Iceland's Islandsbanki has contracted with Oslo-based Commercial Banking Applications (CBA) for the supply of straight-through processing (STP) products for its foreign exchange business in an effort to reduce back office staff costs.
Products purchased by the bank include an automatic approval system and a Continuous Linked Settlement (CLS) third party solution for FX spots, forwards and swaps, and an application for forward rate agreements.
The deal also includes components to strengthen the STP interface between the bank's front office deal input software Kondor+ and CBA's back office system IBAS.
Islandsbanki says it expects the effort to raise STP levels for FX and money market deals to between 85% to 90%, which will reduce the need for back office staff by 35% to 40%.
Pall Kolka Isberg, general director, project management office, Islandsbanki, says: "With these new components from CBA, Islandsbanki is well on its way to making complete STP a reality."