The report highlights include:

The total volume processed by the 29 survey participants reached 34 million orders last year.

The total automation rate of processed orders of cross-border funds reached 86.7% in the last quarter of 2016, which represents an increase of 1.3 percentage points (p.p.) compared to the fourth quarter of 2015. The use of ISO messaging standards rose by 2.2 p.p. to 53.4%, while the use of manual processes dropped to 13.3% (-1.3 p.p.) in the same time period.

The total automation rate of orders processed by Luxembourg TAs reached 84.4% in the last quarter of 2016 compared to 82.9% in the last quarter of 2015. The ISO automation rate increased from 65% in Q4 2015 to 68.3% in Q4 2016, while the use of proprietary ftp decreased from 17.9% in Q4 2015 to 16.1% in Q4 2016.

The total automation rate of orders processed by Irish TAs increased to 90.6% in the fourth quarter of 2016, from 89.7% in the fourth quarter of 2015. The ISO automation rate increased by 0.9 p.p. to 27.8%, whereas the adoption of proprietary formats remained at 62.8%.

Peter De Proft, EFAMA Director General, notes: Year after year, the cross-border fund industry is getting closer to their goal of automatically process at least 90% of fund orders. This means that faxes and calls are used less and less to place fund orders. This is good news because a greater level of automation raises the quality and efficiency in investor services, and reduces operational costs.

Fabian Vandenreydt, Global Head of Securities, Innotribe and the SWIFT Institute, SWIFT, adds:
Despite a decline in numbers of orders received by cross-border transfer agents, we have seen in increase in automation rate. The industry clearly continues to focus on driving automation and efficiency, resulting in a decline in manual orders to the benefit of ISO automation. In addition, it is encouraging to see that when it comes to setting up new links, the industry confirms that ISO standards remain the most favoured and efficient automation option.

Ends

Please click here to download a full copy of the joint EFAMA/SWIFT Fund Processing Standardisation Report 2016.

For further information, please contact:

Peter De Proft, Director General
Bernard Delbecque, Senior Director, Economics and Research
EFAMA
info@efama.org
+32-2-513 39 69

Tanja Van Sterthem
Funds Market Manager
Marketing
SWIFT
Tanja.VANSTERTHEM@swift.com
+32-2-655 30 18
cc: swift@cognitomedia.com

Notes to editors:

About the European Fund and Asset Management Association (EFAMA)

EFAMA is the representative association for the European investment management industry. EFAMA represents through its 28 member associations and 62 corporate members to EUR 23 trillion in assets under management of which EUR 14.1 trillion managed by 58,400 investment funds at end 2016. Just over 30,600 of these funds were UCITS (Undertakings for Collective Investments in Transferable Securities) funds, with the remaining 27,800 funds composed of AIFs (Alternative Investment Funds). For more information about EFAMA, please visit www.efama.org

SWIFT is a global member-owned cooperative and the worlds leading provider of secure financial messaging services. We provide our community with a platform for messaging, standards for communicating and we offer products and services to facilitate access and integration; identification, analysis and financial crime compliance. Our messaging platform, products and services connect more than 11,000 banking and securities organisations, market infrastructures and corporate customers in more than 200 countries and territories, enabling them to communicate securely and exchange standardised financial messages in a reliable way. As their trusted provider, we facilitate global and local financial flows, support trade and commerce all around the world; we relentlessly pursue operational excellence and continually seek ways to lower costs, reduce risks and eliminate operational inefficiencies. Headquartered in Belgium, SWIFTs international governance and oversight reinforces the neutral, global character of its cooperative structure. SWIFTs global office network ensures an active presence in all the major financial centres. For more information, visit www.swift.com or follow us on Twitter: @swiftcommunity and LinkedIn: SWIFT