Compliance Today

AML - Through the eyes of a criminal upcoming webcast.

2010-06-16T09:23:00.001-07:00

It's fair to say that AML professionals are facing a number of significant challenges right now. Some of them are connected directly to the global economic downturn and others to rising international cooperation against rogue states, terrorists and fraudsters. Robert Mazur, a former federal agent is best known for his undercover role as a money launderer that brought down Colombian drug cartels. During our upcoming webcast he discusses how firms can better combat anti-money laundering compliance by understanding the criminal's mindset and knowing how to avoid common mistakes.

Additional topics to be discussed:

Offshore obstacles to identifying beneficial ownership
The pitfalls of willful blindness
Vicarious liability: How the acts of employees can be attributed to the whole firm
Has international bank conduct really changed?

Click here to register: http://www.complinet.com/connected/news-and-events/webcasts/aml-eyes/register.html

This event is free to attend and Robert is a highly respected thought leader and commentator on this topic. Highly recommended for AML professionals everywhere.

Risk, compliance and the application of controls to deliver value

2010-06-03T02:59:00.001-07:00

Some people say that regulatory reform is not moving fast enough and that somehow the 'unsatisfactory recovery' over the past 12 months has resulted in a forgotten crisis. What we at Complinet have seen though is a real determination from firms who are now working to consolidate market information and commercial outcomes with the underlying regulatory risks and applicable rules. This is known increasingly as the 'line of sight' and it's a layer of transparency that is defining the way banks in particular are thinking about addressing compliance. In essence the market used to think about consolidation of critical compliance information in terms of linking corporate policies and procedures with the rules that relate to each of them and while that is a very important part of the puzzle, the broader ability to link this component with the commercial side of the business is proving to be a real leap forward. Firms are asking for a consolidated view of risk. One that takes into account the products they develop and the markets they serve together with the underlying regulatory frameworks so that each change to a rule or every innovative development of a product or entry into a new market all have a known impact and relationship with them. It's an area we expect to see more interest in and a direction we are very excited about as we help our customers understand and manage regulatory and operational risk.

European Customer Summit approaches

2010-05-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

There are markers in the calendar, we each have them. They range from Birthdays of the people we're close to, hallmark events from Valentines to Father's day and of course the big religious festivals. I am not going to suggest that our Customer Summit ranks among these for you (it does among my marketing team I can tell you) but it's amazing to me how quickly these same markers come around. A year cycles so quickly. Our ECS is on May 27th this year and I reflect on all that has changed in the past 12 months. We heard last week for example that the FSA removed it's head from the noose. Speaking of nooses, the hung parliament has had a positive outcome for the regulator and many see this as an important development given a market that is bouncing back and forth. We're now seeing a shift from countries bailing out banks to banks bailing out countries. One of the big developments we've seen in these past 12 months is the notion that there needs to be a cleaner and more transparent relationship between market or operational risks and the underlying regulatory risks that inevitable surround them. Our panels at the customer summits will bring together leading authorities and practitioners and among the topics we'll be debate the very idea that while the idea of this connection is enticing, firms and people are not able to fully comprehend the linkage and skill sets that will be required to achieve them. Complinet is working hard with firms to risk map their various product, and the markets they serve with an underlying regulatory frame work. A sort of live health check for measured risk taking. Complinet TV will also be there filming the event, conducting interviews and broadcasting a number of views from the floor.

SIFMA Compliance and Legal on the hill.

