SmartStream Technologies, the leading transaction management STP solutions provider, is pleased to announce that Dexia Banque Internationale Luxembourg (Dexia BIL) has selected the Corona CS (Client/Server) solution to automate its reconciliations process and provide a foundation for Straight Through Processing (STP).
Dexia Banque Internationale Luxembourg (Dexia BIL), together with Dexia Bank in Belgium and Dexia Crdit Local in France, is a member of the European banking group Dexia. In Luxembourg, Dexia BIL provides commercial banking, private banking, financial banking, asset management and fund administration services. Internationally, it is responsible for developing the group’s private banking, asset management and fund administration business. Founded in 1856, Dexia BIL is not only one of today’s leading banks in the Luxembourg financial centre, but also the oldest bank in the Grand Duchy.
Corona is being installed across three divisions in the bank’s Luxembourg head office: cash, securities and fund management. Phase one of the project has been completed with Corona now installed in the securities division. The use of Corona enables the bank to reconcile securities transactions automatically on a daily basis, significantly increasing operational efficiency. The second phase of the project – to automate the daily reconciliation of around 40,000 cash transactions – starts in early February. The final phase will involve automating the reconciliation process for the fund management division in the second half of 2002.
The selection of Corona is critical in enabling Dexia BIL to achieve true Straight Through Processing. To meet the demand for shoter settlement cycles it is imperative that the bank moves to automated daily reconciliations. This will faciliate the processing of higher trade volumes and increased operational efficiency while reducing the cost per trade.
The decision to select Corona was in keeping with the overall IT strategy of the bank, which centred on a change of environment and a requirement for an integrated product that could handle both cash and securities reconciliations.
Commenting on the agreement, Gilbert Jungen, Senior Vice President at Dexia BIL said: “The selection of Corona formed part of a strategic decision by the bank to centralise our reconciliations processing and significantly reduce operational cost and risk exposure. We were looking for an off-the-shelf, functionally-rich solution that could be extended to encompass all of the banks’ reconciliation requirements in the future, and found Corona to be the best solution to meet those criteria.”
Speaking on behalf of SmartStream Technologies, Kieran Kilcullen, Manager for the France and Benelux regions said: “We are delighted to welcome Dexia BIL on board as a Corona client. The bank’s strategic commitment to Corona further enhances our blue chip client base and emphasises SmartStream Technologies’ position as the preferred solutions provider to top tier financial institutions worldwide.”