Bloomberg & FX Software joint webinar
Bloomberg & FX Software joint webinar in treasury innovation topic: possible use of artifical intelligence in the everyday activity of the sales desk team.
For those who were unable to attend the event, we are making available our slide show here.
Innovation Tender
We are launching a research project in innovative teasury software solutions on SaaS basis with the support of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology from the National Research Development and Innovation Fund (2020-1.1.2-PIACI-KFI-2020-00116)
Due to the number of international regulations and the need for using top-of-the-line technologies, financial institutions and companies with widespread Treasury activities are required to adopt expensive IT solutions to fulfill these expectations which pose a serious problem for involved institutions.
FX Software Ltd, as a financial and corporate treasury provider that has been on the market for 20 years, is itself facing the difficulties and limitations of meeting these new expectations, day by day, both in Hungary and in the region.
The key to fulfilling modern market needs could be an innovative treasury solution with SaaS (Software as a Service) that meets today’s technological and quality requirements paired with 20 years of business and market knowledge. To achieve this goal software developers should become service providers instead of development companies and they need to provide not only source code but also support for the entire operation, from implementation to parameterization to the day-to-day operation of the whole environment thus ensuring that the financial institutions and companies could focus to their core activities thereby increasing efficiency at the level of the whole market.
It is not known at this time what services and solutions would be the most useful for the market, there are many initiatives and their research is indispensable.
To implement a SaaS solution in the Central-European region a significant amount of research is needed to reveal the tools, controls, and motivational and educational elements this technology requires for acceptance. A significant iteration is needed with customers and development teams about the solutions we can provide for each concern and whether these help in acceptance or rather only increase distrust of the “I don’t understand” factor. Research and adaptation of technologies, such as cloud operation, UX development, UI design, thin client solutions, in a multi-layered modern architecture, are also necessary but not sufficient conditions for a complete transition. This is the minimum content to be achieved in our project so that after the research and development using this solution our product could become independent and fully marketable.
Going further, once the technological implementation reaches the required level, it will be possible to develop additional modern AI-based, machine learning, and deep learning services, where, in addition to architectural adaptation, elimination of the fear of black-box will be also feasible. At present, the extent of these researches and developments is very difficult to estimate, but we aim to achieve as much as possible in the frame of the project, so more and better theoretical results can be incorporated in the final product.
How much the current home-office constraint will change the needs of the future in the field of banking and corporate treasury? It is a matter of market research to discover the consequences of the present situation at the financial institutions who have not been very supportive of not-stationary working methods or using mobile applications for data access from the homes of their employees. Consequently selecting the right technology will be also a critical point in an innovation roadmap.
As mentioned above, our target group is Central- Eastern Europe primarily based on our existing and potential domestic customers but our current foreign customer base (Romania, Albania, Bulgaria, and Russia) is a significant advantage as regards of regional expansion, so it should not be started from the bottom. Finally, this way the possibility for Western expansion arises, as a world standard product can be created at the lower costs of Eastern European human resources, which can be a significant export product for Hungary.
Name of applicant | Project title | Funding (HUF) | Total cost of the project (HUF) |
FX SOFTWARE Számítástechnikai, Kereskedelmi és Szolgáltató Zrt. | Innovative teasury software solutions on SaaS basis | 327 438 600 | 539 096 500 |
Lovable Workplaces Award
FX Software Zrt is very proud that won the Lovable Workplaces Award this year again.
We believe that paying attention to the needs of our employees every day can make us a more diverse, stronger, and ultimately more successful company.
Mini conference – Project management panel
As the closing of the InFoRex 20th anniversary event series, we organized our last mini conference panel. The presentation in the topic of project management was held by our Project Director Ágota Kelle.
During the panel we talked about the challenges which arise during an IT project, and how the success is evaluated by the different participants of the project.
Walking though the steps of FX Software’s project management, we looked at the answers that can be given to the growing expectations. How can a supplier – subject to quality assurance and strict version management – remain fast and flexible? We also talked about project tasks and the related services that can support success.
Just like in case of the mini conference panels held so far, the event was closed with a standing reception.
Mini Conference – Sales panel
The sixth panel of our jubilee event series was organized on the topic of sales. The presentation was held by Péter Köber, CFA, CAIA, the Head of the Institutional Sales and International Shares Sales Desk of MKB Bank Plc.
The presentation was about the period after the 2007 – 2008 crisis, when – not to a small extent – thanks to the central banks’ ultra-loose monetary policy and asset purchase programs, the yields were at a record low level worldwide. In a number of countries, the interest rates have fallen into the negative range and this status has proved to be a lasting one. And, in order to avoid / postpone a potential next crisis, a system of double interest rates has been set up in several places – including also Hungary – thereby trying to revive the economy. This environment has set and will set many new challenges for the financial sector. During the presentation, we examined the effects on different products, their pricing and risk.
