Results of 2012

Throughout the year of 2012 ARQA Technologies has been working intensively in full contact with its clients and partners on a number of principal ongoing projects. Partly as a result of this work a few new promising activity venues have appeared in the company’s portfolio.

Last year ARQA Technologies often played the part of consultant and integrator to help its clients build complex infrastructure solutions including those involving foreign partners.

New installations of QUIK software and solutions based on QORT platform

In 2012 the company’s customer base grew by more than 20%.

The number of existing clients using QUIK complex expanded by other 38 banks, investment and management companies (among them three from Ukraine and one from Cyprus). 23 of the new clients chose to use the SaaS on the basis of Moscow, Novosibirsk or Kiev technical centre of ARQA Technologies and 15 installed complexes at own facilities.

In 2012 back office backQORT based on QORT software platform was installed by 7 investment and management companies and by 1 bank.

Connectivity projects with LSE и WSE

As for the last year’s connectivity projects the company’s clients acquired two important venues thanks to integration of QUIK interfaces with Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) and London Stock Exchange (LSE).

The interfaces were tested, certified by the exchanges and are now undergoing testing by several of the company’s clients.

Another interface developed for LSE comes from a range of low latency solutions for direct access to exchange engines designed to be used by external software platforms with existing brokers’ identifications. Its name is FIX2LSE. This interface as other solutions from the same range have access to QUIK server functionality to perform online pre-trade order checks.

QUIK complex: new server and user opportunities

In 2012 the module range of QUIK was expanded to include:

• Autochartist program interface, designed to integrate QUIK workplace charts with the service of making technical analysis figures of the namesake company.
• FIX Client Connector interface is essentially a FIX API to the QUIK server providing users and external developers with a comfortable and universal way of connecting external software systems to a QUIK server.
• TREP RT (Thomson Reuters) information system interface, which allows to obtain real time market data from LSE, NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, and FX market with minimal latency.
• FX Converter module, designed for automatic currency conversion in such cases when settlement currency differs from the currency used for accounting of client’s funds.
• RDK clearing system information interface, designed to translate changes in positions and limits of the company’s clients following trades at SPIMEX oil products section.

A line of QUIK user interfaces now includes CoLibri FX terminal module which is an additional module of QUIK workplace designed to read and transfer currency positions to next day for transactions at the Moscow Exchange Currency Market.

Thanks to SunGard Global Network trading access interface (a joint project with SunGard) there is now an opportunity to access additional trading venues: NASDAQ OMX (Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius) and Singapore Exchange (SGX). Another market is now supported by QuantHouse information interface – it started to translate market data from Chi-X Europe.

New opportunities of user workstations and QUIK server modules

In 2012 ARQA Technologies released five new versions of QUIK workstation. More significant changes had to do with the terminal’s ergonomics. New versions have optimized basic terminal settings, they acquired wider drag-and-drop functions, an opportunity to order news and all transactions from the moment of connecting to QUIK server, and may now plot future intervals in charts.  Thanks to optimization QPILE programs, DDE “parameter changes tables”, “Current parameters Table” via ODBC work faster. Creation of tables and charts have also been optimized. The latest released version of QUIK workstation has an in-built interpreter of script language LUA.

The new version of iQUIK-HD workstation allows to touch-move transactions right on the chart.

Besides, new versions of iQUIK и iQUIK-HD terminals and webQUIK systems support two-factor authorizations at QUIK server which moves work with webQUIK, iPhone и с iPad to the state of the art safety requirements.

The new version of sms module has much wider work functionality. It supports new types of alerts, manages customer alerts depending on user rights’ settings and has more functions for order alerts. Besides, the new version of the module may e-mail alerts and supports two-factor authorization by sending PIN-codes via sms.

In 2012 OMS Manager module acquired a number of new functions suggested by users and also new functions for working with OMS-orders.

Development of solutions based on QORT software platform

Automated solutions of middle-office (midQORT) and back-office (backQORT) operations have been substantially developed in 2012.

The new functions of backQORT include:

• integration with OMS system, QUIK InSite modules and sms-alerts of QUIK product range,
• expanded number of forms and ways of client reports delivery,
• increased selection of tariff plans used by the system including automated calculation over depositary and clearing accounts for non-productive load on trading systems,
• introduction of CRM-service functionality for information referencing and easy client communications.

The module of management reporting acquired a new report on “portfolio” returns per a chosen day. The report is also used in midQORT.

Both solutions now have more scope in transaction reporting from foreign and Russian markets (e.g. the currency market of the Moscow exchange). MidQORT amd backQORT acquired the functions of reporting OTC transactions at LSE.

Developing services of the company’s technical centers

By the end of 2012 over 100 companies have been using software products and services of ARQA Technologies through outsourcing, reservation and hosting at Moscow, Novosibirsk and Kiev company technical centers.

At the moment the Moscow technical center has retail servers running on QUIK and HFT-configurations which provide median transaction latency throughout the data center less than 5.6 ms.

In 2012 the services rendered by the company’s data centers were expanded to include the service of hosting test circuits of QUIK system from on the basis of Moscow technical center of ARQA Technologies.

Cooperation with exchanges

In 2012 representatives of ARQA Technologies took an active part in operation of the Technical Committee of the Moscow exchange.

In February of 2012 the company participated in the workshop of the Moscow exchange “Development of client access to trading at the FX market of MICEX-RTS”. Participants of the seminar were presented with a report on support options for a new two-tier scheme of access to trading in the market from QUIK software complex.

In the fall of 2012 ARQA Technologies took part in the joint load-testing with the Moscow exchange. Broker clients of the company who participated in the test had a unique opportunity to test their trading infrastructure and relevant services under conditions which were several times more intensive than those of normal live trading. After the test ARQA Technologies submitted reports to all participants providing them with the analysis of QUIK and QORT systems’ operation results and the exchange infrastructure performance. The exchange also received a report with integral testing results.

In October of 2012 ARQA Technologies took part in a work meeting of exchange markets’ participants dedicated to new commodity instruments of SPIMEX derivatives market.  A representative of the company delivered a report on software products developed by ARQA Technologies for this market.

Participation in exhibitions, conferences and events for clients

In 2012 ARQA Technologies continued active participation in international events, exhibitions and conferences. Following the tradition the company attended major events organized by WBR (exhibition and conference TradeTech Europe in London and TradeTech Asia in Singapore), and by Terrapinn (exhibition and conference World Exchange Congress and Exchange Technology World in Stambul). It should also be mentioned that ARQA Technologies took part in the exhibition and conference Accessing Russia which was organized in London by Berlinguer (part of FTSE Global Markets group), FOW Derivatives World in Warsaw and technological forum by Thomson Reuters in Moscow.

In February of 2012 года ARQA Technologies hosted the eighth consecutive seminar for clients and customers in Moscow. For the third year running the seminar’s program included round-table discussions with representatives of brokers and the merged MICEX-RTS exchange. Beside the seminar the event featured consultation boards and partners’ booths.