summit

The global financial markets group of Düsseldorf-based Westdeutsche Landesbank (WestLB) has selected New York-based transaction processing technology company, Summit Systems, for a major consolidation of its systems environment. The integrated system will replace a number of current systems, including legacy software products from Murex, Front Capital and SunGard FX.

Summit will provide front-office trading support for a wide array of financial instruments, including foreign exchange and forex options, money markets, credit derivatives, interest rate derivatives, fixed income and bond options. Derivatives back-office processing will also be provided. More than 600 users will benefit from the new platform’s real-time trading, risk management and back-office capabilities.

Gerd Boerker, an executive director and head of information technology and e-commerce at WestLB, said historically the bank has implemented "best-of-breed" solutions from several financial software vendors. “Unfortunately, best-of-breed entails high maintenance costs and narrow scope, so several different front-, middle-, and back-office systems were required to adequately address all our needs,” he said. “We decided to see if an integrated software suite was available that offered a better, more cost-effective alternative.”

Jayesh Patel, global head of technology for the global financial markets group at WestLB, said the Summit solution combines cross-asset business capabilities with a high-performance distributed architecture, allowing the bank to eliminate many specialised software products. “If you add in the transaction cost savings inherent in wide-scale process automation then we’re looking at some very significant savings,” he said.

Patel stressed that the consolidation did not imply a reduction in functionality. New functions include real-time trade entry and position keeping, tailoring to provide proprietary bond pricing, collateral management and FX option pricing features.

The bank has completed a three-month implementation at WestLB in London and a phased implementation at WestLB’s other major offices in Düsseldorf, Tokyo, and New York will conclude in the first quarter of next year.