Alessandro Ferrari, executive vice president (EVP), global head of marketing at RIMES, focuses on how regulatory technology issues are hitting home for many buy-side firms.
(FTF News recently interviewed Alessandro Ferrari, executive vice president (EVP), global head of marketing at RIMES, a provider of managed data services and regulatory technology (RegTech) solutions for buy-side securities firms. RIMES won the Best Cutting Edge Solution for its RIMES RegFocus MAR solutions via the FTF News Financial Technology Innovation Awards. Qualified industry participants and our online readership select the FTF Awards winners. The Best Cutting-Edge Solution was created to recognize the supplier that is committed to developing financial technology solutions that are groundbreaking offerings, which can combine new and established technologies. RIMES reports that Ferrari joined RIMES in 2007 and oversees the global marketing outreach for RIMES, “with a particular focus on online marketing and social media,” officials say. He has over a decade of experience in financial technology marketing, including positions with: the Nasdaq Stock Market, where he developed its buy-side marketing strategy; Thomson Reuters; and Euromoney Institutional Investor.)
Alessandro Ferrari, executive vice president (EVP), global head of marketing, RIMES
Q: What were the main reasons driving RIMES to launch market regulation technology offerings?
A: Feedback from our customers.
Asset managers are currently experiencing a tsunami of regulations with MiFID II, the Market Abuse Regulation and the new Benchmarks Regulation.
We have always supported our customers with their data governance (and regulatory) requirements and saw the growing area of RegTech as a natural fit for RIMES.
Q: How much of a driver were the MiFID II deadlines in raising the profile of the RIMES RegFocus offerings?
A: RegFocus MAR takes care of both Market Abuse Regulation and MiFID II requirements.
The primary driver for us was the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), which went live July 3, 2016. MAR aims to increase market integrity and investor protection, enhancing the attractiveness of securities markets for capital raising.
Q: Is the attitude toward compliance at buy-side firms in the U.S. changing?
A: The current focus of the SEC, FERC, CFTC and numerous other regulatory bodies both within the U.S. and in other jurisdictions aims to increase market integrity and investor confidence across the globe.
This greatly increases both compliance and associated costs for asset managers who can no longer simply rely on the control provided by their brokers. Asset managers now need effective compliance policies and a robust framework to identify and control market manipulation and insider trading.
Q: As the industry faces the 2018 deadline, how prepared are firms for MiFID II?
A: As the European Union’s updated Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) goes live on Jan 3, 2018, it is essential that U.S. asset managers meet the requirements of their clients so that they can continue to do business with them.
January 2018 will in fact see a “double whammy of regulation,” as the new Benchmarks Regulation (BMR), which introduces a new regime for benchmark administrators, contributors and users to ensure the accuracy and integrity of benchmarks also goes live on Jan 1, 2018.
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