Press Release
For immediate release
90% of new communication systems set-up to process cross-border fund orders used the ISO format in 2011, according to annual EFAMA/SWIFT report
Report highlights advancement towards increased automation of fund orders and the use of ISO standards in the cross-border fund centres of Luxembourg and Ireland
Brussels, 30 April 2012 The European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA) today published in cooperation with SWIFT, a new report on the evolution of automation and standardisation rates of fund orders received by transfer agents (TAs) in the cross-border fund centres of Luxembourg and Ireland in 2011. The results of this ongoing research show that the total automation rate of orders topped near 76% in Q4 2011 while the adoption rate for ISO messaging increased a further 4.1%, compared to Q4 2010.
This report highlights the advancement of automation and standardisation rates of orders of cross-border funds. 31 TAs in Ireland and Luxembourg, representing more than 80% of the total incoming third-party investment funds order volumes in both markets, participated in the survey.
Highlights from the report:
Total order volumes have reached 25.1 million in 2011 compared to 23.5 million in 2010.
Total automation rate (ISO + proprietary file transfer links) has stabilized at 75.6% (compared to 75.4% at end 2010). In short, this means that 18.8 million fund orders were processed automatically in 2011.
The ISO adoption rate has made good progress in both Ireland and Luxembourg, reflecting a steady decline in the use of proprietary file transfers.
New links implemented by surveyed TAs show that the ISO adoption reached 90% of all new communication methods. This confirms the relevance of EFAMAs best practice recommendations on fund processing as well as the ease of use of the ISO standards in linking to new distribution channels.
Peter De Proft, EFAMA Director General, notes: We welcome the progress achieved towards automation and standardization in processing cross-border fund orders. It is important that this trend continues in the future to partially offset the additional costs incurred by the European investment fund industry in meeting the tide of new regulations being imposed on the industry.
Fabian Vandenreydt, Head of Securities and Treasury Markets at SWIFT, adds: Adoption of ISO by new distributors and migration from proprietary FTPs towards ISO is an industry well-deserved success. At the same time the report shows that the total number of faxes has continued to increase in 2011 in absolute value. To address this industry challenge, major fund industry players are engaged with SWIFT on a large-scale kill the fax plan that should deliver tangible results in the coming two years.
Ends
Notes to editors
EFAMA is the representative association for the European investment management industry. EFAMA represents through its 26 member associations and 58 corporate members approximately EUR 14 trillion in assets under management of which EUR 8.0 trillion was managed by approximately 54,000 funds at end 2011. 36,000 of these funds are UCITS (Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities) funds. For more information about EFAMA, please visit www.efama.org.
SWIFT is a member-owned cooperative that provides the communications platform, products and services to connect over 10,000 banking organisations, securities institutions and corporate customers in 210 countries. SWIFT enables its users to exchange automated, standardised financial information securely and reliably, thereby lowering costs, reducing operational risk and eliminating operational inefficiencies. SWIFT also brings the financial community together to work collaboratively to shape market practice, define standards and debate issues of mutual interest. For more information about SWIFT, please visit www.swift.com.
