Arnaud De Chavagnac is Head of cloud, technology and services marketing, Murex.
What were the key theme(s) for your business in 2022?
One of the key trends has come from North America – with an increased shift toward SaaS and more IT services. Fuelled by recent stress on wages for technology, this trend has also reached Europe. In terms of technology, it has meant the increased outsourcing of certain IT processes to vendors. Any vendor who can propose a spectrum of IT services ranging from environment management through DevOps factory, to fully hosted managed software, can service its customers at each step of the journey. Firms can then focus on business development, create new business lines and release new products faster.”
What was the highlight of 2022?
We released new features for XVA desks to automate XVA quoting between sales and XVA desk. Early adopters now enjoy the ability for sales to auto-price XVA directly, and for XVA desks to leverage advanced what-if capabilities to optimize XVA spreads and auto-quote them to sales desks.
What surprised you in 2022?
The unpredictable geopolitical situation has led to highly volatile markets in all asset classes, including commodities, rates, credit, equities and FX. The result of this volatility has been a period where certain market participants have needed to hedge, while others have had to adopt bold trading positions to seize market opportunities. This prompted some regulators to enforce tighter rules around market risk management practices.
What are your expectations for 2023?
The focus on ESG will certainly continue throughout 2023. Corporates looking to reduce their carbon emissions will turn toward mandatory and voluntary carbon trading. Risk departments within banks will need to assess the impact of climate risk on their balance sheets, and their trading positions. Sustainable procurement policies will also put pressure on suppliers, including technology vendors to show evidence of their commitment toward ESG. On IT side, seeking low energy IT infrastructure will help both reduce energy consumption and lower carbon footprint.
What industry trends have been prominent but are now fading (or will soon fade)?
“For crypto assets, 2022 was probably the tipping point. We are now entering into a new phase with regulators designing a secure framework and both large financial institutions and central bodies aiming to contribute to the stability of the digital assets and trust in the transaction settlements.”
