Korean Securities Depository and Omgeo Form Strategic Partnership

The Korean Securities Depository (KSD), the central securities depository for South Korea, and Omgeo Ltd, a post-trade service provider, have formed a partnership that should provide the necessary infrastructure to allow the Korean investment community to achieve greater levels of operational efficiency and automation in trade processing. With the advent of this partnership, the KSD has signaled its intention to encourage Korean investment managers to adopt a more automated workflow, based on global best practice. KSD will partner with Omgeo to offer a service bureau that will transform Korean cross-border trade processing.The service bureau will offer automated trade matching and processing using Omgeo’s solutions. Through Omgeo Central Trade Manager and Omgeo ALERT, KSD will enable Korean investment managers to electronically confirm the accuracy of trade details with their counterparties around the globe and automatically enrich them with standing settlement instructions (SSIs). Omgeo CTM is a single platform for the central matching of fixed income and equity trade details. Omgeo ALERT is a Web-based global database for the maintenance and communication of standing settlement and account instructions. Additionally, Korean investment managers will be able to receive a copy for information of matched trade details from any interested third party. The KSD and domestic Korean investment managers will then gain access to Omgeo’s global network of trade counterparties.

“This partnership allows Korean asset managers to join Omgeo’s worldwide community of clients, thereby reducing operational risks and improving efficiency. Additionally, KSD will be geared to have the combined STP infrastructure of domestic and cross-border trading to support seamless processes within the Korean fund management community. Reducing operational and counterparty risk through automation are key ingredients for the future growth and success of the Korean securities market,” said Do-Yeal Lee, managing director of deposit settlement service division of the Korean Securities Depository, in a press release. “Omgeo is pleased to have the support of the Korean Securities Depository as we continue to build momentum in Asia. We are looking forward to working with the KSD to provide automation for Korean investment managers as they look to minimize risk and streamline their post-trade processes in the cross-border environment. Our relationship with depositories around the globe is vital as it enables our client community to gain true end-to-end automation and realize the benefits of risk mitigation in the middle and back office," Tim Keady, managing director, global sales and relationship management for Omgeo, added in the release.