Financial services run on the seamless flow of information. Every transaction depends on data moving swiftly across a web of institutions, markets, time zones, cut-offs and networks. But fragmented systems, rekeying, manual and outdated processes, and technologies that just don’t ‘speak’ to one another disrupt this flow – creating inefficiencies, compliance risks and operational headaches.
Bravura’s Babel offers a bold solution. Acting as a “network of networks”, it can process transactions near instantaneously through straight- through processing (STP) as opposed to lengthy and manual-intensive processes, empowering firms to scale efficiently, cut costs and rise to client expectations.
For one of the world’s largest financial institutions – with over £4 trillion in assets under administration (AUM) – expanding its transfer agency (TA) business called for a bold solution. By implementing a fully managed version of Bravura’s Babel hosted in the cloud, the firm transformed its ability to handle transactions with more efficiency and less human intervention, reducing risk and setting the stage for a new phase of growth.
The Problem: scaling operations in the face of complexity and risk
Our client is an internationally recognised financial institution, operating across 60 territories and serving over 800,000 investors in more than 150 countries. Naturally, this comes with scaling challenges. Integrating disparate systems, working across different messaging formats, and staying compliant in multiple jurisdictions creates further growing pains and operational complexity.
On top of needing to increase the volume of transactions it could process to support expansion, our client needed to maintain accuracy but also increase efficiency. Relying on high-quality but manual processes, increased both risk and cost.
In short, the firm needed a fully hosted financial messaging system that would help it achieve its growth ambitions: it had to be reliable, scalable, interoperable and capable of bolstering the firm’s position in an increasingly competitive market. Most of all it needed a partner it could trust to deliver mission critical software to large-scale financial institutions.
The Solution: tapping into Bravura’s Babel – a network of networks
Our client carried out a thorough review of the market and Bravura’s Babel emerged as the ideal solution. Designed to tackle the financial industry’s connectivity and automation challenges, Bravura’s Babel offers:
- Unrivalled connectivity: Babel’s open architecture links to all global fund networks (e.g., SWIFT, Euroclear, Calastone) and TA systems. A single connection to Bravura’s Babel instantly plugs users into every fund manager, distributor and counterparty operating on these networks, making for seamless, end-to-end financial messaging.
- T+1 settlement: seamless connectivity between every fund network and back-office system ensures that trade instructions can be processed, confirmed, and settled within one business day, aligning with the T+1 settlement framework.
- Data optimisation: automated workflows for data transformation, enrichment and validation, ensuring seamless processing and cost efficiency.
- Scalability: a cloud-hosted infrastructure that accommodates fluctuating trading volumes and evolving business needs.
- Real-time visibility: unified dashboards that provide actionable insights into trading activity, counterparty trends and compliance.
- Speed to market: Babel’s ability to handle any messaging format streamlines client onboarding and speeds up market entry, allowing firms to expand rapidly with minimal disruption.
On top of these capabilities, Bravura’s Babel is highly configurable so it can be adapted to suit any client or regulatory demands, whilst being designed for streamlined implementation. Built for easy integration with existing TA and back-office systems, its ability to connect to proprietary platforms helps to overcome the hurdle of working with long-running legacy systems – with no fuss.
The Implementation: a seamless transition with zero downtime
With implementation of any new solution, the challenge is in the specifics. Our client required us to implement Babel alongside a migration of £250 billion in assets.
Two dedicated Bravura project teams were deployed – one to focus on the Babel launch, the other to lead on asset migration. Both Bravura teams worked closely with the client and third-party providers to deliver the project successfully.
After a meticulous planning phase, the implementation and migration were completed over only one weekend, with zero disruption to services. Our client could trade right up to the close of Friday and continue business as usual on Monday. Bravura’s Babel is also using the power of the cloud to further enhance already unrivalled resilience and scalability.
The Benefits: a leaner, more scalable and future-proof operation
Implementing Bravura’s Babel has transformed the firm’s operations and its position in the market. The results speak to the solution’s power to revolutionise how transfer agencies operate and grow.
- Market share growth: The client is expanding its book of business by onboarding more funds and Bravura’s Babel now processes more than £7 billion in deals every month.
- Increased productivity: Automation has eliminated the need for manual intervention, enabling staff to focus on high-value tasks that grow their business – not their headcount.
- Risk reduction: By removing manual processes, Bravura’s Babel significantly reduced operational risks and ensured compliance with evolving standards.
- Future-proofing: With Babel processing up to £1 trillion in trades every month, the client gained a robust, scalable solution that supports its long-term growth ambitions.
Our client has already captured significant value from the implementation and it looks set to carry on doing so, as Babel’s rich functionality ensures the firm will continue to offer an exceptional client experience built on streamlined and cost-effective operations.
Towards global leadership
Using Bravura’s Babel as a core part of its operational processing, the client is on track to achieve its goal of becoming a leading global transfer agent. By supporting the onboarding of new funds, expansion into new markets and the ability to adapt to evolving regulations, Babel will be a cornerstone of future growth.
We continue to work closely with the client to identify enhancements to Babel and develop new modules to support their global growth ambitions. We are keen to work with other financial institutions eager to tap into Babel’s ‘network of networks’ on their own journey to global leadership.
Ready to transform your financial operations?
Discover how Bravura’s Babel can help your business scale, reduce costs, slash risk and unlock the power of seamless connectivity and transactional processing by checking out our Babel webinar or contacting us today.
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