TS Imagine is entering the securities lending market with a new solution for stock loan, repo and collateral management to pair with its synthetic prime brokerage offering under a single platform.
Rob Flatley
The new solution, LoanSmart, is a front-to-back, multi-asset solution allowing users to operate securities-backed lending and repo businesses while automating key securities lending processes through a single system.
The launch underscores an aggressive expansion plan from TS Imagine which is looking to combine trading and financing into a single stack and take on a market which it believes is in need of modernisation due to disparate systems and manual processes.
Known for its trading and risk management, TS Imagine acquired and integrated PrimeOne in 2024 from S&P as part of a push into prime brokerage, with securities lending then seen as natural next step for the organisation.
LoanSmart has subsequently been introduced following the acquisition of a Tier 1 bank’s securities lending platform and will be led by industry veteran Gary Flower who boasts 35 years of experience from leading desks at firms including Morgan Stanley and Nomura.
Speaking to The TRADE, Rob Flatley, chief executive of TS Imagine, described the launch as a “major strategic milestone” and highlighted how the organisation is looking to solve for expensive legacy technology, operational inefficiencies and lack of transparency.
“There is a huge need for real-time financing and control,” he explained. “It’s always been there, but it was definitely underscored with the Archegos episode that hit the market.
“You need a single pane of glass with positions, balances and holdings. You can understand what’s going on in that customer and then you can run financial control metrics around it. So, after Archegos, it became a big deal to have real time controls in that market. And the best way to do that is if you own the positions and the financial control mechanism like we do with risk management.
“So that was a really big deal in terms of the future of the market and why we’re trying to have as much in our stack as we can to solve that problem.”
Flower added: ”The securities lending market – long plagued by outdated manual processes, inconsistent pricing, and a lack of transparency – is ripe for modernisation.
“LoanSmart offers counterparties a single, integrated solution that automates key stock loan repo functions for the buy and sell-side. It’s a proven solution that has already been deployed at a major bank and addresses deep-seated issued in the securities lending market.”