Newedge Americas CIO Sets Integration Course
March 30, 2009
As broker-dealer Newedge works to integrate the systems of its predecessors, Stephen Davy, its new chief information officer in the Americas, is expected to play a big role in the firm's global ambitions.
Société Générale and Calyon--the investment banking division of Credit Agricole--formed Newedge in January 2008 as a joint venture of their brokerage arms, Fimat and Calyon Financial, respectively. However, the large-scale combination was slowed by market turmoil. According to Newedge CEO Patrice Blanc, the firm continues to focus on consolidating its technology and operations, a process that was "halfway completed" at year-end 2008.
A major player in the futures and options sectors, Newedge also provides execution and clearing services for money market instruments, bonds, foreign exchange, equities and commodities. The Paris-based firm's other offerings include prime brokerage, asset financing, cross-margining and centralized reporting of client portfolios. As of Jan. 31, Newedge had over $71 billion in client funds on deposit globally and its U.S. subsidiary was the largest futures commission merchant based on customer segregated funds.
Davy, who arrived at Newedge in November, oversees the firm's technological support for sales and customer service activities. Previously corporate CIO of Altria Group, Davy reports to global CIO Richard Wilson and Jean Luc Savignac, COO for the Americas. Prior to joining Altria in 1999, he spent 11 years as head of technology for capital markets and trading at Barclays Capital.
Davy spoke recently with Securities Industry News about Newedge's integration process and its information technology strategy.
What is the biggest challenge in integrating the firms' systems in the Americas?
Meeting an aggressive timeline of completing the integration by the end of 2009. We still have a substantial amount of work on our plates, but the target is a hard-and-fast one set up by our senior management at the time the merger was announced.
What are the objectives for integration?
Our primary goal in integration is to provide our customers with more efficient access to our broader mix of products and services, as well as to expand the nature of these products and services. The portfolio of systems that the two companies had pre-merger will clearly be reduced to create both cost savings and greater efficiency.
How will the timetable be affected by your plans for an initial public offering?
We had planned for a partial IPO within 18 to 24 months after the merger was announced, but our CEO recently said that changes in market conditions will likely impact the timing. However, we will still proceed with the integration on the targeted timetable.
Is the integration being driven globally or locally?
I would say that 100 percent of our integration plans are driven globally.
What does it include?
One of the key projects I am working on is to consolidate three client portals into a single portal. The portal will provide our clients with a single point of entry for trade files and client statements, as well as research. It will also be multi-asset-based and have improved functionality. Clients will be able to customize their reports more easily and receive data on a more real-time basis. The portal will be based on a Linux operating system and Oracle databases and rely on Java language and [SAP] BusinessObjects' business intelligence software for reporting, query and analysis. The delivery date for the first phase of the portal will be in the second quarter.
