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Articles from
February 2006
Lava Announces Successful Deployment of LavaX Buy-Side Trading System
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LavaX provides the buy-side with industry-leading functionality to effectively access hidden liquidity. Its features include NYSE OpenBook integration, robust list trading functionality, ease of use improvements for initiating and modifying orders, and advanced algorithmic parameters and depth for account allocation. Eighteen sponsoring brokers are currently available through the LavaX system, along with 10 algorithmic trading routes and two introducing broker relationships.
With its fast, reliable and intelligent technology, LavaX saw a 60% increase in volume in the fourth quarter of 2005 vs. the previous quarter. Market share for LavaX doubled in 2005.
"Buy-side traders are increasingly managing the trading of their orders and demanding comprehensive, best-of-breed trading systems like LavaX," said Richard Korhammer, CEO, Lava Trading Inc. "The rapid increase in market share makes it clear that LavaX is meeting a true demand in the marketplace. Our leading technology provides numerous benefits to the buy-side including the ability to route to all sources of liquidity, better average prices, lower trading costs and Lava's renowned customer service."
Lava plans additional enhancements to LavaX in the coming year. Among these will be enhanced commission management tools, which will further enable customer flexibility and choice in brokerage payments, and integrate with sponsoring brokers' introducing broker models. In addition, Lava will implement the trading of options and introduce block trading functionality to facilitate the trading of large orders with reduced market impact and opportunity costs. Lava is also in the process of integrating pre- and post-trade analytical tools and integrating with additional basket trading applications to provide choice and flexibility to traders.
About Lava Trading Inc.
Headquartered in New York City, with locations in California, Connecticut and the United Kingdom, Lava Trading Inc. is an innovative technology firm that develops high-performance trading solutions for the financial services industry. Lava products are created as true ASP solutions built to withstand maximum volumes in the most volatile conditions. As a cost effective and neutral provider, Lava's OTC, Listed and Foreign Exchange solutions are used by leading broker/dealers, including most of the top U.S. investment banks, as well as market makers, hedge funds and institutional investors. With its patented technology and capital markets expertise, Lava creates value-added trading solutions that combine speed, intelligence and reliability. Lava is a wholly owned, independently-operated subsidiary of Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) and member NASD/SIPC. For more information, visit www.lavatrading.com.
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Open Solutions Inc. Extends Amended Stock Purchase Agreement
with The BISYS Group, Inc.
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Accordingly, both parties have agreed to extend the date for the completion of the acquisition from Feb. 28, 2006 to on or before March 8, 2006. A copy of the amendment to the Stock Purchase Agreement is being furnished by Open Solutions to the Securities and Exchange Commission as an exhibit to a Current Report on Form 8-K.
About BISYS
The BISYS Group, Inc. (NYSE: BSG) provides outsourcing solutions that enable investment firms, insurance companies and banks to more efficiently serve their customers, grow their businesses, and respond to evolving regulatory requirements. Its Investment Services group provides administration and distribution services for mutual funds, hedge funds, private equity funds, retirement plans and other investment products. Through its Insurance Services group, BISYS is the nation's largest independent wholesale distributor of life insurance and a leading independent wholesale distributor of commercial property/casualty insurance, long-term care, disability, and annuity products. BISYS' Information Services group provides industry-leading information processing, imaging, and back-office services to banks, insurance companies and corporate clients. Headquartered in New Jersey, BISYS generates more than $1 billion in annual revenues worldwide. Additional information is available at www.bisys.com.
About Open Solutions Inc.
Open Solutions Inc. offers a fully-featured strategic product platform that integrates enterprise-wide data processing applications built on a single centralized Oracler relational database with Internet banking, cash management, CRM/business intelligence, financial accounting tools, imaging, Check 21, electronic image/item processing, interactive voice response, web-hosting and design services, payment and loan origination solutions. Open Solutions' full suite of products and services allows banks, thrifts and credit unions in the United States and Canada to better compete in today's aggressive financial services marketplace, and expand and tap their trusted financial relationships, client affinity, community presence and personalized service.
For more information about Open Solutions or its financial product line, contact Mickey Goldwasser by email at mgoldwasser@opensolutions.com, by phone at 860.652.3153 or via fax at 860.652.3156. Visit Open Solutions' Web site at www.opensolutions.com.
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Hotel Giant Smoothes Workers' Comp Reporting and Handling With Insurity's Claims Decisions
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Insurity's modular platform enables IHG to report the value of claims in British pounds to its UK-based parent company, while maintaining dollar-based claims reporting capabilities for IHG's Americas operations in Atlanta, Ga.
"The application's flexibility and usability let us extend the product to suit our specific needs. The upgrade was simple and the training we received from Insurity was topnotch. I couldn't have asked for a better customer experience," said Christopher Noll, IHG Director - Loss Prevention.
IHG uses Insurity's Claims Decisions to process, administer and settle worker and guest injury claims at more than 200 US hotels.
"IHG is a long-time customer of Insurity and we're pleased it has continued to put its trust in us. To have the same product used by international self-insureds, large U.S.-based TPAs and carriers in the U.S. and abroad, is evidence of the flexible extensibility in our product design," said Badri Narasimhan, Insurity vice president of claims.
Both insurers and self-insureds can achieve greater efficiency in claims processing and improve claims outcomes by optimizing touch-points with medical, legal, adjustment and auditing operations.
"Claims Decisions does all that and more," Narasimhan said.
About IHG
InterContinental Hotels Group PLC of the United Kingdom [LON:IHG, NYSE:IHG (ADRs), is the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms. Through various subsidiaries, InterContinental Hotels Group owns, manages, leases or franchises approximately 3,600 hotels and 539,000 guest rooms in nearly 100 countries and territories around the world. The Group owns a portfolio of well recognized and respected hotel brands including InterContinentalr Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plazar Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Innr Hotels and Resorts, Holiday Inn Expressr, Staybridge Suitesr, Candlewood Suitesr and Hotel IndigoTM. InterContinental Hotels Group PLC also manages Priority Clubr Rewards, the world's largest hotel loyalty program, with over 27 million members worldwide. www.ichotelsgroup.com.
About Insurity
Insurity protects insurers from underwriting risks, claims fraud, compliance exposures, escalating expenses and premiums, and unfavorable ratios. Insurity offers the most comprehensive software and services in the property and casualty industry covering rate, quote, issuance, administration, billing, claims, reinsurance, data warehousing, compliance support, regulatory reporting, hosting, and managed services. Customers include more than half of the nation's top 20 commercial lines carriers as well as regional carriers, specialty lines writers and MGAs. Insurity is headquartered in Hartford, Conn., and is a fully owned subsidiary of ChoicePointr. For more information about Insurity, please call 860-616-7721, or visit the company's Web site at www.insurity.com.
About ChoicePoint
ChoicePoint (NYSE: CPS) helps businesses, government agencies and nonprofit organizations make better decisions through information and technology solutions. Each year, ChoicePoint helps more than seven million people get the jobs they deserve and more than 100 million people get fairly priced home and auto insurance. Small businesses can obtain affordable commercial insurance because of our products. Businesses grow revenue with our marketing services and cut costs through our authentication and anti-fraud tools. Government agencies use our data and technology to fulfill their missions in all parts of the world. Visit www.choicepoint.com for more information.
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CORILLIAN AND STRIKEFORCE PARTNER TO FIGHT FRAUD BY STRENGTHENING ONLINE
AUTHENTICATION FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
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Corillian Corp. (NASDAQ:
CORI), the top provider of online banking, online payments and anti-fraud
solutions to the financial services industry, and StrikeForce Technologies,
(OTCBB: SKFT), experts in identity assurance, announced a joint
offering to help financial institutions proactively prevent identity theft
and fraud, strengthen online banking authentication and comply with FFIEC
guidance.
Corillian and StrikeForce will protect financial institutions' online users
with a comprehensive authentication service combining Corillian's
Intelligent AuthenticationT with StrikeForce's "Out-of-Band"
authentication platform, ProtectIDT. The joint offering helps to
proactively detect fraudulent online activity and prevent illegitimate users
from accessing accounts.
Benefits include:
- Easy implementation - no software downloads
- Easy-to-use, uninterrupted online banking experience
- Strong authentication with multiple layers and multi factors
- Device flexibility for financial institutions and their customers
"Online banking is undergoing a permanent shift that requires secure and
user-friendly technology, affordable prices, and rapid deployment," said
Mark L. Kay, CEO of StrikeForce Technologies. "The FFIEC guidelines present
a marked adjustment for the online user and the financial institutions that
offer very flexible and streamlined solutions will attract and retain these
online customers."
