Alacra, a specialist vendor in client onboarding, reference data and business research solutions, reports the addition of three new members to its management, with the appointments of Alan Samuels (pictured to the left), Kelvin Dickenson and Kevin Kollar. “Each brings valuable skills and experience and the appointments are a significant step in the company’s continued… Read More >>
Greed, Governance and the Trust Factor
Good governance is a watchword of today’s financial services industry. But are the new regulations and requirements enough to restore trust? The public’s trust in the industry “languishes at about the 24 percent level, with many expressing continued concerns regarding both excessive compensation and a lack of integrity among top corporate managers,” SEC Commissioner Luis… Read More >>
2013: The Year in Ops
Last year was one of two steps forward and one step back as far as post-trade operations. As in previous years, regulatory overhauls particularly for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives drove operations for the industry while there were some interesting disruptions such as the emergence of FIX for post-trade efforts. What follows is my interpretation of the… Read More >>
Ops Risk and Compliance in an Age of Scandal
Operational risk and compliance staffs are surely on alert after federal prosecutors charged SAC Capital Advisors with criminal acts of fraud. This growing scandal closely follows the CFTC’s monetary penalties and one-year trading ban for high frequency trading firm Panther Energy Trading, which allegedly used algorithms to place buy orders and then swiftly cancel them to… Read More >>
Financial Crime Update
A single IT platform may not be achievable for an anti-financial crime strategy because such frameworks have to prevent money laundering, promote sanctions compliance and provide quality data for know-your-customer requirements, according to panelists who took part in FTF’s Financial Crime & AML conference in New York last week.Financial crime prevention and mitigation requires financial… Read More >>
Q&A: The Ever-Tougher Task of Detecting Financial Crimes
(Editor’s note: Jaswal, who works in Celent’s Securities and Investments division, has developed an expertise in derivatives, electronic trading, market infrastructure and regulation, and commodity markets. Before joining Celent, Jaswal worked in corporate banking at UTI Bank, research and consulting for AC Nielsen ORG-Marg, and insurance at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance. Financial Technologies Forum will… Read More >>
Q&A with Babson Capital
Jason Vazquez is the director and global AML (anti-money laundering) and Financial Crimes Prevention Officer for Babson Capital Management, a global investment management firm that is part of the MassMutual Financial Group. Vazquez oversees the firm’s AML and anti-corruption compliance and economic and trade-based sanctions requirements. He helps coordinate activities among the firm’s compliance and… Read More >>
Getting Serious about Cyber Attacks
A May 31st story in The Wall Street Journal focuses on how the Pentagon now considers another country’s cyber attacks upon key US systems such as power grids, subways, nuclear reactors and financial markets as acts of war, requiring a traditional military response. This is a big step forward because it’s an acknowledgment of the… Read More >>
