“Interoperability in action” – Recapping Taskize’s post-trade ops panel in New York

At this year’s Taskize Forum New York, industry leaders gathered at One World Trade in Lower Manhattan to discuss the modernisation of post-trade operations, processes, and workflows.  

The event featured a panel of partners from the Taskize ecosystem, including Meritsoft (Daniel Carpenter, CEO), Symphony (Rob Friend, Product Director) and Xceptor (John Joseph, Head of Sales Engineering).   

The session highlighted the significant value that multi-platform integrations bring to securities settlements, corporate actions, and collateral management, while also addressing their impact on regulatory risk, team capacity, and client service. 

Building partnerships increases customer satisfaction 

Simon Gibbs, Head of Partnerships at Taskize, opened the panel by emphasising the importance of collaboration and interoperability in meeting customer demands: 

“Taskize has spent the last year building up partner relationships, and it’s gone really fast. What we’re going to do this afternoon is talk about collaboration and interoperability with these partners and then we’re going to see it in action.” 

He underscored that customer satisfaction is at the heart of Taskize’s efforts, which has fostered strong partnerships with key players in the industry to deliver seamless, integrated solutions that enhance operational efficiency and compliance. 

Regulation drives innovation 

Daniel Carpenter, CEO of Meritsoft, highlighted the critical role of regulation in shaping product strategies and driving interoperability: “Regulation has been a key driver for Meritsoft’s product strategy.” 

He elaborated on the necessity of integrating various systems within banks and externally to ensure compliance and efficiency. He pointed out that regulations often serve as catalysts for improving operational performance, using them as a driver to enhance other aspects of business processes, whilst providing insights into Meritsoft’s approach to handling these regulatory challenges: 

“We’ve got to make sure our solution is capable of managing the legacy and the new and doing so in a way that’s completely adaptable. That means integrating with everything that’s out there.” 

Meritsoft recently integrated Taskize’s collaboration and workflow functionality into its cross-asset Trade Tracking and Exception Manager (TTEM) to enable faster query resolution in a drive to minimise trade settlement fails. Read more about the integration and its benefits here.  

Interoperability and communication are the keys to efficiency 

John Joseph, Head of Sales Engineering at Xceptor, and Rob Friend, Product Director at Symphony both emphasised the importance of effective communication and data management in achieving interoperability, with John noting:  

“It’s the unstructured piece that really causes the timeline to be completely blown up. The key thing is to have dispute resolution when you have the confirm raised, a counterparty raised confirm where we can digitise it but then create a workflow on top of it.” 

Rob added: 

“Our mantra has been interoperability, trying to get people into more structured workflows, trying to make it more self-service so you don’t even need to have human interaction if it’s not required; that’s how you can increase your efficiency.” 

Both speakers highlighted the challenges posed by legacy systems and the need for modern technology to bridge the gaps. John mentioned: 

“You could still work with the older systems by overlaying it with new technology… but at some point, we’ll have to replace the old technology.” 

Rob echoed this sentiment by stressing the importance of seamless communication: 

“Symphony is focused on helping organisations move from traditional, often fragmented communication methods to a more integrated and efficient approach, thereby enhancing overall workflow and reducing the risk of errors.” 

To address this, Symphony integrated with Taskize to enable real-time collaboration – cross-company and internally – between users on both platforms. As a result, all parties benefit from the Taskize platform’s workflow, routing and business intelligence capabilities. 

Practical applications for multi-platform integrations 

The panelists shared practical applications and success stories demonstrating the benefits of integrated solutions. For instance, Daniel mentioned how Meritsoft has enabled clients to streamline operations and reduce costs: 

“We have had clients who have been able to save significant costs and improve their operational efficiency by leveraging our integrated platforms, including Taskize. This is a testament to the power of collaboration and advanced technology.” 

John highlighted a specific case where Xceptor’s solutions made a substantial impact: 

“One of our clients managed to reduce their operational workload by 30% within the first six months of implementing our system. This not only improved their efficiency but also allowed their team to focus on more strategic tasks.” 

Xceptor partnered with Taskize to supply financial institutions and energy firms with improved counterparty experiences and significant operational efficiencies. The partnership combines Taskize’s ability to heavily reduce the volume of operational emails and provide greater clarity and real-time management information, with Xceptor’s best-in-class platform for the accurate and rapid affirmation, delivery, and exchange of trade data. 

Rob discussed the long-term vision for Symphony and how it aims to transform industry standards: 

“Our goal is to set a new benchmark for communication in the financial industry. By continuously innovating and integrating with other platforms, we aim to provide our clients with the tools they need to stay ahead of the curve.” 

The future of post-trade operations 

Taskize Forum 2024 underscored a clear message: the future of post-trade operations lies in collaboration and the seamless integration of technologies across platforms. By focusing on interoperability, Taskize streamlines processes, reduces manual workloads, and enhances overall efficiency, ultimately leading to higher customer satisfaction and better business outcomes for our clients.