CloudMargin, the cloud-based collateral and margin management solution provider, has announced two new world-class customers, Deutsche Bank and PPM America, a subsidiary of UK-based Prudential.
The new CloudMargin clients will benefit from access to the same information about the obligations and required actions for their cleared and non-cleared over-the-counter (OTC) transactions. The added access results in increased transparency which significantly reduces manual intervention and eliminates discrepancies.
The cloud-based solution also automatically connects customers to an online hub with a community of upstream and downstream partners who add further efficiencies and straight-through processing opportunities.
Germany’s leading bank chose to work with CloudMargin as part of its global transformation programme. The move is expected to generate savings, add transparency, reduce operational risk and simplify processes as the networked solution for collateral management greatly improves client experience.
Joseph Macdonald, Global Head of Collateral Optimisation Trading at Deutsche Bank, said: “Moving our collateral and margin management on to an online platform means that we and our clients will enjoy a reduction in risk and resource-draining emails and calls. This is believed to be the first time a Tier 1 bank will use a public cloud-based service for a critical piece of infrastructure, such as managing margin calls with its own counterparties. For our clients, this will make for intuitive online user experience on the platform. The movement of our collateral management programme to CloudMargin is also in line with a number of the bank’s goals: enhancing our client service, being technology-led and improving efficiency. The cloud platform will give us a cost-effective means of servicing our clients, regardless of their size.”
Steve Husk, Chief Executive Officer at CloudMargin, said: “We’re delighted to team up with Deutsche Bank on this initiative to manage not only its global collateral needs but those of its clients of all sizes trading a broad range of instruments. Deutsche Bank interacts with virtually every other major bank as a counterparty, and its clients range from the world’s largest institutions to smaller buy-side market participants. Our solution enables the sell-side institution to provide the same high-quality service, efficiencies, and transparency to everyone while achieving significant internal cost savings and operational improvements to these systemically important processes.”
The addition of Deutsche Bank to the cloud-based platform will facilitate the onboarding of any institution doing business with the bank.
CloudMargin has also onboarded PPM America, a subsidiary of UK-based Prudential with $119.16 billion in assets as of Jan. 31, 2019, which has just gone live on its platform. The investment manager entered the platform for its entire collateral management margin workflow, collateral optimization and trade reconciliation with counterparties and futures commission merchants (FCMs). In addition to utilizing the gateway to SWIFT, PPM is also using the hub’s access to AcadiaSoft MarginSphere for margin call messaging, providing streamlined collateral payment processing.
The agreements and types of transactions the workflow accommodates include:
ISDA collateral service agreements for bilateral over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives
Cleared OTC transactions
Exchange-traded futures and options
Master Securities Forward Transaction Agreements (MSFTAs) for mortgage-backed securities and TBA (To-Be-Announced) mortgage-backed instruments.
“We’ve been able to provide PPM with a one-stop solution for all things collateral, from calculating margin to meet Variation and Initial Margin requirements, to reconciling trade-level positions, to enabling the firm to automate its collateral processes, including sending payment instructions directly via SWIFT to its various custodians”, said Steve Husk.