"Financial institutions are looking for strong online authentication methods
that don't disrupt the online banking experience that customers are used
to," said Alex Hart, president and CEO of Corillian. "The multiple layers of
Intelligent Authentication were designed with the online banking user in
mind - to provide ultimate protection of online accounts without
compromising the convenience of online banking. StrikeForce's "Out-of-Band" authentication process complements Intelligent
Authentication and provides financial institutions with additional layers of
multi-factor protection for their online customers."
StrikeForce's patent-pending ProtectID is the first and only "Out-of-Band"
identity authentication solution that creates a separate pathway for users
to enter a PIN over the telephone that takes seconds to authenticate the
identity of the online customer. Biometric devices, such as fingerprint and
iris scanners, as well as one-time passwords (OTPs) can be added or
substituted for additional versatility and layers of security. The different multiple methods of authentication eliminate the need to carry or purchase new technology, making two-factor authentication affordable and
quickly deployable.
Intelligent Authentication employs a behavioral approach to authentication
by building a history of "access signatures" for individual users. This is
accomplished by collecting and validating information about each user's
computer and method of Web site access without collecting personally
identifiable information or requiring participation of the end user in the
data collection process. An electronic access signature is created by
combining a number of key identification points, such as IP address,
Internet service provider, PC and browser settings, time of day and
geographic location. It is a zero footprint authentication solution that
does not require client hardware or software, is not dependent on the
existence of any special marker or cookie on the user's PC, and does not
require interrogation of the user's PC via downloaded software.
About StrikeForce Technologies
StrikeForce Technologies, a leader in online identity assurance solutions
that prevent identity theft, is a company that can protect customers,
partners and employees - in real time against identity fraud at almost every
access point. Its total protection solution strengthens companies'
defenses against the biggest points of fraud - when accounts are opened,
when they're accessed, when they're changed, and each time there's a new
transaction. StrikeForce Technologies is trading on the OTC bulletin board
(SKFT) and the company is headquartered in Edison, N.J., and can be reached
at www.strikeforcetech.com or (866) 787-4542.
About Corillian Corporation
Corillian is the market leader of online banking, bill payment and fraud
prevention applications to the financial services industry. With 28 of the
top 100 U.S. banks and 20 of the top 100 U.S. credit unions as customers,
Corillian serves over 25 percent of the online banking community.
Corillian provides the most flexible, scalable and secure set of online
banking applications across multiple lines of business, integrating
best-practice functionality developed for some of the most innovative
financial institutions in the world. Corillian features integrated
applications across Consumer Banking, Small Business Banking, Wealth
Management, Credit Card Management, and Corporate Cash Management, as well
as enterprise wide solutions, including Fraud Detection, Payments Warehouse,
Alerts, eStatements, and OFX. Corillian's fraud prevention solutions use
Preemptive ForensicsT to protect web sites from phishers, hackers, and
fraudsters. Corillian's strong authentication solution provides a low-cost
solution for multi-factor authentication while maintaining high user
satisfaction. Empowered by Corillian solutions, some of the world's most
visionary financial institutions provide their customers with the tools to
manage their finances more effectively and securely. For more information
about Corillian Corporation, visit the company's Web site at
www.corillian.com.
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JACK HENRY INTRODUCES PROFITSTARS BRAND
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Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: JKHY), a leading provider of integrated computer systems and ATM/debit card/ACH transaction processing, announced that it has established its third primary brand - ProfitStars.
Jack Henry & Associates now encompasses three primary brands. The original brand and corporate namesake provides midtier and community banks with enterprise-wide information and transaction processing solutions that are available for in-house and outsourced implementation; Symitar provides credit unions of all sizes with industry-leading information and transaction processing solutions that are also available for in-house and outsourced implementation; and now ProfitStars provides best-of-breed solutions that enhance the performance of domestic and international financial institutions of all asset sizes and charters using any core processing system, as well as diverse corporate entities.
The ProfitStars brand encompasses the products and services provided by the 13 companies Jack Henry acquired through its focused diversification strategy. These highly specialized products and services enable diverse businesses to increase revenue and growth, mitigate and control risk, and control costs. The ProfitStars brand also will encompass select legacy products and services that Jack Henry has historically sold almost exclusively to its core bank and credit union clients. Jack Henry's sales force automation system, check imaging and Check 21 solutions, and disaster preparedness and recovery services are among the solutions that strategically expand the ProfitStars product families and are compatible with any core processing environment.
Establishing the ProfitStars brand is expected to materially increase the brand awareness of its product and service offering, and positively impact the sales of these solutions. While each of the proven products and services enjoys an outstanding reputation among its existing clients, most of them have minimal brand awareness outside their respective client base. Continuing to market and support these solutions under the acquired companies' individual identities also creates fundamental difficultities communicating and demonstrating the depth and breadth of these solution suites.
According to Jack Prim, CEO of Jack Henry & Associates, "The introduction of ProfitStars represents another integral component of our ongoing focused diversification strategy, which has successfully expanded our target markets with products and services that are relevant for literally any domestic and international financial services organization, and diverse corporate entities. We believe establishing this brand will enable us to more effectively and efficiently introduce more of our solutions to our existing and prospective clients; and to the established and emerging markets we are now serving. We also believe the timing of this brand launch is ideal considering the distinct business challenges and objectives these products and services address - increasing revenue, mitigating and controlling risk, and controlling costs - are top-of-mind issues for most executives today."
"Jack Henry & Associates is celebrating its 30th year in business during 2006. Throughout the past three decades, we have experienced tremendous growth in the dynamic banking marketplace, and have established a strong brand identity based on our robust products and outstanding service levels. Our Symitar brand enjoys the same reputation for quality products and premier service. We now expect to establish a consistent brand identity with ProfitStars' best-of-breed solutions, which are currently implemented by some of the largest banks, credit unions, and securities firms in the United States; and other well known domestic and international organizations. We are excited to introduce this brand and we are looking forward to its positive impact on the next chapter in our company's history," concluded Mr. Prim.
ProfitStars will be headquartered in Allen, Texas (a Dallas suburb) with David Foss providing executive oversight as general manager of the products and services delivered under the ProfitStars brand, and Steve Tomson will serve as national sales manager.
About ProfitStars
ProfitStars, a division of Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: JKHY), is a leading provider of best-of-breed products and services that are designed to improve the operating performance of financial institutions of all asset sizes and charters, and diverse corporate entities. These products and services include proven solutions for revenue and growth, risk mitigation and control, and cost control; and complement existing core information processing platforms. Additional information about ProfitStars and its offerings is available at www.manageforperformance.com or by calling 877-827-7101.
About Symitar
Symitar, a wholly owned subsidiary of Jack Henry & Associates, Inc., is a leading provider of integrated computer systems for credit unions now serving more than 600 credit union clients throughout the United States and abroad. For additional information about Symitar, visit the company's Web site at www.symitar.com.
About Jack Henry & Associates
Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. is a leading provider of integrated computer systems and processor of ATM/debit card/ACH transactions for banks and credit unions. Jack Henry markets and supports its systems throughout the United States, and has more than 7,000 customers nationwide. For additional information on Jack Henry, visit the company's Web site at www.jackhenry.com.
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SWIFT Creates New Category to Certify Volante Technologies
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VOLANTÉ TECHNOLOGIES, INC., the leading provider of platform independent data management solutions to Financial Services Industry announced that SWIFT has conferred upon it the SWIFTReady Messaging Library certification. Volanté's products which run in J2EE and .NET environments are applicable to a wide variety of solutions used by the financial services industry including payments, corporate actions, market data and trade processing.
SWIFTReady Messaging Library Label is a new category that SWIFT created in 2006 based on the requirements of decoupling the FIN messages from the middleware in a Service-Oriented Architectures (SOA) and Webservices environments. As SOA has become the predominant architecture in financial services industry, the demand to run FIN messages on application servers, Enterprise Service Bus, or as a library in a business application has increased.
"We appreciate the enthusiasm, willingness and ability shown by Volanté to quickly deliver SWIFT ready advanced technology to our clients," said Olivier Roucloux, Industry Analyst at SWIFT. "This new label was created because modern application architectures decouple the messaging from the business application logic. This trend opens a major market need for integrating SWIFT as message libraries". Olivier Roucloux adds "We are very pleased to award the SWIFTReady Messaging library label 2006 to Volanté Suite technology and look forward to exploring new opportunities together with our clients and all independent software providers that Volanté will enable."
"Working with Volanté has been very rewarding as it has enabled us to embrace current data standards," said Gary Reinhart, Vice President, Product Management, GoldenSource Corporation. "Volanté's products have helped us reduce time to market for our 15022 corporate actions messaging and continue our leadership in securities modeling. As we grow our product suite, we will continue to work with Volanté to enhance GoldenSource's Enterprise Data Management (EDM) solutions. The use of standard messaging within our EDM products is essential and Volanté allows us to easily maintain this."
