at Financial Technnology Year
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Features in Derivative Management Solutions
for Risk Management
Specialized applications for managing the lifecycle of derivative instruments, from trade capture and valuation to hedge accounting and settlement processing.
We ask vendors to mark their product against our feature list. It is not available for all products and in some cases we have derived data from publicly available sources. The list of features follows. Vendors can add a further 10 key features of their own.
Accounting and Compliance
Ensures compliance with accounting standards and regulatory requirements for derivative activity.
- Audit logs
- Comprehensive tracking of changes for SOX and similar audits.
- Automated accounting entries
- Creates and posts accounting journal entries for all transactions.
- Automated compliance monitoring
- Flags potential non-compliance issues proactively.
- Customizable chart of accounts
- Allows configuration to match organization-specific chart of accounts.
- Designated hedge relationship tracking
- Tracks underpinning documentation and status for hedge relationships.
- End-of-period closings
- Supports automated or guided closing for reporting cycles.
- Error detection and reconciliation tools
- Automates detection of data inconsistencies and reconciliation tasks.
- Hedge accounting support
- Handles requirements for IFRS 9, ASC 815, and similar standards.
- Integration with ERP/GL
- Seamless integration with leading accounting and ERP systems.
- Regulatory workflow management
- Guided workflows for regulatory checklist completion.
Auditability and Transparency
Tools that maintain evidence and visibility into system data, calculations, and user actions for regulatory and operational assurance.
- Audit data retention period
- Length of time audit data is retained.
- Calculation traceability
- Drill-down features to show data and logic behind each calculation.
- Change tracking
- Version history and tracking for trade and configuration changes.
- Event notification logs
- Records all critical alerts and system events.
- External auditor access portal
- Provides secure, read-only access portals for external auditors.
- Immutable audit logs
- Unalterable logs of all actions for compliance and investigations.
- Printable audit reports
- Generate reports suitable for auditors and compliance teams.
- Role-based audit access
- Restricts audit data only to authorized personnel.
- SOX-compliance support
- Features specifically supporting Sarbanes-Oxley audit controls.
Collateral and Margin Management
Management of collateral agreements, margin calculations, and optimization to reduce counterparty risk.
- Automated margin call calculation
- Systematic computation of initial and variation margin requirements.
- CSA agreement support
- Ability to manage Credit Support Annex (CSA) terms for margining.
- Collateral inventory management
- Real-time tracking of available, posted, and received collateral.
- Collateral optimization engine
- Automates allocation and substitution of collateral to minimize cost.
- Collateral re-use tracking
- Monitors and manages the re-use of collateral assets (rehypothecation).
- Dispute handling process
- Workflow for resolving margin and collateral disputes.
- Eligible collateral management
- Tracks available eligible collateral and eligibility criteria.
- Haircut calculation engine
- Calculates and manages haircuts for various collateral types.
- Integration with custodians
- Product integrates with external custodian platforms for settlement automation.
- Margin statement generation
- Automated preparation and distribution of margin statements.
Integration and Interoperability
Ability to interface with other internal and external technology platforms, data feeds, and tools.
- API availability
- Designed/open APIs for data import, export, and workflow integration.
- Batch and real-time integration
- Supports both scheduled (batch) and immediate (real-time) data flows.
- Cloud and on-premise support
- Runs on both cloud-based and on-premise infrastructure.
- Data import/export automation
- Support for scheduled and event-driven data transfers.
- ERP system connectors
- Pre-built adapters for major ERP platforms (SAP, Oracle, etc.).
- Integration speed
- Typical time required to integrate with a new data source.
- Market data feed compatibility
- Support for integration with Bloomberg, Reuters, and other data providers.
- Partner ecosystem
- Availability of supported third-party apps and partners.
- SFTP/FTP support
- Integration with file-based systems via secure protocols.
- Webhooks/event-driven architecture
- Notifies external systems when key events occur.
Performance and Scalability
Ensures reliable processing and analysis as business needs and volumes grow.
- Batch processing throughput
- Volume of trades processed per minute/hour for batch operations.
- Concurrent user support
- Maximum number of users who can use the system simultaneously without degradation.
- Elastic scaling support
- Automatically adjusts resources based on workload.
- Global multi-region deployment
- Supports clients/teams in multiple geographic regions with local data.
- High availability uptime
- Percentage availability guaranteed, excluding scheduled maintenance.
- Historical data archiving performance
- Time to archive/retrieve data for large portfolios.
- Latency of critical operations
- Average time taken for key operations (e.g., trade booking, valuation).
- Portfolio size limit
- Maximum number of derivative trades per portfolio supported.
- System resource monitoring dashboard
- Real-time visualization of system load and resource consumption.
- Zero-downtime upgrades
- Support for system updates without service interruption.
Risk Analytics & Reporting
Advanced analytics and reporting capabilities to measure and monitor risks associated with derivatives.
- Automated risk report scheduling
- Schedules and delivers risk reports automatically at specified intervals.
- Custom risk dashboards
- Configurable dashboards for real-time risk monitoring.
- Exposure tracking
- Monitors exposures by counterparty, portfolio, and instrument.
- Historical analytics capability
- Ability to run analytics on historical data to assess risk trends.
