AMD Hosts Conference Call on Emerging Issues
CALL-IN ON TRENDS RELATING TO CREDIT DEFAULT SWAPS AND CORPORATE BONDS
The Asset Managers Division appreciates the leadership and guidance of Dan Stachel, Director of Credit Policy, State Street Global Advisors, who developed and moderated our October 5th industry Call-in concerning the correlation between CDS and corporate fixed-income securities. Other “emerging issues” discussed during the course of this Call-in included the proposed DTCC electronic Warehouse that will store all new CDS transactions beginning next month and the NASD’s proposal whereby CDS-related corporate bond trades would be reported to TRACE but such transactions would be outside the scope of dissemination to the marketplace.
Approximately 200 industry members took part in this one-hour AMD event which focused in part on increasing levels of CDS trading volume. For the convenience of the readership of the Weekly Report, we are pleased to provide the following audio re-play of this Call-in.
Simply click here to listen to the AMD Conference Call on Emerging Policy Issues in its entirety
Should you have any questions or suggestions concerning the Call-in or the activities of the Asset Managers Division, please contact Joseph Sack, Executive Vice President, The Bond Market Association, at 646-637-9265 or jsack@bondmarkets.com.
Proposed Reporting and Non-Dissemination Rule in Connection with CDS
The NASD has filed a proposed rule change with the SEC that would provide "exemptive relief from reporting requirements for transactions in TRACE-eligible securities executed in connection with the termination or settlement of a credit default swap." The proposal also states that information on certain swap transactions would not be disseminated. This topic was raised to the membership of the Asset Managers Division and the broader industry during yesterday's Emerging Policy Issues conference call (see article above). The AMD will discuss this issue and provide comments, as warranted.
Click here to read proposed rule change by NASD
Comments Requested on Draft Corporate Actions Best Practices
An increasing volume of corporate actions is being experienced throughout the securities industry. Asset managers and custodians are looking to streamline corporate actions processing as well as control and reduce the financial and reputation risks involved in corporate actions. The AMF Corporate Actions Committee is recommending best practices relating to corporate actions processing in order to promote efficiency and automation in this area. These best practices are published for comment and discussion by securities industry participants. The best practices document, which is available at the following link, describes the current issues, and defines proposed best practices on policy issues, documentation and communication of corporate actions.
Click here to read the AMF Corporate Actions Best Practices Document
The AMF encourages industry participants to comment on these proposed best practices. Written comments, which are due on November 30th, should be sent to Elisa Nuottajarvi of the AMF staff at enuottajarvi@bondmarkets.com.
Asset Management Industry Outsourcing Forum
The Asset Managers Forum is pleased to be a supporting organization in the 2nd Annual Asset Management Industry Outsourcing Forum. After a successful event in 2005, FSO Knowledge Xchange (www.FSOkx.com) will host the 2nd Annual Asset Management Industry Outsourcing Forum on November 7, 2006 at The Union League Club in New York City. This event focuses on Compliance, Risk Management, Operations and Technology Opportunities and Threats in Outsourcing.
The conference is targeted toward the senior management of firms and organizations involved in the asset management industry. Registration is FREE to qualified executives in the Banking, Insurance and Capital Markets arenas. To register, click here.