Well, it looks like senior ops professionals of securities firms might have to dust off their books and sharpen their pencils in the near future. On March 4th, FINRA filed a 134 page request for a new registration category that would require certain back-office professionals of brokerage firms to take a qualification exam. Yes, I
Compliance
Opportunities Within Regulatory Change
2011 is shaping up to be remembered as the year of regulatory change. While Dodd-Frank, the Volcker Rule and other regulatory notices have been in the pipeline for months, 2011 will be the year that most of these regulations are put into practice. While many firms have been struggling or stressing over the fact that
Compliance
The End of the EU Hedge Fund?
2011 will be remembered as the year of rules and regulations in the Financial Services Industry. Thanks to the Dodd-Frank Bill, many industry regulators will be handing down numerous sanctions this year to Wall Street and beyond. Basel III will be hitting banks, stricter debit card rules will be applied to retailers, derivatives operations and
Compliance
Social Media without the Compliance Headaches
Guest Contributor: Stephen Marsh, CEO & Founder, Smarsh, Inc. A number of registered firms have prohibited the use of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other social networks due to the perceived compliance complexities, and this isn’t anything new. According to a survey of financial professionals conducted last year by American Century Investment, 47 percent of respondents
Compliance
What Will it Take to Stay Compliant in 2011?
Thomson Reuters Governance, Risk and Compliance just completed its 2nd annual ‘Cost of Compliance’ survey for 2011. The verdict: 71% of the firms surveyed predict it will cost them a great deal in money, resources and time (but really time is money!) in order to be compliant with regulators this upcoming year. This survey not
Financial Crime
Investment Advisers- Are They Willing to Pay Up to Keep FINRA Out?
There has been a lot of talk lately about FINRA taking the supervision responsibilities for investment advisers away from the SEC. Overall, the SEC is looking to find a way to monitor the investments adviser’s and prevent future scandals, such as the Madoff case, from happening again. This it seems is easier said than done
Buy-Side
What is a Hedge Fund Hotel?
I was reading an article the other day on eFinancial News about hedge fund hotels and, while I’ve heard of these, I never fully understood what they were and how they worked. Turns out, a hedge fund hotel is simply just that – a hotel that offers high-end office space where traders can go to
Clearing and Settlement
Another OTC Marketplace Moves Toward CCP Clearing
Guest Contributer: Jim Binder, Director, Public Relations, The Options Clearing Corporation In the aftermath of the financial crisis, and through the regulatory reform efforts it led to, central counterparty (CCP) clearing has drawn a lot of attention as a way to help manage risk in the over-the-counter markets. Afterall, listed markets with CCP clearing functioned
Compliance
Streamlining to Achieve Transparency in the New OTC World
Ever since the passing of the Dodd-Frank bill, companies have been thinking about (or at least they should be thinking about) how they will come up with a cost effective solution to keep them compliant under the new regulations. Many software providers have been trying to work out these solutions on their own in order
Dodd-Frank
The Volcker Rule – Seeking Out Systemic Risk
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6NyLtycVjqw] (In this video Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman, Sheila Bair, discusses the Dodd-Frank Act, which was signed into law by President Barack Obama in July, and the Volcker rule.) If you have been reading the news in the past few days, I’m sure you came across the latest announcements around “The Volcker Rule”. This
