StanChart Deploys Traderforce in Asia

Standard Chartered Bank has rolled out more than 30 market data display terminals from French data vendor Traderforce to its new private banking division in Singapore, officials tell Inside Market Data.

The first terminals were rolled out in July to support a newly created team of relationship managers at the bank, which plans to deploy additional TraderForce terminals in future as more relationship managers join the Singapore-based team.

According to Traderforce officials, the bank is also currently negotiating with the vendor to deploy its data terminals at Standard Chartered’s private banking center in Hong Kong.

“The relationship managers will use our terminals to access real-time prices, information on the performance of shares, and historical data to make recommendations to clients on their portfolios,” says Pierre Laborie, head of marketing at Traderforce in Paris.

Standard Chartered spent five months usingthe products in a trial phase and working with TraderForce to customize the datafeeds its relationship managers needed via the terminals, to acquire and integrate data on major Asian currencies and equity data from select markets in the region, vendor officials say.

The data is being made available to the terminals via Standard Chartered’s proprietary intranet system. The bank is also deploying Traderforce Mobile, the vendor’s solution for enabling remote access to quotes, news, charts and portfolios and watchlists via Blackberrys, PDAs and smart phones, alongside the desktop terminals.

In addition to the individual Traderforce screens used by each staff member, the bank’s relationship management team also utilizes a shared Bloomberg terminal.

Standard Chartered officials decline to comment on the deployment. However, Traderforce officials say that ease of use and cost were key factors in the bank’s decision to roll out the vendor’s data products.

Regional Growth

The Standard Chartered rollout is one of several new deals in Asia-Pacific, spurring an expansion of TraderForce’s operations in the region, Laborie says.

The vendor originally set up a regional base in Singapore last year to support the private banking operations of BNP Paribas in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. BNP was previously a part-owner of the vendor, but—along with Crédit Agricole and Calyon Financial—sold its stake to New York-based trading software vendor FlexTrade Systems two years ago (IMD, Nov. 14, 2005).

However, Laborie says that new client wins in the region are prompting the vendor to plan for new hires—the vendor plans to increase headcount in Singapore from seven to 17 staff by the end of 2008—and new offices, including a recently opened office in Hong Kong (see story, page 10).