Major Retail Brokerage Firm Transforms Securities Lending

Challenge

A leading full-service brokerage firm relied on a securities lending processing platform that only allowed them to book loans manually via a third-party solution. This slow, inefficient process limited trade execution speed, increased operational risk, and restricted their ability to scale the business.

Solution

To address these inefficiencies, Trading Apps developed and deployed a custom-built, on-premise gateway solution that seamlessly integrated the firm’s systems with the third-party solution, enabling automated, efficient loan booking.

Impressed with these initial performance and automation benefits, the firm expanded to Trading Apps’ full suite of lender solutions so they could gain greater control, efficiency, and scalability in their securities lending process. The lender solution included:

➡️  AutoLend: Transforming Borrow Requests into Actionable Trades

AutoLend eliminated inefficiencies and gave traders a competitive edge through automation.

• Automated incoming borrow request processing across multiple formats.
• Consolidated data into a single, interactive view, reducing manual workload.
• Enabled rapid, structured responses to counterparties, enhancing trading relationships.

➡️  Inventory: A Unified View for Smarter Lending Decisions

With a consolidated inventory, the firm improved visibility and maximized lending opportunities.

• Aggregated multiple inventories, external market data, and trading intelligence into one screen.
• Provided real-time insight into available securities, enabling faster, more informed decisions.

➡️  Pricing Engine: Data-Driven, Competitive Lending Rates

Pricing Engine enabled the firm to execute trades faster while ensuring competitive lending rates.

• Integrated market data, ensuring optimal pricing for securities lending.
• Powered automation in trading by supporting indicative rate creation.

➡️  TA.Link: Secure, Automated Trade Messaging

With TA.Link, the firm moved from manual processes to a fully automated securities lending ecosystem.

• Automated trade messaging service, streamlining pre- and post-trade lifecycle events.
• Eliminated unnecessary costs and complexity, boosting operational efficiency.

Results

By leveraging Trading Apps’ flexible, scalable solutions, the brokerage firm not only increased revenue but also became an industry leader in securities lending automation.

✅  Immediate rise in loan volumes and revenues as automation eliminated booking inefficiencies.

✅  Improved flexibility to interact with multiple borrowing sources and counterparties.

✅  Recognized as a market innovator, leading the industry in automation.

Notably, the brokerage firm became the first organization to automatically interact when Bloomberg introduced its BOLT matching venue. Trading Apps played a pivotal role by building the interface into and out of Bloomberg, giving the firm an unmatched competitive advantage.