Wall Street & Technology: Blog

U.S. Firms Must Start Preparing Now for Massive IFRS Reform, says Ernst & Young

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:46:07 -0500

The U.S. Conversion from GAAP to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) should take place in 2013. But if financial firms want to be ready, they must start preparing now, says Ernst & Young.

Michael Oxley Says SOX A Burden At First, But Now A Global Trendsetter

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:48:40 -0500

Former U.S. Congressman Michael Oxley, vice chairman of Nasdaq, acknowledges that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act he co-authored was too onerous at first -- but says it has since spurred a global compliance trend.

Roundtable Analyzes Hedge Funds Best Practices (Part 2)

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 11:00:41 -0500

In a recent roundtable, panelists offered advice on why it is important for hedge funds to increase transparency, perform "checks and balances" on valuations, add dedicated risk management functions and have a business continuity plan for trading operations. Ultimately, these practices will help reduce hedge fund risk and improve investor protections.

Despite SocGen, Most Firms Still Don't Fully Investigate Suspicious Alerts

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:38:22 -0500

In spite of recent high-profile financial scandals such as the SocGen rogue trader case, most financial firms are still not fully investigating all suspicious activity alerts.

E-Discovery: IT Execs Overconfident and Underprepared

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:04:34 -0500

Almost 98% of IT executives rate their ability to respond to litigation as above average or very well prepared, according to a new survey from IDC. But according to analysts, they are vastly overrating themselves.

Hedge Funds Best Practices Outlined by President�s Financial Working Group

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:18:37 -0500

Eze Castle Integration recently hosted a roundtable discussion about the April 2008 Hedge Fund Best Practices Peport from the Asset Managers� Committee to the President�s Working Group on Financial Markets. A panel of hedge fund industry executives from Equinox Partners, Ernst & Young and the law firm Bingham McCutchen joined Eze Castle Integration in discussing the Asset Managers� and Investors� Committee reports. This blog is the first of two that discusses the reports and requirements for hedge funds, as well as the panel discussion and recommendations.

E-Discovery Leads to Arrest of Bear Stearns Hedge Funds Managers

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:31:29 -0500

E-discovery is at the center of the arrest of two former Bearn Stearns managers, taken into custody today over their roles in the collapse of two hedge funds which triggered the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

XBRL: Accounting on Steroids (video)

Thu, 22 May 2008 12:16:11 -0500

Now that the SEC has mandated that all large publically held companies file their financial reports in XBRL format, the push is on to implement the necessary technology, codes and processes. However, some are asking: "Just what is XBRL?" As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, what is a video -- a collection of moving pictures -- worth? Well, check out this simple, sometimes witty and informative video primer on the SEC's XBRL mandate from Just Systems:

Financial Firms Expect More Rogue Trading

Tue, 20 May 2008 14:59:25 -0500

In the aftermath of the SocGen scandal, a new study has found that 75% of investment firms expect another $100 million rogue trading loss to be uncovered at a large financial institution within the next 12 months.

FINRA Issues Guidelines to Prevent Rogue Trading

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:04:10 -0500

In the aftermath of the clamorous Soc Gen scandal , FINRA has issued guidance to financial firms outlining best practices for detecting and preventing rogue trading.

FINRA CEO Mary L. Schapiro pointed out that while rogue trading isn't new, pervasive elctronic trading and market lingages have increased pressure on some firms to relax internal controls.

SocGen: Another Trader is Detained

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:04:04 -0500

SocGen confirmed that police just searched its trading floor and held another trader and former colleague of rogue trader Jerome Kerviel, for questioning. Some records were also taken away by officers.

IT Vendor Management More Important than Ever for Financial Firms

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 10:29:11 -0500

A new survey has found that IT vendor management is becoming increasingly important for banks, who now consider it an enterprise-wide issue that can help significantly reduce costs, as well as reduce corporate reputation risk.

Soc Gen: Bank's Controls Didn't Work, says report

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 14:43:00 -0500

Christine Lagarde, France's economy minister, said some of Societe Generale's internal controls failed to work, leading to the scandal of the junior trader who "lost" $7 billion.

Bird Flu Pandemic: Will Telecommuting Work on Wall Street?

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:08:06 -0500

While most large financial institution firms plan to rely on telecommuting in the case of a pandemic - new results of a financial industry drill show that few employees actually did telecommute at all.

Societe Generale: Could it Have Prevented $7.2 billion fraud?

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 15:46:15 -0500

Jerome Kerviel, the Societe Generale trader who allegedly carried out a $7.2 billion fraud, confessed to police that he hid his activities from his superiors, and claimed both he and other employees had been carrying out risky trades since 2005. So how could Soc Gen have prevented the fraud?