"Being awarded the SWIFTReady label by SWIFT is an official endorsement of what Volanté's customers are already experiencing on a daily basis; a robust platform independent data management solution with the flexibility to deploy on any middleware or in Services Oriented Architectures", said Vijay Oddiraju, CEO, Volanté Technologies, Inc. "Volanté addresses the most important requirements of any operations person namely, speeding up the time it takes to put applications/products into production at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods".
About Volanté Technologies
Founded in 2001, Volanté Technologies, Inc. is based in New York. Volanté's proven platform independent data management solutions are running some of the most demanding applications in major financial services firms and utilities.
Volanté's customers include both large and mid-tier financial institutions for both the buy side and sell side communities, including Brown Brothers Harriman, ICI/ADP and Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. Current partners include GoldenSource, IBM, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems. For more information please visit our web site at www.Volantetech.com or send mail to info@Volantétech.com.
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Pyxis Mobile Launches mDashboard(tm)
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Pyxis Mobile, a leading
provider of wireless applications for the financial services industry, announced the launch of mDashboard(tm), a real-time reporting tool for managers within banks, asset managers, and hedge funds. For use with any BlackBerry(r) from Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX:
RIM), mDashboard provides a mobile extension of the sophisticated systems
users have come to rely on while in the office.
mDashboard offers a unique solution to this problem by allowing managers to
access disparate data sources including industry-specific news, order
management systems, and sales analysis from their handheld. By extending
these enterprise and market data sources, users obtain immediate access to
all of their critical data. The net result is managers un-tethered from
their desks, who make better decisions, based on integrated market research
and performance reports-from anywhere at anytime. Via the mDashboard
Executive screen, users can access a multitude of data options including
these highlights:
* News
* User-defined alerts and notifications
* Sales reports
* Daily dashboard views
Pyxis Mobile offers a suite of wireless financial applications as part of
their general mPlatform(r) offering, including mDashboard(tm),
mWholesaler(r), mHedge Manager(tm), mInstitutional(tm), mPortfolio
Manager(tm), and mAdvisor(tm), each providing remote access to vital data
from a company's back-end network. Used by more than 35 percent of U.S.
mutual fund wholesalers, Pyxis Mobile has become the most widely used
wireless software in the financial services industry.
"Rapid access to accurate data is the lifeblood of the financial services
industry and executive management requires the most up-to-date market and
performance information possible. We built mDashboard with these needs in
mind," said Todd Christy, Chief Technology Officer, Pyxis Mobile. "This
product is designed for the specific needs of executives and operations
management, we understand the challenges of the business units across the
financial enterprise."
Dan Schatt, a senior analyst with financial research and consulting firm
Celent says, "The U.S. market is now experiencing seismic changes in the way
mobile phones are utilized. As mobile bandwidth, handset technology and
operating systems have evolved, the mobile phone is fast becoming a portable
version of the internet, freeing executives from the physical constraints of
desktop and laptop computing and providing anytime anywhere access to
critical business data and applications."
About Pyxis Mobile
Pyxis Mobile delivers innovative wireless software that supports the diverse
needs of the Financial Services industry. Pyxis Mobile's mPlatform solutions
provide a suite of industry tailored wireless applications that extend
critical business data from existing enterprise systems to the wireless
devices demanded by mobile financial professionals. To date, mPlatform
applications are in use at 19 of the top 50 asset managers. Pyxis Mobile's
customer list includes companies such as PIMCO, Putnam, AIM, Manulife,
Evergreen, Hines, Deutsche Asset Management, Essex Corporation, IXIS,
Pioneer, Eaton Vance, and John Hancock. For more information, contact Pyxis
Mobile at 781.997.0328 or visit www.pyxismobile.com.
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GISSING SOFTWARE ENABLES FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO HARNESS POWER OF MICROSOFT REAL-TIME DATA TECHNOLOGY
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Gissing Software, solution specialists in the routing and transformation of real-time market and trade data, announced immediate availability of the latest version of Gissing RealtimeXL - Version 2.0 - which incorporates a unique Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) converter - allowing financial institutions to automatically convert their legacy Microsoft DDE links to Microsoft's Real-Time Data (RTD) technology. The new functionality within Gissing RealtimeXL represents an important breakthrough, enabling financial institutions to benefit from the improved performance and reliability of RTD, while removing the risk associated with updating their DDE links manually.
"A surprising number of banks are still using DDE technology - which is incorporated in applications such as Reuters Personal Data Dictionary (PDD) and TIBCO's Tiblink, despite the fact that the use of DDE protocol is no longer encouraged," said Nick Braybrooke, product manager for Gissing RealtimeXL. "Until now there hasn't been a convenient and easy way for financial institutions to migrate to RTD, but Gissing RealtimeXL v 2.0 changes this. We are already speaking to customers about how we can enable a seamless migration - allowing them to benefit from greater processing efficiency, reliability and faster execution of calculations based on real-time data."
The RTD server technology superseded DDE in Microsoft Excel version 2002, making it easy to bring real-time data into Excel for analysis. If offers an improvement over DDE because the RTD protocol is lighter, resulting in faster execution. RTD can be used interchangeably with intrinsic Excel functions in macros, cells, and formulas. RTD is designed specifically to update data in spreadsheets in real-time and therefore creates a more accurate spreadsheet with real-time market and trade data.
Gissing RealtimeXL allows spreadsheets to be migrated individually or in batches. Both the legacy DDE and the new RTD-enabled spreadsheets can be run in parallel until users are entirely comfortable with the new technology. Once the no-risk migration is complete, spreadsheets function faster with more reliability and users can be assured that both the underlying Gissing RealtimeXL and Microsoft applications are fully supported.
About Gissing Software
Gissing Software, solution specialists in the routing and transformation of real-time market and trade data, was founded in 1991. Gissing Software counts some of the world's biggest financial institutions among its clients. Almost all of Gissing's clients are tier one banks and brokers. With over 40 installations globally, Gissing's products are a byword in the industry for performance and reliability. The company is privately owned and operates from its head office in Bromley, Kent (UK) and its office in New York.
Gissing Software has extensive knowledge of the technology associated with the transforming and routing of real-time data in the financial markets.
Product area focus:
* Multi contribution systems for management and distribution of market data to financial data vendors and partnering businesses.
* Real-time Solutions for Excel used by financial professionals in analytics, trading, pricing, data contribution and administration
* Trade data capture transformation and system integration for fixed income securities, FX and other investment instruments
For more information on Gissing Software products please visit: www.gissing.com
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FinArch signs with Saad Financial Services SA in Switzerland to Implement Financial Studio
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SFS.SA is a service provider to investment companies in the SAAD Group. Financial Studio will be set up to interface with SFS.SA's back-office application, accounting and reporting software. Market prices will be taken from Reuters via a direct feed, thus enabling to revalue and analyse portfolio performance in real time as well as provide key financial and management information. Financial Studio will provide a platform upon which management can make better informed decisions and facilitate growth through enhanced analysis of financial data and identification of performance attribution.
According to SFS.SA: "The management had been evaluating possible solutions for nearly 2 years and found that Financial Studio from FinArch was the application and the vendor they trusted to deliver a platform that not only meets their needs now but also has the capacity to fulfil future requirements."
Dirk De Beule, Managing Director FinArch comments: "We are delighted to have signed such a prestigious company as SFS.SA in Switzerland, which is a new market for us. We look forward to delivering a high quality product and project value, and to a long and expanding relationship with the SAAD Group".
About FinArch
FinArch (Financial Architects), with offices in the major financials centres worldwide, is a global value leader in providing a new generation of financial management software. The concept of the platform and the integrated approach of the different modules enable innovative financial institutions to quickly implement tactical solutions meeting the overall strategic objectives in financial reporting.
FinArch provides a unique blend of domain expertise, operational services, and technology solutions that accelerate and facilitate financial institutions' ambition to implement a cost effective and reliable financial management platform.
www.finarch.com
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KOM Networks & Mobius solve SEC Archiving & Compliance challenges
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KOM Networks, a global leader of storage management software solutions, announced the implementation of KOMworx at CSI, a subsidiary of Credicorp-the largest financial services holding company in Perú with total consolidated assets of $9.1 billion, and closely identified with its principal subsidiary, BCP, the country's largest bank-as part of CSI's SEC Compliance strategy. KOM Networks & Mobius Management Systems have helped CSI protect data and achieve compliance by archiving records in accordance with SEC regulations.
