fairly complex report. Now, for many reports, it is 'a click of a button'. This is extremely important for the bank, he felt. The interfaces mean the information is more complete as well as up-to-date. In the past, the incomplete picture meant the bank was not able to fully invest its funds, having to keep cash as a 'buffer'. With information now feeding into the treasury system from the core banking system, UBP is better able to manage its liquidity and invest its cash, including doing the latter on an intraday basis.
Garcia felt the bank had a 'best practice infrastructure' with all the right information flows, checks and balances. The self-sufficiency has also been achieved. 'The users have much more control over the system, with the flexibility and extensibility to change it. It is no longer a modular approach, which was the traditional way of selling treasury systems in this market.' In other words, functionality can be added without having to buy another module. Suppliers used to ask, what do you need, he said. The answer was traditionally, we'll sell you that module.
In 2009, the system supported around 80 staff in the front office, ten in the middle office and 30 in the back office, with transaction volumes of at least 200 per day. The bulk of the transactions were FX, swaps, forwards, FX derivatives and bonds, with a few structured products. The Philippines was not an advanced trading market, said Garcia, but it was likely to evolve as it now had a platform to support that evolution. Part of this would be an increase in derivatives, he added.
