The bank performed a review of similar products, including in-house solutions. It also considered extending its existing third party trading solution, but was not convinced this would meet rapidly changing market needs. The bank initially implemented ClusterSeven technology in 2005 in the product control department of its London office for its credit derivatives spreadsheets and then rolled it out to support other derivatives departments.

ClusterSeven delivers a practical solution to managing millions of daily cell changes, removing the need for manual, time-consuming checks. The technology passively monitors every nominated spreadsheet in the enterprise, delivering a full audit trail on every cell and thereby reducing operational risk. By tracking every amendment, ClusterSeven enables banks to meet the most stringent interpretations of regulatory initiatives on spreadsheet compliance (such as SOX) efficiently and without stalling business flexibility. Validated spreadsheet data can then be utilised by other central systems without the need for further manual processes.

Steve Semenzato, founder and CEO ClusterSeven, says: "With an increasingly regulated environment combined with spreadsheets' spiraling complexity, far-sighted institutions recognise that spreadsheet risk is an issue that can no longer be ignored. Our technology resolves the conflicting challenges faced by many sell side institutions, enabling them to rapidly develop new products and exploit market opportunities but in a controlled manner that mitigates operational risk and delivers regulatory compliance."