AMH is the strategic high-end interface product within the SWIFT interface product portfolio, and will be branded as the Alliance Messaging Hub.

SWIFT confirms that responsibilities for product development, sales, support, marketing and professional services for the AMH product, previously provisioned by Arkelis (a wholly-owned subsidiary of SWIFT) will now be functionally transferred to SWIFT.

AMH customers will now be able to benefit from the direct engagement and operational excellence processes of the SWIFT company for their operational contacts and for the further product evolution.

AMH version 3.1 continues to roll-out AMH as a multi-network messaging application by introducing support for SECOM operations. SECOM is the Swiss securities settlement system operated by SIX SIS Ltd and stands for Settlement Communication System. It provides custody and settlement of tradable financial instruments nationally and internationally.

RMA operation is part of the AMH application and a new role-based security concept facilitates the management of user’s permissions. AMH RMA Management provides central management of business relationships between SWIFTNet FIN correspondents by means of exchanging RMA authorisations.

Another important enhancement of AMH 3.1 is the possibility to utilize a private network, AMHNet, to exchange messages between internal BICs (intra-organization entities). The traffic costs of these messages can be substantially reduced or even completely eliminated by using internal delivery channels instead of external networks. AMHNet enables the implementation of least-cost routing according to business and operational criteria. 

Other new features of this new release are a further extension of the web services support, message handling enhancements and anonymisation.

As with previous versions, AMH 3.1 manages to raise the bar in terms of performance, whereby high message volumes can be processed using AMH within the designated time frames; allowing hundreds of users to connect to the application simultaneously.

KBC is an integrated banking and insurance group catering mainly for retail, SME and midcap customers in its home market Belgium and certain countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Installing a SWIFT messaging hub for the KBC Group, making use of the newest technologies, enhancing and improving the current functionalities and reducing the maintenance costs, were drivers for KBC to initiate a new financial messaging project. Time to market, future market flexibility and the ability to meet customer demands being the primary requirements, Advanced Messaging Hub (AMH) was the perfect fit.

AMH is a modular, multi-network, high-volume financial messaging solution that can be tailored to an individual customer’s needs. Next to the ability to implement their project faster than initially envisaged, AMH is able to meet the stringent security and resilience requirements of KBC.

Hans Cobben, CEO of Arkelis states: “This deal proves the value that Arkelis brings to the leading financial institutions helping banks manage the complexities and maintainability of their financial messaging infrastructures, various standards and interoperability challenges, while at the same time enabling the bank to minimize costs.”

“The fact that we no longer have to worry about adaptations in this highly evolving business, means risks will be limited. The fact that Arkelis is part of SWIFT and adheres to its “Failure is not an option” mindset, was definitely one of the reasons to choose for AMH”, said Pierre Sleewaegen, Department Head at KBC.
 
About Arkelis
Arkelis has become a fully owned SWIFT company in 2010 to play a major role in SWIFT’s 2015 strategy implementation, with a specific focus on SWIFT’s high-volume customers. The company provides solutions and services addressing the need for enterprise wide multi-network messaging of top tier customers in the financial services industry. Arkelis uniquely combines the inherent quality and global support services of a standard-setting, global leader with the focus and speed of an independent technology innovator.

About SWIFT
SWIFT is a member-owned cooperative that provides the communications platform, products and services to connect more than 9,700 banking organisations, securities institutions and corporate customers in 209 countries. SWIFT enables its users to exchange automated, standardised financial information securely and reliably, thereby lowering costs, reducing operational risk and eliminating operational inefficiencies. SWIFT also brings the financial community together to work collaboratively to shape market practice, define standards and debate issues of mutual interest.

About KBC
KBC is an integrated multi-channel bancassurance group, catering mainly for retail, SME and local midcap customers. It concentrates on its home markets of Belgium and certain countries in Central and Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Hungary). Elsewhere around the globe, the group has established a presence in selected countries and regions.
KBC provides banking, insurance and asset management products and services via its integrated distribution channel consisting of bank branches, insurance agents and brokers and the Internet. KBC’s headquarters are located in Brussels (Belgium), the heart of Europe. The group employs more than 47 000 FTE (nearly 60% of whom in Central and Eastern Europe). KBC is listed on NYSE Euronext Brussels.

Previously using the SunGard MINT messaging platform, Leumi Private Bank decided to migrate from MINT to its designated successor product, Arkelis’ Advanced Messaging Hub (AMH). As a multi-network platform, AMH not only offers connectivity for SWIFT messaging but also to domestic networks such as SIC and SECOM in Switzerland. With the recent integration of Banque Safdié SA and Bank Leumi (Switzerland) Ltd, the scalability of AMH clearly shows its value. It is an excellent example how AMH can help to be agile in responding to changing business requirements.

