OTC derivatives price discovery and negotiation OTCX has partnered with Orchestrade to create an integrated two-way connection for core portfolio management and risk systems, moving clients away from voice and chat, as well as cutting buy and sell side client costs by improving efficiency through digitisation and straight through processing (STP).

OTCX's client base which includes institutional asset managers, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds and private banks, will benefit from a two-way certified interface that will deliver uninterrupted STP, and seamless communication and connectivity between two leading providers of innovation in financial systems, according to Nicolas Koechlin (pictured), chief executive at OTCX.

'Investors are always looking for ways to improve efficiency in their front and back office processes,' said Koechlin. 'Our structured negotiation and price discovery tools, along with the connection to Orchestrade, will provide a solution that is greater than the sum of its parts.'

Orchestrade is the only institutional-grade, cross-asset capital market platform launched after the financial crisis. The cross-asset portfolio management platform was designed to 'dramatically reduce IT dependency' during implementation and operation by delivering a native, cross-asset, end-to-end solution that is connected to the broader capital market ecosystem out of the box, according to Gordon Chan, Orchestrade vice president marketing.

"Our connection to OTCX will help them bring a full digital solution and greater efficiency to a fragmented and largely manual market," said Chan. "We are laser-focused on keeping our clients agile and innovative and we share that culture with OTCX. We engaged with OTCX because we view them as a market standard in the OTC derivatives market for price discovery and negotiation. To this end, we strive to deliver out-of-the-box connectivity to all leading market standard providers so that our customers – both sell-side and buy-side -- can harness the efficiencies and cost benefits of an automated, digital experience end-to-end."

OTCX is an independent company that digitises bilateral negotiation and price discovery for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, helping prove best execution in vanilla and exotic OTC derivatives trading workflows. The browser-based technology digitises workflow with instant trade reconstruction and a full automated audit trail. OTCX optimises decision making for trading processes with access to all the information necessary to facilitate best execution and assist compliance with regulatory requirements.

The OTCX platform was launched in 2014 by a team of buy side technology experts with the aim of bringing cutting-edge functionality and product design to the OTC market, as well as providing a better OTC environment for buy side firms, including institutional asset managers, hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds and private banks.

The platform has 14 issuers and global liquidity providers plugged into the platform which does not share its infrastructure with other firms or services. OTCX has ramped up its visibility in the market in recent months and is seeking to capitalise on the regulatory benefits including trade reconstruction and compliance with best execution policies under Mifid 2 its browser-based technology can bring to the market and specific products outlets such as private banks which under the new rules will need better systems and better visibility, transparency and auditing.

Orchestrade was designed to provide an "extremely low cost of ownership and rapid time to value", so that customers can start using the software out of the box in weeks as opposed to spending years to configure and connect, according to Chan.

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