IBM欲借人工智能發(fā)力金融咨詢

IBM is set to acquire Promontory Financial, a Washington-based financial consulting firm, as part of a broader effort to use artificial intelligence to analyse regulations and provide advice to financial institutions.

IBM將收購總部駐華盛頓的金融咨詢公司鵬睿金融集團(Promontory Financial Group)，以實現(xiàn)用人工智能(AI)技術(shù)分析監(jiān)管規(guī)定、并為金融機構(gòu)提供咨詢意見的更大目標(biāo)。

The computer maker said it was launching a new unit, Watson Financial Services, that would seek to harness the power of Watson, its artificial intelligence computer system, to advise clients on risk and compliance.

這家計算機制造商表示正成立一個名為沃森金融服務(wù)(Watson Financial Services)的新部門，該部門會試圖利用其人工智能計算機系統(tǒng)沃森(Watson)的巨大威力，為客戶提供風(fēng)險與合規(guī)方面的咨詢意見。

IBM has suffered from falling revenues over the past four years as its core computer business declines, and Ginni Rometty, its chief executive, has tried to counteract this by focusing on new business areas such as analytics and cloud services. The company has been spending aggressively to invest in these areas, making $5bn worth of acquisitions in the first six months of this year, although it did not disclose the price tag for the Promontory deal.

過去四年，隨著其核心計算機業(yè)務(wù)的下滑，IBM飽受營收下滑之苦。該公司首席執(zhí)行官羅睿蘭(Ginni Rometty)曾試圖通過將注意力集中于分析和云計算服務(wù)等新的商業(yè)領(lǐng)域，對抗這一趨勢。在這些領(lǐng)域，該公司一直在以激進(jìn)的開銷開展投資，今年上半年實施了價值50億美元的收購交易。不過，該公司并未披露其在鵬睿并購交易中的價碼。

Promontory is a consulting firm founded and led by Eugene Ludwig, who was a top banking official during the Clinton administration. It has more than 600 employees globally, many of who are former regulators who provide consulting services to the banks they once regulated.

鵬睿是由尤金•路德維格(Eugene Ludwig)創(chuàng)辦并領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的一家咨詢公司，后者在克林頓執(zhí)政期間是一位頂級的銀行業(yè)官員。該公司在全球擁有逾600名員工，其中許多人都曾在監(jiān)管機構(gòu)任職，現(xiàn)在則在為他們曾監(jiān)管過的銀行提供咨詢服務(wù)。

Through this tie-up IBM hopes to tap into the market for helping banks manage a fast-changing regulatory environment, a niche that it estimates is worth some $270bn a year. After the deal with Promontory closes, its employees will help train Watson so that the artificial intelligence system can better understand risk and compliance.

IBM希望通過這一結(jié)盟，開發(fā)這一幫助銀行管理快速變化的監(jiān)管環(huán)境的市場。據(jù)IBM估計，這一小眾市場每年的規(guī)模約為2700億美元。在與鵬睿的交易完成后，鵬睿員工將幫助訓(xùn)練沃森系統(tǒng)，從而令該系統(tǒng)能夠更好地理解風(fēng)險與合規(guī)問題。

“This is a workload ideally suited for Watson’s cognitive capabilities intended to allow financial institutions to absorb the regulatory changes, understand their obligations, and . . . address compliance requirements more quickly,” the company said in a statement.

該公司在一份聲明中表示：“這是一種完美適合沃森認(rèn)知能力的工作，意在令金融機構(gòu)吸收監(jiān)管條例的變化，理解它們的義務(wù)，并且……更迅速地應(yīng)對合規(guī)要求。”

The tasks that Watson could perform include tracking changing regulations, financial risk modelling, surveillance, and anti-money laundering work, the company said. Watson, which became famous for beating human contestants on the game show Jeopardy!, has previously been used for big-data processing work including cancer research, but has yet to have any blockbuster commercial applications.

IBM表示，沃森可能會執(zhí)行的任務(wù)包括跟蹤研究不斷變化的監(jiān)管條例、金融風(fēng)險建模、監(jiān)督工作及反洗錢工作。沃森系統(tǒng)曾在智力比賽綜藝節(jié)目《危險邊緣》(Jeopardy!)中打敗人類參賽者，從而讓其名聲大噪。此前，該系統(tǒng)一直被用于包括癌癥研究在內(nèi)的大數(shù)據(jù)處理，不過迄今仍未有過任何一鳴驚人的商業(yè)應(yīng)用。

“We believe the future of business and regulation will be driven by the need for advanced technology alongside deep subject-matter expertise,” said Mr Ludwig.

路德維格表示：“我們相信，驅(qū)動商業(yè)和監(jiān)管未來的，除了對目標(biāo)領(lǐng)域深厚專業(yè)技能的需要以外，還包括對先進(jìn)技術(shù)的需要。”

Last year Promontory faced a lawsuit from the Department of Financial Services related to services provided to Standard Chartered involving its business with Iran. Promontory settled the charges for $15m and admitted that it did not comply with regulations for consultants.

去年，鵬睿曾由于為渣打銀行(Standard Chartered)提供的服務(wù)卷入了該行與伊朗的業(yè)務(wù)，面臨紐約州金融服務(wù)管理局(Department of Financial Services)的法律訴訟。通過繳納1500萬美元罰金并承認(rèn)未能遵守咨詢公司監(jiān)管規(guī)定，鵬睿就相關(guān)指控達(dá)成了和解。

IBM’s share price, which has risen 14 per cent this year, was flat on Thursday on news of the acquisition.

并購消息傳出之后，IBM股價在周四保持平穩(wěn)。此前，該公司股價在今年已上漲14%。