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News
Europe Arab Bank Goes Live with OpenLink’s Findur
New York, June 16, 2009 / Business Wire: Open Link Financial, Inc. ("OpenLink"), a leading provider of cross-asset trading, risk management and operations processing software solutions, announced today that Europe Arab Bank (“EAB”) has gone into production with OpenLink’s Findur application for their treasury and capital markets businesses.
“We wanted to have a fully automated trade processing capability for all of our current asset classes, including foreign exchange, money markets, fixed income, loans and deposits and their associated derivatives. It was also important that the solution be flexible enough to handle potential businesses, such as complex structured products, credit derivatives, energy and commodities,” said Antoine Srieh, Managing Director at EAB.
“Running three different systems – one for trading, one for risk, and one for processing – may not be a sensible approach,” remarked Ken Knowles, Executive VP of Financial and Risk Solutions at OpenLink. “Reconciling information between different systems is not only costly and time consuming – it’s completely unnecessary when you can have an integrated solution.”
“With Findur, we have been able to replace a number of legacy systems with one streamlined application used by over forty users in our front, middle and back offices. In one platform, we have the ability to manage market, credit, and operational risk as well as regulatory and head office reporting while being fully integrated into automated trading and settlement systems. This is a sophisticated solution with wide asset class coverage and a depth of functionality that provides a quantifiable return on investment, while lowering our overall cost of ownership,” added Mr. Srieh.
Jean-Claude Riss, Managing Director, OpenLink International, Ltd. added, “Lowering cost of ownership is one of our primary software design considerations. Firms can achieve huge operational benefits and cost savings when the software facilitates the organization’s desired workflows, rather than forcing the client to adapt to the software.”
The initial project used OpenLink’s Model Bank, a preconfigured database reflecting a bank’s core business, which affords rapid implementation. This resulted in a simultaneous configuration of the entire bank’s treasury and capital markets products, as well as providing enterprise risk management, front-to-back office workflow processing, sub-ledger accounting, regulatory reporting and automated integration of both the Reuters and Hotspot FXi foreign exchange trading platforms. It also allowed confirmation and payments via SWIFT.
Kevin Hesselbirg, CEO at OpenLink, stated that “We are very pleased that Europe Arab Bank selected OpenLink and that they are realizing measurable results. The Findur application can provide companies seeking a complete front, middle and back office system with a single framework, and a solution that is dynamic, scalable and adaptable with extensibility for any organization looking to manage their business in today’s times.”
About Europe Arab Bank
Europe Arab Bank plc (EAB) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Arab Bank. It opened its doors for business in August 2006 and has a capitalization of some €700M. EAB’s headquarters are in London, England and the Bank currently has branches in Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan, Vienna, Rome, Paris and Cannes. Clients of EAB plc have access to a comprehensive set of Treasury, Private, Corporate and Institutional Banking products and services, providing a niche service to a growing number of European companies and individuals wishing to transact with the MENA region.
Arab Bank Group is ranked amongst the largest international financial institutions in the Middle East, with assets of $38.3B. The Group now has a global network of 400 branches and subsidiaries in 29 countries, spanning 5 continents and enjoys a prominent position in key markets and financial centers in Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the United States.
About OpenLink
Founded in 1992, OpenLink is a leading developer of cross-asset trading, risk management, and related operational and portfolio management software. OpenLink’s diverse client base of over 130 customers worldwide includes 10 of the largest energy companies, eight of the largest financial institutions and seven of the largest central banks, as well as major hedge funds and public utilities. Headquartered on Long Island, New York, and with offices in New York City, Houston, London, Berlin, Vienna, São Paulo, Sydney, and Singapore, OpenLink has more than 700 employees worldwide.
Editorial Contact:
Marketing and Communications
Open Link Financial, Inc.
Phone: +1 516 833 4509