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With a strong trend towards buying bonds online, specialist rapid
application software house Finsoft Ltd. has developed a way to upgrade
existing web sites to permit online syndication.
"The World Bank's recent US$3billion bond is a good example
of the sort of challenge out there," says Predrag Popovic, Managing
Director of Finsoft. "Here's a multinational choosing to issue
only to online investors. This is an online bond revolution and
it's going to shake up a lot of origination desks. If a financial
institution doesn't yet have a secure web-enabled syndication set-up,
it will have to act quickly to participate in the next online issue."
Finsoft facilitates web-based syndication by using its FinCore technology
to integrate its own Java-based e-commerce infrastructure with a
client's existing system. Given the complexity of international
bond issues, Finsoft has developed three separate applications to
meet the needs of all participants:
| 1
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Investors' application: allows
investors to put, cancel and modify orders using an order blotter |
| 2 |
Syndicators' application: allows
syndicators to monitor, accept, reject and allocate orders,
notifying investors by e-mail |
| 3 |
Issuers' application: allows
the issuer to monitor the sale process and download information
to their own spreadsheets |
"With web syndication, security is the big challenge," Popovic
says. "Naturally issuers demand a very high level of security.
We are using advanced encryption and firewall techniques to enable
our clients to qualify as online investors."
The London-based software house has already successfully collaborated
with a long-term major European banking client to deliver a web
based syndication system. "We met a tight deadline by integrating
our own Java infrastructure with our client's. We integrated our
Java applets and servlets into their already highly sophisticated
site, using our e-commerce capability and FinCore object-oriented
technology," said Popovic. "And our client is delighted."
The next step is an ASP, he added. "Now that we've achieved speed
of integration and solved the security problem, we are looking at
ways to make web syndication more accessible. Our ASP in now finished,
has been tested and moves into production this week."
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