ANNA Engages BearingPoint Consultancy for Derivatives Service Bureau

The Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA) today announced its engagement of BearingPoint as a Trusted Advisor in the development of the ANNA Derivatives Service Bureau for ISINs for OTC derivatives. BearingPoint, an international management and technology consulting firm, is one of the largest management consultancies in Europe. It also holds a particular expertise in technology systems based on open-source platforms, like the technology foundation of the ANNA DSB.

“The financial services division of BearingPoint brings a depth of expertise that massively magnifies our own knowledge in the processes of establishing a robust and forwarding-looking business foundation for the DSB,” said Dan Kuhnel, chairman of the ANNA board of directors. “We expect their presence to accelerate the coalescing of resources and industry support, leading to an initiative that is well managed from day one and well prepared for the inevitable changes in scope that are characteristic of both the derivatives and standards related realms.”

Specific areas of activity for BearingPoint will include support of DSB stakeholders, validation of DSB formation and envisaged governance, validation of the DSB funding model, and support of the RFP-based selection of the service provision partner to manage the technical infrastructure.

“We are delighted that ANNA has selected us as their management consulting partner to support their important next steps towards smooth DSB operations and collaborations with the financial services community. This will ultimately facilitate 2018 MiFID II reporting requirements and introduce transparency to the OTC derivatives markets,” said Gabriele Hoehler, partner at BearingPoint.

About the ANNA Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB).

The DSB will provide rapid allocation of the International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) for OTC derivatives products. These identifying codes will be issued to counterparties and trading venues for business operations and regulatory reporting. The DSB is based on an automated real-time allocation platform developed by ANNA with Etrading Software, a London-based professional services technology firm, and built on state-of-the-art, open-source architecture.

The selection of BearingPoint for management consulting services, in addition to the contribution of Etrading Software as the development partner, is another step forward in the coalescing of expert resources in the DSB development. Still to be announced are the management services partner to operate the DSB and the service provision partner to be responsible for its infrastructure.

The development schedule of the DSB includes full implementation and testing by relevant financial entities before early January 2018 when the second version of the Market in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID 2) goes into effect in the European Union. MiFID 2 requires reporting of OTC derivatives transactions.

ANNA will make the engine and connectivity specifications available to the marketplace to the following timeline:

• 25 October 2016: Publication of the DSB product governance framework;
• Q4 2016: Publication of the FIX open standard technical specifications to enable participants to connect their trading platforms to the engine;
• Q4 2016: Public preview of the engine through a web interface to allow market participants to test and provide early feedback;
• Q1 2017: Technical access for formal industry testing of the engine.

Additional information on this initiative can be found in these previous ANNA announcements:

ANNA Announces Progress of Automated Platform for ISIN for OTC Derivatives, 14 September 2016

ANNA Announces Support for FIX Taxonomy for ISIN for OTC Derivatives, 20 September 2016

ANNA to Revamp Structure and Add Management Resources, 27 September 2016

For more information about the ANNA Service Bureau, please visit the ANNA website.

About BearingPoint

BearingPoint consultants understand that the world of business changes constantly and that the resulting complexities demand intelligent and adaptive solutions. Our clients, whether in commercial or financial industries or in government, experience real results when they work with us. This adaptive approach is at the heart of our culture and has led to long standing relationships with many of the world’s leading companies and organizations. Our global consulting network of more than 10,000 people serves clients in more than 75 countries and engages with them for measurable results and long-lasting success.

For more information, please visit bearingpoint.com.

About ANNA

Established in 1992 by 22 founding numbering agencies, ANNA is the membership organization of national numbering agencies, which are operated by depositories, exchanges, government agencies, nationally central data vendors and other financial infrastructure organizations. ANNA also serves as the registration authority for the ISIN numbering standard, under appointment by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Under ANNA’s stewardship, the role of the ISIN in enabling global financial communications has been established worldwide. ISINs are issued today in excess of 120 jurisdictions, while the number of national numbering agencies and nations working to establish national numbering agencies continues to grow each year.

For information about ANNA, its members and activities, please visit anna-web.org.

Media Contact:
Kathleen Hawk
Clearview Associates
kathleen@clearviewpr.com
+1 845 687-2222

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