Summit Systems today announced that Bank of China, rated largest bank in Asia*, has chosen its treasury and capital markets solution to run the Bank’s interest rate front-office trading desk.  The system went live in December 2003 and will enable Bank of China to gain a competitive advantage as the first derivatives trading desk in China.  The system has been implemented in Beijing with further installations at multiple sites to provide the Bank with overseas remote access. 

The Bank began its extensive evaluation early in 2003.  It looked at several leading suppliers including Reuters Kondor+, Sungard and Murex.  Summit was chosen from the shortlist of vendors due to its full support of all interest rate derivatives, fixed income and treasury products plus its superior tools for handling and pricing complex structured trades.  Mr Xinqiang Zhu, General Manager and head of the trading room at Bank of China explains: "The system offers wide product line and good front-office functionality. We were also impressed by the future direction of the product and look forward to a long standing partnership with Summit."

In the front-office Summit will handle all aspects of derivatives trade entry and pricing, interfacing with real-time market data feeds.  The system will also provide real-time services including market risk, FX positions, bond positions and money market securities issuance, to help the Bank’s traders make rapid and informed decisions.

Marc Coutelier, Manager of the Asia region at Summit, concludes: "We are delighted with this first major win for Summit in China. As Summit are part of the Banking and Securities division of Misys we have been able to leverage our global sales and support network to win this deal.  The system was implemented in Beijing, China with Mandarin speaking staff and completed within a challenging two month window, enabling the bank to go live as planned in the middle of December 2003."

Established in 1912, Bank of China is the oldest bank in China. It has been ranked one of the world's top banks and number one in Asia, in terms of core capital by The Banker magazine. For 90 years, Bank of China has played an important role in promoting China's economic and social progress through its active involvement in the country's international trade and financial activities. Bank of China is the first and the only Chinese bank that has presence in all major continents. At the present the bank offers financial services through its global network of over 560 overseas offices in 25 countries and regions.

Summit Systems is a recognised worldwide leader in providing front-to-back transaction processing support for fixed income, treasury, derivatives and commercial lending businesses. It provides integrated trading, operations and enterprise risk management software to banks, financial institutions, and capital markets participants worldwide. Summit, with headquarters in New York and full-service offices in Paris, London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Misys plc, a world leader in banking software solutions.

Misys plc, one of the world's largest software solutions companies, serves customers in the international banking and securities, US healthcare, and UK retail financial services sectors. Employing over 6,500 staff, the group partners with its customers to deliver outstanding products to essential industries.  Misys reported revenues in excess of £1 billion ($1.5 billion) for the year ended 31 May 2003.

* survey The Banker October 2003 issue