Introduction

A turbulent economic climate and new regulations such as Basel III, the Dodd-Frank Act, and FATCA have led to an increased focus on corporate governance, risk, and compliance within the financial services industry. But in an environment of compressed margins and increased global pressures, financial services organizations simply cannot dedicate unlimited budget and resources to meet their GRC objectives. Instead, financial services organizations must implement and sustain their GRC initiatives cost effectively.
To do so requires new ways of thinking about the products you develop, the markets you go after, and how you fundamentally operate your business. During this one-day forum, we’ll look at how the financial services industry is evolving and what transformations lie ahead. Attendees will explore strategies to not only achieve enterprise-wide GRC, but to counteract revenue pressures with innovative methods for reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and creating new revenue streams within your GRC framework.

Benefits of Attending

- Align risk management processes and procedures with cost reduction strategies.
- Consolidate risk exposures across the enterprise.
- Improve organizational sustainability and business agility with governance and controls.
- Embed risk management models into corporate culture and ethics.
- Learn about innovative technologies that support the convergence of governance, risk, and compliance.
- Leverage centralized risk management and real-time alerts to respond to risk.
- Build a scalable and flexible governance, risk, and compliance framework.
- Manage the demands of regulators, customers, and other stakeholders for transparency and visibility while improving operational efficiency.

Who Should Attend
C-Suite Officers: Chief Executive Officers, Chief Compliance Officers, Chief Outsourcing Officers, Chief Information Officers, Chief Operations Officers, Chief Strategy Officers, Chief Marketing Officers
Members of the Board of Directors
Heads of Legal, Performance Measurement, and Compliance Departments
Vice President and Directors of Operational Risk, Enterprise Risk, Governance, Outsourcing, Performance Measurement, and Vendor Management
Managing Directors and Process Directors
Project Managers of Governance, Risk and Compliance
Risk Managers and Risk Analysts
Performance Measurement Managers and Executives
Compliance Managers
Reporting Managers and Executives
Others involved in Governance, Risk, and Compliance

We’re hearing from many of our members that counterparty risk management is an increasing pain point for their organizations. In today’s uncertain financial environment, what was once a sound investment six months—or even a few days–ago now can present a significant risk.
Banks, insurers, and asset managers will require real-time counterparty risk data not only to protect their business but to meet new regulations including legal entity identifiers (LEI). Mandates around LEIs are coming out of the U.S. Treasury department’s Office of Financial Research and will require firms to assign a standard, universal identifier for counterparties throughout their organization. The need for LEIs will require organizations to change their information and data architectures as well as their existing risk management platforms.
For organizations with legacy systems, LEI compliance will be a significant challenge and it’s an issue that FSOkx is following closely. We’d like to get your input on the challenges you face in indentifying counterparty risk, what’s changed in how you approach risk, and what tools and technologies you find most promising. You can reach me at lvalentine@fsokx.com.
Don’t forget to register for the FSOkx 7th Annual Asset Management Industry Transformation & Outsourcing Strategies Forum to be held December 8 in New York. Our speaker line-up includes executives from Dreman Value, EFT Capital Markets, Bladex Asset Management, J.P. Morgan, Hartford Investment Management, and Artio Global Management.

The recent credit ratings downgrade for the U.S., Poland, Ireland, Greece, and Spain impact customer sentiment and confidence in the economies of these nations. While the ratings agencies are charged with portraying a lucid picture of a nation’s creditworthiness, the ratings agencies themselves are coming under scrutiny, primarily for the role political influence plays in these ratings and their methodologies in measuring risk.
The credit rating agencies—whether S&P, Moody’s or Fitch—are being questioned about the ethics of their rating schemes. The current used issuer-pay based model is facing skepticism and momentum is building for an investor-pay based model.
Many financial services industry experts are also questioning the largely un-regulated functioning of the rating agencies. Regulations such as the Dodd-Frank Act include provisions to safeguard against political influence on credit ratings, but implementation of these regulations is uncertain. It gets more complex since these rating agencies have global operations yet are governed by regional regulatory systems. Although the quest to find alternatives to the credit rating agencies has accelerated, there are no potential replacements on the horizon. The sooner the regulatory bodies implement ethical practices in the ratings agencies, the better.

This week we concluded our successful 2nd Annual Business Process Management and Technology Innovation Forum and Expo. BPM continues to be a hot topic for the financial services industry, and its definitely an area where transformation continues to occur. Like last year’s event, we heard many speakers and industry practitioners lament about increasing regulatory and compliance burdens and how it was impacting their BPM initiatives.

One of the new topics this year was a focus on using social media in BPM. The jury is still out, but there is an uptick in interest in how Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN and other social media tools can enable the collaboration that’s inherent in BPM. We’ll be posting links to videos of the sessions in the coming weeks.