"KOMworx has allowed CSI to implement a proactive, long-term and comprehensive compliance strategy managing data in accordance with the SEC 17a-4 regulations," said Dr. Taher Shaath, Chief Executive Officer of KOM Networks. "At KOM we consider assisting financial institutions archive and retain their data, a priority; KOMworx Compliance transparently archives data to an unalterable WORM disk storage, quickly producing data on-demand meeting government regulations for audits and legal requirements."
The CSI compliance solution includes Mobius' ViewDirectr E-mail Management software to capture and archive e-mails on a KOMworx `virtual volume'. e-WORM++, a feature of KOMworx Compliance, archives collected data to a WORM disk storage as well as replicating data to a WORM optical media, enforcing record retention policies. Data is protected and maintained on write-once WORM storage, satisfying the most stringent regulatory requirements. The process is automated, seamless and transparent with virtually no impact on performance, ensuring data is secure and readily available.
"SEC regulations have been a major concern for us at CSI. With the implementation of KOMworx and ViewDirect E-mail Management we are able to archive and manage data in an efficient manner while maintaining SEC Compliance," said Bruno Ghio, General Manager of CSI. "KOMworx Compliance has helped us comply with regulations and manage data by moving files to the most cost effective storage device automatically, saving us on capital and operational costs."
Commenting on the deployed software solution, Miguel Rodriguez, product manager at Mobius said, "Our ViewDirect E-mail Management software helps capture e-mail messages in a number of ways, including automatic capture from user mail-boxes and Exchange stores, and manual capture by users. CSI benefits by reducing the storage load on the Exchange server and improving the efficiency and reliability of its messaging servers. The combined solution makes it easier for CSI to manage their incoming e-mails and meet SEC regulations," he added.
Arsenio Batoy, President, Optical Laser, a KOM value added distributor facilitated the sale of the software talked about the ease of implementation and benefits KOMworx software provides. "Using KOMworx Compliance, organizations the likes of CSI are able to automatically archive data from investment banking, investment fund management as well as stock brokerage activities. KOMworx allows CSI to archive and protect data on WORM disk storage and Optical Media providing storage flexibility and enabling SEC Compliance."
About KOM Networks
KOM Networks, founded in 1969, is the world leader of innovative storage management software solutions. Pioneers of Data Protection & Retention, KOM Networks' products provide Compliance, Archiving and Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) to over 10,000 installations globally. KOM Networks products are delivered through a worldwide network of value-added resellers, strategic partnerships and alliances.
KOM Networks' easy-to-integrate products let you Simply Manage, Protect, and Serve STORAGE, The Way You Want It. For more information please visit www.komnetworks.com.
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SUBMITWrite Achieves Strong Early Adoption Momentum
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AMS Rackley, the industry's preferred provider of web-based and desktop rating and point-of-sale solutions, announced that recently launched SUBMITWrite, has achieved rapid adoption by the MGA market. There has been a lot of enthusiasm and positive feedback among MGAs that adopted the powerful new tool over the past few months. The early adopters of SUBMITWrite include Bolton & Company, Bloss & Dillard, Inc., Continental Special Risks, Inc., Deep South Holding, LP, FTP Inc., J.M. Wilson Corporation, Mid Valley General Agency, LLC, Pacific Coast E & S Insurance Services, Russell Bond & Co., Inc. and TAPCO Underwriters, Inc.
"The MGA market place has been plagued by cumbersome and often inefficient workflows. SUBMITWrite is a perfect example of an application technology which is clearly designed to address this problem - basically, this is what our industry has needed for years" stated Tate Tooley, IT Manager at Bloss & Dillard.
"Being an early adopter of SUBMITWrite gave us the ability to experience first-hand the revolutionary technology, including receiving complete submissions via our Web site, eliminating duplicate quote entries, integrating with POLICYRater and simplifying the workflow" said Tap Johnson III, President, TAPCO Underwriters, Inc., "This functionality will help us provide a new level of service to our customers and increase the business agents write with us."
SUBMITWrite significantly streamlines the current submission process for applications and quote data from retail agents to the MGA. It enables retail agencies to electronically submit quote information and supporting ACORD applications via the MGA's own branded website. The submitted information is available to the underwriter for import directly into Rackley's POLICYRater system. SUBMITWrite also has the functionality to ask supplemental questions as a part of the submission process. General Liability and Commercial Auto are the first lines of business available today, with Commercial Property to be released in early 2006.
About AMS Rackley
AMS Rackley is the nation's preferred provider of web-based and desktop rating, point-of-sale and new-business solutions for carriers, MGAs and independent insurance agents, and of carrier policy administration systems.
For more information regarding SUBMITWrite, visit www.amsrackley.com/mga.html or contact AMS Rackley at 800-634-RATE (7283) or email mgasales@amsrackley.com.
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Willis and XDTI
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After a comprehensive analysis of available agency management solutions, Nexsure was selected for its robust features and innovative use of current technology that will enable Willis to continue expanding their world-class client service strategy from a consolidated policy management platform. This decision follows a successful pilot implementation at three of Willis' largest offices, which began in August of last year.
"Nexsure complements our goal to offer unrivalled services to our clients," states Ms. Jeanette Scampas, EVP of Global Information Systems & Global Operations of Willis Group Holdings Limited. "By partnering with XDimensional Technologies, Willis greatly reduced the time needed to deploy a client management solution to thousands of Willis insurance professionals across the United States. Deploying Nexsure allows our highly knowledgeable employees to spend more time working closely with clients to develop optimal risk management solutions."
"Willis is one of the world's leading risk management and insurance intermediaries. Their commitment to provide clients with excellent local service, while enabling them to access an extensive network of global resources, exemplifies the ideal Nexsure client," states Robert Juracka, XDimensional's President. "While other top-tier national brokerages are now exploring the necessity for platform modernization and the benefits of a consolidated database, Willis is already implementing. We are extremely pleased that Nexsure and the XDimensional team are enablers of this industry-leading initiative."
Nexsure is the industry's only truly modern, web-native, and highly scalable management system platform. Nexsure represents the "best-of-breed" technical and security-related attributes that large enterprises such as Willis demand, and is based on Microsoft's .NET technology.
Kevin S. Kelly, Managing Director, U.S. Insurance for Microsoft Corporation states, "As a founding member of the Microsoft Insurance Value Chain, XDimensional has been helping us lead the way in creating foundational change workflow, productivity, and throughput at the insurance point-of-sale and service. We are delighted with Willis' adoption of XDimensional's Nexsure, which will enable them to make powerful improvements in the `experiences' had by their customers, their employees and those operating their various business units in North America. Willis and XDimensional are helping us define a new era for agency and brokerage management."
Nexsure is endorsed by the Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers. The Council represents the largest, most productive, and most profitable of all commercial insurance agencies and brokerage firms. Only the top one percent of all agents and brokers qualify for membership.
About XDimensional Technologies, Inc.
XDimensional(R) Technologies, Inc. (www.xdimensional.com), based in Brea, develops and markets Nexsure(R), the Internet insurance agency management solution that connects agents, carriers, brokers, and policyholders, driving efficient business production, superior customer service, and insightful business management. Nexsure offers robust contact management, sales force automation, advanced work flow, standard (property and casualty, life and health, benefits), and custom lines of business, policy life cycle management, CRM, and multi-office accounting and reporting. Nexsure is a scalable, web-architected, Microsoft .NET application with built in web services, data processing, and transactional capabilities. Nexsure provides unmatched ease of use, scalability, and information availability to help insurance agencies achieve their business goals. XDimensional Corporate Headquarters are located at 145 S. State College Blvd, Suite 160, Brea, CA 92821, tel: 714-672-8960, fax: 714-672-8908.
About Willis
Willis Group Holdings Limited is a leading global insurance broker, developing and delivering professional insurance, reinsurance, risk management, financial and human resource consulting, and actuarial services to corporations, public entities, and institutions around the world. With over 300 offices in over 100 countries, its global team of 15,800 Associates serves clients in 180 countries. Willis is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WSH. Additional information on Willis may be found on its web site: www.willis.com.
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1st Security Bank of Washington Selects Open Solutions' Enterprise-Wide Data Processing Suite
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Mountlake Terrace, Wash.-based 1st Security Bank of Washington has selected Open Solutions Inc.'s r (NASDAQ: OPEN) The Complete Banking Solution r (TCBS), a relational core data processing platform for financial institutions, to address its enterprise-wide data processing needs. Open Solutions is a provider of integrated relational technologies for banks and credit unions across the United States and Canada.
1st Security Bank, founded in 1936 as a credit union and converted to a mutual savings bank in April 2004, has 12 branches and $250 million in assets. After receiving its bank charter, 1st Security needed a provider that would address its evolving customer needs as well as the increased regulatory scrutiny that comes with being a bank. Greg Coward, vice president of Information Technology and project manager at 1st Security Bank, said, "The entire industry has experienced an increased level of accountability for data security, regulatory compliance and transaction transparency. We need to access our data and present it quickly and accurately."
