Capco Highlights why Collateral Management is Central to Regulatory Change and the Business Opportunities it Creates if you get it Right

LONDON, March 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- Wide-ranging Regulatory Developments and Liquidity Concerns Form a Strategic Imperative to Revolutionise Collateral Management

Capco, the global business and technology consultancy dedicated solely to the financial services industry, has observed a seismic shift in how Collateral Management is viewed in many financial organisations since 2008. With the credit crisis driving continued regulatory change, Collateral Management is changing from a reactive, largely administrative function in the back office to being integrated with Trading (Collateral Brokering and Securities Finance), Liquidity Management, Credit Risk, Market Risk and Finance (Capital Adequacy).

Financial institutions continue to face major challenges with regard to the scale of reform required, but the prize for those organisations that respond effectively will include additional client and revenue flows, as well as proactive Risk and Liquidity Management that improve business performance.

Stephen Vinnicombe ( http://www.capco.com/about-capco/who-is-who/stephen-vinnicombe) , a Capco Partner, comments:

"While investment costs associated with 'revolutionising' the way Collateral Management is viewed will be high, the benefits of doing so are wide-reaching. Capital Adequacy (banks are 30-40% inefficient on RWA valuations), Liquidity (single counterparty and issuer views to enable proactive management) and New Business opportunities (increased Collateral Trading and Tri Party activity) all stand to improve measurably and significantly, making the costs and consequences associated with doing nothing even greater.

"Financial institutions need to consider the following seven points if they are to successfully integrate Collateral Managementacross their organisation:

    
    
    1. Risk management

    The ability to re-assess counterparty risk on a near real-time basis and
    make appropriate credit valuation adjustments (CVA) across client and
    counterparty portfolios will be essential to improving margin and 
    threshold management, handling of concentration risks and identify 
    trading opportunities.


    2. Integration across product types

    Many banks still have a silo-based Collateral Management environment
    between products with individual margin calls. Exposure and Collateral
    Management should be amalgamated across product lines to achieve 
    efficient cross product netting and consistent pricing.


    3. Integration between business functions

    The criticality of Collateral Management to business performance demands
    a move from reactive focus to a pro-active intra-day approach across 
    Front Office, Finance, Operations, Credit and Market Risk. .


    4. Introduction of CCPs

    Separation of wholesale (CCP) and client collateral flows (bilateral) is
    required which could increase overall exposure. The industry is 
    considering netting across CCPs e.g. ICE Trust and CME (credit 
    derivatives and commodities) and LCH Clearnet (interest rate 
    derivatives), using agreed risk arrays across open trades, and also 
    including exchange traded activity. The intraday margining of the CCPs 
    will increase focus on the STP capability of all firms.


    5. Client servicing

    There are a range of requirements clients are looking to their Collateral
    Managers for:

    - Consolidated margin calls

    - Intraday facilities

    - Trading and substitution opportunities

    - Straight through processing (STP)


    6. Efficiency, STP and operational risk

    There will be a rapid increase in the frequency of collateral management
    activity with the standard shifting from batch to real time and the 
    volume of activity will test whether firms have got the right levels of 
    STP and control in place to manage efficiently.


    7. Business model

    There is a broader business model question to answer as to the relative
    roles of the traditional Investment Bank, Prime Broker and Custodian in 
    the provision of the next generation of Collateral Management services. 
    The banks that emerge from this era of change the strongest will be 
    those that have harnessed the "Back Office" strengths of custodians and 
    their huge balance sheets with the "Front Office" CVA, Pricing, Capital 
    Adequacy and trading opportunities.

About Capco

Capco, a global business and technology consultancy dedicated solely to the financial services industry. Our professionals combine innovative thinking with our unrivalled first-hand industry knowledge to offer our clients consulting expertise, complex technology and package integration, and managed services to move their organisations forward.

Through our collaborative and efficient approach, we help our clients successfully increase revenue, manage risk and regulatory change, reduce costs and enhance control. We specialise in banking; capital markets; wealth and investment management; finance, risk & compliance; and technology. We serve our clients from offices in leading financial centres across North America and Europe. To learn more, visit our web site at http://www.capco.com and subscribe to Capco's newsroom RSS feed ( http://feeds.feedburner.com/capco/newsroom).