Sell-Side Technology Awards 2014: Best Implementation at a Sell-Side Firm — Torstone Technology

As with the corresponding category in the annual Buy-Side Technology Awards, the best implementation is the only category that specifically considers the practical implications of a third-party provider’s technology from an end-user’s perspective. It is therefore arguably one of the highest-profile and most sought-after categories of all 22 on offer to the third-party vendor community servicing the sell side.

Torstone wins its second award on the back of its successful migration of Daiwa Capital Markets Europe’s (Daiwa Europe’s) repo business onto Inferno. Daiwa Europe is the European investment-banking arm of Japan’s Daiwa Securities Group, one of the oldest and largest financial services firms in Japan with a market capitalization of approximately $14 billion. According to Torstone, this project is one of a number of phases that will ultimately see Daiwa Europe’s in-house mainframe infrastructure replaced entirely by Inferno.

Using a dynamic systems development methodology (DSDM), the project managers directed a large client-vendor project team involving business stakeholders, analysts and developers. Inferno now processes Daiwa Europe’s bilateral repo, buy- and sell-back, tri-party, pledge, and stock-lending trades, and also processes trades settled via a central counterparty from repo ECNs such as BrokerTec and TP Repo. On the back of the migration, Daiwa Europe is now realizing improved straight-through processing (STP) performance, increased business capacity and agility, and sizeable cost savings.

“This project has been an excellent example of how a client and vendor can work truly collaboratively to deliver optimal mutual long-term value—no ‘them and us,’ no finger-pointing, no poring over contracts to see who should be held to account,” says Matthew Hargreaves, managing director and CIO of Daiwa for Europe and the Middle East. “This project was the last phase of a major multi-year implementation effort, delivered under control, on time and under budget, and with every stakeholder happy.”

“This project has been an excellent example of how a client and vendor can work truly collaboratively to deliver optimal mutual long-term value—no ‘them and us,’ no finger-pointing, no poring over contracts to see who should be held to account.” —Matthew Hargreaves, Daiwa