Case Study · Euronext Securities · January 2000 to December 2001
Project Manager · via ECL Management Consultants
Three organisations, one delivery, fourteen signatures.
The Brief
The hard part was institutional, not technical. Following the creation of Euronext from the Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris exchanges, the custody and depository layer had to work as one, across national market infrastructures that had until recently been separate companies with separate systems, procedures and cultures, under different national regulations, with EU compliance required. Every material decision needed acceptance across all three.
The Approach
Delivery started from a formal Functional Analysis Report (account structures, database configuration, deposit processes, reporting, interfaces) written, versioned and agreed before build commitment. Governance gave each concern a home: a steering committee drawing members from all three organisations, with six dedicated working groups underneath, each owning its slice and reporting into the programme. Phase 1 closed with a formal closing report: everything delivered, an explicit register of items moving to Phase 2, the minimum requirements for Phase 2 to start, and the production operating model, signed by fourteen named signatories.
Fig. 01 · Governance across three organisations
Three companies, one delivery, fourteen names.
Nothing moved to Phase 2 silently: what remained was named, assigned, and accepted in writing by the people inheriting it.
Recreated from the programme's governance structure. Client-internal content not reproduced.
Judgement Call
Close phases in writing, even when it costs time at the gate. Three organisations meant three sets of priorities, and a verbal agreement from any one of them would not have survived contact with Phase 2. Naming every open item, assigning it, and getting written acceptance slowed the closure and removed the disputes that would otherwise have surfaced later.
What Was Delivered
- Custody and depository systems delivered into production across Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris
- EU regulatory compliance achieved across national market infrastructures
- Processing time reduced 35%
- Formal Phase 1 closure: fourteen-signatory sign-off, explicit handover register, production operating model with named ownership
The relationship returned
The Outcome
Requirements baselined in a Functional Analysis Report and agreed by all three organisations before build began. Six working groups carried them into production across Amsterdam, Brussels and Paris, with processing time down 35% and EU compliance held across three national infrastructures. Phase 1 closed on fourteen signatures, an explicit handover register, and a production operating model under named ownership. This is where the phase-closure discipline in the rest of this portfolio begins: it runs through Euroclear in 2007 and the Supermums closure in 2026.