What's Murex?

Well in my case, it’s not the sea creature. It’s a totally different type of beast altogether.

I’ve finally made the move into rotation no. 3: Trading. I’ve been placed in the Murex application team. For all those Banking Technology wannabes out there, Murex in summary:

‘Murex MXG2000 is a front-to-back trading application that is used to manage trading portfolios in the asset classes of FX, MM, Equity Derivatives and Commodities.

The core support team maintains and manages all processes relating to the application from developing and implementing end-user requirements on a BaU basis to supporting all areas of the business with the day to day use of the application, including Front Office actions, Middle Office and Risk reporting and Back Office payment and confirmation processing.

The application is also supported by the team overnight in order to ensure that consistent, error free batch runs are generated for downstream reporting, risk and regulatory systems and audit purposes. Daily schedules are also executed and maintained so that risk positions held in the application can be known throughout the working day.’

Here’s some terms explained:

FX = Foreign Exchange (but you probably guessed that already)
BaU = Business as Usual.
MM = Money Markets.

I’m in a BaU role at the moment within this team supporting Murex. So, it’s going to be a steep learning curve learning the ins and outs of this system.

(Tip people: It’s useful to know a bit of UNIX. I know a fair few of you will have learnt the basic syntax but occasionally there are some colleges/universities that don’t bother using it. Even so, UNIX training is provided if you haven’t used it before.)

Another big trading app used is something called Summit: (http://www.misysbanking.com/Misys_Solutions/Summit/index.html)

Depending on the circumstances you can be expected to be put on one of the two systems when on your rotation within Trading Technology. Either way, a good understanding of markets is essential especially when trying to understand your end-users.

However, IMHO, Murex wins hands down. And it’s nothing to do with the promise of training in Paris at some point. *cough*

This week, I’m on the early shift. The tasks in the morning are there to ensure that the system is fully operational before the traders start using it. Adjusting to this time has been surprisingly easy, although it feels odd having to leave the flat in the morning when it’s dark.

On a closing note, if you haven’t seen these websites already:

http://www.codeoverflow.com
http://www.joelonsoftware.com

They’ll certainly help with your coding for sure.

For your interviews, read this website to get some knowledge of what’s going on in the industry:

http://www.bankingtech.com
http://www.computing.co.uk/news