INTERNATIONAL BYTES

AIG Private Bank Limited, Zurich, has purchased additional back-office automation capability from SmartStream Technologies.

AIG, which already reconciles cash, securities and foreign exchange transactions with the aid of CORONA, ARES and COMFORT SmartStream products, has purchased extra licenses from the company's Financial Transaction Management Solution (FTMS) suite with the goal of automating its manual business processes. Automating these procedures will bring AIG closer to its STP goals, while also enhancing overall business productivity.

"We are very happy that an 'off the shelf' product is available to suit our back office workflow requirements," said Petros Diamantogiannis, internal control analyst for AIG. "SmartStream's FTMS product suite is a very cost effective means of automating our reconciliation and investigation process."

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The British Coal Pension Schemes has re-appointed J.P. Morgan Investor Services its global custodian.

The British Coal Pension Schemes has over 26 billion pounds in assets, and has been with J.P. Morgan Investor Services since 1998. J.P. Morgan provides the pension with accounting, performance measurement, compliance reporting and securities lending services.

"We market test all of our service providers periodically to ensure the Schemes continue to receive the best value for money," said David Morgan, chief executive of Coal Pension Trustees Services Limited. "The Trustees were pleased to confirm that their contract should remain with J.P. Morgan."

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Visa International will launch a new online credit card authentication program in Hong Kong later this year, according to a report in Biometric Digest.

The service, called Visa Authenticated Payment Program, will give online payment an extra layer of security by allowing cardholders to confirm the identities of both buyers and sellers before finalizing Web transactions. This will be accomplished through a variety of security measures, including passwords, smart card technology, digital signatures and biometrics.

Prior to using the service, which will be debuted in September, Visa cardholders will be required to register for the program at their bank.

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Bumiputra-Commerce Bank Berhad (BCBB), Malaysia, will install e-finance enabling software from Corillian Corporation.

The project involves the implementation of Corillian's Voyager Internet banking platform. The system is designed to handle large volumes of online customer traffic, and will offer BCBB clients Web banking services including personalized financial management, portal facilities and one-on-one marketing.

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A Luxembourg public prosecutor has found no evidence to support allegations of money laundering against Clearstream International, a European provider of clearing, settlement and custodial services.

After a three month investigation, Carlos Zeyen, a Luxembourg public prosecutor, announced there is no proof to support money laundering allegations leveled against Clearstream in the book "Revelations$."

"Ever since these allegations were first made we have consistently stated that they were without foundation," said Andre Roelants, CEO of Clearstream. "We have worked closely with the Luxembourg regulatory authorities, providing with all possible assistance and access to information in order to support and speed up their investigations."