The Bank of France is implementing Vermeg's J2EE-based platform, Megara, to manage its securities, custody and depository activities.
Vermeg says the Megara system will be used at the bank's newly formed post-trade operations division, to manage collateral for refinancing operations, custody of institutional clients' securities, bank depository activity relating to mutual funds and operational support of the French Treasury Agency.
The division was created in early 2006 after the bank merged its securities and back office division.
The bank says its membership in European System of Central Banks (ESCB) necessitated the upgrade. Jean-Louis Landais, director, Post-Trade Operations, Bank of France, comments: "Belonging as it does to the ESCB, the Bank of France participates actively in the shaping of monetary policy and the management of collateral.
The upgrading of our securities platforms was vital in order to meet such developments as Target 2, the development of guarantees in foreign securities, the European restructuring of both stock exchanges and central depositories, and the modernisation of delivery and settlement systems."