A New Approach to Spreadsheet Analytics Management in Financial Markets

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel system integrating spreadsheet design with database technology to improve management, reduce operational risks, and enable rapid deployment of statistical analytics in financial markets.

Contribution

It presents a new approach combining spreadsheets and databases, along with a technique for handling large volumes of intraday market data efficiently.

Findings

System deployed in major investment banks

Enhanced management and regulatory compliance

Efficient manipulation of high-volume intraday data

Abstract

Spreadsheets in financial markets are frequently used as database, calculator and reporting application combined. This paper describes an alternative approach in which spreadsheet design and database technology have been brought together in order to alleviate management and regulatory concerns over the operational risks of spreadsheet usage. In particular, the paper focuses on the rapid creation and centralised deployment of statistical analytics within a software system now in use by major investment banks, and presents a novel technique for the manipulation in spreadsheets of high volumes of intraday market data.