A survey of 125 financial services firms in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific, sponsored by SimCorp StrategyLab, hits on a tricky question for many firms—just when do legacy systems simply cost so much to maintain that to replace them would be more cost-effective? This issue is hitting home just when most firms are focusing their… Read More >>
Compliance and the Promised Land
One of the legacies of 2012—a tumultuous year by anyone’s standards—is that financial product innovation has been put on the shelf by the constant flow of new regulations (with more to come) and a weak recovery that has squeezed profit margins. Most firms have been quickly shifting their energies and budgets to compliance. In fact, as… Read More >>
Are Obama and Christie a Model for Bipartisanship?
I am cautiously optimistic about the bipartisanship of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and President Obama as they combine forces to help the Garden State recover from Hurricane Sandy. Could it be a model for Congress and the White House to work together on fiscal matters and financial regulation—even if it only lasts for the… Read More >>
Market Data Vendor Management 101
Regulatory reform, competitive pressures and the need to optimize data across the enterprise are pushing custodians, service providers, consultants and securities firms to constantly refine their reference data management strategies. As their strategies evolve, all players in the operations matrix will have to hone their relationships with their market data vendors, which should be collaborative… Read More >>
How to Take On Cyber Fraud
Financial services firm can do lot to prevent “a digital Pearl Harbor” caused by cyber fraud and effective ways to combat such attacks were the focus of a session at FTF’s 5th Annual Hedge Fund Operations & Technology Conference, held yesterday in New York. In their session, David Z. Bodenheimer and Linda Lerner, two anti-fraud… Read More >>
Your Financial IT Spend in 2012
Taken together, two key surveys provide a snapshot of how you and your fellow market participants are allocating your financial technology dollars in 2012. Not surprisingly, the regulatory overhaul of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives trading is the single biggest budget driver. It’s also no shock that the buy side is still dragging its feet on the… Read More >>
A Thousand Points of Light on the OTC Front
To paraphrase a former president, there are “a thousand points of light” when it comes to activity on the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives execution, clearing and valuation fronts. Variety abounds as State Street touts a platform that will compete against sell-side offerings and major sell-side players such as BNP Paribas gear up to ready offerings for… Read More >>
Taking the Mobile Challenge
As mobile technologies gain ground, they will challenge incumbent systems and practices. A case in point is a new app for the iPad created via a version of a portfolio management system that has mobile reporting capabilities. The easier and more timely access to middle and back office data will test the conventions about front,… Read More >>
Time to Disrupt Your AML System?
Anti-money laundering (AML) for financial services firms is evolving as they broaden their usage of the behavior detection at the heart of AML and begin to consolidate AML and anti-fraud platforms. Firms may also see their governments refine AML and related policies as a result of the latest recommendations of a standards body urging countries… Read More >>
The Cyber-Attacks Are Getting Worse
As I predicted in previous postings, the cyber-attacks have gotten worse. Earlier this week, “hacktivists” slammed the websites of Nasdaq OMX, Bats Trading, the Chicago Board Options Exchange and Bursa Malaysia, causing outages although trading systems were spared. These latest attacks make clear that financial centers can no longer ignore these threats and that they… Read More >>
