Panache is a management consulting firm providing front to back trade support specifically for structured and derivative products and ClusterSeven provides enterprise spreadsheet management software.

As market regulations such as SOX and Basel II become more stringent, the need for financial firms to monitor and properly audit their spreadsheets becomes ever more pressing. Forward-thinking companies are aiming to manage and monitor spreadsheets like all other business applications.

Panache offers analytical and technical support specialising in credit and equity derivatives as well as structured products, where spreadsheets are used for pricing and modeling new instruments. Panache identifies the business problems within firms and enables them to reengineer and implement new systems.

ClusterSeven's technology passively monitors spreadsheets. Its fully auditable and systematic approach delivers a practical solution to managing millions of daily cell changes and removes the need for manual, time-consuming checks. By promoting best practices in spreadsheet management financial institutions can reduce operational risk and improve regulatory compliance.

The partnership unites Panache's experience and depth of industry knowledge with ClusterSeven's spreadsheet management software. The two companies are already working together on implementations, with Panache staff specially trained to deploy ClusterSeven's software. Panache enables quicker identification of the strengths of ClusterSeven's software package and ensures rapid implementation on a client's infrastructure. Panache has also trained staff.

Sanjay Malik, president and CEO of Panache, comments: "We have a number of clients, primarily top tier investment banks, and most of them are reliant on spreadsheets. ClusterSeven's software addresses a real business problem and we expect that it will soon become the industry-wide standard, found within every major global investment bank."

Financial instittutions can swiftly approve changes and ensure data integrity of their spreadsheets. This allows spreadsheets to be treated like any other business application and the time spent trying to control and maintain them is drastically reduced, without locking them down or reducing their effectiveness.

Steve Semenzato, founder and CEO ClusterSeven, says: "Through our new partnership with Panache we can help its clients bring their spreadsheets into the realms of their business systems. Panache's expertise will also enable us to more easily identify where we can best offer ROI within the spreadsheet enterprise."