Mizuho Gains Data Processing Capability and Savings on TimeScape

Broker-dealer Mizuho Securities USA's implementation of TimeScape, the data and analytics management system from Xenomorph, has enabled it to sort identifier data better and faster, and has removed the need for numerous manual overrides in data processing, according to Sandy Kapoor, chief technology officer at Mizuho Securities USA.

Mizuho went live into production with TimeScape in February after choosing the Xenomorph product to replace another company's product about a year ago, when Mizuho's contract with that provider was nearing expiration, according to Kapoor.

"What has helped us most is the ability the system gives to permit the unique identification of a security," he says. "We had so much code in the old platform to get an identifier like an ISIN or CUSIP, and we would find out they referred to two different instruments because something went wrong with a data feed. It's the kind of thing that makes the IT risk team spend a lot of time troubleshooting."

TimeScape's rules engine can be customized to designate which data provider should be considered a primary source and which should be a secondary source when receiving multiple data feeds from providers such as Reuters, Bloomberg and Interactive Data.

Along with validating pricing data according to such rules, Mizuho has found TimeScape's ability to check whether a price is in the correct range of all prices of that security and to send alerts if the data is outside a designated threshold to be effective, says Kapoor.

TimeScape also has shortened Mizuho's batch processing times, Kapoor adds. "Our batch cycle was very sequential," he says. "With TimeScape, we have parallel processing. The entire batch cycle that used to take six hours now only takes about two and a half hours because a lot is done in parallel."

In addition, TimeScape can avoid duplicate data requests by caching data received in response to a single department of a firm making the request, and catch and redistribute it to other departments when they seek the same information, according to Naj Alavi, managing director at Xenomorph. Kapoor adds that this capability has allowed Mizuho to cut its batch market data spending by 20%.