The New Year brings opportunities to take on post-trade securities operations challenges or at least take the time to review the progress your firm has made in its trajectory to operational efficiency. It’s also a chance to make resolutions that will guide the firm throughout the year.
To help firms craft a list of Ops resolutions, I have compiled some examples that readers are free to apply.
My proposed resolutions (or goals, if you prefer) are:
- Resolve to never use a fax machine again to support any securities operation activity (or at least seriously consider how to move beyond faxes and manual processes);
- Refrain from expanding the usage of spreadsheets (or better yet, stop using them entirely);
- Allow yourself to dream about a time when an enterprise-wide reconciliation project doesn’t cause multiple nervous breakdowns;
- Pray that the good economic news for the U.S. economy continues and that the upswing will help keep a lid on job cuts and possibly lead to new hires;
- Pray also that all the Gods can make vendors and consultants deliver offerings and services that will live up to the hype;
- Make a commitment to better understand the increasingly complex matrix of margining and collateral management
- Proactively find reasons to engage in SEF-based OTC trading;
- Unwind the mysteries of tri-party collateral management;
- Find the joy in:
- Dodd-Frank/EMIR/BCBS-IOSCO compliance
- Shorter settlement cycles
- And optimal performance measurement
- And don’t feel guilty about enjoying the dynamics of social media compliance. Embrace SMAC and own it.
I’m certain I haven’t included all the Ops areas that will need your attention, so you can feel free to completely reject my suggestions or add to my list.
Whatever resolutions you create, the truth is that Ops is playing an ever-more important role in the overall efficiency of securities firms and that is bound to boost the bottom line.
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