Guest contributor: Jimmy Douglas, Director of Alliances and Industry Relations at Smarsh. For financial services firms, policies governing the use of electronic communications, the preservation and production of electronic communications records, and evidence of message supervision procedures are a big part of FINRA and SEC examinations. According to an annual analysis of FINRA disciplinary actions released
Back-Office
Exchange Traded Derivatives in an Automated World
Guest Contributor: Ted Leveroni, Executive Director – Strategy & Buy Side Relations at The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation Global regulatory reform and market changes are impacting how the buy- and sell-side function in the exchange-traded derivatives (ETD) space. The increased focus on central clearing over the counter derivatives (OTC) and trade reporting has placed
Compliance
Investor Protection: The Next Focus of Automated Compliance and Surveillance Systems
Guest Contributor: Magnus Almqvist, senior product specialist, SunGard’s Protegent The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is turning up the heat on national regulators to enforce and monitor MiFID conduct of business rules, where Article 37 of the MiFID Implementing Directive aim to ensure that firms 1) sell only suitable products to their clients and
Uncategorized
How to Engage Millennials: Best Technology Practices for Financial Advisors
Guest Contributor: Cheryl Nash, President, Investment Services, Fiserv A recent multigenerational survey from TIAA-CREF reveals financial advice has the highest impact on Millennials, the 77 million young Americans who, according to Nielsen, represent 24 percent of the U.S. population. A somewhat surprising statistic when the profile of this demographic is “I’ve got it; I can
Uncategorized
MiFID II: It’s over to ESMA
Guest Contributor: Catherine Houston (Operational Processing and Repo specialist, Rule Financial) Having recently been voted through the European Parliament, the clock is now ticking on the next phase of the Markets in Financial Instrument Directive (MiFID) II implementation process. The onus is now on the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) to take these principles
Compliance
The Conversational Advisor: You mean I have to talk on social media?
Guest Contributor: Sheryl Brown, Social Media Coordinator, Ash Brokerage Social media is a communication mecca. Whether you’re introvert or extrovert, social media is the line drawn in the sand and makes both communication styles equal. For financial advisors, this is both exciting and overwhelming at the same time. It tickles me when advisors ask me, “You mean
Uncategorized
Starting a Hedge Fund in 2014
Guest Contributor: Joe Holman, CEO Orangefield Columbus Despite the economic downturn in 2008, the requirements for launching a hedge fund can be made simple by hiring the right service providers. Having a legitimate operational platform is key for a startup to grow to an institutional sized fund and the manager should choose an administrator who
Guest Blog
The Fully Outsourced Fund Manager
Guest Contributor: Scott Price, Regional Director, Americas, Custom House Global Funds Services There will come a time, possibly in the not too distant future, when a fund management firm will look to outsource virtually all of its operations – even trading – for funds with the right strategy. Of the biggest challenges facing fund managers
Cloud
When is the Cloud Not the Cloud?
Guest Contributor: Mal Cullen, Head of the Americas and Eagle ACCESS℠, Eagle Investment Systems Companies in the financial services sector are increasingly moving to cloud-based systems for their software solutions and with good reason. Understandably, cloud-based solutions were initially treated with some circumspection with question marks hanging over data privacy and security. As time has
Compliance
Greek Mythology and the Boulder of Compliance
Guest Contributor: Stephen Taylor, Senior Market Manager, U.S. Enterprise Risk & Compliance, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services In Greek mythology Sisyphus, the King of Ephyra, was punished by the Gods for his wrong doing. His sentence? Roll a very heavy boulder up a steep hill, only to watch it roll back down. Repeat this action for
