Contineo Ltd has launched the industry’s first open messaging network in a move to provide private banking and wealth management firms with greater access to equity-linked structured products. As reported earlier, Contineo has backing from a consortium comprising technology firm AG Delta, as well as six investment banks comprising Barclays, BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan and Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking.

Technology veteran Mark Muñoz (pictured) has been appointed managing director and will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the platform.

“I’m delighted to launch an exciting new technology company that has the support of the industry’s leading firms,” said Muñoz in a statement. “Our aim is to make accessing equity-linked structured products easier and at a lower cost. We’re working closely with the buy-side and sell-side institutions to ensure our approach benefits the entire industry.”

The funding will support the implementation and ongoing development of Contineo’s network and technology, which at launch will allow subscribers to easily access their counterparties through a web-based interface and a set of open application programming interfaces (APIs). The technology is powered by AG Delta’s application architecture and is targeted to go live early this year. Contineo is currently registering private banks and implementing connectivity to issuers, as well as working with other certified third-party technology companies.

The consortium released a statement backing the platform as a way to leverage their combined experience and expertise as well as to show their commitment to support Contineo.

“The industry has been seeking a transparent and efficient platform to access equity-linked structured products and Contineo is poised to deliver these benefits, which will translate into dramatic cost savings for the entire industry,” stated the six banks involved in the venture.

The new platform will address issues around the distribution and transaction of structured products which are highly manual at present and there are different practices and protocols across the industry. Contineo’s goal is to establish a unified communications network using the industry standard FIX protocol and RESTful web services, which will be accessible to all participants. This will lower costs, increase product access and assist in risk management and compliance. Contineo will also enable other technology companies and third parties to connect to the network.