“We believe that AMH is the best solution to replace our current messaging infrastructure, whereby we clearly decided we wanted a solution that could not only cover the functionality MINT provided, but one that would lead us into the future. We were particularly attracted by the ease of interfacing AMH to our core banking system T24,” said Graham Pedley at Leumi Private Bank. “The fact that Arkelis is part of SWIFT and the near presence of Arkelis, having an office in Zürich, Switzerland, were also important reasons for choosing AMH.”

Hans Cobben, Chief Executive Officer, Arkelis, said, “With Leumi Private Bank as yet another Swiss customer now live with AMH, we are strengthening our footprint in an important geographical area. The fact that they consider AMH to be the right solution, not only for today, but also in the light of future developments, reflects our focus on business needs in the development of AMH.”  

About Arkelis
Arkelis has become a fully owned SWIFT company in 2010 to play a major role in SWIFT’s 2015 strategy implementation, with a specific focus on SWIFT’s high-volume customers. The company provides solutions and services addressing the need for enterprise wide multi-network messaging of top tier customers in the financial services industry. Arkelis uniquely combines the inherent quality and global support services of a standard-setting, global leader with the focus and speed of an independent technology innovator.

About SWIFT
SWIFT is a member-owned cooperative that provides the communications platform, products and services to connect more than 9,700 banking organisations, securities institutions and corporate customers in 209 countries. SWIFT enables its users to exchange automated, standardised financial information securely and reliably, thereby lowering costs, reducing operational risk and eliminating operational inefficiencies. SWIFT also brings the financial community together to work collaboratively to shape market practice, define standards and debate issues of mutual interest.

About Leumi Private Bank
Leumi Private Bank, a private bank, was initially established in 1953. It provides diverse banking services to international customers and has branches in Zürich, Lugano and Geneva. It also operates a representative office in Israel.

RALEIGH, NC and MECHELEN, BE – Feb. 9, 2012 – Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, and Arkelis NV, a fully owned subsidiary of SWIFT, the global provider of secure financial messaging services, today announced that financial institutions can deploy Arkelis’ Advanced Messaging Hub (AMH) on Red Hat Enterprise Linux to manage significant volumes of incoming and outgoing messaging traffic more effectively.

The Arkelis AMH solution was previously available with other proprietary software platforms. Red Hat and Arkelis worked closely together to port the AMH solution to Linux-based Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system.  

Rich Feldmann, director, financial services industry, Red Hat, Inc., said, “The combined Red Hat and Arkelis solution gives financial institutions the reliability and performance they absolutely require to run their mission-critical messaging applications – all with the cost-effectiveness of Linux-based solutions.”

Hans Cobben, Chief Executive Officer, Arkelis, said, “Making AMH available on Red Hat’s Linux platform is another important strategic step for Arkelis toward deploying highly performing and technologically advanced core messaging infrastructure for top tier financial institutions at a very competitive TCO level. It allows Arkelis and its customers to respond in an agile manner to an ever more volatile economic context thriving on a cost-effective roll out of scalable messaging infrastructure.”

Arkelis’ Outsourced Messaging service is focused on the needs of multi-entity, multinational, global financial institutions which have substantial volumes of messages as well as high availability and operational requirements. Arkelis’ Advanced Messaging Hub (AMH) is a highly scalable, customisable, multi-network messaging hub. With Red Hat Enterprise Linux, AMH customers can take advantage of the cost advantages associated with running high-performing Linux-based operating system platforms.

For more information, please visit:

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux
• AMH Advanced Messaging Hub
• Red Hat
• Red Hat News
• Arkelis

About Red Hat, Inc.
Red Hat, the world’s leading provider of open source solutions and an S&P 500 company, is headquartered in Raleigh, NC with more than 70 offices spanning the globe. Red Hat provides high-quality, affordable technology with its operating system platform, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, together with cloud, virtualisation, management, storage and service-oriented architecture (SOA) solutions, including Red Hat Enterprise Virtualisation and JBoss Enterprise Middleware. Red Hat also offers support, training and consulting services to its customers worldwide. Learn more: http://www.redhat.com.

