IKB has successfully upgraded Murex MX.3 platform

PARIS, 31 August 2016 — Murex, the leading provider of integrated trading, risk management and processing solutions, announces that IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG has gone live with an upgrade to the latest release of its MX.3 platform for its capital markets business. The new version gives the bank more advanced modelling capabilities and provides the flexibility and data quality for compliance with emerging regulations.

IKB, which specialiZes in financial services for medium-sized enterprises and private equity funds in Germany and Europe, has implemented MX.3 as a single integrated capital markets platform as part of a restructuring and cost reduction strategy. The platform supports all front office, risk management, back office and collateral management activities, as well as producing relevant accounting information.

The upgrade to the latest release of MX.3 provides the bank with more advanced analytics for modelling challenging economic and market factors, such as negative interest rates and high volatility, and includes an extended Hull-White one factor interest rate model and Murex' advanced volatility management framework. The new version also has the flexibility and data quality to support compliance with new and emerging regulations.

IKB and Murex leveraged the close working partnership they had already established to achieve a successful outcome for the upgrade project. Murex deployed its upgrade methodology that incorporates tried and tested project management methods and tools to ensure predictable costs and timelines for delivery. IKB used the MX.3 Testing solution to create an efficient and reliable testing regime.

“MX.3 Testing solution helped more than our previous testing tool because it is integrated with MX.3 and supported by Murex. I am from a functional department and I can use it with my team without the need for special IT support,” says Heinz Rast, Head of Treasury Operations Projects.

After the test automation phase, the upgrade took five months to complete and the bank went live on the new version of MX.3 in July 2016.

“We wanted a flexible platform for our treasury that would support all our trading and regulatory compliance requirements, while fulfilling our IT strategy to reduce complexity and costs. We now have a competitive state-of-the-art platform with a full STP integration,” says Peter Höges, Head of IT.