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[ CASE STUDIES ]

Derivatives Onboarding

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CORSA helped us design and deliver a derivatives capability we didn’t think was possible in this timeframe. They understood the complexities, translated them into an achievable roadmap, and partnered with our teams all the way through.

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Client Overview

The client, a boutique investment manager with ambitions to broaden its product set and enhance portfolio flexibility, had no in-house capability to trade or support derivatives. Historically reliant on external managers or passive exposure, the firm sought to bring derivatives trading and post-trade operations in-house. This would allow greater agility, lower manager costs, and direct control over exposure, strategy, and risk management.

 

CORSA was engaged to design and implement the full end-to-end onboarding of derivatives capabilities—including legal, compliance, execution, risk, and post-trade support—across a broad product set.

The Challenge

01
No internal derivatives trading infrastructure or operations capability.
02
Need to support a broad instrument set: IR swaps, inflation swaps, IR swaptions, CDS, CDI/CDX, CDS options, total return swaps, listed futures and options.
03
Limited internal expertise to navigate the legal, operational, and system complexities of derivatives.
04
Absence of margin management, pricing tools, collateral workflows, or electronic trade matching.

Our Solution

CORSA led a cross-functional program to onboard derivatives trading and operational support:

Legal & Documentation

Partnered with legal teams to negotiate and onboard ISDAs, CSAs, and execution agreements across asset classes and regions.

Compliance Readiness

Assessed and embedded controls for mandate alignment, pre-trade and post-trade compliance monitoring, and regulatory risk checks.

Execution Infrastructure

Selected and integrated execution platforms for listed and OTC derivatives; onboarded brokers, and central counterparties.

Post-Trade & Collateral Management

Designed and implemented workflows for margin calculation (IM/VM), collateral optimisation, daily reconciliations, and dispute management.

Pricing & Valuation

Delivered solutions for trade pricing, market data ingestion, and P&L attribution.

The Result

01
Fully functional derivatives trading and operations framework covering OTC, cleared OTC, and exchange-traded derivatives.
02
Direct control over derivatives execution and strategy implementation. Scalable operations and post-trade model integrated with core platforms and Aladdin.
03
Enhanced oversight and control frameworks for margin, pricing, and counterparty risk.
04
Internal capabilities built from the ground up, supported by training and documentation.
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[ Client Testimonial ]

“CORSA helped us design and deliver a derivatives capability we didn’t think was possible in this timeframe. They understood the complexities, translated them into an achievable roadmap, and partnered with our teams all the way through. We now have a scalable, compliant platform that gives us the control and agility we need to grow.”

What happened next

With core infrastructure in place, the client is expanding into more complex derivatives strategies. CORSA continues to support derivatives enhancements and future regulatory projects, including UMR and EMIR.

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