About Arkelis
Arkelis has become a fully owned SWIFT company in 2010 to play a major role in SWIFT’s 2015 strategy implementation, with a specific focus on SWIFT’s high-volume customers. The company provides solutions and services addressing the need for enterprise wide multi-network messaging of top tier customers in the financial services industry. Arkelis uniquely combines the inherent quality and global support services of a standard-setting, global leader with the focus and speed of an independent technology innovator.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: risks related to delays or reductions in information technology spending; the effects of industry consolidation; the ability of the Company to compete effectively; uncertainty and adverse results in litigation and related settlements; the integration of acquisitions and the ability to market successfully acquired technologies and products; the inability to adequately protect Company intellectual property and the potential for infringement or breach of license claims of or relating to third party intellectual property; the ability to deliver and stimulate demand for new products and technological innovations on a timely basis; risks related to data and information security vulnerabilities; ineffective management of, and control over, the Company’s growth and international operations; fluctuations in exchange rates; and changes in and a dependence on key personnel, as well as other factors contained in our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q (copies of which may be accessed through the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at http://www.sec.gov), including those found therein under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”. In addition to these factors, actual future performance, outcomes, and results may differ materially because of more general factors including (without limitation) general industry and market conditions and growth rates, economic and political conditions, governmental and public policy changes and the impact of natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods, including Japan. The forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company’s views as of the date of this press release and these views could change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of the press release.

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Red Hat, Inc. Red Hat, the Shadowman logo and JBoss are registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. in the U.S. and other countries. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Arkelis, Advanced Messaging Hub and AMH are trademarks of Arkelis NV.

Arkelis, a fully owned subsidiary of financial messaging provider SWIFT, recently signed up all Israeli users of SunGard’s MINT financial messaging platform in a dedicated replacement program the company is conducting in close collaboration with SunGard. With the agreement of amongst other institutions the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank, Arkelis is setting out a significant footprint in the banking landscape in Israel.

Arkelis’ Advanced Messaging Hub (AMH) is a highly scalable, customisable, multi-network messaging hub. Its flexibility and agility allows financial institutions to quickly adapt their messaging services to new standards, products or services and business developments.  Advanced Messaging Hub can be implemented with a low initial set-up cost and is scalable in its roll-out strategy, supporting high volumes in a secure and resilient setting. At the same time, its modern open architecture and ability to co-exist with existing infrastructures allows AMH to maintain a low Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

“We believe that AMH is the best solution to replace our current messaging infrastructure, enabling us to process our messaging volumes in the most efficient and secure way,” said Eldad Herstig, Vice President, Head of Back Office Division Information Technology & Operations, at Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. “We think that the flexibility and scalability of AMH will help us adapt to the rapid changes in the messaging and business area. The fact that Arkelis provides this messaging solution to other Israeli banks makes us feel comfortable we choose a good solution for our business.”

Hans Cobben, Chief Executive Officer, Arkelis, said “We are delighted by the fact that our Israeli customers have decided to build their new SWIFT messaging infrastructure on AMH. It shows the top MINT customers’ confidence in AMH as the successor of choice and the success of the replacement program we have in place with SunGard.”

About Arkelis Arkelis has become a fully owned SWIFT company in 2010 to play a major role in SWIFT’s 2015 strategy implementation, with a specific focus on SWIFT’s high-volume customers.  The company provides solutions and services addressing the need for enterprise wide multi-network messaging of top tier customers in the financial services industry. Arkelis uniquely combines the inherent quality and global support services of a standard-setting, global leader with the focus and speed of an independent technology innovator.

About SWIFT SWIFT is a member-owned cooperative that provides the communications platform, products and services to connect more than 9,700 banking organisations, securities institutions and corporate customers in 209 countries. SWIFT enables its users to exchange automated, standardised financial information securely and reliably, thereby lowering costs, reducing operational risk and eliminating operational inefficiencies. SWIFT also brings the financial community together to work collaboratively to shape market practice, define standards and debate issues of mutual interest.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch signs up for Arkelis’ Advanced Messaging Hub (AMH) to provide a comprehensive straight through FileAct solution.

Left to right: Hans Cobben, Arkelis. Bill Pappas, Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Thomas J. Durkin, Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Paul Sullivan, Arkelis. Eugene Mockler, SWIFT.

Arkelis, a fully owned subsidiary of financial messaging provider SWIFT, announced today that it has been selected to provide the SWIFT messaging technology for Commerzbank.
Commerzbank, a leading bank for private and corporate customers in Germany, operates a global messaging platform based in Frankfurt to support the financial messaging needs of its divisions and locations worldwide. This global platform will be geared to process all of the bank’s SWIFT traffic, including the FIN messaging.

“The objective of Commerzbank’s SWIFT Operations is to be a key contributor toward our long-term success by offering a system that is flexible, agile and that allows us to quickly adapt our messaging services to new products and business developments,” said Stephan Müller, Divisional Board Member Group Banking Operations, Commerzbank AG.

