Landbank of Taiwan, Mega International Commercial Bank and Bank of Taipei have appointed Calastone for the execution of offshore fund transactions via the Taiwan Depository Clearing Corporation (TDCC) fund order routing service.
TDCC official figures show Calastone now has 32 fund ranges connected through the TDCC, which is significantly more than any other service provider operating in Taiwan.
Higher fund coverage allows distributors selecting Calastone to immediately maximise their offshore fund automation rate, allowing them to drastically reduce their operational costs and risks while improving their service levels.
Calastone now handles over one million funds messages per month over its network globally. Far Eastern International Bank has now reached over 80 per cent offshore fund automation via the Calastone service in Taiwan.
Old Mutual Global Investors has been using the Calastone global transaction network since 2009 to increase fund transaction automation in their UK and Ireland fund ranges. In May 2013, Old Mutual was amongst the first fund managers to go-live with Calastone’s new TDCC service in Taiwan.
Gary O’Brien, head of client services at Old Mutual Global Investors says: "We are delighted to be working with Calastone as in just a few months we have now already been able to automate over 50% of orders originating from Taiwan. With these new distributors joining and many more to come we expect to see further productivity gains in the coming months. STP allows us to reduce our operating costs and risks while providing the best service levels to our distributors."
Landbank was among a group of six banks in Taiwan that pioneered fund automation in Asia about five years ago, when they implemented ISO 20022 connections into a number of offshore fund managers. Landbank is now the first of these banks to switch to the new Calastone/TDCC service for fund automation and leverage greater fund manager access via a single connection to the TDCC. Fund managers can still select to receive ISO 20022 messages or can select their preferred message protocol to receive orders via Calastone.
Julien Hammerson, chief executive of Calastone, says: “Calastone is a global company that has been expanding into Asia for some years now and the region as a whole is a priority for us. That Landbank, an experienced player in fund automation, selected Calastone is a testimony to the success of our Taiwan offering. We will continue to pour effort into increasing the number of fund managers available on our network with a clear objective to shortly offer 100 per cent STP rates for our Taiwan clients. We will also be working with clients in the other SE Asian regions, to help increase efficiencies in the funds market which will only serve to benefit business connections across the world.”