As usual, the panel participants were invited to a standing reception as the closure of the program.
Mini Conference – PSD2 panel
The fifth panel of our jubilee event series was dedicated to corporate liquidity and PSD2. The panel presentation of the mini conference was held by Marcell Béli, Senior Project Manager of FX Software Zrt. and Zsombor Kádár, Product Owner of Aggreg8 Kft.
Mini conference – Mandatory reporting panel
Continuing the 20th series of events by InFoRex, the fourth panel of our mini conference has been organised in the topic of mandatory reporting. The lecture has been given by our senior expert, Edina Mészáros, our expert Beáta Tóth and product manager of KELER, Adrienn Kulcsár.
The presentation focused on the obligatory SCTR EU regulation, which requires regular reporting of the securities financing transactions for all (financial or non financial) market operators.
Though the reforms, introduced since the crisis of the banking system of the European Union in 2008, have consolidated the stability of the credit institutions, they have also led to that some activities moved to less regulated sectors, such as the shadow banking sector. The SFTR aims at reducing its activity of the shadow banking sector and enhance transparency of the market of securities financing transactions and so of the entire financial system. From April 2020 it will be obligatory for the banks to report every repo, marging lending and securities or commodities lending transaction, furthermore information related to margin calls and reuse of collaterals. In our conference panel we tried to provide our partners with a comprehensive picture concerning information related to this new, fairly comlex mandatory reporting and we have also provided little insight into the developments related to InFoRex. Adrienn Kulcsár, representative of KELER, has also introduced the related services of the central clearing house.
As in case ouf the previous panels, we closed the event with reception.
Mini conference – ALM panel
Third panel of our mini conference has been organised in the topic of ALM. The presentation has been given by Ilka Major, ALM expert and consultant of the Amsterdam-based ING Bank.
During the presentation we analysed the most effective analytical instruments of which we carefully examined the topic of FTP, additionally we demonstrated some modules being available in InFoRex. We dissected the most common, reliable and effective FTP methods and unsealed the customer rate on risk factors managed by ALM. We tried to find out how to set up a transparent and reliable FTP regime, which supports the business model of the bank as effectively as possible.
As usual, we closed our professional programme with standing reception.
Micro-conference – Accounting panel
Within the 20th jubilee event series of InFoRex our micro-conference’s second panel was accountancy.
The professional presentation was held by Dr. Éva Gulyás, assistant professor at Corvinus University Budapest, also a consultant for FX Software and by Cintia Somogyi, who is an accounting expert at FX Software.
Since all hungarian participants are managing their accounts according to the IFRS, our presentation was based on showing the process and the expected effects of switching to IFRS. In summer of 2018 our co-workers made a survey on opinions of banks and consultants about the advantages, disadvantages and difficulties of switching to IFRS. The result of this survey is accessible in an article co-written by Dr. Éva Gulyás and Cintia Somogyi. Said article was published in the September issue of Economy and Finance review, click the link to read:http://www.bankszovetseg.hu/Public/gep/2019/255-283%20GulyasSomogyi.pdf.
During the panel the authors talked about the most significant -and sometimes surprising- results of the research. Participants were able to judge the positive and negative aspects of the transition to IFRS by ’kahoot’s, which was a good opportunity to compare reactions and the results of the survey. The panel was finished by discussing the upcoming challenges of the future.
The professional presentation was followed by a reception and a chance to freely discuss one’s impressions. Small gifts were also provided for all guests.
Please click on the following link below for more photos.
Micro-Conference – IT Operation panel
During autumn within the 20th jubilee event series of InFoRex we organise a micro-conference with a sequence of panels. The topic of the first panel was IT operation.
Klaudia Domján, head of our company greeted the guests and right after a professional presentation was given by Zoltán Vas, head of IT operation supply. He talked about the ways of operation in the last 20 years and the progression of prospects. How the demands have changed on the market, what kind of resources and solutions were given by the industry, and how is it possible to manage a way more complex operational model while maintaining the same capacity – and what InFoRex and FX Software can offer to do so.Participants were able to peak behind the curtains of FX Software, get informed about the chosen technological ways, and also observe a practical presentation of the automatic Testcomplete test system, used every day. During the panel, devices (as NLOG, Patchmanager) which already are able to make system operation easier were mentioned, and so were Docker based operation structures in the forthcoming microservice architectures. The topic of platform neutrality driven by market demand (.net Core, SQL 2019) and the preparedness of FX Software also has been discussed.
The professional presentation was followed by a reception and a chance to freely discuss one’s impressions. Small gifts were also provided for all guests.