The CISI, together with BT, Euroclear, the SWIFT Institute and Travers Smith, is funding a unique research project into CREST, which will be conducted by B.I.S.S. Research, the City think tank that provides research on innovation in financial markets
Next year marks the 20th anniversary of CREST (now Euroclear UK & Ireland) the single, most important settlement system in the UK and Irish markets to this day. To mark the occasion, an international research team will analyse the design, implementation and impact on the financial markets of CREST.
London Metropolitan University hosted interviews with key figures of all sectors involved, which revealed information and insights from the lead up to CREST’s inception in 1993, to its successful implementation in 1996 and beyond. The core research team consists of experts in banking technology, innovation and financial markets operations: Dr Hermann Rapp from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge and Chelmsford; Dr Marta Gasparin from University of Leicester, and Dr Cristiana Parisi from Copenhagen Business School.
This research forms the basis of a series of publications and events in 2016/17. Academic publications and international conference presentations are planned, and B.I.S.S. Research will publish with an Executive summary industry report.
"More has been written about TAURUS, the system that failed, than about this remarkable system"
Gary Wright, CEO of B.I.S.S. Research, said: “I was amazed during our initial research into CREST that so little has been published or analysed of its success. More has been written about TAURUS, the system that failed, than about this remarkable system. This research project will address this gap. Even today when financial markets are under constant change much can be learned from CREST. Twenty years ago it was the most disruptive and innovative system to be introduced into a fragmented and paper based market infrastructure. The changes made by the financial markets to accommodate CREST covered new system designs, new electronic processes and changes in the working lives of people in the markets. With such widespread change, how did the industry come together to build a long lasting solution on time and within budget? There is much that can be learned for today and for the future.”