Patent ID: 8595112

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of providing financial services to an investor over a network without employing the services of a prime broker, the method comprising: receiving via the network, and in one or more computer processors at an agent bank, a received instruction from an investor, the received instruction being associated with an account of the investor and including a request to acquire a security interest in an identified investment vehicle from a vendor of the investment vehicle; processing, with the one or more computer processors at the agent bank, the received instruction from the investor; generating a generated instruction with the one or more computer processors at the agent bank, the generated instruction comprising a request that the vendor transfer the security interest in the identified investment vehicle to create a short position in the identified investment vehicle; sending, with the one or more computer processors at the agent bank, the generated instruction directly to the vendor of the identified investment vehicle via the network; providing, by the one or more computer processors at the agent bank, funds on an intraday liquidity basis electronically over the network to an agent lender acting on behalf of the vendor of the identified investment vehicle and issuing, by the agent bank, a Letter of Credit electronically over the network for the benefit of the agent lender without reflecting a short position on the balance sheet of the agent bank; and in response to the intraday liquidity provided and the Letter of Credit issued by the agent bank for the benefit of the agent lender, characterizing the transfer of the security interest in the identified investment vehicle as a direct borrowing of the security interest by the investor and not an acquisition or borrowing of the security interest by the agent bank; wherein the agent bank, acting in an agency capacity, avoids regulatory charges that would apply if the bank were to acquire the security interest in the identified investment vehicle as a principal.