Asset Managers Plan to Respond to Treasury Concerning Issuance of 30 Year Bond
The U.S. Treasury issued a statement on Wednesday, May 4, that indicated that the Treasury Department is considering reintroducing the regular issuance of a 30-year nominal Treasury bond. It was stated that a decision on the 30-year nominal issuance would be announced in August 2005. Subsequent to the statement by the Treasury, participants in the Senior Executives Group met and discussed the need to conduct an informal survey of CIOs and to respond to issues being raised by the Treasury Department. The SEG plans to meet with representatives of The Bond Market Association and communicate with U.S. Treasury officials in the next several weeks. Specific discussion items will include ways to communicate with the market and various parameters concerning resumption of the 30 year bond.
COOs and other senior executives at asset management firms would be cordially invited to participate in the aforementioned activities. If interested, please contact Joseph Sack, Executive Director of the SEG and EVP of The Bond Market Association at 646.637.9265.
Click here to read the May 4 statement issued by the U.S. Treasury
Task Force on Electronic Confirmations being Sponsored by TBMA's Money Market Operations Committee
The first meeting for the newly formed Task Force on Electronic Confirmations is scheduled for Monday, May 16th at 3:30 p.m. (ET). This Task Force will explore the feasibility and benefits of moving to electronic, rather than paper, confirms for various types of debt securities including corporates, government securities and money market products. This Task Force is a joint initiative of The Bond Market Association and The Asset Managers Forum. TO ENSURE THE SUCCESS OF THIS INITIATIVE, BUYSIDE PARTICIPATION IS CRITICAL. The working group plans to work closely with industry utilities, such as DTCC and Omgeo, to propose an electronic model and build a solution in a standardized industry format. Please contact Michele David of The Bond Market Association at 646.637.9220 or Douglas Taggart of The Asset Managers Forum at 646.637.9273 if you would like to join the Task Force and/or to attend the kick off meeting on May 16th.
Accounting Standards in U.S. and Europe move toward Convergence
In the April 29 Weekly Report, it was reported that the Committee of European Regulators (CESR) had published a draft document for comment that essentially finds US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) to be equivalent to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). This move demonstrates that the US and the European Union are moving closer toward convergence of accounting standards.
The AMF Accounting Policy Committee will monitor developments as they relate to accounting standards that would affect asset management firms. AMF Accounting Policy Committee Chair, Cindi Finn, of ING Investment Management offered the following statement relating to the recent announcement:
I think this is a very significant move on the part of the SEC and EU Market Regulators for foreign filers in the US. This proposal will establish International Accounting Standards on equal footing with US GAAP even prior to convergence and offers a reporting option to foreign companies registered in US markets. There are big challenges remaining, however. Although the reporting (20-F) would be eliminated, in my opinion, disclosure is not as easy as it sounds. Differences between IFRS principle-based standards and US GAAP rule-based standards are not always easy to identify nor easy to articulate. This will continue to present a challenge to analysts and investors. I see this as a big, though ultimately positive, change for financial reporting which will require no small amount of consideration and discussion in order to achieve consistency of understanding across markets, industries, and bases of accounting. This is yet another indication of the revolutionary times we're living through with regard to business and financial reporting.
This announcement further highlights the benefit of an organizations such as the AMF and The Bond Market Association in providing a sounding board and broader technical resource to its membership in navigating through uncharted territory as it specifically relates to our industry. I would encourage much discussion through a forum dedicated to the implementation of International Accounting Standards and its effects on US GAAP filers.
Register for AMF Bank Loan Workshop and Quarterly Meeting
The Asset Managers Forum will host two west coast/east coast events on May 16 and May 17 in Newport Beach, CA and New York City, NY. On May 16, the Forum will host an educational workshop on Bank Loans and on May 17, the Forum will have its Quarterly Business Meeting. These events will be held simultaneously and broadcast in real-time through video conference and phone. These events are being sponsored by SimCorp, which develops integrated investment and treasury management systems. For more information on these events or to register, please click on the links below.
