Insight
EquiLend Spire: Reinventing the Securities Finance
Landscape with Tech Innovation
Vaibhav Garg
January 2024
EquiLend Spire: Reinventing the Securities Finance
Securities finance is a complex and ever-evolving industry, and staying ahead of the game requires the use of cutting-edge technology. EquiLend Spire is a state-of-the-art platform and technology-driven hub for securities finance firms of all types that offers businesses a comprehensive solution leveraging innovative technology.
EquiLend Spire is designed to streamline the management of processes and provide a bird’s eye view of the entire securities finance business. The platform offers a full-service offering to agents, principals, third-party and fully paid lenders, prime and retail broker-dealers, beneficial owners and collateral managers to improve efficiency across all securities finance operations. The platform supports the full lifecycle of securities finance transactions.
One of the core strengths of EquiLend Spire is its open architecture and ability to integrate with all EquiLend products (EquiLend NGT, EquiLend Post Trade Solutions, EquiLend Data & Analytics Solutions including DataLend) in addition to all other vendor platforms across the securities finance industry (FIS, Broadridge, S&P, Pirum, etc). The inherent flexibility of the solution allows clients to drive their securities finance activity from one central hub and access all the information they need to further streamline their operations.
EquiLend Spire can be deployed modularly to complement existing system stacks or as a complete front-to-back solution, providing flexibility to firms. The platform’s multi-asset and currency capabilities enable firms to manage their complete, global securities finance book from one central location. EquiLend Spire additionally offers benefits to firms in support of complex and demanding regulatory reporting and compliance requirements specific to securities lending.
Securities Finance Platform Solutions: EquiLend Spire Functionality
EquiLend Spire, our comprehensive securities finance and books and records platform, offers a range of modules focussing on supporting firms in optimizing their securities finance activities across the full trade lifecycle. The platform comprises a range of modular components that cater to the specific needs of firms across the supply and demand sides of the industry.
The supply side module is tailored to meet the needs of Beneficial Owners, Agents, Principal or Third-Party Lending, Fully Paid Lending and Retail Broker-Dealers, while the demand side module focuses on Prime Services Broker-Dealers and Locates.
At the core of each module are the following components and capabilities which maintain subtle differences depending on which side of the market the user is on: Real Time Inventory Management (including seg), Automated and Manual Trade Capture (inclusive of EquiLend NGT), Position Lifecycle Management (i.e., Re-Rates, Returns, Recalls, Cancels, Amends, Allocations and Reallocations, Substitutions, etc,) Post Trade Services (i.e., contract compare, marks, billing, etc.) via any of the market providers (Pirum, Loanet, EquiLend), Settlements, Fees and Billing, Compliance, Risk, Cash and Non-Cash Collateral Management, and Reporting.
Integration with NGT and Loanet Centralized Order Routing facilitates efficient processing and recording of transaction data. EquiLend Spire features a detailed audit for all activity during the full life of a trade and a robust compliance engine, ensuring adherence to evolving global compliance requirements. The platform also offers over 300 standard reports, customizable and available on demand or scheduled, supporting multiple formats with a history of up to 10 years.
The EquiLend Spire platform streamlines and automates key processes and workflows such as trading and availability distribution (via NGT), settlements, recalls, returns, earnings and billing, corporate actions, locates, inventory management, contract compare, marks and more allowing securities finance firms to operate more efficiently and effectively. By leveraging the platform’s capabilities, firms can focus their resources on more strategic and value-add tasks, driving business growth and success.
EquiLend Spire is a data rich platform with the ability to process and manage large volumes of data in real-time. The system is integrated with EquiLend’s DataLend solution as well as all other market data providers in the space. The system is built on a modern infrastructure with the ability to ingest and disseminate information in a variety of ways (i.e., API, MQ, files, custom extracts, etc.). Designed to handle the changing needs of securities finance firms as they grow and evolve, it is easily scalable, and like all elements of EquiLend Spire, it is interoperable with our existing solutions and all other securities finance market infrastructures, and vendors.
EquiLend Spire also offers enhanced security features that ensure that all data is kept safe and secure and complies with industry regulations and standards. This includes data encryption, access controls, and regular security audits.
EquiLend Spire: Modules and Platform Features
EquiLend Spire offers multiple modules and features that support securities finance firms in managing their activities more efficiently and effectively. The platform includes a user-friendly interface and search capabilities that allow users to easily access and manage data via the platform or via API. With the help of EquiLend Spire, firms can streamline their operations, improve efficiency, and gain real-time visibility into their portfolio, driving increased productivity and profitability.
Available Modules:
- Supply Side:
- Beneficial Owners
- Agent Lenders
- Third Party Lending
- Principal Lending
- Fully Paid Lending
- Retail Broker-Dealers
- Demand Side:
- Prime Services Broker Dealers
- Locates
Key Components:
Each of the modules consists of several key components that can be used as part of the full front-to-back offering or broken out, decoupled and used independently. We take great pride in the system’s flexibility and our ability to customize components to fit the exact client’s business purpose, as required.
Components Include:
- Real-Time Inventory Management
- Position Lifecycle Management including trade capture, re-rates, returns, recalls, cancellations, amendments, rolls, substitutions, reallocations, etc.
- Settlements
- Post-Trade Reconciliation Services (i.e., contract compare, marks, billing compare, etc.)
- Fees and Billing
- Cash and Non-Cash Collateral Management
- Operations
- Compliance, Credit and Risk Management
- Reporting
- Support for:
- Sec Lending and Repo
- All asset classes
- Cash and non-cash (bilateral and triparty) trading
Business Benefits of EquiLend Spire
EquiLend Spire offers a plethora of financial and operational benefits to securities finance firms. These include cost savings, improved efficiency, and enhanced risk management. Streamlined operations supported by EquiLend Spire have the power to deliver increased transparency across trading activities and enable firms to gain a better understanding of business performance and gain a competitive edge by facilitating data-driven decisions.
EquiLend Spire can integrate seamlessly with other securities finance industry service providers, such as DTC, SWIFT, Pirum, FIS (Loanet), Broadridge, Bloomberg, etc. This allows firms to consolidate disparate systems and gain a unified view of their entire business, improving efficiency and reducing risk. EquiLend Spire’s integration with these service providers allows firms to automate processes, and access real-time market data, trade execution, settlement services, and collateral management functionality.
EquiLend Spire: A Securities Finance Platform Solution for the Future
EquiLend Spire is built with a future-proof tech architecture that leverages the latest technologies to deliver a comprehensive securities finance solution. The platform integrates with cutting-edge distributed ledger technology (DLT), such as 1Source, to provide clients with a secure, transparent, and auditable ledger of all transactions. EquiLend Spire also offers APIs that enable clients to develop their algorithms and automate their processing, leveraging advanced optimizers that enhance trading and risk management strategies.
At the heart of EquiLend Spire is a powerful automation engine that offers a range of optimization tools that enable clients to maximize their collateral management, lending revenue, and portfolio performance. The platform’s deep integration with other systems and data sources ensures accurate pricing and valuation, and robust risk management across all derivative trades.
Who We Are
EquiLend is a global financial technology, data and analytics firm offering Trading, Post-Trade, Data & Analytics, RegTech and Platform Solutions for the securities finance industry. EquiLend has offices in New York, New Jersey, Boston, Toronto, London, Dublin, India, Hong Kong and Tokyo and is regulated in jurisdictions around the globe.
