Charles River Connects to Omgeo in Japan
February 11, 2008
Charles River Development said it has linked its order management system (OMS) to Omgeo's post-trade communications suite to provide mutual clients in Japan with a full front-to-back-office solution for processing domestic and international trades.
Japanese investment firms who previously sent trade messages to sell-side firms via Charles River's FIX network can now use the Charles River Investment Management System (IMS) to connect to Omgeo's Oasys Global electronic confirmation platform, Central Trade Manager (CTM), TradeMatch and the Alert standing instructions database. Omgeo is a joint venture of the U.S. Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. and Thomson Financial.
Japanese fund managers using IMS can also take advantage of a link between Omgeo and the Japanese Securities Depository Center (Jasdec), which Omgeo announced in 2006. Matched trade instructions will automatically be sent to the Japanese depository, which forwards them to a trust bank, reducing the risk of failed trades and associated operational costs. Thus far, none of the companies' mutual clients are using the Jasdec connectivity, but Omgeo officials say that two large global investment managers will begin using CTM to connect to Jasdec in June.
Japan, like many countries in the Asia-Pacific region, is beginning to see a number of straight-through processing (STP) initiatives such as adoption of the FIX protocol and Swift messaging standards. Charles River opened its Tokyo office last year; Boston- and New York-based Omgeo entered the country in 2001, quickly developing a local client base.
Burlington, Mass.-based Charles River is the second OMS provider to link to Omgeo in Japan--Bloomberg connected to Omgeo's CTM in 2005. Omgeo is also in talks with Fidessa LatentZero about connecting mutual clients. About 20 firms worldwide use IMS to link to CTM.
"Partnering with other firms gives us credibility and stronger brand recognition in Japan," said David Estrada, representative director of Omgeo in Tokyo. He noted that the companies "have had a close working relationship for many years and are excited to help mutual clients go from strength to strength in their trade processing capabilities," adding that Omgeo is "committed to helping clients achieve the efficiencies of true STP by partnering with leading service providers."
Of Omgeo's 460 Asia-Pacific clients, 60 are in Japan. Charles River has 45 customers in Asia-Pacific; its 18 Japanese clients include three of the country's leading investment firms, who use IMS for domestic and international portfolio management and compliance. Charles River also has customers in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, mainland China, Korea, Thailand, New Zealand and Australia, where the largest number are concentrated.
"We are expanding our regional presence and enhancing partner relationships to accommodate growing demand in Japan for Charles River products and services," said Cameron Field, Charles River's managing director in Asia, in a statement. "As a member of Charles River's partner integration certification program, Omgeo has a joint commitment with Charles River which we are strengthening to support mutual clients in Japan with integrated and seamless real-time matching."
Members of Charles River's certification program must ensure seamless connectivity with IMS and keep up with upgrades.
Field, who is based in Melbourne, noted that Japan is one of Charles River's largest markets in Asia-Pacific and that over the past few years IMS has been enhanced to accommodate the country's specific needs. In addition to including Japanese characters, the OMS also takes into account the more stringent requirements for when trades can be crossed.