Our next event is the 7th Annual Asset Management Industry Transformation & Outsourcing Strategies Forum on December 8th in New York. We always welcome your input on topics so please let us know what you are concerned about. Of course, the topic of regulations will pop up throughout the one-day event, but our members have also expressed concern about the use of mobile technologies and how to decide whether to implement a best-of-breed or integrated asset management solution and we’ve added some great sessions on these topics.

As a community of financial services professionals, our goal is to provide our members with timely information. One of the best ways for us to achieve that goal is to hear from you, whether it be to suggest topics for events or research reports or to pose a question to our members. Your input strengthens our community.

Labor Day, which we celebrated in the U.S. on Monday, marks the unofficial end of summer. The summer, however, has been anything but relaxing, with intense market volatility amid economic uncertainty and fears about the European debt crisis and potential of a double dip recession.

Of course, there’s no magic bullet to making conditions more stable and it’s likely that the financial industry will continue to experience lots of ups and downs on the road to recovery.

The title of the keynote address at our 2nd Annual Business Process Management and Technology Innovation Forum and Expo is “Can BPM Rescue the Financial Services Industry?” is provocative and meant to spur discussion about whether or not the financial services industry needs rescuing or whether it will be able to recover on its own.

Our keynote speaker, Adam Bryan, is managing director at Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC). DTCC knows a thing or two about process and technology: In 2009, DTCC settled more than $1.48 quadrillion in securities transactions. I’m interested to hear Adam’s perspective on how improvements in process and automation can have a dramatic impact on efficiency and resource optimization and why BPM holds great promise for the financial services firms.

We look forward to seeing you at the 2nd Annual Business Process Management and Technology Innovation Forum and Expo on October 5th at the Yale Club of New York City. For more information Click Here.

Please feel free to share your thoughts at editors@fsokx.com

The risk of a double dip recession is steadily rising as countries observe a slower growth rate and global markets continue to swing wildly. Last week, major media outlets were buzzing with headlines about a double dip as well as the approach of Hurricane Irene. Unsure which of the two looming disasters was worse, readers were left fretting, feeling vulnerable and apprehensive about the future. Growing concerns about a possible double dip recession is putting immense pressure on decision makers and corporate leaders to take prompt and accurate measures to ensure a continued recovery.

In a survey completed late in 2010, FSOkx found that reducing operational costs was the top objective for managers, followed by operational efficiency and risk management. Organizations must ensure that their pillars are strong enough to withstand the approaching winds of a double dip recession.

Making investments in business process management can help financial services organizations reduce operational costs and shore up their foundations. Adam Bryan, Managing Director, Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) will share his thoughts on how BPM can rescue the financial services industry at the FSOkx 2nd Annual Business Process Management and Technology Innovation Forum and Expo on October 5 in New York. Join the discussion at the event and please feel free to share your thoughts at editors@fsokx.com

The present day business environment with regulatory changes, economic volatility, and changing customer expectations undoubtedly calls for responsive agility from the process point of view. Effective adaptation of business processes to changing market conditions requires handling of high data volumes with complex patterns. Business Activity Monitoring and continuous improvement are based on scheduling algorithms using predictive analytics. Designing and implementing real-time business processes does not seem to be successful without detailed understanding and proper training.
As industry practitioners are gradually able to understand the strategic significance of BPM (Business Process Management) initiatives now, the Business Process Management and Technology Innovation Forum and Expo, hosted by FSO Knowledge Xchange, is dedicated to helping financial firms take that next step forward in defining a response to changing conditions across the organization. Sessions focused on business practices that enable agile adaptation in response to change will guide financial firms to derive maximum value from BPM investments.
As responsive agility in the new dynamic business environment is no longer an optional requirement, a large number of BPMS vendors are developing their simulation capabilities with process modeling tools. Proactive management of operational bottlenecks through BPM will not only revise processes quickly in response to organizational changes but also will allow decision makers to optimize the use of resources.
In order to gain more insights on leveraging BPM within financial services industry for reducing operational costs and risks while complying with regulatory requirements and gaining business agility, register at http://www.fsokx.com/fsokx/BPMTIForum2011/Registrationcodes.aspx for the 2nd Annual Business Process Management and Technology Innovation Forum and Expo on October 5, 2011 at New York and join us to explore the benefits of process improvement initiatives.

For many asset managers, it makes a lot of sense to outsource their back office accounting functions to a third party provider. Back office functions are often seen as commodity functions that, of course, need to be completed accurately and efficiently but are not an area where firms can significantly differentiate themselves.

The middle office is a tad trickier. Although there has been a trend toward outsourcing the middle office, many asset managers are keeping the middle office close to the chest, perhaps selectively outsourcing parts of the middle office to get their feet wet if you will, before embarking on a full-scale middle office outsourcing agreement.

The front office, for many asset managers, is where the magic happens – where they can differentiate themselves from other firms. Order management, pre-trade analytics and the like are still managed with in house, best of breed products. It’s not unusual for asset managers to run five, six, or even more front office systems to meet investment manager needs.

