Jiro Okochi has been ahead of the curve pretty much since he started financial software provider Reval in 1999, recognizing early on the sustained effort necessary for corporations to remain compliant with the mounting complexities of accounting regulations affecting derivatives. And he plans to keep it that way.

Today, Reval keeps ahead of the curve with constant updates of products to reflect new regulatory framework, allowing its products to solve "just about every flavor of derivatives hedging challenge," says Okochi. For instance, the HedgeRx tool–winner of an Alexander Hamilton for Tool of the Year–delivers two major application releases each calendar year. "For example, this month we will come out with our new FAS 157 module and in the past year we added support for the Canadian CICA 3865 hedge accounting standard," he says.

In the last year, HedgeRx's SaaS delivery model has been made more user-friendly and secure. Users can employ their IP address validation for greater sign-on security, tap XML trade import/export protocols for straight-through processing, and achieve enhanced workflow functionality for Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and process flow reporting. Clients like Morgan Stanley have leveraged HedgeRx to qualify for shortcut hedge accounting–a treatment increasingly under scrutiny by regulators and auditors), while insurer American International Group has used the tool to manage its cross-currency interest rate swap portfolio, effectively complying with FAS 133 across its global entities.