The power of four: ECMS upgrades outdated finance market infrastructure to support Hong Kong’s financial stability

The client

A regulatory body in Hong Kong’s government sector charged with maintaining financial stability while protecting public funds. Its responsibilities include:

Ensuring currency stability.

Promoting the integrity of the financial system.

Managing the exchange fund.

Helping to maintain Hong Kong’s status as an international financial centre.

Diagnose

In 2018, the regulatory body established a centralised registry that maintains an electronic database of over-the-counter (OTC) derivative transactions, to provide a safe, efficient and reliable system for users. This database requires near real-time access to rapidly changing data so that it can generate and share daily reports with internal and external users.

To meet statutory reporting requirements, the subsidiary was scheduled to adopt ISO20022, a global standard for electronic data interchange between bank customers, financial institutions and market infrastructures. This meant the system had to be enhanced to support OTC derivative trades in the ISO20022 format, so that reports could continue being generated and distributed to users.

Architect

Having worked with the client for around five years, Wendy Li, associate director for ECMS, was in the ideal position to outline the options available to them. They could either: insource the required talent, where possible; use a traditional consultancy, which would mean losing the talent at the end of the project, and no knowledge transfer; or adopt ECMS’s solution, which would involve keeping the talent in the team and, crucially, retaining their knowledge and expertise. The manager overseeing the project invited her to pitch with a number of other consultancy firms just after Christmas 2024, and ECMS was awarded the contract.

Deliver

“Great to have a partnership with ECMS, who can secure the best, talented team and retain them so we can accelerate business outcomes and stay ahead of what’s next.” Associate Director, IT Solutions

To perform the required upgrade, the client needed a team of experts to redesign and enhance their system using Java, VB.net and PL/SQL. They would need to work closely with the IT team and business users to formulate a comprehensive test plan, perform thorough testing and develop robust, long-lasting automated testing tools. The project, therefore, required a high level of expertise in system design, software development and testing.

Wendy partnered with Esther Zhang, senior consultant, to scope out and bring in a highly skilled tech lead and three systems analysts to complete the system upgrade; the first time ECMS had proposed and deployed a team of four to a customer’s site.

Oversee

“Deploying a pod of systems analysts to upgrade an outdated system, and a tech lead to oversee this complex project, was the first time we have installed a team of four to a customer’s site. Now that they have successfully delivered this project, I look forward to seeing the team continue to drive positive business outcomes for our client in the next couple of years.” Wendy Li, Associate Director, ECMS

Within weeks of the project’s successful completion, the client engaged ECMS about phase two. The team we’d built had performed so well during the phase of migration and upgrade that the client decided to retain them for the next phase of the project, revolving around the use of generative AI, which will last two years.

Ready to elevate your business with tailored solutions? Contact Wendi Li at wendy.li@ecmanagedsolutions.com to explore how we can support your growth and transformation.