- Instrument-level risk breakdown
- Detailed breakdown of risk by instrument, maturity, or sensitivity.
- Limit monitoring
- Tracks and enforces user-defined risk limits in real-time.
- Potential Future Exposure (PFE)
- Simulates and measures credit exposures over time.
- Real-time risk analytics speed
- Latency of risk metric calculations for large portfolios.
- Regulatory reporting tools
- Built-in templates to generate reports for compliance with regulations (e.g., EMIR, Dodd-Frank).
- Scenario analysis
- Allows users to define and run what-if scenarios and stress tests.
- Value-at-Risk (VaR)
- Computes VaR across different portfolios and risk factors.
Security and Data Protection
Protects sensitive data, supports regulatory compliance, and mitigates cybersecurity risks.
- Anomaly detection
- System detects and flags unusual behavior patterns.
- Comprehensive activity logging
- Tracks all user and system actions for forensic analysis.
- Data encryption at rest
- Encrypts all stored data in databases and backups.
- Data encryption in transit
- Encrypts data during transmission between systems (TLS/SSL).
- Data retention policy support
- Configurable data retention schedules and secure disposal.
- Disaster recovery RTO
- Recovery time objective for system disaster recovery.
- Granular user permissioning
- Enables detailed user-level or data-level access restrictions.
- Multi-factor authentication
- Supports strong user access control via MFA.
- Regular security audits
- Undergoes regular penetration testing and compliance audits.
- Single sign-on (SSO)
- Integrates with identity management systems for SSO.
Support and Vendor Services
Level of vendor support, training, and ongoing engagement offered for the treasury system.
- 24/7 helpdesk support
- Round-the-clock support for system users via multiple channels.
- Annual health checks
- Periodic best practice reviews and optimization sessions.
- Custom development/support
- Vendor offers bespoke customization and bespoke feature support.
- Dedicated account manager
- Named resource for ongoing client relationship and escalation.
- Implementation project management
- Vendor provides structured project management for implementation.
- Knowledge base access
- Self-service online documentation, FAQs, and troubleshooting guides.
- Service level agreement (SLA)
- Commitment on response, uptime, and resolution times.
- User community/forum
- Facilitates peer learning and experience sharing.
- User training programs
- Formal onboarding and upskilling resources (live/web/self-paced).
Trade Capture and Management
Capabilities related to booking, maintaining, and tracking derivative transactions throughout their lifecycle.
- Audit trail
- Provides full audit logs for all trade-related actions.
- Automated trade import
- Supports automatic import of trades from electronic platforms or spreadsheets.
- Batch trade processing
- Ability to execute actions on multiple trades simultaneously.
- Blotter views
- Offers customizable blotter screens for trade review and analysis.
- Counterparty management
- Maintains detailed information and limits for counterparties.
- Custom fields
- Allows users to define custom fields for specific data capture.
- Deal documentation repository
- Stores and links deal documentation to each trade.
- Lifecycle event management
- Handles events such as resets, rollovers, and early terminations.
- Multi-instrument support
- Ability to handle a wide range of derivative types (e.g., swaps, forwards, options).
- Settlement instruction management
- Manages payment schedules and settlement details for each trade.
- Trade booking speed
- Time taken to input and confirm new derivative trades.
- Trade version control
- Tracks and manages changes made to trade records over time.
Valuation and Pricing
Tools and methods for accurate and timely derivative valuation using up-to-date market data.
- Batch valuation speed
- Speed at which large portfolios are valued.
- Historical valuation archive
- Stores historical valuations for comparison and auditing.
- Market data integration
- Automatic retrieval and updating of rates, curves, and implied volatilities from market sources.
- Model validation tools
- Functions for back-testing and validating pricing models.
- Real-time pricing engine
- Valuations are available in real time based on market data.
- Revaluation accuracy
- Degree of accuracy in model-based revaluation (e.g., error margin in basis points).
- Sensitivity analysis
- Ability to compute and report sensitivities (Greeks) of derivative positions.
- Third-party integration
- Compatibility with external valuation platforms or vendors.
- Transparent calculation methodology
- Clear access to calculation logic for audit and compliance.
- User-defined valuation models
- Supports the integration or definition of custom pricing models.
- Valuation as-of-date flexibility
- Permits valuation at arbitrary historical or future dates.
Workflow Automation and User Experience
Features that improve efficiency, control, and ease-of-use for treasury teams and other stakeholders.
- Accessibility features
- Support for assistive technologies and compliance with accessibility standards (WCAG, ADA).
- Bulk data editing
- Edit multiple records simultaneously in the UI.
- Configurable approval workflows
- Route transactions and requests through customizable approval chains.
- Custom alerts and notifications
- Set up automated alerts for key events or threshold breaches.
- Guided workflows
- Step-by-step wizard features to assist new or infrequent users.
- Mobile access
- Enables use of key features from mobile devices.
- Self-service reporting
- Users create custom reports and data queries without IT support.
- UI customization
- Users can personalize dashboard layouts, themes, and shortcuts.
- User onboarding speed
- Time required to train and onboard a new average user.
- User role and permission management
- Fine-grained access controls for different users and teams.