In addition to The Complete Banking Solution, 1st Security will implement Open Solutions' Loan Origination Systems (consumer and mortgage); Report Wizard; Asset Collections Management; Real-time ATM; and the Financial Accounting Suite (general ledger, accounts payable and fixed assets).
"We reviewed other vendors and their solutions; however, the internal team at the bank preferred the Open Solutions platform," Coward said. "We liked the open architecture, front-end interface, advanced collections systems, reporting capabilities and in-house perspective."
With The Complete Banking Solution, community financial institutions can select either an in-house or an outsourced processing option to support its growth strategy. The in-house option offers complete control over sensitive customer data while the outsourced, hosted option provides both equipment and technology support through a secure data processing center. Adding the systems flexibility and ROI, institutions depending on their needs may convert from outsourced to in-house processing, or vice versa, without changing systems.
Louis Hernandez, Jr., Open Solutions chairman and CEO, said, "We've designed our banking product and service offerings to be user-friendly and further enable banks to offer more personalized products to their customers and marketplace. In this day and age of increasing regulatory compliance and accountability, we realize our clients need even more information at their fingertips and need the ability to quickly access that information. We are pleased that Open Solutions has been selected to help 1st Security Bank to better compete, provide a higher level of customer service and support their future growth strategies in today's ever-changing industry. We look forward to a long, mutually beneficial relationship with 1st Security Bank."
About Open Solutions Inc.
Open Solutions Inc. offers a fully featured strategic product platform that integrates core data processing applications built on a single centralized Oracle relational database, with Internet banking, cash management, member business services, CRM/business intelligence, financial accounting tools, credit card processing, electronic image/item processing, Check 21, interactive voice response, Web hosting and design services, and payment and loan origination solutions. Open Solutions' full suite of products and services allows banks, thrifts and credit unions in the US and Canada to better compete in today's aggressive financial services marketplace, and expand and tap their trusted financial relationships, client affinity, community presence and personalized service.
For more information about Open Solutions or its financial product line, contact Mickey Goldwasser by email at mgoldwasser@opensolutions.com by phone at 860.652.3153 or via fax at 860.652.3156. Visit Open Solutions' Internet site at www.opensolutions.com.
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John Kellington, Ohio Casualty,
Chairs ACORD Standards Committee
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John Kellington, chief technology officer and senior vice president, Ohio Casualty Group and a member of the ACORD Board of Directors, chairs the ASC. Kellington is a member of Ohio Casualty Group's executive management team, responsible for all corporate technology initiatives, and credited with the transformation of Ohio Casualty Group's technology into a state-of-the-art platform. Prior to becoming CTO at Ohio Casualty, he was Architect and Principal for IBM Global Services' National Insurance Practice.
"The ACORD Standards Committee is composed of very dedicated ACORD members from all lines of business who know and understand the importance of Standards and are guiding the process based on their expertise and real-world experience to benefit the industry," said Kellington. "I'm proud to not only be a part of this group, but to be its Chair in a time of rapid growth and progress with ACORD Standards and the ACORD Standards Framework."
Members of the ASC this year are:
ACORD Directors
* John Kellington, Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, Ohio Casualty Group Member, ACORD Board of Directors
Chairman, ACORD Standards Committee
* Andy Fogarty, Member, ACORD Board of Directors
Vice Chairman, ACORD Standards Committee
* Tom Nowak, Senior Vice President, American International Group
Vice Chairman, ACORD Standards Committee
Life and Annuity Steering Committee
* Chris Chartrand, Senior Vice President Customer Service, Genworth Financial Group
Steering Committee Chair
* Grant Andrew, Director New Business Development, Prudential Financial
Business Requirements Subcommittee Chair
* Jim August, Vice President & Chief Technology Architect, MetLife
Technical Requirements Subcommittee Chair
* B.A. Scott, Assistant Vice President, New York Life
Implementation Requirements Subcommittee Chair
Property & Casualty/Surety Steering Committee
* Spero Zacharias, International Field Operations Manager, Chubb & Son, Inc.
Steering Committee Chair
* James Mason, Director, Business Solutions, AON Corporation
Business Requirements Subcommittee Chair
* Sandi Perillo, Technical Analyst, The Hartford
Technology Requirements Subcommittee Chair
* Mele Fuller, Director, Partner Integration, SAFECO Insurance Company
Implementation Requirements Subcommittee Chair
Reinsurance and Large Commercial Steering Committee
* Juergen Heck, Head of Governance & Process Area, Global IT, Swiss Re
Steering Committee Chair
* Monique Hesseling, Vice President Research & Development, ACE Group
Business Requirements Subcommittee Chair
* Michael Smith, Manager, Business Process Reform (Claims and Standards), Lloyd's
Technology Requirements Subcommittee Chair
* Regis Delayat, Group Senior Vice President, SCOR
Implementation Requirements Subcommittee Chair
More information on the ACORD Standards Committee is available on ACORD's Web site at www.acord.org.
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COSS Promotes Jay Stevens to Sr. VP of Sales and CMO
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COSS Development Corporation, a specialist in illustration and point-of-sale systems for the financial services industry, has promoted Julian D. (Jay) Stevens to Senior VP of Sales/Chief Marketing Officer. Mr. Stevens, who holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina, has been with COSS Development for ten years in a variety of capacities, most recently as VP of Strategic Relations. "Jay's new leadership role will help drive COSS' marketing and sales initiatives to the next level," stated John Lundsten, COSS President and CEO. "He will be an integral part of our corporate management team and we look forward to his strategic input."
COSS is also pleased to announce the appointment of David J. Ruggerio as Director of Marketing. Ruggerio holds a BA in Communications Management from the University of Dayton, and brings with him over twelve years of experience in marketing, corporate communications, advertising and business development. He will oversee the development and implementation of COSS' marketing plans and manage the day-to-day operations of the marketing department.
About COSS:
COSS Development Corporation is an employee-owned technology company serving the financial services industry with point-of-sale solutions. Founded in 1987 with offices in Wisconsin, North Carolina and Georgia, COSS offers a complete suite of solutions, including product illustrations, hypotheticals, historical illustrations, asset allocation, needs analysis, advanced marketing, wealth distribution planning, intelligent forms and interactive agent training. COSS provides Web and desktop solutions in both the .NET and J2EE environments.
For more information about COSS Development Corporation visit www.cossdev.com.
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P&H Solutions Names Dangelmaier Chief Executive Officer
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Under Mr. Dangelmaier's leadership, P&H has revolutionized the way financial institutions expand their relationships with business customers by providing them with solutions that generate significant revenue and deposit growth. "P&H Solutions' Enterprise Business Banking Product (EBBP) has been enthusiastically embraced by the marketplace," said Dan Doyle, Director of P&H Solutions. "The company's excellent track record of profitable growth, having more than doubled in revenues during his tenure as President, is evidence of Ralph's passionate commitment to our customers and to building P&H Solutions into the foremost provider of business banking solutions. We look forward to continued success in the future under his leadership."
Mr. Dangelmaier has been with P&H Solutions since 1996, and became President in 2002. Since he joined, the company's revenues have increased from $1.5 million to over $40 million this year and the number of employees has grown from 20 to over 250. Prior to becoming President, he was SVP of Sales and Services. Before joining P&H Solutions, Mr. Dangelmaier held operations and sales positions at BankBoston, SunGard and A.G. Edwards. He is originally from the Boston area and is a graduate of Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts.
"I am honored by the vote of confidence from our board of directors," said Mr. Dangelmaier. "I am fortunate to have the best team in our market space. It is gratifying to know we have become the clear leader in providing the financial services industry with the most robust offering of products and services with which to serve their business customers. I look forward to the opportunity and the challenge of extending P&H Solutions' leadership position in business banking."
About P&H Solutions Web Cash Manager Suite
The P&H Solutions Web Cash Manager Suite is the industry-leading web-based business banking system, and can be deployed through an in-house environment or by using the P&H Solutions Outsource Solution Center. It allows financial institutions of all sizes to uniquely package products and services for different markets, or even individual customers, from a single flexible platform. Financial institutions can choose from over 90 different modules designed for the Small Office/Home Office (SOHO) client up through the largest corporate client. The P&H Solutions' Enterprise Business Banking Product also provides an infrastructure for integrating other products and services offered by financial institutions.
