Hear a Replay of AMG's Webinar on the Trade Information Warehouse for Derivatives
The Asset Management Group of SIFMA hosted a successful educational event on DTCC's Trade Information Warehouse for Credit Derivatives. More that 140 attendees viewed a live presentation featuring Peter Axilrod and Gregg Rapaport of DTCC describing the workflow of the Trade Information Warehouse including the major functions of Trade Confirmation, Reconciliation, Payments and Settlements.
The AMG is promoting awareness of the Trade Information Warehouse to improve the accuracy and timeliness of downstream processing for OTC derivatives, which will reduce asset manager market exposure and operational risk. Asset managers need to start partnering with their custodians to utilize the Warehouse reports and functionality.
As a benefit to its constituents, the AMG has included a replay of its July 11, 2007, webinar on the Trade Information Warehouse for Derivatives. Also, be sure to view the documents listed below for asset managers.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW AND HEAR A REPLAY OF THE JULY 11 WEBINAR
Other Important Documents
"Trade Information Warehouse: A Practical Guide for Customers"
If you have any questions, please contact the SIFMA/AMG staff.
Working Group on Overdrafts
The AMF Working Group on Overdrafts will hold its second meeting on Wednesday, July 18th at 3:00 p.m. EDT. The Working Group has discussed and identified root causes for overdrafts and will also look into how overdrafts are reported and resolved. Asset managers are increasingly expected to monitor and report overdrafts, in part driven by Sarbanes Oxley compliance requirements. Tracking and resolving overdrafts are resource-intensive activities, as it is most often done manually. Asset managers would prefer more frequent reporting of overdrafts from custodians to make researching the root cause easier. Asset managers would also like custodians to notify them in real-time when an account is overdrawn in order to avoid the overdraft charge.
The industry co-chairs for this Working Group are Shawn Brady of GM Asset Management, Jesse Robinson of Western Asset Management and Thomas Dara of BlackRock. For any questions regarding this working group please contact Elisa Nuottajarvi of the staff at enuottajarvi@sifma.org.
AMF STP Committee
One of the major goals of the AMF STP Committee this year is to improve the quality of standing settlement instructions, as incorrect instructions continue to contribute to a large number of fails. The Reference Data Working Group of ISITC is also working toward this end. An important step in this process is for industry participants to agree on the standard minimum data elements that are required to populate the SSI databases in ALERT and AccountNet. ISITC has documented these data elements in the DRAFT Standing Settlement Instruction (SSI) Best Practice Guideline. This SSI Best Practice Guideline is the first and important step in the standardizing SSI data, but it does not address the feasibility of custodians directly uploading SSI information to the two vendor databases, which is a goal of the AMF STP Committee. Please contact Elisa Nuottajarvi of the staff at enuottajarvi@sifma.org, if you would like to receive a copy of the SSI Best Practice Guideline. The AMF STP Committee has scheduled a meeting for Thursday, August 2nd at 3:00 p.m. to discuss the SSI best practices and feedback on the document.
Standardized Fail Reporting Lunch and Learn on July 23
The Asset Managers Forum is hosting an event that provides an opportunity for operations professionals associated with both buy side and sell side firms and custodian banks to learn about the benefits of using a standardized fail reporting form. Today, broker-dealers and custodians send daily reports to asset managers on all the trades that failed to settle on the prior day that vary in format and by asset class.
The AMF Fails Working Group has developed a draft Standard Fail Report form with the input of asset managers, broker/dealers and custodians. The Working Group developed this standard form in order to ensure that fail reports contain complete information in a format suitable for computer processing and for the development of metrics. Broker/dealers and custodians benefit because they would be able to use a universal template for fixed-income and equity fail reporting.
Click here for additional information and to register
Asset Managers' Annual Golf Outing on July 31
The Asset Management Group and The Asset Managers Forum of SIFMA are hosting their annual golf outing on July 31, 2007 at Hollow Brook Golf Club in Cortland Manor, NY. Last year, the AMG/AMF had close to 100 happy attendees at the golf outing.
The AMG/AMF's membership growth and increased participation at our events over the past several years has created camaraderie among AMG/AMF members, but also among broker-dealers, custodians, vendors and other members of the Wall Street community. This annual golf outing is an extension of this special camaraderie and offers attendees an opportunity to network with colleagues and help foster relationships in order to further business at one of New York's most prestigious golf clubs.
Click here to register for the Golf Outing
Training Opportunities in Boston and New York City on August 1
Boston - Global Lifecycle of a Trade
The AMF is please to offer a GFMI training class on the global lifecycle of a trade in Boston. This one day program introduces attendees to the trade lifecycle and its related infrastructure from the perspective of both the U.S. and international markets. Product focus includes both equity and fixed income instruments. Participants follow the sequence of activity that occurs "behind the scenes" on trade date once a customer's order is executed through the final exchange of assets on settlement date.
Click here for additional course information on the Global Lifecycle of a Trade in Boston.
New York City - Introduction to Credit Derivatives
The AMF is please to offer a GFMI training class on credit derivatives in New York City. By the end of the course, participants will be able to understand the features and characteristics of credit derivatives, comprehend the risks associated with credit derivatives, know how credit derivatives are used in the financial markets and will develop an understanding of credit derivatives and the respective market participants.
Important Publications:
SIFMA Update
Washington Weekly
Legal, Regulatory and Market Practices Action Line
Weekly Report of the American Securitization Forum
SIFMA SmartBrief (past five issues)