2010-05-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again. Legal and Compliance experts within the broker dealer community congregate once again to discuss regulatory frameworks, firm's approaches to managing risks, trends in the industry and generally work on building some form of consensus on how best to address and adhere to the rules of the road. I've been to the SIFMAC&L events for a number of years and the first thing that struck me was how these were always a well balanced blend of serious debate and activities by the golf course or near the pool. Unlike some who may think this is a jolly, the fact is that risk and compliance folks are really, now more than ever, at the sharp end of the risk management game and don't necessarily get the same financial rewards. So, I always felt SIFMAC&L was a suitably nice way to give this group of stressed out practitioners a little time to unwind while hearing where the next body blows will hit. I was therefore a little surprised to see that this year's event is in our nation's capital. I wondered if this was a statement about the importance now that central government are playing in shaping the regulatory reforms or if this was to deal with the fact that firms are still reluctant to shell out for airline tickets for compliance staff. I really hope it's to do with the former. I like that this year the Compliance and Legal event (attracting some 1400 people) is in close proximity to where the rules are being laid down. I wondered too if Mary Shapiro will be in attendance having moved from FINRA to the SEC. Where ever this event is, it's important that risk, compliance and inside counsel remain up to speed with the latest issues, techniques and approaches and share perspectives on the market, where the next set of operational challenges will be and how best to prepare. I do wish the UK had a similar body with the same clout. Complinet will be there on booth 4 to demonstrate it's policy management system, regulatory tracking system and information services stream to help larger firms connect rule changes with internal systems and controls. See you there.

Complinet Launches new Compliance TV Channel

2010-04-09T06:32:00.000-07:00

Complinet TV gets launched today to deliver a weekly round up of the key risk and compliance news stories from around the world. This is partly the result of our discussions with customers at our quarterly customer advisory board meetings who asked for more non-text based delivery of the news from Complinet Complete, our on-line compliance news service. Complinet TV is free, lasting four and a half minutes and broadcast from our London offices with outside broadcasts and interviews scheduled for upcoming shows. Complinet TV will also be broadcast on Reuters Insider, a new on-line service being launched in May. Expect to see greater use of more diverse media from Complinet - We also want to begin mobile access of these news stories so you can watch them on your commute. We hope you enjoy this unique service.

End of an Era

2010-04-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

I am devoting this weeks blog to the departure of one of Complinet's three original founders, Alex Viall. Complinet is a little different to most information services vendors in that the three original founders have remained very much involved in the business throughout it's past fourteen years but also the profile of the original three is particularly interesting and relevant to the Complinet story. Originally meeting at University the three comprise Chris Pilling our CEO, who is a consummate innovator and entrepreneur, while Nick Roberts (now running our Australian and New Zealand operation) came from a banking background and is firmly grounded in the commercial side of the business leaving Alex as a former SFA employee (pre FSA days) and a former compliance officer at ING Barings. The combination of technologist, sales and regulatory experience really goes a long way to explain the personality and characteristics of the business. It's actually one that works its way through the entire organization.

We're not so much a product company as a collection of industry experts and activists who work tirelessly to find ways to build new and interesting solutions to solve risk and compliance challenges and the associated operational burdens they place on the precious resources. We of course need to then sell and market those solutions but the backbone of Complinet has always been hatched from the idea that we 'get' the issues and challenges that you as practitioners face.

And so while we have grown significantly, adding more industry expertise it is still pretty sad to see on of the original founders move on. Rest assured we'll continue to develop new technology and engage with the financial services market in our on-going qwest to make your job a little easier.

As for Alex? Well it's a wedding and then a well deserved year out touring the world with his new wife. Lucky thing.

From Social Network to Expert Network

2010-03-26T09:54:00.000-07:00

The financial services markets were rocked so severely that questions were bound to be asked and naturally the controls that were put in place during this period, having been wanting, are now being reviewed.

In fact firms around the world are now being 'stress tested' to ensure that new measures being implemented will go far enough to halt future regulatory failures. Critics claim that regulations now being proposed will only help to fight the last war and that for the markets to truly recover they need to address not only the processes being put in place but the people in the system and how they need to change. So it is somewhat ironic that there are no specific qualifications required to become a Compliance Officer and although many people in this role will have a legal qualification there are few specifics and fewer mandates on the criteria for the role (outside of a firm's individual spec). There are recommendations from some regulators but in many regions this is somewhat loose. So how do the people in these critical roles ensure that they are doing the right thing? Well for one they talk to each other and Complinet of course helps play a role by physically connecting them with peers at the various risk and compliance summits, forums and workshops we run globally.