About P&H Solutions
Since its founding in 1983, P&H Solutions, a FinTech 100 company, has continually focused on the needs of financial institutions and their customers, with a strong commitment to helping financial institutions meet their strategic business banking objectives by delivering the most robust application suite in the industry. With over 150 financial institutions in production with its Web Cash Manager Suite, P&H Solutions is the market leader in adding demonstrative value to the business banking relationship. Leading industry analyst firms have consistently ranked P&H Solutions as the number one cash management vendor and among the top providers of small business banking solutions.
P&H Solutions' customers include AmSouth, Bank of Hawaii, Citibank, City National Bank, J.P. Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Old National, PNC, Sovereign Bank, and Wells Fargo, as well as hundreds of credit unions, community banks, savings banks, and regional financial institutions. P&H Solutions is headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts, with offices throughout the United States. Additional information can be found at www.ph.com or by calling 617-796-7700.
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IASA Announces Giuliani and Abagnale to Keynote 2006 Annual Conference
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"IASA is honored to have both Rudy Giuliani and Frank Abagnale keynoting this year's conference," said Joe Pomilia, Executive Director for IASA. "The experiences that both of these extraordinary men plan to share will be of great value to our attendees on both personal and professional levels."
Under former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani's leadership, New York City went from being known as "ungovernable and unmanageable" to an international symbol of urban renaissance. His steady hand and voice during and after the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center earned him the nickname "America's Mayor" and helped steady a shaken city and nation. Through it all, Mr. Giuliani was guided by his core leadership principles which he will share with IASA Conference attendees.
At a previous IASA Conference, Frank W. Abagnale, whose life is the subject of the hit movie "Catch Me If You Can," discussed his experiences. Returning this year, Mr. Abagnale will deliver a gripping presentation about protecting your company from embezzlement, forgery, counterfeiting, check fraud, and Internet fraud, as well as about the basics of fraud detection and prevention to IASA members within the insurance industry. More than 14,000 financial institutions, corporations and law enforcement agencies use his fraud prevention programs.
Some of the additional benefits industry professionals get with full registration include networking opportunities, technology access to over 200 exhibitors and solution providers in the industry's largest exhibit hall, CPE credits for nearly 70 educational sessions in topic areas important to life/health, property/casualty and reinsurance companies alike. Online registration for the 2006 IASA Annual Educational Conference & Business Show is now available at the IASA website, www.iasa.org.
For more information, or to register for this conference, please contact Margaret McKeon, IASA Conference Director at 636-978-9328 or mmckeon@iasa.org.
About IASA
The Insurance Accounting & Systems Association, Inc. (IASA) is a non-profit, education association that strives to enhance the knowledge of insurance industry professionals, and participants from similar organizations closely allied with the insurance industry by facilitating the exchange of ideas and information. IASA is the insurance industry's largest, and most well represented trade association. IASA membership includes insurance companies of all types (Property & Casualty, Life, Health, Fraternal, HMO and others) as members, as well as companies serving the insurance industry, regulators and also organizations more broadly representative of the financial services industry, including banks and investment brokerage firms. Learn more about the IASA by visiting our website at www.iasa.org or by calling (919) 489-0991.
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Lava Announces Major Enhancements to Sell-Side Products
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Lava Trading Inc., the innovative technology firm that develops high-performance trading solutions for the financial services industry, announced the completion of significant enhancements to its sell-side products, including the Lava ColorBook(R) system and Lava Trading Floor(R).
The updates to ColorBook, Lava Trading Floor and other products reflect the continual shift toward electronic trading and the need for sophisticated trading solutions. The additional functionality, introduced over the past year, has resulted in marked growth in Lava's Listed market share. For the month of December, Lava had a year-over-year increase of 103 percent in shares traded. There was also corresponding growth of 62 percent in the number of clients using the products.
"As a technology leader on Wall Street, we are continuously refining our product offerings to meet the evolving needs of our customers and the marketplace," said Richard Korhammer, CEO, Lava Trading Inc. "The enhancements to these already robust trading platforms provide the sell-side with truly industry-leading trading functionality and are indicative of the rapidly changing nature of the equities marketplace, most notably the proliferation of algorithmic trading and sourcing more liquidity within the NBBO spread."
The patented ColorBook system and Lava Trading Floor comprise the core of Lava's comprehensive suite of OTC and Listed Trading solutions. ColorBook integrates the full depth of order books from ECNs, exchanges and other liquidity sources into a premium, high-performance, real-time data feed. Lava Trading Floor, a high-performance front-end trader workstation, interacts with the ColorBook system, offering traders a consolidated order book in a unified market data montage.
In addition to fulfilling regulatory requirements, such as Regulation SHO and Regulation NMS, refinements to the sell-side products focused on several key areas. These included refining technology for accessing Listed liquidity, improving access to hidden liquidity, enhancing price improvement opportunities, and expanding Lava's algorithmic connectivity. Lava issued several software releases to fine tune smart routing to specifically improve interaction with traditional Listed market centers, and to expose more Listed routing options for electronic markets.
Specifically for ColorBook, DarkBook(R), and LavaPI(R), the updates focus on further enhancing Lava's network-effect functionality, through the introduction of two new features that will allow a user to trade at the NBBO or better and to seek hidden liquidity. The Spread or Better order feature allows special orders to seek price improvement exclusively for a period of time before reverting to their normal algorithms. An advanced ping feature, Continuous Ping, lets users more effectively access hidden liquidity and seek price improvement. Other refinements, most notably the Sweep Duration feature, focus on increasing execution efficiency and minimizing market impact.
The recently completed update of Lava Trading Floor was one of two significant releases of the product in 2005. The enhancements focus primarily on order routing, order management, market-making functionality and regulatory-related improvements. Specifically, Lava expanded Trading Floor's algorithmic offerings and now supports an extensive number of algorithmic routes. Enhancements to order management capabilities include the introduction of Imbalance Windows for various venues, Order View screens for monitoring orders, tickets and executions, and multiple front-end changes to enhance the user's experience, reduce risk and increase efficiency. The introduction of Action Buttons assists with market making by allowing various actions to be applied to a selected order. As a result, users can maintain their quotes and participate in the market with fewer clicks, refining the trader's workflow.
About Lava Trading Inc.
Headquartered in New York City, with locations in California, Connecticut and the United Kingdom, Lava Trading Inc. is an innovative technology firm that develops high-performance trading solutions for the financial services industry. Lava products are created as true ASP solutions built to withstand maximum volumes in the most volatile conditions. As a cost effective and neutral provider, Lava's OTC, Listed and Foreign Exchange solutions are used by leading broker/dealers, including most of the top U.S. investment banks, as well as market makers, hedge funds and institutional investors. With its patented technology and capital markets expertise, Lava creates value-added trading solutions that combine speed, intelligence and reliability. Lava is a wholly owned, independently-operated subsidiary of Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) and is a member NASD/SIPC. For more information, visit www.lavatrading.com.
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SunGard Announces Introduction of iWORKS
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SunGard (www.sungard.com) announced that it has brought together its entire family of insurance products under a single global brand, SunGard iWORKS. This family of products enhances SunGard's abilities to meet the growing requirements of SunGard customers around the world from front-office tools and policy administration to back-office reinsurance, actuarial calculations, financial and investment accounting and reporting.
iWORKS represents a coordinated strategy across all of SunGard's insurance products to increase value for all customers. This unified approach will help to strengthen and increase awareness, giving greater exposure of SunGard's solutions in the insurance industry in each of the following major business lines: life/health/annuities/pensions, property and casualty, and reinsurance. SunGard has more than eight products serving over 1500 customers globally.
The iWORKS product family will be managed jointly by Gavin Lavelle, president of SunGard Sherwood Systems and Greg Webber, president of SunGard Insurance Systems.
Matthew Josefowicz, manager of the insurance practice at research and advisory firm Celent, LLC commented, "SunGard has an extensive portfolio of insurance solutions and we believe that unifying them all under a single brand will help SunGard serve its customers more effectively."
