The hub is designed to provide a single interface to all clearance and settlement agencies, eliminating the need for firms to manage multiple connections. It handles cross-border processing, broker trade comparison, net debit/credit by participant, and depository and custodian settlement. It also provides exception and error management of pending trades, confirmation of settlement, and communication of settlement problems.

"STN Settlements was designed to help firms achieve a higher level of STP without reengineering existing core systems or business processes,” says Michael Nemerowski, senior vice president of strategic planning at SunGard Securities Processing.

The product has been built to support industry-standard communication and messaging protocols, including ISO 15022 and XML, he says. The system, which is based on SunGard's Streambridge central interface management systems and is delivered in an ASP environment, uses the Mint middleware products, and runs on a Sun Microsystems infrastructure with the Sun Open Net Environment (Sun ONE) platform.

SunGard is additionally offering users a “concentrator” option, by which the service itself contracts with third party agencies, thereby eliminating the need for customers to establish participant relationships with clearing corporations and passing on volume cost savings.

The new settlement facility is one of a raft of product upgrades and announcements being made by SunGard at this week's Securities Industray Association show in New York. SunGard Trading and Risk Systems is touting the 2002 version of the Panorama risk management system, featuring improvements in real-time trading and risk features, risk analytics and cross-asset coverage, including new support for credit derivatives and complex structured products.

SunGard Investment Management Systems is also at the show, demonstrating the latest release of the Decalog investment management software package. Version 5.0 of the product is a Java-based solution that is also available on an ASP basis. New features include support for money markets and fixed income securities such as interest rate swaps and repos, as well as the ability to deal with linked and basket orders. The new system also enables traders to review multiple sources of real-time market data, access Internet or in-house Intranet applications, and monitor orders sent electronically to brokers, ECNs or exchanges.