Cassini Systems, the leading provider of pre- and post-trade margin and collateral analytics for derivatives market participants and specialist in Uncleared Margin Rules (UMR) compliance, has just won the 2022 Risk Markets Technology Award for Best UMR Service of the Year.

Cassini Systems, the leading provider of pre- and post-trade margin and collateral analytics for derivatives market participants and specialist in Uncleared Margin Rules (UMR) compliance, has just won the 2022 Risk Markets Technology Award for Best UMR Service of the Year.

Cassini has played a significant role in helping a wide range of asset managers, insurance firms and top-tier hedge funds meet the complex requirements under UMR in Phases 4 and 5, and those firms that are captured, or potentially captured, by Phase 6, coming into effect on Sept. 1.

Liam Huxley, CEO and founder at Cassini Systems, said: “We are thrilled that our fully embedded solution has been recognized by Risk.net. Our focus has always been on the bigger picture: providing the buy-side with an end-to-end Standard Initial Margin Model (SIMM™) solution to help clients proactively manage collateral levels and the costs of trading derivatives. We are seeing significant demand for this capability as we edge closer to the Phase 6 deadline. We have been able to help some of the biggest asset managers, including the world’s largest, manage the impact of UMR on their business and gain competitive advantage.”

A judging panel consisting of technology users and Risk.net editors select the winners of the Risk Markets Technology Awards. Among the reasons Cassini stood out in the category, according to the Risk.net judges, were the platform’s adoption by BlackRock and other major asset managers, the “impressive” nature of the Average Aggregate Notional Amount (AANA) monitoring service available via BlackRock’s Aladdin® platform and the firm’s novation analytics tools that “means this is more than just a margin calculator.” Cassini provides the ability to calculate and monitor AANA exposure to determine if clients would be in scope for UMR, along with Notional Reduction Tools to help them stay under the Initial Margin (IM) posting threshold with any given counterparty.

Cassini’s platform enables firms to improve their collateral resilience and reduce derivatives carry costs through pre- and post-trade optimization of margin, collateral and funding. The solution also helps reduce system friction with seamless integration into all the leading order management system (OMS), collateral management and outsourced service providers.

Huxley said: “Regulations such as UMR make it clear that buy-side and sell-side firms alike need a solution that provides transparency and optimization across all business lines including bilateral portfolios. Our tools help them reduce collateral liquidity risk, lower the cost of financing trades, and understand how and where capital is being consumed.”