How a Comprehensive Analytics Solution Transformed a Major Bank
The Need for Change
A UK-based investment bank was processing millions of daily transactions, accumulating vast amounts of client order data, market orders, trading volumes, execution details, and trading facility metrics. Despite this wealth of information, they lacked a coherent strategy to leverage these insights to optimize trading fee revenue.
The bank faced several critical challenges:
- No comprehensive business artifacts existed to map business processes, technical orchestration, or system interactions
- Teams were creating ad hoc Excel reports with inconsistent data and missing key attributes
- The institution needed a robust analytics solution to generate valuable trading volume insights across exchanges
- Regulatory and compliance requirements (MiFID) demanded more sophisticated reporting capabilities
- The bank sought to identify opportunities to reduce transactional costs across their operations
The Blueprint
Our approach centered on developing a comprehensive analytics framework through strategic collaboration and meticulous planning:
We partnered with subject matter experts from specialized departments to document and map the complete client-to-market order flows. The bank’s real-time FIX messaging bus architecture provided the foundation for capturing the comprehensive trade lifecycle.
Requirements were meticulously documented, and we identified relevant data attributes essential for reporting needs. We developed clear data lineage documentation that empowered business stakeholders to understand both transactional systems and the transformations applied throughout the journey to the reporting repository.
Custom data pipelines were engineered to refine data for reporting purposes. For each report, we collaborated with subject matter experts to create well-defined artifacts displaying relevant visuals that communicated insights effectively.
We implemented an iterative delivery approach, releasing reporting requirements in phases and incorporating business feedback to ensure continuous improvement and application of lessons learned.
The Big Win
The analytics solution delivered substantial returns on investment, transforming the bank’s approach to data-driven decision making:
- Comprehensive Reporting Suite: Delivered over 50 specialized trading reports spanning transaction analysis, trade profitability measurement, security and market segmentation insights, and regulatory compliance documentation.
- Dramatic Efficiency Gains: Reduced reporting time by 60% on average across multiple departments, enabling faster decision-making and more responsive client service.
- Complete Data Transparency: Established end-to-end traceability of data flows, enhancing accountability and enabling precise issue resolution.
- Robust Data Architecture: Created a comprehensive and thoroughly documented data model encompassing all aspects of the trading lifecycle, providing a single source of truth.
- Future-Proof Infrastructure: Deployed a scalable architecture capable of handling massive data volumes from diverse internal and external sources, positioning the bank for continued growth.