For the most part, we’re hearing from our community that the front office is fine the way it is today. Those responsible for operations would like to decrease the number of front office systems they need to maintain, but in the end, the business needs trump any desire for consolidation.

We’ll be discussing this topic more in-depth in an upcoming research report on trends in asset management outsourcing as well as at our 7th Annual Asset Management Industry Outsourcing Forum December 8 in New York. In the meantime, we’d love to hear your thoughts about asset management outsourcing trends, whether you are on the buy side or the sell side. You can contact me at lvalentine@fsokx.com

The current competitive environment requires businesses to foresee their needs and carry out the pre-assessment of the results of their strategies well before they are actually implemented. Moreover, the challenges faced by industry participants are multiplied to a great extent. In order to address the transforming industry demands, FSOkx hosts The Asset Management Industry Outsourcing Forum annually, where industry practitioners discuss emerging trends, operational strategies and latest technologies for the investment industry.

The 7th Annual Asset Management Industry Outsourcing Forum, a premier one-day event, will create an interactive environment for the attendees and speakers to facilitate perspective sharing on the fast-changing investment industry scenario. A sequence of informative sessions promises to not only support strategic decision-making but also in enabling the players in the investment management landscape to stay ahead of their peers. The forum will offer detailed insights on the current industry status as well as the industry outlook for 2012.

Benefits of Attending:

The attendees will gain knowledge focused on:

• Impact of regulatory compliance costs and alterations in taxation systems
• Role of streamlined operating models and compliance self-assessment to address future regulatory challenges
• Investors’ appetite for innovative investment strategies
• Potential impact of FATCA compliance on systems and operations along with the risks of non-compliance
• Major industry events of 2011 and what to watch out for in 2012 to identify new opportunities in the emerging Eastern economies
• Significance of third-party advisory services in managing client relationships
• Key issues, trends, and challenges in the institutional investment marketplace
• How distributors are gaining importance and power
• Positive attributes of boutique investment firms

Who Should Attend?

The conference is targeted towards the senior management of firms and organizations involved in asset management, including those in the following roles:

• Fund Managers
• Retirement and Pension Fund Advisors
• Investment Managers
• Insurance Companies
• Trade Associations
• Trustees
• Hedge Fund Managers
• Institutional Asset Managers
• Mutual Fund Managers
• Retail Asset Managers
• Chief Outsourcing Officers
• Chief Information Officers
• Chief Operations Officers
• Heads of Legal Departments
• Heads of Compliance Departments
• Directors or Direct Reports of the CIOs and CTOs
• Project Managers of IT and BPO Initiatives and Programs
• Chief Information Security Officers
• Others involved in enterprise-level outsourcing decisions

Financial services firms have relied on business process management (BPM) to drive efficiencies, reduce costs, and decrease time to market of new products and services for some time. While firms have made progress in BPM, often times BPM initiatives remain siloed and fail to achieve the promised ROI. There is still work to be done before financial services firms can achieve enterprise-wide benefits that can transform the organization and provide true competitive advantage.

Financial services firms must also counter rapid regulatory changes, economic volatility, and changing customer expectations in the midst of their BPM initiatives. Evolving BPM methods, including lean BPM and social BPM, are among the innovative ways firms are addressing these challenges.

The Business Process Management and Technology Innovation Forum and Expo, hosted by FSO Knowledge Xchange, is dedicated to helping financial firms take that next step forward in defining and automating processes across the organization. This premier one-day event for the financial services industry (banking, insurance, and capital markets) brings together industry experts, senior decision-makers, and thought leaders to share their insights and best practices in an environment that encourages participant interaction and networking.

Benefits of Attending:

• Gain unique insights on topics such as BPM technology trends, BPM adoption methodologies, and best practices for successful BPM.
• Learn how leading firms are responding to changing BPM operating models.
• Overcome the risk management and compliance challenges inherent in BPM.
• Understand the operational risks associated with BPM and the factors that drive or hamper return on investment of BPM projects.
• Manage the implementation challenges of lean BPM.
• Explore the benefits of combining social networking tools with BPM.
• Discover the most effective method of moving from a product-centric to process-centric way of doing business.
• Reduce operational complexity while increasing agility and efficiency.

Who Should Attend?

The Business Process Management and Technology Innovation Forum and Expo is designed for senior management of financial services firms including:

• COOs, CIOs, CAOs, Strategy Heads
• Operations Managers
• Process Re-engineering Executives
• Technology Officers
• Innovation Leaders
• Risk and Compliance Officers
• Performance Measurement Officers
• Front, Middle and Back Office Operations Managers
• Procurement Executives
• Lean and Six Sigma Experts
• Process Owners
• Master Black Belts and Black Belts
• Deployment Leaders and Champions