Brian Collings, CEO of Torstone Technology, says that 2017 was a game-changer for the financial services industry especially on the regulatory front.
Torstone is in a good position to know as it has been on the front lines of new offerings for post-trade operations. In fact, the vendor won the Best Clearing and Settlement Solution award via the FTF News Technology Innovation Awards for 2018.
Last year, securities firms felt a massive impact from the regulatory changes underway, especially the MiFID II reforms, Collings says.
“I think that’s not going to end,” he says. Firms are looking forward and reviewing their options such as how many systems they want to automate, how much of their infrastructure they want to change, and what level of transformation they want to achieve, he says.
“I think a lot of the regulatory changes over 2017 have been done with a bit of sticking plaster, a bit of band-aids. But going forward people I think people have to think a little bit bolder about what they’re doing [next],” Collings says. They will need to be bolder as there are more game-changers to come, he adds.
Before Torstone, Collings had team, project, executive and board level management roles for financial services firms. He joined Torstone after serving as chief information officer (CIO) and chief operating officer (COO) for KBC Financial Products. Before his KBC years, he worked at UBS, NatWest Markets and D.E. Shaw.
The video interview with Collings took place during the FTF Awards gala celebration in Manhattan this past June.
CREDITS:
Video Production: Janene Knox and William J. Poznanski, Jr.
Interview conducted by: Eugene Grygo, chief content officer, FTF News
Co-Producers: Sarah Hathaway, vice president, Financial Technologies Forum (FTF) and Eugene Grygo