Banks Join Forces Against Operational Risk
GREENWICH, Conn. - Sixteen financial institutions with a total of more than $4.2 trillion of U.S. assets have signed letters of intent to participate in the industry's first exchange of operational loss and risk data.The founding members of More, which stands for Multinational Operational Risk Exchange, are Royal Bank of Canada, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and Toronto-Dominion Bank; four North American banks, including FleetBoston Financial Group; seven European banks, and two Asian banks.
The consortium aims to reduce losses from operational risk stemming from inadequate internal processes and external events. Operational losses have exceeded $40 billion in the last five years, according to Greenwich, Conn.-based NetRisk Inc., More's managing agent.
To compile an operational risk database, participants in More will share information in a secure environment about how losses have occurred. The data will fill a gap that has hampered the managing, measuring, and insuring of operational risk.
Corillian Names Development Executive
BEAVERTON, Ore. - Corillian Corp., a provider of Internet banking software, on Tuesday named Alex P. Hart executive vice president of corporate development.Mr. Hart, 37, most recently was vice president of business development for Transpoint, the electronic bill presentment and payment venture of Microsoft Corp., First Data Corp., and Citigroup Inc.
Before joining Transpoint, Mr. Hart was the business development manager for the Microsoft Internet Finance Server Toolkit, or Marble. Before going to Microsoft he was vice president of product management and strategic alliances at CheckFree Holdings Corp.
At Corillian, Mr. Hart will manage corporate development activities, including potential mergers, acquisitions, equity investments, and strategic alliances.
Small Bank Vendor Buys Calif. Processor
MONETT, Mo. - Jack Henry & Associates Inc. has acquired Lancaster, Calif.-based BancData Solutions Inc., a core data processor for community banks.The purchase reaffirms Jack Henry's commitment to the domestic market. Last August the provider of core data processing software and services for community banks moved away from international markets by selling its BankVision Corp. subsidiary for $1 million. Jack Henry had bought BankVision in 1993 to offer multilingual, multicurrency software to banks outside the United States.
BancData is owned by Los Robles Bank, First Mountain Bank, Redlands Centennial Bank, and Mojave Desert Bank.
Jack Henry operates its systems in about 2,600 financial institutions throughout the United States. It did not say what it spent to acquire BancData.
Wells Fargo to Use Windows 2000 System
SAN FRANCISCO - Wells Fargo & Co. is to install Windows 2000 as its primary server operating system.The Microsoft system is expected to help the banking company integrate systems in the wake of its Norwest merger, said Dustin Sauter, enterprise systems engineer at Wells Fargo Services Co.
Wells plans to use Microsoft's Active Directory service for its directory, file, and print infrastructure, as well as for its applications and Web services platform.
The Windows installation is to start in the wholesale banking group. Wells, which previously used NetWare servers, said Windows would make its directory architecture more flexible and efficient.
"Our studies show that because Active Directory is integrated with our messaging system our users have fewer passwords to remember, which leads to a reduction of support costs," said Patrick Collins, vice president and engineering manager of wholesale systems at Wells.
