Banque Eni implements FinArch’s Basel II solution

Ghent/Brussels - 2 October 2007 - Financial Architects (FinArch), international provider of a Finance Resource Planning (FRP) platform for the finance industry, today announced that Banque ENI, the Belgian financial services branch of the Italian energy multinational Eni, has selected FinArch’s Financial Studio solution for Basel II calculations and reporting (COREP) to ensure compliance by the end of the year.

Banque ENI has selected an integrated approach to Basel II compliance, using pre-defined data for Basel II calculations to produce the Basel II compliance reports (COREP) according to the supervisors’ regulations. The Financial Studio solution includes an extensive list of standard, pre-packaged regulatory and management reports that allow for in-depth risk analysis and tracking facilities through flexible drill-through functionality.

FinArch, listed as a leader in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Basel II software, has acquired global experience and expertise with Basel II implementation projects across different jurisdictions and different approaches across a multitude of banking products and portfolios. The combination hereof with its many years of regulatory reporting experience allows financial institutions to simplify the Basel II implementation process to a simple yet powerful 4-steps concept: (1) install the software, (2) capture the data required from the source systems, (3) start the Basel II calculation engine and (4) produce the Basel II compliance reports and test the results. This package is built on a comprehensive risk data model, where all required data is pre-defined and documented, allowing quick and easy interfacing with the organisation’s internal systems.

Frédéric Simons, VP Regional Development at FinArch, comments "Financial institutions opt for a reliable pre-packaged Basel II solution that ensures timely compliance. We have been working with Banque Eni for a couple of years already and are obviously pleased with the confidence our customers have in FinArch being a trustworthy business partner for financial management and reporting solutions for the finance industry. We obviously look forward to further develop long-term relationship with Banque Eni.”

FinArch’s Basel II solution embraces much more than a basic, rapid, short term compliance solution. It enables the banks to meet regulatory demands for stricter compliance, while at the same time gaining additional business benefits by improving reporting flows, increasing return on IT investment, and turning compliance into a cost-saving exercise. It is a future-proof solution, as it guarantees automatic future compliance through the software updates on supervisory changes that we provide as part of our continuous commitment to our customers. It also supports expansion from a Basel II Standardised Approach into IRB. And as it shares a common data model with the more advanced Financial Studio capital management solutions, it ensures a smooth transition to an advanced risk package, or to a complete FRP (Finance Resource Planning) platform, in case the bank should wish to embrace one integrated solution that leverages the convergence between compliance, accounting, MIS, and risk management issues.

About Banque Eni

Eni is an international, Italy-based company active in around 70 countries with a staff of 73,572 employees. The company is listed on the Milan and the New York stock exchanges (NYSE). The major operating activities are oil , natural gas, electricity generation, engineering and construction and petrochemical business.

The financial activities of Eni and its companies are managed by a centralised model on the basis of which market operations and relations with the banking system is guaranteed by the central finance department. This is to ensure the optimisation of intra-group netting and market operations. Eni companies make exclusive use of the central finance department to meet their financial requirements, deposit liquidity and conduct exchange and derivatives operations. The central finance department is structured as follows: a Corporate Finance Unit, the Eni Coordination Centre, Banque Eni and Sofid (financial services).

The Corporate Finance Unit oversees strategy, coordination, planning and control; the centralised management and control of financial risks; short and medium/long term finance for Italian companies, exchange rate and derivative operations to cover risks deriving from interest and exchange rates, commodity risk and contracts for emissions trading; Capital Markets activities for debts and equity, as well as structural financing activities for Eni and its companies.

The Eni Coordination Centre is based in Brussels and is an operational finance centre focused on meeting the short and medium/long-term financial requirements and the management of liquidity of foreign-based companies.

Banque Eni (which is in the process of absorbing the functions provided by Eni Bank) and Sofid (financial services department) provides financial services relating to money management (i.e. cash transactions, payments, intra-group financial transactions) for foreign companies.

www.eni.it

About FinArch

FinArch (Financial Architects nv), with offices in the major financial centres worldwide, is a global value leader in providing a new generation of financial management software. The concept of the platform and the integrated approach of the different modules enable innovative financial institutions to quickly implement tactical solutions meeting the overall strategic objectives in financial reporting.

FinArch provides a unique blend of domain expertise, operational services, and technology solutions that accelerate and facilitate financial institutions’ ambition to implement a cost effective and reliable financial management platform.

www.finarch.com

For more details, please contact:

Frédéric Simons
VP Regional Development

Financial Architects nv
Verlorenbroodstraat 122
B-9820 Merelbeke
Belgium

tel:  +32 (0)9 272 64 10
e-mail:  press.office@finarch.com

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