London / Sandton, South Africa, 18 July 2017 – South African market participants can now enjoy unprecedented automation and straight-through processing by leveraging newly available, integrated cloud-based technology to exchange tri-party SWIFT1 messaging for collateral instructions, settlement and confirmations. CloudMargin, the multi-award winning creator of the world’s first web-based collateral and margin management solution, and Strate, the South African Central Securities Depository (CSD) and South Africa’s first Tri-Party Collateral Management Agent, today announced that they have just integrated their platforms. The move makes tri-party messaging and collateral optimisation more accessible for both buy- and sell-side participants in the country.
The agreement enables clients to efficiently and seamlessly use their collateral held at Strate to cover their margin calls in the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market. For local market participants without their own SWIFT membership, this previously would have been a time-consuming, manual process to handle messaging related to collateral instructions, confirmations and settlement. Now, they can take advantage of the CloudMargin and Strate Collateral Management Services straight-through processing capability via SWIFT.
Due to the fact that the solution is cloud based, collateral management clients can implement it quickly at a reasonable cost, the firms said.
Lee McCormack CloudMargin Head of Strategy, said: “We are delighted to roll out this breakthrough service in conjunction with Strate Collateral Management Services to market participants in South Africa, helping them increase their efficiencies via our cloud-based platform. We are continuing to build an inter-connected network of organisations globally that give clients one-stop access to a broad range of collateral management and other related services for cleared and uncleared derivatives transactions.”
Steve Everett, General Manager of Strate Collateral Management Services, said: “We are delighted to partner with CloudMargin to provide a fully integrated, cost-effective and powerful collateral management capability to the South African market. This comes at a time when firms here are preparing to meet the requirements of the non-cleared OTC derivatives margin regulation due to take effect on Sept. 1, which will require enhanced collateral management capability from both the buy-side and the sell-side.”
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About Strate
As a South African Central Securities Depository (CSD), Strate is licensed as an independent provider of post-trade products and services for the financial markets. Strate is internationally recognised as a Financial Market Infrastructure (FMI) that is trusted to use its state-of-the-art technology, international expertise and sound risk management framework to support and promote the safety and efficiency of the financial markets. Strate provides electronic settlement of equities and bonds transactions concluded on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. It also settles transactions in money market securities and has recently introduced a collateral management service. Strate offers an asset servicing product range which augments the services it offers to issuers in terms of the Companies Act (2008) and the Financial Markets Act (FMA) (2012). For more information, visit http://www.strate.co.za/.
NOTES:
1) SWIFT is the world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services.
CONTACT:
For CloudMargin:
Ellen G. Resnick
Crystal Clear Communications
+773-929-9292; +312-399-9295 (mobile)
eresnick@crystalclearPR.com
For Strate:
Nicole De Matos
PR and Communications
+27(0)11 759 5405
Nicoled@strate.co.za