SunGard Futures Systems has launched a real-time version of its Global Margin Server (GMS), a central processing system for calculating initial and on-demand variation margin requirements for exchanged-traded derivatives orders, positions, “what if” simulations, and portfolios.
The GMS system provides margin calls in real-time throughout the day in T+0, enabling customers to see their margin obligations the actual day of the trade. The system calculates margins by individual trade, product, exchange, region, or globally, either on-demand or automatically via a scheduler via the Internet.
Peter Hollenstein, vice president of strategic development at SunGard Futures Systems, says: “GMS takes the power of margining out of the back office and into the front lines, giving futures brokers and their customers more control and flexibility."
Traditionally, margin calls were based on initial margin calculations in a T+1 environment, or communicated the day after the trade via a statement.
“The real-time GMS capability allows our customers to utilise their capital more efficiently, recognize more investment opportunities faster, and mitigate risk more effectively,” adds Hollenstein.
GMS is designed as a freestanding application that can interface with any back office settlement system, and is accessed by traders internally over a network, or by client traders via an Internet portal. The system accepts trade and position feeds from virtually any source and uses files directly from exchanges without the need to reformat data.