At a breakfast briefing last week, Rhyme Systems, a provider of asset management solutions, advised Euroclear UK and Ireland participants to start preparing for the forthcoming introduction of the Euroclear Single Platform.
Euroclear's Single Platform will be introduced in January 2009. It will be implemented across all the firm's group companies throughout 2009 and 2010, and will consolidate and harmonise all settlement, custody and related services. The driving factor for these changes is to reduce the risks and costs of settling securities transactions, particularly cross border. As a consequence, the Euroclear group markets will function as a single market without operational borders.
"Perhaps understandably, many firms' preparations for the introduction of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) have taken priority over projects to prepare for the Euroclear Single Platform," says Mark Wellham, Arrow-SP Product Manager, Rhyme Systems. "However, with MiFID now live and less than a year to begin Euroclear mandatory user testing, now is the time to focus on the groundwork needed for the introduction of the Single Platform," he adds.
"Looking to the future, it was suggested at the briefing that because systems are increasingly affected by regulation, firms should take an enterprise-level view when planning developments as requirements often overlap. This approach, as opposed to viewing each requirement in isolation, should not only save time but also costs," continues Welham.