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 >>
Q&A: CFTC
CFTC commissioner Bart Chilton says that no matter who wins the U.S. presidency on Tuesday, Nov. 6, the momentum for over-the-counter (OTC) execution, clearing and transparency reforms for the derivatives market is practically unstoppable. He adds that there would be little political support to return to the unregulated OTC world that triggered the Great Recession.GOP… Read More >>
State Street and OTC Processing
State Street is spreading the word about its end-to-end package for processing over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives—which includes middle and back office services—just as OTC reforms are likely to cause buy-side firms to choose between a best of breed or an integrated suite approach for the operational tapestry to come for executed and cleared OTC instruments. As… 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 >>
Forging Ahead Despite Doubts and Regulators
It’s likely that securities firms are justifiably ambivalent about the execution and clearing reforms coming for over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives. Yet a recent survey conducted by consultancy Rule Financial and Calypso Technology provides evidence that firms are making changes despite doubts about the reforms and their ability to reduce systemic risk. Half of the survey respondents… Read More >>
Waiting for the Regulators
Waiting for US regulators to finalize their new rules is like trusting the New York subway system to live up to its official schedule of departures and arrivals. You can be certain that everything will be late and there will be little concern for the consequences. This was painfully clear when the regulators came to… Read More >>
Vanguard’s OTC Timetable
Eventually, the new Dodd-Frank regulations for OTC derivatives will be ready for prime time, compelling firms to face a timetable for implementing them. William Thum, principal and senior derivatives counsel for mutual fund giant Vanguard, thinks that firms should be allowed to ease into the brave new OTC world rather than endure a wrenching transition…. Read More >>
