GBST Delivers Financial Transaction Tax Solution to U.S. Financial Institutions

NEW YORK, July 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- GBST, a leading global provider of securities transaction and fund administration software for the financial services industry, announced today that Syn~FTT, its new solution for calculating, processing and paying the financial transaction taxes, imposed by participating European member states, is being implemented by a U.S. bank that ranks among the top 10 largest banks in the world. The implementation of GBST's Syn~FTT solution represents the first by a U.S. based financial institution. 

Syn~FTT is the first and only rules-based technology currently available to automatically handle tax calculations, submissions, declarations and payments relating to financial transaction taxes imposed on trades in stocks, bonds and derivatives and its implementation by a global financial institution headquartered in the U.S. represents a milestone for GBST as it seeks to expand the use of this solution by U.S. institutions. 

"The recent introduction of a financial transaction tax by France and Italy and the pending introduction of similar taxes across Europe, have added to the complexity facing asset managers brokers, custodians and other firms based in the U.S. that transact globally," said Denis Orrock, CEO of Capital Markets, GBST. "Growing challenges such as rebating and netting, amendments to previously placed trades, data retrieval and varied system interfaces and trading formats have quickly become new realities for those buying and selling in the capital markets."

Financial institutions using Syn~FTT leverage the functionality of Syn~, GBST's global transaction and settlement processing system, integrating the module into their existing in-house ledgers, MI and reconciliation systems, or other applications. The financial transaction tax solution leverages the power of existing GBST technologies to provide configurable rules-based actions, straight through processing (STP) workflow and management, as well as a configurable tax calculation methodology and a messaging engine. The solution is fully auditable and a single instance serves multiple legal entities and companies.

In addition to the EU Financial Transaction Tax, some 40 other countries are currently implementing or have implemented different types of transaction taxes. Recognizing the growing need by firms for completely scalable software, GBST developed the solution to meet the unique needs of all financial institutions.

"As speculation increases about the far-reaching and lasting effects of taxation on financial transactions, many institutions have attempted to implement tactical trading solutions leveraging their existing tax software," added Denis Orrock. "Unfortunately, many of these solutions cannot scale to handle the volumes of trades from other jurisdictions that impose different transaction taxes. Forward thinking firms, like our most recent U.S. banking partner, are looking for more strategic tax-processing solution to act as a central repository for all tax rules—not just the EU financial transaction taxes."

For more information about GBST's Syn~FTT solution, please visit ftt.gbst.com.  

About GBST:

GBST (ASX: GBT), provides global technology services to the financial services industry, addressing our clients' constant needs for innovation, competitiveness and responsive IT that truly enables business.  Listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, GBST has offices in Brisbane and throughout Australia, London and New York as well as operations in Hong Kong, Paris and Singapore.

SOURCE GBST