Last week, we held our 5th Annual Corporate Actions Processing Conference in New York City. I always love this event because it brings together a niche sector of the financial services industry that is completely immersed in corporate actions on a day-to-day basis and an audience that is delightfully interactive and extremely interested in the
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FTF’s Latest Special Report: Mobile Technology
If you are attending SIBOS this week, or at least reading some of the news coming out of SIBOS, then you’ve probably seen that the topic of mobile technology is a hot issue this year. In anticipation of this being a big conversation piece at the conference we decided to prepare and get two different viewpoints
Corporate Actions
Pressing Cost Basis Challenges Deserve Close Attention of Mutual Fund Companies
Guest Contributor: Stevie D. Conlon, senior director and tax counsel, Wolters Kluwer Financial Services With the cost basis reporting law’s next effective date less than six months away, mutual fund companies must closely consider risks and challenges that might result in non-compliance and serious customer service issues. First and foremost, mutual fund companies that provide
Corporate Actions
Corporate Actions: The Way Forward
Guest Contributor: Chris Kotsifas, Founder of STP Consulting Solutions, LLC In the aftermath of the recent financial crisis, there’s a renewed emphasis in operational transparency and risk reduction. This has led many to look into their organizations and revisit problematic areas namely corporate actions processing and reference data which have typically been pushed aside for
Corporate Actions
LEI’s: Worth the Work?
According to Wikipedia, a Legal Entity Identification (LEI) is defined as: A universal standard for identifying all parties to financial contracts. It is a new standard to be established by the U.S. Treasury – Office of Financial Research. It is a key element in the broader effort to understand and monitor systemic risk. Its creation
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Big Moves for Corporate Actions
Over the years at our annual Corporate Actions conferences the issue of automation has continually been a hot topic on the agenda. While many operational procedures have been automated over time, corporate actions have stuck to a process which involves faxing and emailing. Over all, it is a system that leaves a lot of room
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The Challenges of Corporate Actions
Corporate actions tend to be a difficult field to navigate and can present many challenges. Whether it is bond redemptions or the sending of messages between issuers and investors, each action comes with its own set of hurdles. Corporate actions are viewed as expensive, risky and inefficient, yet they are a necessity in today’s financial
Corporate Actions
2011: Year of the Mobile Apps
In the past year, there was a major push in the mobile application space, and I believe this went hand-in-hand with the financial services industry starting to embrace social media and cloud computing. The industry is realizing that technology can keep everyone in touch while on the go. You can now be in a meeting
Corporate Actions
Individual Investors are Making a Comeback
Standard & Poor’s index is up 17 percent since late August, and other statistics are also showing that the market is improving slowly but surely. These improvements may be causing a bullish atAAIItitude and drawing individual investors back into the market. Last week, in a survey conducted by the American Association of Individual Investors to
Corporate Actions
If SWIFT Doesn’t Lead ISO20022 Will Stagnate
Guest Contributer: Gary Wright, CEO, BISS Research As everyone knows, in the securities market, ISO0022 messages are beginning to grab plenty of attention, but very little genuine activity, when it comes to implementation by financial services firms. Why? SWIFT has been instrumental in the introduction of ISO15022 into the world’s securities markets where bank to
