Transaction processing system and method

1. A computer system for processing securities transactions, comprising:

a selectively programmed transaction interface that obtains transaction data corresponding to a plurality of heterogeneous financial products from at least one external operational system;

a programmed controlled computer implemented transaction engine that processes the transaction data from the external operational system to convert the transaction data into a normalized set of transaction data, and stores the converted transaction data as a series of temporal events in a transaction database; and

a computer implemented data access module that provides access to the converted transaction data stored in the transaction database.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transaction engine determines balance and position information from the converted and normalized transaction data.

3. The system of claim 1 , further comprising a client module that polls the external operational system to obtain the transaction data.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the client module reads the transaction data directly from the external operational system.

5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the client module includes:

at least one staging database that stores the obtained transaction data, and

a cross-referencing table that correlates replicated transaction data with the converted transaction data stored in the transaction database.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transaction database is updated based on a time trigger.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transaction database is updated based on an event trigger.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of heterogeneous financial products include currency, securities, options, futures, and derivatives.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transaction data includes transactions related to executions, trades, stock movements, and cash items.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the data access module includes at least one of a web portal, settlement module, a margin advisor module, and a report writer module.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the report writer module provides historical trends from the transaction data stored in the transaction database.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the margin advisor module automatically margins an account based on a predetermined trigger event.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the predetermined trigger event includes a price fluctuation beyond a set threshold.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the predetermined trigger event includes a change in balance or position of the account.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the transaction engine assigns a post ID to the transaction data.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the transaction engine is configured to process a new financial instrument type by the establishment of a new post ID.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the transaction engine is configured to process the new financial instrument type by adding posting rules to the database.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the transaction data is processed based on the post ID.

19. A computer implemented method of processing securities transactions, comprising the steps of:

obtaining, by one or more computers, transaction data corresponding to a plurality of heterogeneous financial products from an external operational system;

converting, by said one or more computers, the received transaction data into a normalized transaction data;

storing the normalized transaction data into a computer controlled transaction database as a series of temporal events; and

providing the normalized data stored in the transaction database to a data access module.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising the step of determining balance and position information from the normalized transaction data.

21. The method of claim 19 , wherein the step of obtaining the transaction data includes polling the external operational system.

22. The method of claim 19 , wherein the step of obtaining the transaction data includes reading the transaction data directly from the external operational system.

23. The method of claim 19 , further comprising the steps of:

replicating the transaction data in at least one staging database; and

cross-referencing the replicated transaction data in a cross-referencing table to correlate the replicated transaction data with the normalized transaction data stored in the transaction database.

24. The method of claim 19 , wherein the transaction database is updated based on a time trigger.

25. The method of claim 19 , wherein the transaction database is updated based on an event trigger.

26. The method of claim 19 , wherein the plurality of heterogeneous financial products include currency, securities, options, futures, and derivatives.

27. The method of claim 19 , wherein the transaction data includes transactions related to executions, trades, stock movements, and cash items.

28. The method of claim 19 , wherein the data access module includes at least one of a web portal, settlement module, a margin advisor module, and a report writer module.

29. The method of claim 28 , wherein the report writer module provides historical trends from the transaction data stored in the transaction database.

30. The method of claim 28 , wherein the margin advisor module automatically margins an account based on a predetermined trigger event.

31. The method of claim 30 , wherein the predetermined trigger event includes a price fluctuation beyond a set threshold.

32. The method of claim 30 , wherein the predetermined trigger event includes a change in balance or position of the account.

33. A computer system for processing securities transactions, comprising:

a program controlled data consolidator that obtains transaction data in a predefined format corresponding to a plurality of heterogeneous financial products from at least one external operational system on a continuous, real-time basis, and to convert the transaction data into a common format;

a program controlled transaction database that stores the converted transaction data as a series of temporal events; and

an program controlled interface consolidator that provides a common interface that allows access to the converted transaction data stored in the transaction database.

34. The system of claim 33 , wherein the interface consolidator includes cross-referencing table that maps the converted transaction data in the common format with the transaction data in the predefined format.

35. A computer system for processing securities transactions, comprising:

a program controlled transaction interface that obtains transaction data corresponding to a plurality of heterogeneous financial products from at least one external operational system on a continuous, real-time basis;

a program controlled transaction engine that processes the transaction data from the client module to convert and normalize the transaction data, and stores the converted transaction data as a series of temporal events in a transaction database; and

a program controlled data access module that provides access to the converted transaction data stored in the transaction database.

36. A computer implemented method of processing securities transactions, comprising the steps of:

obtaining, by one or more computers, transaction data corresponding to a plurality of heterogeneous financial products from an external operational system on a continuous, real-time basis;

converting, by said one or more computers, the received transaction data into a normalized transaction data;

storing the normalized transaction data into a computer controlled transaction database as a series of temporal events; and

providing the normalized data stored in the transaction database to a data access module.