OMG Letter to the Federal Reserve on Credit and Equity Derivatives
The Operations Management Group submitted yesterday a letter to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which outlines its commitments to improve credit and equity derivatives processing. In the letter, the OMG commits to: improve levels of timeliness and accuracy in the immediate post-trade process automate novations processing by the end of 2008 universal use of standard reference data and, full implementation of centralized settlement among major dealers by September 2008. Asset managers commit to helping the process by submitting correct allocations on trade date.
Click here to read the OMG Letter to the NY Fed
Click here to read the Fed's Press Release
Click here to read SIFMA's Press Release
AMG Lunch & Learn on Valuing Securities and Other Financial Instruments -- Save the Date: April 17, 2008
The AMG is overseeing the development of a White Paper that would provide industry-wide guidance for asset management firms regarding the valuation of securities and other financial instruments in the funds and accounts they manage. This initiative is driven, in part, by the recent turmoil in the marketplace from the subprime situation and will focus principally on industry-wide guidelines to assist buy side firms with their own individual policy and procedures. Accordingly, the AMG will host a Lunch & Learn educational event on April 17th that focuses on the principles being put forth in the White Paper. This event is a “must attend” for any asset manager that has valuation or pricing responsibilities or oversight, including traders, compliance officers and operations and accounting professionals. The guidance that is provided within the White Paper is a result of over a dozen interviews with asset management firms on their current valuation practices.
Click here to Register
Educational Event: AMG Lunch & Learn on Valuing Securities and Other Financial Instruments (in cooperation with The Asset Managers Forum)
Date: Thursday, April 17, 2008
Time: 11:45 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.
Location: SIFMA New York Offices, 360 Madison Ave., 17th Floor (entrance on 45th Street), New York, NY 10017
Featured Panelist: Barry Barbash, Esq., Willkie, Farr & Gallagher
Click here to Register
If you have any questions regarding the AMG’s valuation initiative, please contact Joseph Sack, Managing Director at SIFMA, at 212.313.1165.
Credit Corner:
A New Special Section of the Weekly Report on News and Policy Developments relating to Today's Markets and What Every Asset Manager Should Know.
Moody's Solicits Comments on Proposed Changes in Mortgage Securitization
On March 26, 2008, Moody's Investor Service promulgated a draft proposal that is intended to improve transparency in the residential mortgage market. The proposal, which would apply to all residential mortgage securitizations, lists five specific ways by which to improve transparency, data integrity and accountability by creating:
1) Stronger representations and warranties
2) Independent third-party pre-securitization review of underlying mortgage loans
3) Standardized post-securitization forensic review
4) Expanded loan-level data reporting of initial mortgage pool and ongoing loan performance
5) More comprehensive originator assessments
Click here to view Moody's Proposed Enhancements to U.S. Residential Mortgage Securitization
Members of the AMG will evaluate the proposal. Industry comments are due to Moody's by April 11, 2008.
Treasury Secretary Addresses Fed Oversight and Housing Market
On March 26, 2008, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson stated that the Treasury will soon release a Blueprint for Regulatory Reform which will "promote orderly markets and foster financial sector innovation and competitiveness." In his remarks before the US Chamber of Commerce, Secretary Paulson suggested that the Federal Reserve play a greater role in overseeing investment banks. Secretary Paulson went on to discuss the status of the housing and mortgage markets and the efforts underway to mitigate preventable foreclosures.
NASDAQ Cancels Symbology Initiative
NASDAQ is canceling the second phase of the stock symbol changes plan, which includes the adoption of "special" characters to identify subordinate issue types. The cancellation of the stock symbol system changes is taking effect immediately. This decision is a result of strong industry feedback in support of the development of an industry-wide, uniform suffix symbology solution for all U.S. equities. In response, NASDAQ has filed a formal comment letter with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) calling for an industry initiative to develop a uniform symbol suffix solution.
Click here to contact the NASDAQ Symbology Team by email
Important Publication:
SIFMA SmartBrief (past five issues)