Northern Adds Straight-Through Feature

The new service, Trade Input, allows sponsors and managers to enter trade instructions directly into Northern’s trade system electronically.  Many sponsors and managers continue to fax in their instructions, and direct electronic transmission of instructions can expedite the process and eliminate errors, according to Kathy Dugan, head of the multinational product group at Northern Trust.

Dugan said the product allows managers and clients to do the following:

• Send equity, debt, and asset-backed trade information via the web;
• Provide an interactive input screen that queries asset descriptions and broker information;
• Allows a secure access features via a tiered structure that can distinguish among users who are authorized to perform data entry only, approval only, or both data entry and approval actions;
• Minimize entry errors flowing to Northern’s trade system.

Dugan said the technology requirements are low, so the service should appeal to smaller sponsors and managers.