Open Link Financial, Inc. ,a leading provider of cross-asset trading, risk management and operations processing software solutions, announced today that it has been named one of the most influential and innovative companies currently active in the traded energy markets by Energy Risk Magazine.

 

This is the fifth straight year that OpenLink has been recognized by the notable publication and voted to the top spot in Energy Risk’s energy trading and risk management (ETRM) software rankings. OpenLink’s achievements are profiled in this month’s 15th anniversary issue reporting on the global energy markets. OpenLink is the only ETRM solution provider honored in the Movers and Shakers editorial profile.

“OpenLink is delighted that Energy Risk Magazine has chosen to recognize the achievements and accomplishments of our company. The worldwide energy markets are witnessing unprecedented economic uncertainty. OpenLink has provided its clients with a uniquely qualified energy solution, designed from an end user’s perspective and a continually refined code base to help them navigate through these uncertain times and beyond,” said Kevin Hesselbirg, Chief Executive Officer at OpenLink.

“As well as being a very successful company in its own right, OpenLink has played a crucial role in the advancement of energy trading over the last 15 years,” stated Stella Farrington, Editor, Energy Risk Magazine.

Open Link Financial, Inc., provider of cross-asset trading, risk management and operations processing software solutions, announced today that Europe Arab Bank (“EAB”) has gone into production with OpenLink’s Findur application for their treasury and capital markets businesses.

 

“We wanted to have a fully automated trade processing capability for all of our current asset classes, including foreign exchange, money markets, fixed income, loans and deposits and their associated derivatives. It was also important that the solution be flexible enough to handle potential businesses, such as complex structured products, credit derivatives, energy and commodities,” said Antoine Srieh, Managing Director at EAB.

“Running three different systems – one for trading, one for risk, and one for processing – may not be a sensible approach,” remarked Ken Knowles, Executive VP of Financial and Risk Solutions at OpenLink. “Reconciling information between different systems is not only costly and time consuming – it’s completely unnecessary when you can have an integrated solution.”

“With Findur, we have been able to replace a number of legacy systems with one streamlined application used by over forty users in our front, middle and back offices. In one platform, we have the ability to manage market, credit, and operational risk as well as regulatory and head office reporting while being fully integrated into automated trading and settlement systems. This is a sophisticated solution with wide asset class coverage and a depth of functionality that provides a quantifiable return on investment, while lowering our overall cost of ownership,” added Mr. Srieh.

Jean-Claude Riss, Managing Director, OpenLink International, Ltd. added, “Lowering cost of ownership is one of our primary software design considerations. Firms can achieve huge operational benefits and cost savings when the software facilitates the organization’s desired workflows, rather than forcing the client to adapt to the software.”

The initial project used OpenLink’s Model Bank, a preconfigured database reflecting a bank’s core business, which affords rapid implementation. This resulted in a simultaneous configuration of the entire bank’s treasury and capital markets products, as well as providing enterprise risk management, front-to-back office workflow processing, sub-ledger accounting, regulatory reporting and automated integration of both the Reuters and Hotspot FXi foreign exchange trading platforms. It also allowed confirmation and payments via SWIFT.

Kevin Hesselbirg, CEO at OpenLink, stated that “We are very pleased that Europe Arab Bank selected OpenLink and that they are realizing measurable results. The Findur application can provide companies seeking a complete front, middle and back office system with a single framework, and a solution that is dynamic, scalable and adaptable with extensibility for any organization looking to manage their business in today’s times.”