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Introduction to ARMS

Advanced Risk Management System​

Overview​

ARMS (Advanced Risk Management System) is a comprehensive, pre-trade rule-based risk management platform designed for brokerage firms operating across all segments. It provides a centralized framework for configuring, monitoring, and enforcing risk controls across every stage of the trade lifecycle — from order validation and margin computation to position monitoring, mark-to-market evaluation, and automated square-off.

Who Should Use This Website​

This documentation is intended for two primary audiences within brokerage firms.

Risk Operations Teams will find detailed explanations of every configurable rule, template, and system behaviour that governs how orders are validated, how exposure limits are enforced, how positions are monitored, and how automated actions such as alerts and square-offs are triggered. The documentation is written to support day-to-day decision-making around risk policy configuration and exception handling.

Technical Teams (IT) supporting Risk Operations will find the structural detail needed to understand how templates are created, how rules are resolved through priority logic, how data flows between modules, and how bulk operations are executed. This includes field-level specifications, validation logic, and integration points such as interoperability settings and broadcast-driven data sources.

What ARMS Covers​

ARMS is organised into a set of interconnected modules, each addressing a specific dimension of risk management. Together, they form a layered control system that operates at the order level, the position level, and the entity level. The documentation on this website covers the following areas.

Brokerage Configuration explains how fee structures are defined using a combination of percentage-based and flat-fee parameters, mapped by market segment, instrument type, and product type. It covers both the Brokerage Template (which maps fee schemas to segment-product combinations) and the Brokerage Schema (which defines the actual fee calculation parameters).

Trading Restrictions and Order-Level Controls are documented across several interrelated templates. The Risk Rule Template is the central rule engine, containing over twenty-five individually configurable rules that validate every order before execution. These rules cover a wide range of controls — from exchange-mandated checks such as freeze quantity and daily price range validation, to broker-configurable rules such as LTP-Based Price Bands, DPR proximity restrictions, expiry date restrictions, liquidity-based filters, strike price range controls, and market session restrictions. Each rule can be independently enabled or disabled, and all are mapped to specific segment-instrument-product combinations.

Scrip-Level Controls are managed through two complementary templates. The Scrip Basket Margin Template defines which scrips are permitted for trading under each product type and specifies the applicable margin percentages. The Scrip Basket Restricted Template defines scrips that are blocked from trading, with configurable restriction types (such as fresh orders, square-off, rollover, and DMA transactions) and validity dates. Both templates support an ITM/OTM percentage framework for derivative contracts and include a Bypass Basket Scrip mechanism for exceptional single-scrip exemptions.

Entity-Level Restrictions allow controls to be applied directly to individual clients on specific scrips or segments through the Entity Level Direct Restriction Template. This provides a targeted mechanism for restricting transaction types — including fresh orders, square-off, rollover, and DMA activity — for specific entities with defined validity periods.

Exposure and Margin Limits are governed by the Limit Rule Template(gross exposure, turnover, net position, margin utilisation, and span margin).

Quantity and Value Limit (QVL) Template provides an additional layer of control at four hierarchical levels — from individual contract up to underlying symbol — with over twenty-four parameter types for fine-grained position limit management.

CFS and Collateral Management is addressed through the Haircut Template and its associated mapping configuration. The Haircut Template defines haircut percentages applied to securities held as collateral or in the client funding segment, identified by symbol or ISIN. The Haircut Template Mapping then determines how these haircut rules are applied across different holding types such as Demat, Pledge, MTF, and LAS.

Mark-to-Market Monitoring is handled by two related modules. The MTM Configuration defines how unrealised profit and loss is calculated for open positions, including the price sources used and the treatment of interoperability scenarios. The MTM Template builds on this by providing a monitoring framework with five configurable widgets — covering which positions to consider, which to square off, MTM limits, utilisation thresholds, and square-off rules — with support for pre-trigger alerts and post-trigger automated square-off actions.

Timer-Based Automated Actions are configured through the Timer Template, which schedules time-driven events for each combination of market segment, product type, and day or date. A pre-timer event restricts fresh orders and position conversions at a defined time, while a post-timer event triggers automatic cancellation of pending orders followed by square-off of open positions. The timer respects interoperability settings and square-off price determination rules from the Master Configuration.

Template Mapping is the mechanism that connects all of the above templates to the entities they govern. Templates can be mapped at three levels — directly to an Entity ID, to an Entity Profile group, or to an Entity Type — with an additional Entity State dimension that allows different templates to apply depending on the entity's current status (for example, aging debit or PAN barred). The system resolves overlapping mappings using a clear priority hierarchy: Entity ID takes precedence over Entity Profile, which takes precedence over Entity Type.

System Configuration and Master Settings are documented in the Master Configuration module, which contains system-wide parameters organised across six sections covering segment settings, exchange settings, product settings, collateral and CFS settings, general parameters, and transaction-level controls. This serves as the foundational configuration layer that many other templates reference as a fallback or default.

Bulk Data Operations are supported through the Upload Flexi Master utility, which allows CSV-based bulk uploads for fifteen data types — including scrip baskets, haircut templates, entity masters, template mappings, brokerage configurations, position limits, and more. This module streamlines large-scale data management with flexible field mapping, truncate options, and error logging.

Reporting and Audit capabilities span Risk reports (limit utilisation, net position, stock watch), system reference reports (ban scrips, holiday master, MTF ISIN), and audit reports (activity log, event history). Additionally, the Rejection Template Master allows customisation of the rejection messages displayed to clients when orders fail validation.

How to Use This Documentation​

Each document on this website corresponds to a specific ARMS module or template. We recommend starting with the Master Configuration and Risk Rule Template documents to understand the foundational settings and the central order validation engine. From there, you can explore individual templates based on the areas most relevant to your firm's risk policies.

The documents are designed to be used both as initial learning material for teams being onboarded to ARMS, and as an ongoing reference for day-to-day configuration decisions. Cross-references between related modules are noted within each document to help you navigate the dependencies between templates.

As ARMS evolves, this website will be updated to reflect new features, rule changes, and configuration options. We encourage your teams to consult this resource regularly to stay aligned with the latest system capabilities.