Was incompetence, gross negligence, collusion or a good faith mistake the reason operations executives from fund administrator SS&C Technologies authorized the transfer of almost US$6 million from a client’s commodities fund to Chinese hackers? That is the question readers of a lawsuit filed by hedge fund Tillage Commodities Fund against SS&C Technologies will likely be […]
New York Proposed Cyber Rules: Too Much, Too Fast
Cutting down one risk — that of a cybersecuity breach — is promising to add a lot more risk of other kinds. Those would be increased costs and liability. The New York State Department of Financial Services has gone further than its federal peers by mandating hard and fast policies instead of risk-based methodology to […]
Catching an Insider Data Thief
Ten percent of employees will never commit a crime, ten percent of employees will, while 80 percent will only do so if the opportunity arises, predict fraud experts. It is that opportunity which asset management firms need to prevent through a combination of compliance controls and technology, say panelists and attendees at a recent symposium […]
Hedge Fund Managers: Five Areas of SEC Exam Focus
We have nothing to fear as much as the Securities and Exchange Commission itself. That is what hedge fund managers should be thinking about the US regulatory agency, warn legal experts. “A little paranoia will go a long way to ensuring they are prepared for a grueling round of exams this year,” says Ron Geffner, […]
Operational Due Diligence: Right Questions, Right Answers
Do you have a policy to prevent cyber breaches? Do you allow employees to work remotely? Do you have a policy for valuing hard-to-price assets? Do you allow multiple parties access to your compliance system? Do you have a procedure to mitigate risk? Look familiar? These are questions drawn from questionnaires that asset-owners — pension plans, […]
AML Compliance: Big Job Market, Big Hurdles
For those attracted to a career of hunting down criminals, law enforcement isn’t the only choice. Finance has always been both a juicy target and a obvious tool for white-collar criminals so Wall Street’s focus on anti-money laundering compliance has been years in the making, but it wasn’t until after the 2008 to 2009 financial crisis that regulators intensified […]
When Buying Cybersecurity Insurance: Caveat Emptor
The theft of personal details of millions of individuals in a U.S. government database might sound shocking, but it really isn’t given the latest stream of well-publicized hacking events in the retail, financial and insurance industries. Neiman Marcus, eBay, Home Depot, JP Morgan Chase, Sony and Anthem are among the high-profile casualties. Given that a cyber […]
Cybersecurity in the C-Suite: A Matter of “Need to Know”
Cybersecurity has been described as everything from a top-down corporate mission to a shopping list for software packages that monitor networks and systems for suspicious activity. Given the breadth and complexity of even identifying the risks, it’s no wonder that all sorts of management are discovering they’re now riding the cybersecurity bus. Nowhere is this accumulation of corporate […]
Broker-Dealers: Good Hygiene Reduces Cybersecurity Attacks
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 […]
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: […]