Operations Newsflashes: Cantor Fitzgerald Europe Automates Corporate Actions Processing, and more

Cantor Fitzgerald Europe Automates Corporate Actions Processing

In an effort to automate its Corporate Actions processing, Cantor Fitzgerald Europe has selected the XSP software solution from Xcitek. XSP will automate Corporate Actions for Cantor Fitzgerald's wholesale brokerage services group, BGC Partners LP. This new licence marks the second XSP win in Europe for 2006 alone.

Accredited with the SWIFTReady Corporate Actions Label, XSP is ISO15022-compliant and features comprehensive data-scrubbing tools, workflow management modules, Web and ISO messaging for client notification and response capture, and complete entitlement processing. Utilizing its rules-based, data-scrubbing engine with built-in exception-handling capabilities, XSP captures and sanitizes data from multiple vendor sources and custodian data.

Through workflow tools, tasks are automatically routed to designated parties to handle the required action. XSP also tracks event notifications and elections via its web-based module, eTRAN, by generating notifications to intermediaries for desired elections. Instructions are automatically updated to the back-end system for reconciliation and entitlement processing, according to Cantor Fitzgerald.

"XSP's ten years of expertise in Corporate Actions automation combined with its robust data-scrubbing capabilities offers the most comprehensive and extensive solution to address our processing needs," said Mark Kinsella, head of corporate actions at Cantor Fitzgerald Europe.

IONA and Wipro Technologies Partner for SOA

IONA Technologies and Wipro Technologies recently announced that the two companies have entered into partnership where Wipro will utilize IONA's Artix extensible enterprise service bus (ESB) to deliver service-oriented architecture (SOA) deployments that can effectively extend existing enterprise IT assets to new process automation applications.

According to a release, the companies will engage in joint sales and marketing activities to identify opportunities where distributed SOA, supported by Artix, can be used effectively to help customers meet their business objectives. The initial stages of the partnership will focus on customers in the financial services industry, and the intention for both organizations is to broaden the scope of the relationship across various vertical markets such as telecommunications, government and healthcare.

Speaking on the alliance, David Henderson, group head, Wipro Consulting, said, "We believe that IONA brings a unique approach to SOA that complements Wipro's capabilities to deliver quality solutions to our customers. Together, we make a compelling proposition to organizations that are investing in SOA to achieve true business agility at the lowest cost and in the fastest time possible."

Scott Devens, vice president of Strategic Alliances, IONA, also underscores the strength of the alliance. "This partnership combines IONA's enterprise-class technology with Wipro's consulting and deployment expertise to deliver SOA that is well-aligned to customers' business and technology requirements," he said in a release.

T-Zero Partners With Calypso Technology

T-Zero recently announced a strategic partnership with Calypso Technology, a provider of capital markets trading software for global financial institutions. The partnership, which will support the development of an interface between Calypso and T-Zero, aims to assists Calypso's clients in improving straight-through processing (STP) of credit derivatives trades through T-Zero's services.

According to T-Zero, under the new partnership, Calypso's front-office trade capture system provides access to T-Zero's Affirmation Service. T-Zero's workflow and real-time messaging ensures that Calypso clients capture their credit derivative transactions with 100 percent accuracy. In addition, T-Zero's "Agnostic Connectivity" allows Calypso clients to electronically connect to DTCC, GlobeOp and the T-Zero user base, which is growing daily.

"The credit derivatives market is continuing to develop its own unique infrastructure, of which T-Zero is an instrumental component," said Charles Marston, Chairman and CEO of Calypso Technology, in a release. "We are delighted to be the first front-to- back solution provider to take this strategic step."

Mark Beeston, President, T-Zero, said the goal of the partnership is to continue to work toward resolving the multiple operational issues affecting the markets to help ensure future industry growth. "We are delighted to be partnering with Calypso in working towards this goal," said Beeston, in a release. " Calypso software is used by numerous dealers, hedge funds and asset managers, and this partnership significantly facilitates the adoption of T-Zero by those institutions."