Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. (NRI, TYO: 4307), a leading provider of consulting services and system solutions, today announced that Bank of Communications, based in China, has gone live with I-Star/LC for fund settlement with the Bank of Japan (BOJ).
Bank of Communications selected I-STAR/LC after becoming an affiliate bank for BOJ Foreign Exchange Yen Clearing System. Through the product, the bank will have access to the foreign exchange yen clearing functionality within the fund settlement system of I-STAR/LC.
"NRI is committed to providing clients with solutions that are compliant with the most up-to-date regulatory changes," said Shin Kusunoki, Corporate Senior Vice President and Asset Management Systems Division Manager, NRI. "Through I-STAR/LC, Bank of Communications will be able to reduce their internal development costs while maintaining full regulatory compliance."
NRI recently upgraded I-STAR/LC to comply with the shortened settlement cycle for Japanese government bond (JGB) trades mandated by the Japan Securities Dealers Association. I-STAR/LC will be updated to comply with the first phase of BOJ-NET renewal, planned to go live in the beginning of 2014, as well as the second phase of BOJ-NET renewal, which is set to go live in the Fall of 2015 or the beginning of 2016.
I-STAR/LC has been supporting treasury bond and payment settlement with Bank of Japan since 2005 and is the only ASP solution in Japan which connects to BOJ-NET, supporting real-time gross settlement for brokerage firms, banks and trust banks. I-STAR/LC formats messaging data for and from BOJ-NET and the ASP system allows clients to implement the solution quickly. I-STAR/LC also supports cash management and settlement status management. More than half of financial institutions that connect to BOJ-NET electronically use I-STAR/LC.