Operations Newsflashes: Omgeo Promotes Ball-Toncic, and more

Kathy Ball-Toncic was named head of global relationship management at Omgeo, the provider of post-trade and pre-trade settlement services.

Ball-Toncic will work with Martin Brennan, managing director of the Global Client Solutions Group. Brennan joined Omgeo in October of 2004.

The promotion falls on the heels of Ball-Toncic's successful introduction of the strategy accounts process to Omgeo in 2004, which focuses on key client relationships, according to the release.

Ball-Toncic joined Omgeo in October 2002, to serve as executive director of Omgeo's STP Partners Program, which currently includes more than 60 leading financial services companies worldwide as members. Both programs will be combined under the new role. The Global Client Solutions Group now consists of: global sales, global relationship management and global integration.

In other changes, Tim Keady assumes the role of head of global sales. Keady previously served as head of global sales, Americas. In addition, Megan McKeever Costello will serve as head of global integration. She previously was director of integration and consulting, Americas.

LaSalle Bank Expands Xcitek's XSP License for Corporate Actions

Chicago-based LaSalle Bank N.A is expanding its license of XSP, a workflow module from XcitekSolutionsPlus that manages the corporate actions processing lifecycle. The Midwest bank, a user of XSP since 1999, has extended the license to a five-year agreement, which will continue through 2010. In addition, the bank, which is owned by Netherlands-based ABN AMRO Bank N.V., added the ISO (International Organization for Standardization) messaging module as well as eTRAN for its Web-based notifications and response capture capabilities. This is meant to improve and streamline internal and external client communications.

XSP is compatible with SWIFT ISO 15022 and features data scrubbing tools, workflow management modules, Web and ISO messaging for client notification and response capture and entitlement processing. Through workflow tools, tasks are automatically routed to designated parties to handle the required action.

"XSP has proven to us that it is capable of handling our high corporate actions processing volume, while improving our competitive advantage for domestic and global custodian opportunities," states Susan Vonder Heide, senior vice president of Trust and Asset Management at LaSalle Bank in the release. "With the addition of the ISO messaging module and eTRAN for our notification and response capture needs, we will be able to manage more effectively costs and risks associated with the flow of information and instructions within a tight deadline," she further states in the release.

FMCNet Joins SWIFT Network for Securities Messaging

Financial Models Inc. (FMC) announced that users of FMCNet, a global network that facilitates securities settlement, would have access to the SWIFT network.

The provider of investment management systems and services announced the news at the 11th annual ISITC-IOA (International Securities Association for Institutional Trade Communication " International Operations Association) industry forum.

FMC contends the new arrangement is significant because it will allow current and prospective FMCNet clients that are not members of Swift to utilize the two-way communications related to message for securities transactions.

Under its new status, FMCNet will be an electronic trade confirmation (ETC) provider, enabling it to support a wide range of SWIFT securities message types among all parties of a transaction.

"This relationship is critically important to clients who require access to global custodians, investment managers and brokers, but are not in a position either financially or technologically to join SWIFT directly," states Jose Manso, managing director of FMCNet in the release.

SWIFT is an industry-owned cooperative supplying secure, standardized messaging services and interface software to 7,650 financial institutions in over 200 countries. Prior to becoming an ETC provider, FMCNet has acted as a SWIFT service bureau for the last six years, by creating a network-to-network interface for several buy-side institutions.

Launched in 1990, FMCNet is a global trade network linking investment managers, broker/dealers, clearing agencies, custodians and interested parties. Through Web-based access, FMCNet provides local matching, a delivery database for securities settlement instructions, message translation services, and interfaces into other networks. In addition to SWIFT, it connects to Depository Trust Company and Crossmar Matching Service, according to the company's Web site.

Lupus alpha Picks ADP Wilco's SWIFT Service Bureau

Frankfurt-based investment company Lupus alpha has signed contracts to use ADP Wilco's SWIFT Service Bureau to support its adoption of SWIFT standard-based messaging standards for communicating with custodians. As a result, the firm expects to fully automate the settlement process. ADP Wilco's SWIFT Service Bureau will replace fax-based communication, eliminate manual processing and reduce errors as well as cancellations, the investment firm said in the release.

"We are committed to streamlining and optimizing our processes to provide an efficient, high-quality service to our clients," states Matthias Biedenkapp, a senior manager at Lupus alpha.

Lupus alpha says it considered several other SWIFT service providers and chose ADP Wilco because of its outsourcing capability. "We did not want to incur the fixed costs associated with hardware and network communication, system back-ups, security requirements and technical developments regarding SWIFT," adds Biedenkapp in the release. The investment company plans to use the SWIFT-based communication with all of its custodian banks by the end of 2005; then it plans to introduce SWIFT-based communication with its brokers.

In addition, the investment firm will utilize ADP Wilco's online access service to the German securities reference database of WM Datenservice for its back-office processing needs.