I heard somewhere that speculation can be one of the greatest triggers of fear and panic. We have certainly seen how speculation (good or bad) can affect our markets, and in turn how it can affect the Dow Industrial Average, and so on. Speculation can easily set off a sort of domino effect, taking down
Compliance
Banks Get Nine Years to Life
The Basel Committee on Bank Supervision recently released the new Basel III requirements. That’s right. Basel II worked so well that banks had enough capital on hand to withstand the recent financial crisis without significant bailout (cough, cough), so why not continue on with that idea? Just increase requirements, give banks a bunch of time
Compliance
The Role of the CCO: Changing or Evolving?
Lately, I feel there is a lot of talk about the changing role of the Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) within the financial services industry. So much so I’m planning to base a session around this topic at our upcoming 2nd Annual Buy-Side Compliance & Risk conference on December 9th. With that being said, I wanted
Compliance
The New CIA: The Office of Financial Research?
Who would have thought it could be possible to compare the CIA, an agency known for its fight against terrorism, to a research office within our Treasury Department? Now though, thanks to the passing of the new financial regulation, that may not be such an unrealistic assessment. An article in Businessweek reported that Congress has
Cloud
The Future of Cloud Computing: Is Your Head in the Clouds?
I spent this past holiday weekend in Rhode Island with my family and during an everyday conversation at the dinner table my father casually mentioned something about cloud computing. It was in that moment I realized the importance of the “cloud” and how big this topic is becoming in today’s world. If my father, who
Compliance
Sell-Side Compliance: No Friends in the Coffee Room?
Guest Contributor: Denise Valentine, Senior Analyst, Aite Group I’m feeling sad today. In fact, I lay awake this morning reflecting on dozens of conversations I’ve had with compliance officers at asset managers, hedge funds, and broker/dealers. It’s difficult not to empathize. I don’t recall ever feeling this way after interviews in other functional areas… Here
Compliance
Investment Advisor Registration Requirements
Guest Contributor: Diana Kearns, Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Accounting & Compliance International (ACI) An investment advisor is any entity that provides fee-based advice regarding the buying and selling of securities. Under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, investment advisors are required to register with either the SEC or the state – which one
Compliance
Social Media Leads to New Compliance Issues: Is Your Firm Prepared?
While researching for our upcoming Buy-Side Compliance & Risk conference in December, I came across an interesting topic which will probably develop into a session for the event – how is social media creating new compliance issues for firms? Social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are now all the rage, even in
Back-Office
Technology in Markets – What is it Good For?
Guest Contributor: Renée Colyer, Forefactor Perhaps I won’t be the most popular girl in high school for pontificating about technology in the markets in a less than flattering way. But I will go ahead and say I believe we take ourselves too seriously when it comes to articulating its importance. Many times in the past
