Financial Services

Agility in Emerging Markets Technology
With emerging markets growing rapidly, investment in technology is the key to an organization’s success. In an environment with constantly changing requirements, time-to-market is crucial, and requires effective project control, discipline and successful delivery to quickly meet business demands. At the same time, achieving return on investment and keeping IT costs under control will be mandatory.

Complexity and Change Demand More than Software
Complexity – driven by regulatory reform, volatility, global competition, and the need to contain costs – is causing financial services institutions to seek relevant domain and technology expertise to help them navigate and capitalize on change. Globally, these firms are looking to realize more efficiency and free up capital to capture more opportunity. Software and technology platforms are a critical ingredient in driving these businesses, but successful change management in today's environment also requires a closer look at human capital, operational processes, and the resource location strategy that binds the two by allocating who does what work, and where they do it.

Is Too Much Systematich Data Being Collect?
The goal of the Office of Financial Research, spawned by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act in 2010, is to collect data from financial institutions and produce greater transparency. As a result, the industry as a whole can be analyzed for the specter of systemic risk, in effect heading off illness in one firm or group of firms before it spreads to the market as a whole...

Will Careful Investments in Collateral Management Create Winners?
As regulators work through the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act, Basel III and Solvency II, change in the financial markets is inevitable. While the industry awaits final outcomes, industry participants are seeking strategic guidance to proactively prepare for compliance. Since collateral is one of the key focal points for mitigating systemic risk, making the right investments in collateral management is a good place to start...

Could Exchanges Learn from the Airlines?
What do banks, airlines and exchanges have in common? Every country wants one. Based on signals coming from country regulators and politicians, it seems that exchanges have become the crown jewels of nationalistic pride, as they are the prized gem at the center of a country’s financial and capital growth. The desire to protect exchanges as sovereign assets is causing nations to be cautious of recent exchange merger activity and contemplate the potential risks and challenges of consolidated markets. One example is the Australian government’s rejection of the Singapore Stock Exchange...

How can Project Governance Increase Productivity and Efficiency for Your Financial Services Business?
Does your organization have a sound governance strategy? Have you vetted the strategy with all stakeholders: business, technology and operations? Have you analyzed the impact of introducing new products or changes into your operating environment? Do you have a sound plan for end-to-end testing of integrated solutions? Does your end-to-end testing really cover all impacted stakeholders (internal and external), systems and processes?