SFTS2019: Automation basics won’t be right until foundations in place
09 May 2019 London
Image: Shutterstock
Discussing data at the Securities Finance Technology Symposium in London, David Lewis, senior director at FIS, said: "There is a lot to be done in the basement, we won’t get the basic stuff right unless the industry sorts the foundations."
Lewis explained: “We are not going to get the most from automation and the efficiency it can bring until we get the basics right. There is lots of interesting data out there, which gets our attention, brings innovation and drives competition.”
“We talk about artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning but until we strengthen the foundations of our basic data, we won’t see transformational change.”
Lewis explained that the Securities Financing Technology Regulation (SFTR) is a “helpful driver as purses are very much more open when you use a regulatory flag. People are investing in getting the regulations right which has the potential to dramatically improve the quality of data held and exchanged between counterparties”.
“I would focus on getting the building blocks right; we can play with the fun stuff but we can’t get the yield from the kind of automated efficiency that we are capable of without getting things like standard settlement structures right.”
The moderator, Andrew Dyson, ISLA CEO, then asked the panel if the regulatory agenda gets more focus from a budget perspective. Dyson said: “Is that a constraint, that there is not the budget for some of these things?”
In response, Paul Wilson, managing director at IHS Markit, affirmed: “You can’t avoid the regulatory agenda because by definition you have to otherwise you don’t have a business.”
Wilson continued: “My challenge to all of you is that there has been a huge amount of automation that has occurred but we have tended to automate existing processes.”
“We have not stepped outside of the box and addressed ALD. The industry has spent vast sums on automation but we have missed a trick and ALD Has the potential to drive some out of business.”
Ed Oliver, managing director, product development, eSecLending, said: “eSecLending is a big user of data and it is a core element of what we do. Over the next two years, we are going to become a huge giver of data as well. As users of data, we need to find ways of finding it interesting and relevant for what we need.”
Lewis explained: “We are not going to get the most from automation and the efficiency it can bring until we get the basics right. There is lots of interesting data out there, which gets our attention, brings innovation and drives competition.”
“We talk about artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning but until we strengthen the foundations of our basic data, we won’t see transformational change.”
Lewis explained that the Securities Financing Technology Regulation (SFTR) is a “helpful driver as purses are very much more open when you use a regulatory flag. People are investing in getting the regulations right which has the potential to dramatically improve the quality of data held and exchanged between counterparties”.
“I would focus on getting the building blocks right; we can play with the fun stuff but we can’t get the yield from the kind of automated efficiency that we are capable of without getting things like standard settlement structures right.”
The moderator, Andrew Dyson, ISLA CEO, then asked the panel if the regulatory agenda gets more focus from a budget perspective. Dyson said: “Is that a constraint, that there is not the budget for some of these things?”
In response, Paul Wilson, managing director at IHS Markit, affirmed: “You can’t avoid the regulatory agenda because by definition you have to otherwise you don’t have a business.”
Wilson continued: “My challenge to all of you is that there has been a huge amount of automation that has occurred but we have tended to automate existing processes.”
“We have not stepped outside of the box and addressed ALD. The industry has spent vast sums on automation but we have missed a trick and ALD Has the potential to drive some out of business.”
Ed Oliver, managing director, product development, eSecLending, said: “eSecLending is a big user of data and it is a core element of what we do. Over the next two years, we are going to become a huge giver of data as well. As users of data, we need to find ways of finding it interesting and relevant for what we need.”
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