The major award from SDA Bocconi management school, in the category "Software and ICT Services", presented to SIA-Eagle, the first technology platform in Europe dedicated to financial operators, complying with the new regulatory requirements (from market abuse to MiFID) and capable of ensuring protection to investors .
The innovative solution developed by SIA-SSB is currently used by over 60 Italian and overseas financial organizations - among the Supervisory Authorities the Treasury Ministry of the Czech Republic

Milan , 25th January 2008 - SIA-SSB has won SDA Bocconi's Best Innovation Award 2007 in the "Software and ICT Services" category, in recognition of the company's excellence in industrial and service innovation processes.

The ceremony for the "Best Innovation Award 2007", a benchmarking project organized by SDA Bocconi School of Management, to which over 5,000 Italian companies were invited to participate, took place this morning at SDA Bocconi in Milan with the presentation of the Targa Oro prize.

SIA-SSB, selected from among a number of companies in the ICT sector, was awarded this prestigious prize for SIA-Eagle, the first integrated technology platform dedicated entirely to the   monitoring and control of operations on all European financial marketplaces, compliant with the EU Directives MAD (Market Abuse Directive) and MiFID (Market in Financial Instruments Directive). This platform also creates the conditions necessary to improve the level of transparency of operations and guarantee greater protection of investors' needs.

The judgment criteria used in the selection process included those corporate characteristics that define a company as a standard-bearer of true innovation, the leading competitive factor thanks to its ability to constantly generate new products and services and operate successfully on international markets.

SIA-SSB received the award for achieving excellence in its innovation capability consistent with its choices as far as strategy, organizational structure, management methods and technology investment are concerned.

SDA Bocconi's Best Innovation Award Jury chose SIA-SSB "for its proactive approach to the market, in other words its ability to anticipate the scenarios and emerging needs of the international financial markets and translate them into new applicative solutions and functions at the disposal of a vast range of customer segments. SIA-SSB is able to couple this superior understanding of the market with a process of development of new ICT applications and services that takes the form of a collaborative approach with customers, financial institutions, research centers and industry associations. This process is seen in all the phases of creation, launch, and constant improvement of the technology solutions developed. The factors described, supported by organizational procedures and governance instruments used in the innovation projects, allow SIA-SSB to achieve excellent performances in terms of creation of new markets and satisfaction of emerging needs".

SIA-EAGLE is currently used by over 60 Italian and foreign financial operators from twelve different market segments including Bank Groups, Dealers, Private Banks, Fund and Asset Management Firms, Network Banks, Investment Fund Groups, On-line Traders, Corporate Banks, Stock Brokerage Firms, Service Centers and Regulated Financial Markets.

As far as Supervisory Authorities are concerned, the platform is already being used successfully by the Treasury Ministry of the Czech Republic.
"Thanks to SIA-Eagle, SIA-SSB is the first company in Europe able to build a competitive offering compliant with the most recent EU regulatory developments, through state-of-the-art technology solutions that benefit financial operators and all investors - commented Renzo Vanetti, CEO of SIA-SSB - Developing a true culture of innovation within companies is not simple, nevertheless this is the only way to be able to compete at a high level on international markets. This award therefore confirms that the innovation process that distinguishes every aspect of SIA-SSB's everyday activities is, once again, the true competitive value and unique feature of our company".