Citi, Deutsche Bank contributes projects to FINOS for open source innovation

By Pavithra R

FINOS, a 501c6 non-profit, independent organisation whose mission is to bolster adoption of open source, open standards, and collaborative software development practices in financial services has announced 3 new codebase contributions. The new projects represent diverse solutions for solving common software problems.

“Working closely with Platinum members Citi, Deutsche Bank and ChartIQ, a Silver fintech member, we’ve deepened our reservoir of open source projects that address specific needs in financial services. From desktop applications to large-scale enterprise information management, these new additions to our community demonstrate how open source is driving positive change in the industry, as more financial institutions see business value not only in consuming but, most importantly, contributing to open source,” said Gab Columbro, executive director, FINOS.

Citi Synthetic DataHub:

Citi created DataHub to address the difficulties in generating synthetic data to address the need for anonymisation when working with cloud providers. DataHub is a collection of Python libraries dedicated to the production of synthetic data to be used in tests, statistical analysis, machine learning training, and other related use cases. It assists regulators and businesses amining to innovate without compromising sensitive information.

“Citi is extremely excited to make this important contribution to the growing FINOS community. We believe it will accelerate innovation in the rapidly evolving data space and help drive adoption of open source in the financial services community,” said Ali Villagra, global head of Citi Velocity.

Waltz

Waltz primarily developed by Deutsche Bank and Khartec Ltd helps financial institutions understand their technology architecture in a consistent, well documented and easily digestible format. It has been used to assist with key performance metrics, regulatory responses and application rationalisation, data lineage, and migration programs. It shows where applications reside, what they do and how they are connected.

“The work we’ve done to develop Waltz has been critical in tackling a range of challenges, many of which are common to our peers. For example, it is central to the way we manage our applications and technology risk, while also providing a basis for application forecasting as part of our IT strategy. Ultimately it helps us to develop a clear picture of our technology usage now and in the future. Contributing Waltz to the pantheon of FINOS projects means we can better share the benefits across the industry and drive common approaches to regulatory demands, which is an essential part of open source innovation,” said Russell Green, Deutsche Bank’s chief architect.

ChartIQ’s SEA Project

The Secure Electron Adapter (SEA) provides a secure alternative to working directly with the Electron API (a container for creating desktop applications with web technologies). SEA acts as a firewall, intermediating API calls within a permission structure that eliminates the risk of running third party content on the desktop.

“Solutions providers can now leverage the power of Electron with an added layer of security. With this open-source project, financial institutions can fast-track securing Electron, and use SEA as a building block to provide the best possible smart desktop user experience,” said Dan Schleifer, CEO, and co-founder of ChartIQ.

Recently FINOS got acquired by Linux Foundation. 

Founded in 2018, The FinTech Open Source Foundation (FINOS) is an independent non-profit organisation focused on promoting open innovation. The addition of these three projects increased contributions made into FINOS from early 2019 to 14. FINOS has grown to 33 members since its founding with major financial institutions, innovative FinTechs and well-respected consultancies.