Products that will form the basis of the iWORKS product family include Amarta, COMPASS, EAS, EPS, FrontTier, NAVIGATOR, ProCede, and Prophet. NAVIGATOR is the result of bundling several SunGard front- and back-office solutions: including AIMS, CAPS, CLAS, Contact Partner, Finpack, and VIP.
iWORKS Amarta
Life and Annuities/Pensions Policy Administration
Amarta provides a series of business services for acquisition, policy administration and claims. Additional supporting services include premium collection and allocation and internal accounting.
iWORKS COMPASS
Group Insurance, Pension and Investment Product Administration
Organizations employ COMPASS as a participant recordkeeping and plan administration solution. COMPASS is a single solution to service participants from plan enrollment through payout.
iWORKS EAS
Financial Accounting and Reporting
EAS (Enterprise Accounting System) is used to help meet a range of accounting needs, to access, manage, and report financial data, and to help adapt operations in support of new lines of business.
iWORKS EPS
Investment Accounting and Reporting
EPS (Enterprise Portfolio System) multi-delivery platform provides a range of specialized investment accounting tasks to help streamline and automate business processes and to help comply with regulatory requirements.
iWORKS FrontTier
Property & Casualty Policy Administration
FrontTier offers integrated business process management functionality that helps automate submissions, quotations, policies, rating, billing, accounting, workflow, claims, documents and reports.
iWORKS NAVIGATOR
Insurance Sales and Administration Solutions
NAVIGATOR is a comprehensive suite of solutions for life insurance and annuity sales and support. From illustration to administration to payouts, NAVIGATOR helps streamline business workflow, helps accelerate time to market and helps maximize competitive advantage.
iWORKS ProCede
Reinsurance Management
ProCede handles the placement of premiums and losses with reinsurers, and the tracking of receivables and payables. ProCede also helps achieve accounting and credit control, and helps produce management and regulatory reports.
iWORKS Prophet
Actuarial Calculations
Prophet is used primarily by insurance companies to perform actuarial calculations including profit testing, projections, reserving, asset liability modeling, stochastic modeling, risk management and experience analysis.
About iWORKS
SunGard iWORKS is a business-driven IT product family for the insurance industry in each of the following major business lines: life/health/annuities/pensions, property and casualty and reinsurance. iWORKS offers a range of products and services including front-office tools, policy administration, reinsurance, actuarial calculations, financial and investment accounting and reporting. SunGard partners with customers to deliver products and services that align with your changing business and regulatory needs.
About SunGard
With annual revenue of $4 billion, SunGard is a global leader in software and processing solutions for financial services, higher education and the public sector. SunGard also helps information-dependent enterprises of all types to ensure the continuity of their business. SunGard serves more than 25,000 customers in more than 50 countries, including the world's 50 largest financial services companies. Visit SunGard at www.sungard.com.
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Lava Adds Significant Functionality to ColorPalette Trading and Order Management Solution
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Lava Trading Inc., the innovative technology firm that develops high-performance trading solutions for the financial services industry, announced the release of Version 1.5 of ColorPalette, Lava's distinctive trading and order management system. Building upon ColorPalette's robust framework, Version 1.5 offers several advanced features to more fully support the complete trading life cycle and current market dynamics.
ColorPalette's new functionality includes:
-- Group Execution from Inventory - offers superior IPO trading functionality
-- Inside Ex - provides one step trading at the inside market
-- Pending Tolerance - allows traders to set a tolerance for how far from the market they want orders to appear on their browser
-- Routing Rules - permits automation of orders based on client, side, size, execution instructions, TIFs, broker and other criteria
-- Sales Trader Routing - allows dynamic routing of orders to multiple pools of liquidity
-- Top of Book Functionality - easy viewing of orders at the same price, allowing traders to view total shares at each price point
-- Pro-Rata Allocations - links multiple orders and allocation of shares evenly across orders
In addition, ColorPalette now allows for directed Indications of Interest (IOI) and automated Trade Advertisements to help clients more effectively locate sources of liquidity and potential trading partners.
"Since inception, ColorPalette has offered the broker/dealer industry a significant improvement from traditional order management systems," said Richard Korhammer, CEO, Lava Trading Inc. "With these major functionality enhancements, built upon Lava's fast, reliable and intelligent technology, ColorPalette provides the sell-side with a truly new generation of sophisticated OMS capabilities."
ColorPalette is a powerful sector-based trading and order management solution, designed as a high-throughput, fully automated system for managing institutional and retail customer orders. Its features include streamlined regulatory handling of current rules for all capacity orders, customer order crossing and internalization management, open architecture with standard and strategically-placed APIs, complete trade risk management, and TraderIntelligence(TM), a dynamic order-based query.
Since its launch in 2003, ColorPalette has continued to gain significant market share. In 2005, more than 20 companies, including four of the top 30 largest US investment banks, selected ColorPalette as their trading and order management systems.
In the coming year, Lava plans to introduce additional ColorPalette functionality. The new features will include basket trading, options, Canadian securities and foreign currency and smart IOIs, with the goal of becoming the most comprehensive, feature-rich solution in the marketplace.
About Lava Trading Inc.
Headquartered in New York City, with locations in California, Connecticut and the United Kingdom, Lava Trading Inc. is an innovative technology firm that develops high-performance trading solutions for the financial services industry. Lava products are created as true ASP solutions built to withstand maximum volumes in the most volatile conditions. As a cost effective and neutral provider, Lava's OTC, Listed and Foreign Exchange solutions are used by leading broker/dealers, including most of the top U.S. investment banks, as well as market makers, hedge funds and institutional investors. With its patented technology and capital markets expertise, Lava creates value-added trading solutions that combine speed, intelligence and reliability. Lava is a wholly owned, independently-operated subsidiary of Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) and a member NASD/SIPC. For more information, visit www.lavatrading.com.
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Cheq Information Technology, Inc. announces delivery of its `new generation' Cheq-ITT 388 XPress System to Eagle Image Systems, Inc.
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In making this announcement, CEO, John V. Ashley commented "The `new generation' Cheq-ITT XPress Systems bring a new dimension to Teller and Corporate Check Image Capture. This system has been specially designed for Check 21 processing and has a processing throughput (in grayscale) exceeding sixty (60) six inch checks per minute at a price that comparable to thirty (30) check per minute first generation systems The engineering changes embodied in these new systems have significantly improved the price/performance ratio for these types of scanners." He went on to say "These new systems have also passed the highest Class rating available from the US Federal Communications Commission. This will reassure Banks Risk/Loss Management that they do not have to be concerned with Radio Frequency or Electro-Magnetic Interference from these systems when they are installed at their Branches or at their Corporate Customer's premises."
In commenting on their acquisition of this new system, Mr. Shab Jupiterwala, President of Eagle Image Systems, Inc. said "Our customers rely on us to provide them with products that have high performance at low cost. We mirror their needs when developing new systems and have been very pleased with the high performance level of this system." He concluded by saying "Not only have we invested in price/performance, but we are also delighted that this system will allow us to expand our product line into the rapidly emerging field of Remote Deposit Capture."
About Cheq Information Technology Inc.
Cheq Information Technology Inc. a Nevada registered corporation was founded in 2004 to provide end-to-end Distributed Check Image Processing Solutions to the global Financial Industry.
More specific details regarding the company, its alliance partners and products can be found at www.cheq-it.com.
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Largest Ever Contract in Financial Services Sector with Barclays
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Getronics, the Global ICT Services Company, announced that Barclays has selected it as a strategic partner to provide desktop and application management support to over 30,000 users, the majority of which are in the United Kingdom. The win will see Getronics become a key strategic partner of Barclays, providing a greater range of services spanning its portfolio, including workspace management, technology transformation and application services. The five-year contract is valued at approximately EUR 200 million and begins in February 2006.
This major international contract win represents the Company's largest ever Financial Services deal. The contract will be serviced primarily out of the United Kingdom but involving support from its Spanish operations and its Global Service Centre in Budapest. In 2005, Getronics strengthened its UK operations with the acquisition of PinkRoccade and with a number of new appointments to its UK management team.
Paul Idzik, Chief Operating Officer of Barclays said: "As part of our continuous assessment of IT support to meet the changing needs of our business, we have reviewed our current supplier arrangements. Getronics was a logical choice due to its 18 year track record with Barclays and its validated positive experience with transitioning and supporting other clients in the financial services sector." Paul Idzik continued: Getronics' workspace and application management services provide us with the support and flexibility we need to continue to evolve and optimise our IT environment cost effectively."
In order to meet the requirements that Barclays places upon its networks, the bank needed to engage the services of a company that understands the financial services sector, is flexible and has in-depth experience and knowledge of ICT. The project will be rolled out in two phases. The first will focus on the transition of current technology and business practices. This will be followed by the installation and integration of new technology in order to improve the efficiency of the workspace management system.
Klaas Wagenaar, Chairman and CEO of Getronics commented: "Workspace management and application services are our core business. We understand the drivers and challenges our clients face. We ensure our clients remain in control of their business while we deliver the level of service they require. The Barclays contract is particularly exciting for us as it endorses the success of our strengthened service portfolio and validates our strategic focus. We look forward to the continual evolution of our relationship with Barclays and helping the bank realise its future technology vision."
About Barclays Bank Plc
Barclays is a global financial services company, with an international presence in Europe, the USA, Africa and Asia. It is engaged primarily in banking, investment banking and investment management. In terms of market capitalization, Barclays is one of the largest financial services companies in the world. Barclays has been involved in banking for over 300 years and operates in over 60 countries with more than 110,500 permanent employees.
