It’s hard enough for bank operations and financial reporting specialists to fill out all the data points and formats required by regulators in filing mandatory documentation evidencing financial soundness. But when a major banking regulatory watchdog — the European Banking Authority — issues 290 incorrect data validation rules, the whole reporting process can go awry […]
Compliance and IT Experts: Strange Bedfellows in Managing Cybersecurity Risk
When it comes to newly heightened US regulatory oversight of cybersecurity risk, compliance directors face risks of their own. They will be on the front line when examiners from the Securities and Exchange Commission come calling to evaluate their cybersecurity programs. But to even answer the SEC’s questions, not to mention have an acceptable working program to […]
US Cost-Basis Reporting: Pay Up Now or Pay A Lot More Later
US tax experts are sounding a loud alarm bell for financial-firm clients this tax season. They had better be prepared to comply with the Internal Revenue Service’s new cost-basis reporting rules for debt instruments, or be prepared to face the music. They won’t like the tune. The IRS will fine not only investors, but also […]
AIFMD: No Pain, No Gain for Fund Managers
Alternative fund managers who might have been initially hot to take advantage of the new European Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) to more easily market their investment funds cross-border are quickly waking up to a cold reality: they might be ill-prepared to comply. With so little time left, they will need to warm up […]
European Regulators Tell Market: Failure Not an Option
Failing to settle or even match the details of European securities trades on time could become a lot more expensive and reputationally risky for banks, broker-dealers, and their fund manager customers, if European regulators have their way. Just how much more they will have to spend beyond the hefty internal administrative costs, and current fines […]
Compliance Officers: Taking the Regulatory Heat, Personally
Chief compliance officers at financial firms have always had it tough. Working long hours to address changing regulatory, investor and internal requirements, are an accepted part of everyday life. Yet, chief compliance officers and legal experts now say that the stress is hitting closer to home on a personal level. Securities watchdogs are drawing even […]
“Let Us Do It”: Data Utilities Target Mid-Office Data Drudgery
Data utility — it’s a buzzword, which has cropped up sporadically in the data management arena and is now making a comeback, albeit in diverse flavors. The latest wave of incarnations: a reference data utility launched by IBM and GoldenSource, and a know-your-customer (KYC) data utility disclosed by global messaging network SWIFT. Their unveilings earlier this […]
Recordkeepers Seek New Rules for Unclaimed Securities Accounts
With billions of dollars in unclaimed US securities accounts at stake, stock transfer agents are now lobbying for changes — and some consistency — in outdated state rules. As if tracking down the holders of unclaimed securities accounts weren’t hard enough for shareholder record-keepers, they must also deal with a multitude of conflicting and often […]
Scottrade Fine: $2.5 Million When “Oops” Isn’t Enough
US IT and compliance directors need to pay a lot closer attention to how they jointly test and evaluate critical data generated by back-office systems. That’s the bare bones lesson, according to ten IT and compliance managers speaking with FinOps Report, that financial firms should learn from Scottrade’s reporting fiasco which resulted in a fine […]
Where the Buck Stops: FINRA Fines BBH and Anti-Money Laundering Director
Absolute personal responsibility with little to no authority. That’s how anti-money laundering specialists at some of the world’s largest banks summarize the job description of Brown Brothers Harriman’s global director of anti-money laundering (AML) activities. Besides a hefty fine to be paid by BBH in a settlement, Harold (Hal) Crawford will pay US$25,000 to the US Financial […]