When it comes to mitigating cybersecurity attacks, broker-dealers are quickly taking a chapter out of the textbook on good dental hygiene. Just as regular brushing and flossing can go a long way to preventing tooth decay and gum disease, so can a consistent program of vigilance work against aggressive external and internal hackers, say cybersecurity experts. With the US Securities […]
Broker Dealers Beware: States Get Creative in Unclaimed Account Search
Knock, knock. Who’s there? If a potential censure or fine from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority or the Securities and Exchange Commission isn’t enough to motivate broker-dealers to ensure their middle and back-office operations are well oiled, perhaps an intensive audit by an unfamiliar firm sent by state regulators will be. The states’ objective: taking over billions of dollars worth […]
Vendor Risk Management: Financial Firms under the Gun
First of a two-part series on third-party risk. For the second article, click here. Activities can be outsourced, liabilities can’t. Financial firms may understand the legal distinction, but when it comes to managing the risk involved with using external technology providers, they are too often falling asleep at the wheel, warn operations and IT experts. The reason: […]
Private Equity Funds: Coming Clean with Expenses, Fees
With the US Securities and Exchange Commission calling private equity fund managers to the carpet for their fees and expenses, managers had better start preparing to be a lot more forthcoming about their practices to investors. Regulatory exams are just around the corner, warn operations and legal experts. At issue is what expenses should be absorbed by private […]
Valuation Disputes: Process for Everyday Crisis
Internal analysis at a fund management shop sets the price of a non-exchange traded security at $US80 — the most recent trade price that could be found. However, the third party evaluations provider used by the fund manager says it’s worth no more than US$60 based on projected future cash flows and taking into account the illiquid market. What’s the […]
Shareholder Ballots: The Quest to Confirm a Vote
An investor receives information about a corporate agenda and casts its votes. It happens every day of the week and most frequently from February through June when most US firms hold their annual meetings. bhad barbie nude But just because a shareholder votes, doesn’t necessarily mean there’s any way to verify the vote made its way […]
New Criteria for US Accredited Investors: Looming Pain for Alt Funds?
The Securities and Exchange Commission might think it is protecting Americans from risky investments as it considers changing the criteria for defining accredited investors, but middle and back-office executives at hedge fund management shops are worried their livelihoods and client service levels are at risk. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act requires the SEC to […]
US SEC: Will It Finally Address CUSIP Fees?
After years of complaining about the fees they are paying for the issuance and use of CUSIP codes, issuers of fixed-income securities and the financial firms which use the securities identifiers may finally have found a friend at the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The US regulatory agency isn’t investigating CUSIP Global Services’ licensing fees […]
Fund Managers: On the Hunt for New Cybersecurity Officer
With the Securities and Exchange Commission now requiring registered investment advisors to prove they are doing their best to reduce the risk of data and other security breaches, hedge fund managers are quickly waking up to the need to assign a dedicated chief security information officer (CISO) to the task. Although the SEC’ s guidelines […]
Hedge Fund Managers: The Big Headache of Healthcare Reform
FinOps takeaway: Your count of “full-time employees” may not be what the IRS says it is. Mainstream attention on the controversial US healthcare legislation has focused on how difficult or financially affordable access to health insurance may be for individual people. For employers, there is a far larger and only slowly emerging story in the huge difficulty and cost they […]