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Global Transaction Services, a business of Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking, and Euroclear Bank, the operator of FundSettle, announced today that CitiConnect for Securities, Citigroup’s online order to settlement transaction management system, will give institutional clients access to the automated and standardised fund-transaction order processing services provided by FundSettle.
CitiConnect for Securities is an open architecture, standardized global platform providing full trade life-cycle services for collective investment schemes, equities, fixed income and investment funds, including hedge funds. The new relationship with FundSettle will increase efficiency and provide institutional clients with centralised, automated access to more than 460 transfer agents throughout Europe.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Neeraj Sahai, Global Head of Securities and Fund Services, Citigroup Corporate and Investment Banking, said, “CitiConnect for Securities delivers a unique operational offering by combining execution in equities, fixed income and collective investment schemes with our custody services through an order driven trade to settlement service. By embedding FundSettle in our open architecture platform we are maximising automation and delivery efficiencies to our clients.”
Martine Dinne, Chief Executive Officer, at Euroclear Bank, added, “We are delighted with Citigroup’s decision, particularly as it opens many new opportunities for FundSettle to serve indirectly the institutional market, a segment with which Euroclear Bank typically does not have direct relationships. By choosing Europe’s only fully integrated fund-processing platform, Citigroup will enable its institutional clients to benefit from the wide range of services offered on FundSettle.”
Through existing relationships with their custodians, institutional investors can gain maximum back-office efficiency with full straight-through processing via FundSettle, while remaining in control of their operational costs and focusing on their core activity -- investment management. The benefits include automation of the fund-dealing process, real-time reporting of order confirmations, and legal simplicity insofar as their contractual relationships remain exclusively with the custodians of their choice.
