The client, a leading Central European bank, needed to perform an MX.3 release upgrade from v.3.1.38 to v.3.1.52 to modernize the application system, pave the way for replacing Office-based workarounds with core system functionality, and introduce new EMIR reporting.
The current version of MX.3 had been in operation since 2018, with only two minor patches introduced by 2022. Over time, the external software components on which it was based became outdated. On top of that, it was not possible to upgrade the external components without upgrading the MX.3 itself.
In parallel, the financial markets ecosystem used numerous Office-based workarounds (VBA) which needed to be phased out, and the number of instances where the old MX.3 functionalities were no longer compatible with new user requirements increased.
Within nine months, the new version 3.1.52 was rolled out to production – on time and within budget. Some of the new infrastructure components (for example Java) were already deployed within the MX3.1 go-live, resulting in a significant reduction in operational risk related to security vulnerabilities.
• The client was using Murex 3.1.38, based on software components that were no longer supported.
• The use of Office-based workarounds (e.g. for creating money market rollover trades in Excel using VBA) had to be phased out to reduce operational risk in anticipation of the upcoming Office licensing changes.
• The decision was taken to upgrade the ecosystem in two phases – i) introduction of the new versions of Murex and Java, and ii) upgrade of the operating system and database as well as the phase out of Office-based workarounds.
• The project started in August 2022 and went live in April 2023 as planned, on time and within budget.
• Three cycles of testing were performed to accommodate three minor vendor patches and ensure risk-based regression testing.
• Several code workarounds implemented in the old version were removed and replaced by native Murex functions of the new version.
• All reports generated on source and target system were reconciled against each other, with differences explained and communicated to stakeholders.
• P&L, sensitivities and accounting reconciliation ran in parallel with the main testing activities, all detected breaks were analysed, and the root causes identified. The results were collated and forwarded centrally to the project team.
• The MX3.1 upgrade enabled the client to modernize their infrastructure, and harden the platform with state of the art information security practices.
• The client achieved their goal of retaining MX.3 as a central bank application, in addition to reducing operational risk by eliminating Office-based workarounds.
• This will ultimately result in group-wide cost-savings through introducing new entities to the MX.3 platform and migrating data from legacy systems.
Capco has continued to support the bank with new initiative, combining functional and technical knowledge which helps our clients achieve upgrades and adjustments to their Murex systems.