About Getronics
With some 27,000 employees in over 30 countries and approximate revenues of EUR 3 billion, Getronics is one of the world's leading providers of vendor independent Information and Communication Technology (ICT) solutions and services.
Getronics designs, builds, deploys and manages flexible and innovative end-to-end solutions, working together with our partners and clients, in order to optimise and increase the productivity of our client's mobile knowledge workers.
Getronics headquarters are in Amsterdam, with regional offices in Boston, Madrid and Singapore. Getronics' shares are traded on Euronext Amsterdam ("GTN"). For further information about Getronics, visit www.getronics.com.
About Getronics UK
Getronics is one of the UK's leading Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies with over 2,000 highly skilled employees. In the UK, the Company specialises in the financial services, retail and telecommunications markets.
Through integration and infrastructure management services along with best practice consultancy and education, the company helps many of the world's largest organisations to maximise the value of their technology investment. Getronics UK clients include Alliance & Leicester, AXA Technology, Barclays, BT, Clarks, Dell, Derbyshire Building Society, Discovery Networks Europe, HBoS, T-Mobile, Thomas Cook, Superdrug and Woolworths.
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KOM Networks presents KOMworx Compliance solution at Hummingbird Summit in Miami
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KOM Networks, a global leader and developer of storage management software solutions providing Compliance, Archiving and Information Lifecycle Management (ILM), will showcase the power of KOMworx software at the Hummingbird Summit 2006 to be held February 6 - 8 at the Hotel InterContinental in Miami, FL. The KOMworx demonstration will highlight the benefits of a combined content management and data archival solution by Hummingbird and KOM Networks.
Director of Business Development at KOM Networks, Fadi Albatal, will deliver a speech entitled, Delivering a Compliance Solution, on Monday, February 6 at 4:00pm at The Hummingbird Partners' Solutions Track.
"Customers today continue to demand products and solutions that can manage the entire storage management lifecycle including content management," said Dr. Taher Shaath, Chief Executive Officer of KOM Networks. "The Summit provides a great venue for end users and partners to view working examples of KOMworx software and how the combined solution not only archives and secures data, but also manages content throughout the entire information lifecycle in an efficient and cost effective manner."
"As compliance issues continue to be the top priority for every major organization, content, e-mail and records management have become critically important for many chief compliance officers," said Andrew Pery, Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Hummingbird. "Working with KOM Networks enables Hummingbird to offer customers a solution that provides the resources and framework for ensuring data protection and retention as well as managing the distribution of data within designated storage resources."
KOMworx extends Hummingbird's enterprise content management (ECM) and e-mail management solutions to enable compliance utilizing existing resources and infrastructure. KOM's innovative software provides Hard Disk Fixed Content Archiving (e-WORM), e-WORM++ (combining WORM permanence with high performance disk storage), ILM, NAS aggregation and dynamic capacity management.
KOMworx demonstrations will be spread throughout the day during the Hummingbird Summit from February 6 to February 8, 2006.
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AdminServer, Inc.'s segment on World Business Review TV Series hosted by Alexander Haig is now streaming on the WBR website
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For insurance providers, customizing products has always been an extremely time-consuming and expensive process. In this segment of World Business Review, AdminServer, Inc. will discuss their flexible and modern AdminServer System which allows insurance carriers to fully administer products that precisely match their business practices and offers positive return on investment.
Jim Rourke, Chief Marketing Officer, AdminServer, Inc. explained, "Not only is AdminServer an advanced technology, but the company also knows the value of empowering its clients with a true understanding of how the technology works. Instead of installing software and charging clients for the life of their product for upkeep, AdminServer transfers the knowledge of how to use and maintain the system to its clients during implementation. This allows clients to cut costs across the enterprise and take control of their future without regard to technology issues or high maintenance and technology costs."
Coordinating Producer Kathryn Emerson added, "AdminServer has anticipated the needs of its clients by developing a truly innovative insurance policy administration solution. Clearly, this is a company at the forefront of the technology industry, making them a natural fit to appear on the show."
AdminServer, Inc.
AdminServer, Inc. is a premier solutions provider for the insurance community. AdminServer has been delivering administrative system solutions, web services, and consulting since 1998. AdminServer continues to specialize in fixed and variable annuities, pensions, immediate annuities, life insurance, and reinsurance. Currently AdminServer offers the only annuity, health, life insurance, and reinsurance administration system designed specifically as a web application employing J2EE and .NET strategies and technologies. Additionally, AdminServer has expanded their product offerings to include UVServer, an automated fund management and accounting system.
To learn more about AdminServer products and services, call 610-619-3100, e-mail info@adminserver.com, or visit the website at www.AdminServer.com.
About World Business Review
World Business Review airs on CNBC (as paid programming) and the Bravo! Network (as paid programming). World Business Review may also be viewed on United Airlines in-flight TV, or through video on demand via www.wbrtv.com/instudio.
The WBR Series is also available at more than 90 prestigious college universities, including Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Notre Dame, Dartmouth College and Georgetown University.
For information, e-mail Moniqueh@mmpusa.com or please visit www.wbrtv.com/instudio.
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Royal Credit Union Successfully Implements Open Solutions' Enterprise-Wide Data Processing Suite
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Open Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN), announced that Eau Claire, Wis.-based Royal Credit Union (RCU) has successfully implemented Open Solutions' enterprise-wide data processing platform, The Complete Credit Union Solutionr and other complementary applications. Open Solutions is a provider of integrated enabling technologies for financial institutions across the United States and Canada.
With $750 million in assets, 11 branches and approximately 105,000 members, RCU was organized in April 1964 to serve employees of Uniroyal and their families. In late1972, RCU received permission to add employee groups to its membership and was eventually granted a community charter. The credit union now serves members in 18 counties throughout western Wisconsin. Royal Credit Union offers many additional services to its members including educational seminars, and seven elementary and two high school sites in local schools.
RCU implemented Open Solutions' The Complete Credit Union Solution as well as e-Commerce BankerT (Internet banking and cash management); Telephone banking; and the new Financial Accounting Suite (including general ledger, accounts payable and fixed assets). The credit union also has plans to install cView (CRM/business intelligence) in mid-2006.
"The implementation of Open Solutions' platform went extremely well," said Jim Watts, CIO of Royal Credit Union. "Our members experienced no downtime in service whatsoever, and there were no significant issues that had to be addressed by our staff. I believe the overall success of the conversion can be attributed to extensive preparation efforts between our two organizations and how well our teams worked together to ensure everything was in order."
Six weeks prior to the implementation, RCU underwent a mock conversion to ensure the new system could handle the day-to-day activities it would face. Along with the team at RCU, Open Solutions' project analysts performed an on-site readiness assessment. The success of the mock conversion warranted the smooth implementation that would occur shortly after.
"The Complete Credit Union Solution is flexible, adaptable and scalable and will grow with the credit union's needs," Watts said. "We believe that it will help propel us into 2006 and meet our goal of improving member service."
Chairman and CEO of Open Solutions, Louis Hernandez, Jr. said, "Open Solutions designed and built its technology based on the objective of offering excellent options and solutions to our client financial institutions. As more and more financial institutions see the value of open technology, we're placing more resources behind our Implementation Department. We are confident our highly-qualified staff of professionals has developed a first-class implementation process for clients looking to move to our technology. Our client satisfaction scores are a testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff. As with all our clients, we will work closely with Royal Credit Union to assist them in accomplishing its business goals and initiatives."
About Open Solutions Inc.
Open Solutions Inc. offers a fully featured strategic product platform that integrates core data processing applications built on a single centralized Oracle relational database, with Internet banking, cash management, CRM/business intelligence, financial accounting tools, imaging, Check 21, interactive voice response and loan origination solutions. Open Solutions' full suite of products and services allows banks, thrifts and credit unions in the United States and Canada to better compete in today's aggressive financial services marketplace, and expand and tap their trusted financial relationships, client affinity, community presence and personalized service.
For more information about Open Solutions or its financial product line, contact Mickey Goldwasser by email or by phone at 860.652.3153 or via fax at 860.652.3156. Visit Open Solutions' Internet site at www.opensolutions.com.
For more information about Royal Credit Union visit www.rcu.org.
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CUTASC Implements Fincentric Gateway to Everlink Services
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"The successful transition to Everlink is an important milestone in delivering our products to Canadian financial institutions," said Robert Nygren, President and CEO of Fincentric. "The complete solution and ease of integration with Everlink's system allows CUTASC to interface easily with our Wealthview BankingT platform. This reinforces our dedication to making the strongest technology products and services available to our customers."
"Everlink's ATM and INTERAC Direct Payment (IDP) Switch sets a new standard for credit unions using third-party systems to