Hans Cobben, Chief Executive Officer, Arkelis, said, “We are delighted by Commerzbank’s decision to build their new SWIFT messaging infrastructure on AMH. It once more shows a top MINT customers’ confidence in AMH as the product of choice. We look forward to deepening our relationship with Commerzbank.”

Alain Raes, Chief Executive Officer Europe, Middle East and Africa, SWIFT added: “Commerzbank’s commitment to AMH also demonstrates how a key SWIFT customer can benefit from SWIFT’s strategy of expanding its services with specific solutions for the high-volume customers.”

Left to right: Alain Raes, SWIFT. Stephan Müller, Commerzbank. Hans Cobben, Arkelis.
Sven Refflinghaus, SWIFT. Blaise Mayor, Arkelis.

About Arkelis Arkelis has become a fully owned SWIFT company in 2010 to play a major role in SWIFT’s 2015 strategy implementation, with a specific focus on SWIFT’s high-volume customers. The company provides solutions and services addressing the need for enterprise wide multi-network messaging of top tier customers in the financial services industry. Arkelis uniquely combines the inherent quality and global support services of a standard-setting, global leader with the focus and speed of an independent technology innovator.

About SWIFT SWIFT is a member-owned cooperative that provides the communications platform, products and services to connect more than 9,700 banking organisations, securities institutions and corporate customers in 209 countries. SWIFT enables its users to exchange automated, standardised financial information securely and reliably, thereby lowering costs, reducing operational risk and eliminating operational inefficiencies. SWIFT also brings the financial community together to work collaboratively to shape market practice, define standards and debate issues of mutual interest.

About Commerzbank Commerzbank is a leading bank for private and corporate customers in Germany. With the segments Private Clients, Mittelstandsbank, Corporates & Markets, Central & Eastern Europe as well as Asset Based Finance, the Bank offers its customers an attractive product portfolio, and is a strong partner for the export-oriented SME sector in Germany and worldwide. With a future total of some 1,200 branches, Commerzbank has one of the densest networks of branches among German private banks. It has above 60 sites in more than 50 countries and serves more than 14 million private clients as well as 1 million business and corporate clients worldwide. In 2010, it posted gross revenues of EUR 12.7 billion with some 59,000 employees.

Arkelis, a fully owned subsidiary of financial messaging provider SWIFT, is to unveil its Outsourced Messaging service at SIBOS 2011 in Toronto on September 19th. The service will be offered by Arkelis and become operational in the course of 2012. It is the first of its kind which is specifically designed for Tier 1 financial institutions.

Arkelis’ Outsourced Messaging service is focused on the needs of multi entity, multinational, global financial institutions, which have substantial volumes of messages with high availability and operational requirements. The service – which is based on a dedicated infrastructure that will be built specifically to meet the needs of top banks – delivers a complete outsourcing of the financial messaging infrastructure. It includes all required application software, connectivity to SWIFTNet and other networks, housing, hosting and full operations of the platform.

“Today, financial institutions are faced with increased competitive pressure and growing global economic volatility. Each of these is driving the need for significant reduction of total cost of ownership and result in a strong reluctance for upfront investments and lengthy implementation projects.” explained Hans Cobben, CEO of Arkelis. “Being part of the SWIFT family, Arkelis implements and operates highly resilient technology platforms to deliver reliable messaging services in turbulent times and volatile markets and comply with the highest standards in terms of security and availability”.

The offering is based on Arkelis’ flagship solution the Advanced Messaging Hub (AMH), a highly flexible multi-network messaging hub, and provides the highest levels of availability, scalability and resilience.

“Arkelis is responding to customer demand by developing an Outsourced Messaging service for our high volume customer segment. Sibos is a great venue to confirm the scope of the service and customer interest. Arkelis continues to complement SWIFT’s offering for the high volume segment as defined at the time of the acquisition” said Lazaro Campos, chairman of the Arkelis Board and SWIFT CEO.

About Arkelis Arkelis is a fully owned SWIFT company since 2010 and plays a major role in SWIFT’s 2015 strategy, with a specific focus on SWIFT’s high-volume customers. The company provides solutions and services addressing the need for enterprise wide multi-network messaging of top tier customers in the financial services industry. Arkelis uniquely combines the inherent quality and global support services of a standard-setting, global leader with the focus and speed of an independent technology innovator.

About SWIFT SWIFT is a member-owned cooperative that provides the communications platform, products and services to connect more than 9,700 banking organisations, securities institutions and corporate customers in 209 countries. SWIFT enables its users to exchange automated, standardised financial information securely and reliably, thereby lowering costs, reducing operational risk and eliminating operational inefficiencies. SWIFT also brings the financial community together to work collaboratively to shape market practice, define standards and debate issues of mutual interest.