East West Bancorp Chooses SS&C to Support Transition to CECL

News provided by

Sep 19, 2016, 09:00 ET

California bank signs multi-year agreement to implement EVOLV, leading cloud-based integrated risk and finance solution, to manage reserving under current US GAAP and new CECL accounting standard.

WINDSOR, Conn., Sept. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq:SSNC), a global provider of financial services software and software-enabled services, today announced that East West Bancorp ('East West') has signed a multi-year agreement with Primatics Financial, an SS&C company, to prepare the firm for the recently released Current Expected Credit Loss (CECL) requirements. Multiple vendors were considered throughout the rigorous selection process; SS&C Primatics was selected because the EVOLV^® solution met the bank's current and future reserving needs. SS&C Primatics will assist East West in implementing EVOLV, its leading cloud-based integrated risk and finance solution, to provide end-to-end reserving and credit processing of the bank's loan portfolio.

The final CECL guidance was issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) on June 16, 2016, and requires public SEC filing (calendar year) institutions to implement the standard by the beginning of 2020. CECL replaces several impairment accounting models with a single expected credit loss model, requiring financial institutions to overhaul their current reserving process for financial instruments measured at amortized cost. SS&C Primatics' integrated platform will be supporting East West's Allowance for Loan and Lease Losses (ALLL) process under current US GAAP while also preparing East West for transition to CECL by 2020.

"Preparation for CECL is critical for our business - we are pleased to partner with SS&C Primatics on this vital activity," said Sharon Cheung, Controller, East West. "As a premier bank focused on the United States and Greater China markets with 130 locations worldwide, we've chosen SS&C Primatics as the only solution for global compliance with CECL. We will use the EVOLV platform and rely on SS&C Primatics' team of experts to optimize an end-to-end reserving process."

When preparing for CECL, financial institutions will benefit from automated processes and reporting mechanisms. EVOLV will support East West in their transition to CECL by combining historical credit loss data with forecasts to generate forward-looking reserves in a secure environment. EVOLV's comprehensive solution consists of cutting-edge platform architecture and advanced support for end-to-end risk and finance processes, from data to functions to analytics, all integrated on one enterprise platform. EVOLV is the only solution that integrates risk and finance capabilities with the flexibility to manage new accounting standards such as CECL, quickly and easily.

"Risk management and compliance in a demanding and rapidly evolving regulatory environment is one of the most important challenges of a financial institution. Our mission is to help our clients, like East West, keep pace with the changes such as FASB's CECL requirements in an efficient, value-added manner," said Kwang Sin, Senior Vice President and General Manager, SS&C Primatics. "Our world class platform, combined with our deep industry and technology expertise, enable financial institutions to thrive by providing the insight, integrated accounting and reporting necessary to make better decisions."

About East West Bancorp
East West is a publicly owned company with total assets over $30 billion and is traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "EWBC". The Company's wholly owned subsidiary, East West Bank, is one of the largest independent banks headquartered in California.

About SS&C Technologies
SS&C is a global provider of investment and financial software-enabled services and software for the global financial services industry. Founded in 1986, SS&C is headquartered in Windsor, Connecticut and has offices around the world. Some 10,000 financial services organizations, from the world's largest institutions to local firms, manage and account for their investments using SS&C's products and services.

Additional information about SS&C (Nasdaq:SSNC) is available at www.ssctech.com.
Follow SS&C on Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook.
The SS&C Technologies logo is available at www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=8587

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150410/197838LOGO

SOURCE SS&C