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Editor-In-Chief's Letter
Surveys
DIARY OF A COMPANY WIFE (RET.)
Oceania with umbrellas
A bombardment of swag, parties and meetings under the watchful gaze of SWIFT in Toronto
A bombardment of swag, parties and meetings under the watchful gaze of SWIFT in Toronto
Forefront
Standardizing legal entity identification
Regulators, industry groups, service providers and investors are in agreement - for once - on the benefits of LEIs
Regulators, industry groups, service providers and investors are in agreement - for once - on the benefits of LEIs
People
Dinkar Jetley of J.P. Morgan Worldwide Securities Services
An India-born former retail banker has assumed leadership of the securities services businesses of J.P. Morgan at an interesting time for the bank as well as the markets. His ability to turn WSS into what the clients want depends less on the organogram he draws than the affections he inspires
An India-born former retail banker has assumed leadership of the securities services businesses of J.P. Morgan at an interesting time for the bank as well as the markets. His ability to turn WSS into what the clients want depends less on the organogram he draws than the affections he inspires
Custody
Two is company, three is a crowd
It was true before, and post-2008 has only reinforced it: A custodian's relationship with a pension fund client can be made or broken by the information a consultant provides
It was true before, and post-2008 has only reinforced it: A custodian's relationship with a pension fund client can be made or broken by the information a consultant provides
Corporate actions: engaging the issuers
Corporate actions, or decisions by a company to pay a dividend, split its stock, raise fresh capital or merge with another company, are relatively easy for investment bankers to conceive. They are much harder to implement, being notoriously unstandardized, hard to interpret and manual to process. They cost money even when they work, but when they go wrong they cost investors an estimated $1 billion per year because information was misunderstood or instructions were delivered late. While custodians and industry groups are pushing for reform, the issuers and investors at either end of the chain - the ones who would benefit most from better corporate action data - are not bothered enough to do anything about it. Will standardization and automation ever happen?
Corporate actions, or decisions by a company to pay a dividend, split its stock, raise fresh capital or merge with another company, are relatively easy for investment bankers to conceive. They are much harder to implement, being notoriously unstandardized, hard to interpret and manual to process. They cost money even when they work, but when they go wrong they cost investors an estimated $1 billion per year because information was misunderstood or instructions were delivered late. While custodians and industry groups are pushing for reform, the issuers and investors at either end of the chain - the ones who would benefit most from better corporate action data - are not bothered enough to do anything about it. Will standardization and automation ever happen?
Securities Lending and Financing
A tangled web
Regulators are concerned that a growing amount of securities lending involving ETFs could threaten market liquidity
Regulators are concerned that a growing amount of securities lending involving ETFs could threaten market liquidity
Prime Brokerage
Hedge funds and FATCA: bracing for impact
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act - colloquially known as "KYC on steroids" - promises to increase compliance costs for hedge funds, maybe up to 50%, but the price of noncompliance could be much worse
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act - colloquially known as "KYC on steroids" - promises to increase compliance costs for hedge funds, maybe up to 50%, but the price of noncompliance could be much worse
Special Report: Nordic Region
Perfectly unclear in the Nordics
As the threat of disintermediation from Target2-Securities continues to challenge agent banks to move further up the value chain through asset servicing, these providers are having serious discussions with network managers about realigning their offerings to stay in the game. As with the Nordic region, network managers realize they will have some decisions to make in a region that has already had its fair share of consolidation over the last 20 years. But recently announced delays to the new settlement framework and uncertainties surrounding pricing structures for future asset services provision means network managers such as Andrew Osborne of Northern Trust and Tim Wood of RBC Dexia are in no rush to decide and are taking a wait-and-see approach
As the threat of disintermediation from Target2-Securities continues to challenge agent banks to move further up the value chain through asset servicing, these providers are having serious discussions with network managers about realigning their offerings to stay in the game. As with the Nordic region, network managers realize they will have some decisions to make in a region that has already had its fair share of consolidation over the last 20 years. But recently announced delays to the new settlement framework and uncertainties surrounding pricing structures for future asset services provision means network managers such as Andrew Osborne of Northern Trust and Tim Wood of RBC Dexia are in no rush to decide and are taking a wait-and-see approach
Market Infrastructure
The pan-Asian way
For years, Asia has been talking about market integration, creating a trading and post-trading platform that spans the many and diverse economies of the region - and talking, and talking and talking. Are new initiatives a sign that words are turning to action?
For years, Asia has been talking about market integration, creating a trading and post-trading platform that spans the many and diverse economies of the region - and talking, and talking and talking. Are new initiatives a sign that words are turning to action?