Credit Suisse built a commission fees and expense management system over a decade ago to improve efficiency in handling brokerage, clearing, and exchange fees. Smartstream acquired the platform in December 2014 with the aim of transforming it into a utility model.
Challenges
Managing transactional fees efficiently in a high-volume environment requires accurate substantiation of variable expenses, precise apportioning of fees, and real-time updates to allocation rules based on trade volumes. The complexity and volume of invoices, along with the need for detailed validation and reconciliation, posed significant challenges.
Solution
Smart Fees was developed to drive savings to the bottom line and enhance profitability. It achieves this through an end-to-end automated process, capable of accurately substantiating variable expenses across high volumes of transactional information and apportioning fees precisely.
Implementation
Credit Suisse began outsourcing its OTC fixed-income derivatives, US-listed equity options, and cash businesses in the brokerage, clearing, and exchange fee categories to Smartstream in January 2020. This transition enabled real-time updates to allocation rules, improved data organisation, and enhanced management information, leading to more effective cost control and streamlined operations.
Benefits
- Variable expense reduction
- Business and client profitability
- Dynamic service pricing
- Automated accounting
- Operational efficiency
