Feature
Quality's Matrix
Data quality improvement efforts—even those aimed at making the process simpler—are proving to be a complex mix involving different actions for different types of data, regulations to contend with, and management issues to be grasped. Michael Shashoua…
Europe's LEI Countdown
With the legal entity identifier set to become a mandatory requirement for derivatives trades in Europe in a matter of weeks, there are concerns that some financial firms are behind in their preparations and their clients will not register for an…
Coping With EMIR Derivatives Data Requirements
A new International Swaps and Derivatives Association protocol designed to help market participants comply with the European Market Infrastructure Regulation has brought greater clarity to the procedures counterparties should follow to reconcile their…
Choosing Data Governance Battles
New regulations and pressure to reduce costs are creating greater awareness of the importance of effective data governance. However, careful planning is still needed to win support for projects and to ensure their success, writes Nicholas Hamilton
A Transparent View of Pricing
As transparency becomes a key requirement in the pricing and valuations space, financial firms have many questions for their vendors about input data, market color and pricing methodologies, writes Nicholas Hamilton
Entities and Data at Fatca's Crossroads
Heading into 2014, registration systems for compliance with the US foreign accounts tax law are ramping up, and the specifics of how Fatca will govern are starting to be filled in. Michael Shashoua surveys the remaining knowns and unknowns
Portfolio-Compression Algorithms Proving Useful in New SEF Landscape
As SEFs’ swaps execution gets off the ground, post-trade activities like portfolio-compression algorithms are proving increasingly popular as dealers and their futures commission merchant clearing arms cope with new demands, and potentially, new styles…
Network Effects: Allianz CIO Ralf Schneider on the New Hard Sell
Whether dramatically reducing Allianz’s datacenter footprint, looking for ways to better incorporate its increasingly sizeable capital-markets subsidiaries, or picking off the right talent, group CIO Ralf Schneider brings unique inspiration─and new…
Technology Aids Sharia Compliance for Islamic Finance's Rise
Islamic finance is the fastest growing segment of the global financial system. With an increasing Muslim population and a reputation for being more resilient to crisis than conventional finance, the Islamic financial sector is now facing great demand…
Roundtable: A Very Market Data Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving─the fourth Thursday in November─is when Americans traditionally give thanks for the year's harvest, stemming from the celebrations of the first European pilgrim settlers on American soil. Since our industry is blessed (or cursed) with a…
Evaluation Stand-Outs
Regulatory demands push evaluated pricing providers to reveal more details of how they produce the data they have on offer. Max Bowie hears how end-users of data are collaborating closer with the providers as a result
Interactive Data CEO Promotes Data Transparency
As global head of operations and technology at Morgan Stanley, Stephen Daffron's biggest problem was a lack of transparency in the data he bought from vendors. Now that he's moved over to the CEO's office at one of those data vendors, he has a chance to…
The March of LEI Progress
The legal entity identifier still has its hurdles to clear for full implementation, as panelists in an October 18 webcast acknowledge. Michael Shashoua reports their concerns about private-public cooperation, federated system structure and onboarding and…
Ungovernable Data?
During a roundtable discussion hosted by Rimes Technologies, senior representatives from asset management firms discussed the data governance challenges facing them. From controlling data and managing regulatory change to securing board-level support,…
Change Management: CIFC's Enrique Smith on IT and Finding God
From the day he walked through the door at CIFC, Enrique Smith was tasked with rebuilding the asset manager’s technology stack. Making big changes isn’t an issue for him, if his personal life is any indication. By Jake Thomases with photos by Amy Fletcher
Letters from Geneva: EFG International's COO Mark Bagnall
Contemporary private banks are more engaged with capital markets and regulatory authorities than ever before, which some say spells their demise—and yet the need for their services grows, fueled by emerging affluence in new parts of the world. It is a…
Filling the Void: Buy Side Steps into Shadow Banking
As banks back out of the direct lending sector due to capital constraints, buy-side firms are filling the void. While that has provoked growing concerns from regulators, the returns have been solid for hedge funds in particular, but it has also required…
Towards Transparent Pricing
Increased transparency is a common goal of regulators who are shaking up the financial industry. When experts in pricing and valuations took part in a panel discussion at the European Financial Information Summit, they explained what these new regulatory…
Pulling Weeds: Sell Side Confronts Technology Stack Upgrades
Despite the current era in the capital markets as one of tight budgets, firms across the sell side are waking up to the fact that radical changes are needed to their technology stacks. From banks, to brokers and exchanges, questions remain around how…
Constrained by Capital Requirements, Wealth Management IT Struggles to Comply
Wealth managers and private banks, the heirs of aging technologies and manual processes, need to change. Prodded by regulators to deploy more efficient and flexible operating infrastructures, most of them have been left with big gaps to fill and…
Edwin Marcial: No More Mr. ICE Guy
Edwin Marcial has been in the technology driver’s seat since before ICE’s meteoric rise. In the early 2000s, he wore the ‘upstart’ label like a badge of honor. But with the purchase of the NYSE, he doesn’t seem so comfortable with it anymore. By Jake…
Is the Low-Latency Race a Zero Sum Game?
Financial services firms will always strive to be faster and more efficient. But increasingly, the cost and risk of this evolutionary drive are proving too great for some. As a result, the ability to measure and monitor latencies across the enterprise…
IBOR Takes Hold on Buy Side
The investment book of record, or IBOR, is becoming an attractive option for buy-side firms that want a more accurate view of their portfolio positions at the start of the trading day. Nicholas Hamilton explores the options available for firms looking to…
In the Public Interest: Tech Critical as Public Investors Seek More Active Approach
A small but influential set of private equity’s limited partners, many of them quasi-public entities like pension plans and sovereign wealth funds, are considering co-investment strategies with their general partners, or even arranging deals directly…