InfoTech musters acclaim

A Pakistan IT company, InfoTech, has won laurels in Kenya by implementing its market surveillance software Capizar at the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) Kenya which is already deployed successfully in Pakistan, Ghana and Bhutan. A statement issued by the company said it has won the bid to deploy an advanced market surveillance system, Capizar Capital Market Suite, in Kenya as part of its mandate to maintain an orderly, transparent and efficient market, and thus protect investor interests across Kenya. This win at CMA Kenya followed a stringent public procurement process that commenced in June 2011 with the release of an Expression of Interest (EOI) collected from around the globe. This followed a round of Request for Proposal (RFP) from the contending parties and finally a competitive bidder that was the best market fit, was identified.
Earlier the CMA had embarked on a program to automate their Depository and Settlement (DSS) Operations in November 2004, implement the Automated Trading System (ATS) in September 2006, their Wide Area Network (WAN) in December 2007 and had successfully installed the Broker Back Office (BBO) in early-2012. Collectively these have helped transform Kenya’s capital market to globally accepted financial market standards and competitively positioned it as a safe and preferred investment destination. Speaking during the contract signing ceremony, CMA Kenya Stella Kilonzo noted, ‘The Authority has stepped up its oversight role to ensure real time surveillance and any irregularities in trading are identified and curbed early enough through the successful implementation of an enhanced surveillance system called Capizar Market Surveillance.’ CEO InfoTech Naseer Akhtar lauded the role of CMA in maintaining and regulating the capital markets of Kenya. “The implementation of the Capizar Market Surveillance will ensure that trading remains the foremost priority and that it is conducted in a transparent manner”, he said. The new market surveillance system deployed at the CMA envisaged to “go live” by September 2012 and will enhance the monitoring of trading activities. It will help towards identifying unusual trading patterns and market conditions that indicate violations of the Capital Markets Act and Regulations.
Mrs. Kilonzo further observed, ‘The Authority reaffirms its commitment to create, maintain and regulate a market in which securities can be traded in an orderly, fair and efficient manner. The new surveillance system will enable us to monitor trading activities in the market on real time basis by providing early warning signs through the use of alerts.’