Feature
AIFMD: No Alternative to Harmonization
With the Level 2 measures of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive now published, managers and third-party providers are analyzing whether they have all the data and technology they need for compliance
Evaluating the Quality Chain
Is data management carrying out all the imperatives set by regulations intended to address risk issues? Michael Shashoua assesses the chain of cause and effect linking new rules with data quality and operational issues
No Easy FIX: Brokers Eye Outsourcing FIX Connections
FIX costs have long been a thorn in the side of more than a few brokers. While many still insist on managing their FIX connectivity internally, others have chosen to outsource this service to third-party providers. The question remains: Is the benefit…
Head in the Clouds: Impax COO Darren Johnson
After cutting his teeth at a variety of high-stress jobs in the City of London, Darren Johnson finally struck a balance between hard work and tranquility. Now as COO of Impax Asset Management, he sees the future in the cloud. By Steve Dew-Jones with…
IFRS 13 Driving Level 3 Coding Work
End users are figuring out how to determine levels for quotes and code accounting data
The UX Factor: Visual Design Meets Finance
Financial applications once eschewed Marshall McLuhan’s famous argument—that the “medium is the massage”—by prioritizing function and cost over the beauty of the interface. No longer, experts say. Tim Bourgaize Murray reports on a design revolution that…
Optimize: The Whens and the Whys
Collateral optimization systems are coming into vogue as a means of handling some of the obligations of Dodd–Frank and EMIR. In part one of a two-part feature, Jake Thomases examines exactly what about the current market is prompting the adoption, and…
Art and Science: Credit Valuation Challenge II
Although the technical requirements for calculating credit valuation adjustment can be significant, other factors also need to be considered in order for an efficient counterparty risk management operation to be established. The second part of this…
Getting Some Actions
Corporate actions processing professionals have been waiting to see their tasks streamlined. Michael Shashoua reports on who's making progress and who's been slowed by obstacles
Communicate and Aggregate
As regulations and reduced budgets add to existing challenges, data professionals point to standards and shared services as the best way to improve risk management and achieve straight-through processing, writes Nicholas Hamilton
Start Me Up: Startups Shake Up the Field
Nearly everyone in the financial technology arena knows someone who’s worked with an entrepreneur in the early stages of a business. Building something from the ground up into a profitable enterprise is a common dream. Jake Thomases takes a look at four…
Empire Builder: Blackstone CTO William Murphy
Rising from an unlikely introduction to technology, Blackstone Group’s CTO Bill Murphy explains how the firm’s infrastructure, new products, and a fresh mindset are supporting its rapid diversification. By Tim Bourgaize Murray with photos by Amy Fletcher
No Small Gamble: DR and BCP Post-Sandy
Heightened awareness of catastrophe showed itself as technology providers of all ilk endured the landfall and aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Tim Bourgaize Murray asks the industry for a primer in disaster recovery and business continuity, discovering a…
Credit Valuation Challenge
Following the financial crisis and the subsequent influx of new regulation into the capital markets, credit valuation adjustment has seen a significant uptick in interest among financial services firms. For large-scale banks and other entities with…
Fragmentation Down Under
Chi-X Australia’s launch in October 2011 posed the first challenge to the monopoly enjoyed by the Australian Securities Exchange since its inception in 1987. Steve Dew-Jones investigates whether the change in the trading landscape has been positive for…
Laying Compliance Foundations
With regulatory change looming large over the financial industry, Nicholas Hamilton finds out how extensible systems, best practices and good communication are helping firms to manage the uncertainty of evolving requirements and deadlines
Identification Breakdown?
The structures and parameters for global implementation of a legal entity identifier are in place, but industry professionals are finding cracks in the registration process that undermine its accuracy. Michael Shashoua describes some of the issues now…
Identifier's Infancy
During a webinar about the legal entity identifier, panelists discussed the opportunities the code presents for data vendors to create new products and the immaturity of current offerings, writes Nicholas Hamilton
The Long Crawl to Basel III
Continued uncertainty about a phased compliance timeline for Basel III capital adequacy rules is likely to complicate data management for the foreseeable future, Michael Shashoua writes
Further Fatca Hurdles
With 12 months left to prepare reporting capabilities for the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, entity classification is presenting serious challenges, and the effect of intergovernmental agreements has not become clear, writes Nicholas Hamilton
Investors Demand Cleaner Data, Faster
Investment managers are being asked for more accurate data, in greater detail and with increased regularity. By Steve Dew-Jones
Checks and Balances: Real-Time Reconciliation's IT Challenges
Although most firms tend to perform reconciliations on a same-day basis, these processes are dominated by manual input and prone to errors. Automated, real-time reconciliation has benefits not only for risk management, but also compliance and in…
Private Ties: Technology Rises in Private Equity
Much of private equity rests on old relationships and privity of information, but with limited partnership investments becoming more common for a wider array of investors, and a secondaries market gaining steam, technology is blossoming in unlikely…
Citadel's Sentinel: CIO Tom Miglis Aims to Do the Impossible
Commitment to investors is the thesis at Ken Griffin’s Citadel, but how the firm achieves returns—through technology—is unique for a hedge fund. Steering strategy and growing the firm’s vaunted development capacity, CIO Tom Miglis is trusted with leading…