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NEW YORK – February 27, 2017 – Today, InvestOps and SimCorp released their findings from the 2017 benchmarking report, titled – “Optimizing Front to Back Office Investment Operations.” The report explores the compression of the front, middle, and back office and how this is redefining data and investment management systems.

This new report is based on a survey of 100 Heads of Investment Operations based in North America. The research prioritized buy side firms, including asset management firms,

Integration is a hot topic this year for risk professionals. In PRMIA’s 2013 survey of buy-side risk management trends, a lack of front-to-back integration of systems emerged as the second biggest technology challenge, pipped only by the need to create a complete view of risk from multiple risk systems.

Poor integration compromises risk management quality

Why the need for front-to-back integration? The financial and Eurozone crises have highlighted the need to manage risk more proactively and in a

As financial institutions have become more complex, so have their risk management systems – and that’s a problem.

Organisations that have grown through acquisition and diversification typically find themselves running a huge number of different systems: whether for different asset classes, different types of risk and/or for different operating entities.

That complexity is causing major issues. Research carried out by the Professional Risk Managers International Association (PRMIA) in March 2013 re

by Kiki Pentheroudaki 

We have discussed the historic development of automated trading and how regulators are pushing high-frequency traders to become market makers. We now want to look at further ways to regulate automated trading under MiFID II.

The impact of high frequency trading (HFT) flow on markets will also see continued attention from market participants and regulators alike. In 2012, significant regulatory attention focused on HFT, such as provisions in the European Parliament's version

by Kiki Pentheroudaki

MiFID II is intended to regulate the use of automated trading to ensure a level-playing field for all market participants. In a two-part overview we will provide you with insight into how regulators are thinking. Part one focuses on the history of automated trading and MiFID’s proposals around market-making for high-frequency traders.

Automated or algorithmic trading is used by a wide range of market participants. Profits from high-speed trading in American stocks were ca. $1

After EMIR, Basel III and Dodd Frank, MiFID II is now on the horizon. Are you keeping up with the latest regulatory developments in the market?

Alarmed by the impact of the latest financial crisis, regulators globally have released a set of new regulations. While most financial institutions are already working diligently on the implementation of EMIR, Basel III and Dodd Frank, the change in the EU Council presidency to Ireland and the current consultations around MiFID II give further incentives

Over the last few days, several people have discussed various scenario analysis techniques with me and going on general opinion, this risk assessment technique is very popular among operational risk analysts. Definitely no doubt there, but what scenario analysis means to one analyst, can often be something entirely different to another.

What does scenario analysis really mean to operational risk analysts?

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I am a big believer in the categorisation of risk events and while this may not be popular among many of the non-banking members of the risk community, even more so with ISO 31000 practitioners, I still believe it is an important exercise to carryout.

Either way; I have taken to list ten reasons why causal event categorisation is crucial for the operation of a sound enterprise risk management framework.

The top ten can be found at this LINK

Despite the current economic turmoil, we have recently witnessed a frenetic race for ultra low latency, privileging speed over costs. But now the reality of these decisions is catching up and trading institutions are finding that the fastest is not always the strongest – much like the hare and the tortoise.

Being lean and controlling costs is a new priority for banks, focusing on their core business. We are seeing major changes in strategy, with organisations moving away from the extremely risky

On the surface at least, it’s hard to take away positives in the wake of the financial crisis. Yes, it taught us that we have to manage risk better, improve processes and become more transparent. But it’s the regulators globally that seem to have taken these lessons closely to heart.

With some banks still struggling to conform to Basel II requirements, Basel III is being hotly debated. It will force banks to hold more capital, and many argue that this will bring the end of ‘cheap money’. In the U