Financial Technologies Forum

Chairperson's Opening Remarks

Cherie Graham, Head of Derivatives Product Group,
Brown Brothers Harriman

As Trading Volumes Reach Unprecedented Levels in the Booming OTC Derivatives Market, Can the Middle and Back Office Really Cope Under the Additional Strain?

What strategies are needed to prevent system melt down – do current processes/structures have sufficient in-built scalability to cope with future demand? Will collateral management become a bigger threat to an efficient system? This panel will look at how the buy and sell side are really coping with increased volumes.

Moderator:
Mark DiMaio, Partner,
Ernst & Young

Panelists:
Brad Bailey, Director,
Knight Capital
Rajesh Navalkha, Director,
Global Head of Derivatives,
Citi
Marina W. Lewin, Managing Director,
The Bank of New York Mellon

Data Management in Pricing Hard to Value Instruments

Complex instruments made up of a variety of underlying instruments are hard to value at the best of times but in this increasingly volatile market the price many asset classes vary constantly. How can better data management ensure that you have the most accurate information when pricing these instruments and how can you effectively model how pricing variations in underlying assets affect the overall price of the security?

Moderator:
James R. Rieger, Vice President,
Standard & Poor's

Panelist:
Tim Bethel,
Sapient DCG
Rajan Gadkari, Vice President,
JP Morgan
Ed Crouch, Global Head of Corporate & Strategic Development,
SuperDerivatives

Risk Management- Can Banks be "Forward Looking" When it Comes to Risk Management

Following the credit crisis there has been a lot of talk in the press about Bear Stearns and Soc Gen pertaining to risk management and its role in our industry. Industry commentators have long advocated a more forward looking, simulation based approach to risk management, but as recent events have shown, this can sometimes have its own problems. VaR has been traditionally used as the metric to judge your levels of exposure but it is only accurate when you look at all assets. In the case of SIVs it’s clear that these vehicles, although off balance sheet, still affect a bank’s risk profile but were not taken into account when calculating VaR.

Moderator:
Scott Baret, Partner,
Regulatory & Risk Strategy Group,
Deloitte's Regulatory and Capital Markets Consulting Practice

Panelists:
Vince Walsh, Managing Director,
KPMG LLP
John Burchenal, Managing Director,
Omgeo

Traditional asset managers are increasingly using derivatives to increase Alpha generation. With back office systems which have been in place for years and specifically designed for long only management, can they cope with the increased operational complexity of derivatives and will their systems be flexible enough to withstand the additional functionality requirements. Can add-ons work? Or is it necessary to completely redesign back office systems?

Speaker:
Chuck Molinary, Managing Director,
Citisoft

Clearing & OTC Initiatives Update

Moderator:
Paul Zubulake, Senior Analyst,
Aite Group

Panelist:
Ed Gogol,
CME Group

Increased Automation for OTC Derivatives

Will automation for OTC Derivatives increase? There are a plethora of systems on the market but many asset managers have multiple solutions which usually include some in house “work-arounds”. What are the challenges in integrating these disparate systems and is it possible to put in place a front to back solution?

Moderator:
Kevin McPartland, Senior Analyst,
Tabb Group

Panelists:
Bohdan Chomut, Senior Market Manager,
SWIFT
Lucy Cruz, Vice President of Operations,
Citadel Solutions
Kurt Regush, Vice President, Global Derivative Operations,
Goldman Sachs
Michael Burg, Derivative Project Manager, Assistant VP,
BNY Mellon Asset Servicing

Islamic Finance is now a market estimated at upwards of $1 trillion, and it is expected to grow at 20 percent annually for the next several years, according to consultancy McKinsey & Co. Formerly restricted to project financing, the success of Islamic Finance is broadening to encompass private equity and even derivatives. The challenge for banks lies in structuring products in a Sharia-compliant way. This requires strong innovation capabilities as well as a robust infrastructure to satisfy risk management and booking requirements of such investments. Are institutions serious about entering this market? If so- what operational challenges lay ahead?

Moderator:
Umar F. Moghul, Associate,
Murtha Cullina LLP

Panelists:
Jonathan Strum, Of Counsel,
Patton Boggs LLP
Dr. Humayon Dar, Chief Executive Director,
BMB Islamic UK Limited
Tariq Al-Rifai, Vice President,
UIB Capital