TECHNOLOGY SPOTLIGHT

ZURICH--Credit Suisse Group has integrated Inventure's Fenics FX options trading system with Midas-Kapiti International's CMark back office treasury and derivatives system. The combined platform provides straight-through processing for the bank's entire domestic forex options operation, including trading desks at the group's Credit Suisse First Boston and Credit Suisse Private Banking business units.

Andreas Hofstetter, the group's forex technology manager, says the bank previously relied on a manual processing and reconciliation operation. This presented data quality issues and operational risk management issues, he adds, hence the decision to implement the Fenics/CMark combined platform.

Credit Suisse's middle office uses Fenics to manage options positions, approve deals and report sensitivities and limits to traders. CMark transfers the deal information to the bank's back office in real time, as well as generates risk reports for its independent risk control group.

The bank integrated Fenics and CMark using the Fenics Connect module of Inventure's Fenics Toolkit customization product. Fenics Connect allows users to build automated procedures that import, export and reconcile Fenics data with third-party and proprietary solutions (Derivatives & Risk Technology, June 24, 1996).

Separately, Inventure recently launched its Fenics Third-Party Math Software Development Kit (SDK). The vendor is looking to expand the range of option models available within Fenics by allowing users to add third-party pricing algorithms, says Mark Simon, chief executive of Inventure.

Inventure now plans to integrate options pricing models developed by outside specialists into future releases of Fenics. Simon anticipates the first of these external models will be available before the end of the summer.

--Adriana Saraceni