Customer Solution Case Study
/ Thomson Reuters Deploys Complex Web Reporting System in Just Six Weeks
“If we hadn’t used BizTalk Server, it probably would have taken us up to four weeks longer to complete the project.”
Toby Corballis, Chief Executive Officer, Rapid Addition
Thomson Reuters had just six weeks to create an equity short-position reporting solution to comply with new securities legislation. Microsoft Silver Partner Rapid Addition designed a web-based solution using Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009 and the Thomson Reuters Elektron cloud platform, which connects data from multiple third-party trading systems and transmits it using the Financial Information eXchange (FIX) protocol.
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published October 2011
Business Needs
Thomson Reuters provides business tools and information to decision makers across several markets, including finance, healthcare, science, and media. The company was created in 2000 through the merger of Reuters, a leading news and financial information provider, and Thomson, a large information and technology company based in Canada.
Thomson Reuters uses technology to support delivery of award-winning services, products, and platforms. It has won numerous awards—most recently, the Inside Market Data Magazine Award for Best Real-Time Market Data Initiative, for its Thomson Reuters Elektron Global
Infrastructure. The company recognises that its data services are only as good as the technology that underlies them. As a result, it is committed to keeping its customer platforms up to date with the latest requirements for their businesses and services.
When the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) introduced new legislation governing the reporting of short-position trades, Thomson Reuters worked quickly to add compliant functionality to its trading platform. Short-position trades are trades that sometimes sell financial products that they don’t own, with a view to repurchasing them later at a lower price. ASIC specified that all short-position trades must adhere to specific rules, and all related data must be captured and submitted to the commission within three days of making the trade. Mike Powell, Global Head, Enterprise Content, Thomson Reuters, says: “The legislation came into effect in June 2010, and Thomson Reuters had just six weeks to provide a platform that could handle ASIC reporting requirements. Otherwise, the business risked disappointing clients who rely on Thomson Reuters for all their trading needs, including market compliance.”
Solution
Thomson Reuters asked Rapid Addition, a Microsoft Silver Partner to create a solution for reporting short-position trades to the ASIC. Rapid Addition is a leading supplier of FIX messaging technology and Thomson Reuters was confident that it could complete the complex reporting project within the tight six-week timeframe.
The development team created a web-based application that captures the coordinates of short-position trading details required by the ASIC. For example, it records price, quantity, and trade timeline details—and reports the information via the FIX protocol to ASIC. The solution is based on Microsoft Biz Talk Server 2009 and the Thomson Reuters Elektron platform. It provides reporting functionality through either a web-based user interface or a web services interface.
Rapid Addition used Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009, Windows Communication Foundation, its in-house adaptors, RA-ShortCut for FIX—the RA FIX adaptor for BizTalk—and Microsoft SQL Server 2008, to connect short-position trade data from multiple customers and transmit it to the central repository at ASIC. Toby Corballis, Chief Executive Officer at Rapid Addition, says: “Incorporating our FIX engine technology RA-Cheetah with Microsoft BizTalk Server 2009 extended its ability to work with data formats as diverse as SWIFT, FTP, and XML alongside the FIX protocol. It supports Thomson Reuters clients in fulfilling their submission obligations to ASIC.”
The team at Rapid Addition says that BizTalk development tools were the key to getting the solution deployed quickly. “With BizTalk Server 2009, we can drag and drop technical workflows from one part of the solution to another. This means it’s quicker and easier to modify the architecture and highlight potential problems,” says Corballis.
Benefits
Rapid Addition helped Thomson Reuters launch one of the first short-position reporting solutions for Australia trades. Powell says: “With BizTalk Server 2009 development tools supporting the company, we can respond quickly to new business requirements, keep development costs low, and maintain one of the most successful financial market platforms in the world.”
· Reducing development time. The development environment in BizTalk Server 2009 is visual and intuitive, which helps Corballis and his team develop solutions that work well, in spite of the complexity of underlying systems. He says: “Good tools speed up the development life cycle. With BizTalk Server 2009, our team concentrated on the business rules and requirements for the short-position trades in Australia, and addressed challenges quickly. If we hadn’t used BizTalk Server, it probably would have taken us up to four weeks longer to complete the project.”
· Creating competitive customer services. The web-based service gives Thomson Reuters customers the ability to report their short-position trades in the time specified by ASIC. The firm is one of the few third-party providers that ASIC lists on its website as creating short-position reporting solutions that meet the country’s trading rules. Regardless of the origin of a short-position trade, the information is reported to ASIC on or before the fourth day from the date the transaction occurs, and made publicly available later that month.
· Responding to new business requirements. The speed and agility Thomson Reuters demonstrated by creating the first short-position reporting solution for Australia trades reinforces its status as world leader in financial market services. With support from Rapid Addition, the company can accommodate changing regulatory requirements across industries and countries, and create easy-to-use interfaces for highly complex systems and transactions.
This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published October 2011