HSBC Gets Derivatives Under Control

Following an evaluation of vendor solutions for derivatives product control, London-based HSBC ($1.74 trillion in assets) has chosen the Y-ERM enterprise risk management (ERM) system from Yolus ( London). According to the software provider, Y-ERM imports end-of-day profit and loss and risk figures reported by front-office systems to deliver a consolidated view of the trading operation across products and locations. The solution is designed to scale to the requirements of the largest enterprise, Yolus says.

HSBC's decision to choose Yolus followed a pilot project. "The pilot, which was undertaken in 30 working days, allowed us to evaluate the Yolus system with our data and with regard to our working practices," explained Greg Williams, global head of derivatives product control IT for HSBC, in a release. "The pilot was tested with a 10-fold increase in trading volumes and evaluated against current and future-state requirements. In all cases these tests were met," he added, noting, "The good working relationship and the successful application of Yolus technology by other areas of HSBC also featured in our final decision."

The bank's credit trading product control group in New York will be the first users of the new ERM system, which will go live in early 2007. A larger program of work that will see practices for derivatives product control made standard across all HSBC locations also is planned, according to the release.

Recent Rollouts

** Union Bankshares Taps PRODUCT4

Bowling Green, Va.-based bank holding company Union Bankshares has implemented St. Louis-based PRODUCT4's One-Touch for Teller application. Union Bankshares will leverage One-Touch, combined with Jacksonville, Fla.-based Fidelity National Information Service's Horizon core-processing solution, to increase efficiency, reduce errors and stay in compliance at the front line. One-Touch, which leverages Microsoft's Smart Client technology and .NET architecture, enables Union Bankshares to tailor the solution to its needs without long development cycles, the vendor says.

** First Calgary Converts to Fincentric Wealthview

To support its growth plans within its shared services infrastructure with Langley, B.C.-based Envision Financial Credit Union, First Calgary Savings (Calgary) converted to Fincentric's (Richmond, B.C.) Wealthview Banking system. The Fincentric system integrates in-branch, ATM, telephone and Internet systems in real time and provides a consolidated view of existing accounts and products for each member, according to Fincentric. Through its XML-based gateways, Wealthview Banking provides integration with CRM, data warehousing, collections and business intelligence systems, the vendor adds.

** Philippine Veterans Bank Deploys Misys Opics

Philippine Veterans Bank (Makati City, Philippines) has implemented the first phase of Misys Banking Systems' (London) Misys Opics Plus integrated treasury and capital markets solution. The bank has gone live with foreign exchange (FX), fixed income, deposits and loans, nostro and cash management, and multicurrency accounting modules. The next phase of implementation will include analytics and customer credit, according to Misys. Misys Opics Plus is based on a service-oriented, .NET architecture.

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio