MarkitSERV, the most widely-used electronic trade processing service for over- the-counter (OTC) derivative transactions, today launched PortRec Xpress, a new service designed to help asset managers reconcile their OTC derivatives portfolios quickly and efficiently.
The launch of this new service comes as regulators worldwide are expected to mandate asset managers to reconcile their portfolios on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or annual basis as part of the drive to reduce operational and financial risk in the derivatives industry.
Designed for the needs of managers of vanilla derivative portfolios, PortRec Xpress is a cost-effective, Web-based system that reconciles position information maintained by buy-side firms and their counterparties (dealers and clearing brokers). A star-rating system enables users to view how closely their position information matches that of their counterparties easily and efficiently. Users are alerted automatically when discrepancies arise and an integrated, online dispute resolution system helps counterparties resolve these disputes in a timely manner.
In addition, PortRec Xpress connects to the MarkitSERV trade affirmation/confirmation platform and will be integrated with MarginSphere, a collateral messaging and management service available from Acadiasoft through the MarkitSERV portal, enabling users to manage margin calls. From next year, it will also enable buy-side firms to reconcile their position information with clearinghouses and swaps data repositories in accordance with new regulations.
Henry Hunter, Head of Product Management at MarkitSERV, said: "With PortRec Xpress, we've taken the complexity out of the reconciliation process. Clients can see the strength of their matches at a glance and the system offers a powerful yet intuitive tool to resolve disputes. By integrating PortRec Xpress with independent valuations from Markit and the MarginSphere collateral messaging service, we are offering a unified platform right when the industry needs simple solutions for complying with Dodd-Frank and other regulations worldwide."
PortRec Xpress is the second reconciliation tool to be offered by MarkitSERV. The original PortRec service, a comprehensive, highly-customisable software solution to reconcile large and complex derivatives portfolios, was launched in 2006.