Another big step for Complinet is to leverage new technology used by many of us socially such as FaceBook, Twitter and so on in it's more structured, enterprise-appropriate carnation. Corporate flavors of social networking are taking shape and beginning to take hold in firms. We use them ourselves and in fact now use SocialWok on Google Apps to help facilitate better and more dynamic communications internally.

So the social network where people swap war stories and pictures of their cats and babies is being more intelligently redeployed as a live collaboration tool to bring together experts in specific markets to share ideas, best practices and swap advice and guidance. A more relevant form of message board and micro blogging has sprung and now brings peers together in a way that builds real value both inside the firm but also across a specific industry.

Our next generation of product will fully incorporate these new dynamics and help the next generation of Compliance Officer learn from, and teach peers in a semi formal way while performing their various tasks. In a sense risk and compliance professionals will help build consensus on approach as they deliver results internally - this is particularly important when rule makers are at best inconsistent and in many cases vague about their guidance.

It is Complinet's view that a compliance community will emerge in a more meaningful way as the markets re-form and reform. From CCOs to practitioners that track regulatory developments, at every level in fact, this industry will need context for decision making and to a large extent the way they operate, with regulatory support (no action letters for example) will provide insight for other firms on what is expected from regulators.

The tone and structure of an FSA arrow visit for example was shared at a recent Complinet event when one firm discussed their surprise at a couple of changes and questions. Immediately the other firms at the event made notes and communicated internally that they should expect something similar. This was a forum for 10 firms - the community at large building an expert network would be able to share this information across the relevant parts of that expert network. So expect to see The next generation of Compliance Officer become much more aware and in touch with expert networking to provide guidance, context and validation.

From Subscription to Information Services - A Brand Challenge.

2010-03-22T15:41:00.000-07:00

Complinet holds a pretty firm leadership position in it's space. The market is consolidating rapidly and investment decisions for risk and compliance solutions are firmly in focus. The message from regulators is pretty clear - shape up. The reality though about our market is that firms range in size from the very big (almost too big to fail) to the independent brokers and IFAs.

It may actually surprise some to learn that in many ways regulators and indeed regulations do not vary as greatly as the variety of the firms in the market may first indicate. So smaller firms struggle to meet their obligations only because the limited resources need to go out and make money for the firm, whereas the global financial powerhouses need to find ways to automate due to the sheer scale and complexity of the challenge.

Enter the brand challenge. A CEO once told me that a firm needs to decide if it wants to be a desert topping or a floor wax. This colorful metaphor always amused me but the message is actually a serious one. Firms like Complinet need an identity and that needs to 'resonate' with our clients. But, with clients so wide and varied, from one man shops to global top 10s across 81 countries it's tricky to get that brand message right and delivered in a way that makes sense for each of these potential client types.

So Complinet is now embarking on a mission to refine it's message for it's on-line subscription services and a clearly delineated brand for it's enterprise solutions. We'll announce this positioning soon but one thing we want to communicate, the quality, strength and rigor of all of our solutions is uncompromised from the bottom up.

Watch this space for our new positioning

A compliance view from the Middle East

2010-03-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

En route to moderating our GCC summit in Doha I was invited to come and talk about Compliance in the Middle East on Al Jazeera. I went on the 'Counting the Cost' show and talked about regulatory reform within the Gulf States. I actually find the Middle East a fascinating region from a regulatory stand point because these autocratic states are genuinely trying to become more diverse, or at least less dependant on a single commodity, be it gas or oil. The Challenges therefore become tied to the political will of each state and a real commitment to developing past single organism exchanges into more complex entities. Interestingly the Middle East is developing very fast and is learning from mistakes made in the West to develop a model that will work in that region. Time will tell but some of the early signs are promising.

To see the video - click here.

CNBC - Getting Ready for the GCC Summit in Doha

2010-02-16T08:17:00.000-08:00

Get the CNBC Interview on the GCC and Shariah Banking

Middle Eastern markets are facing some of it's most pressing challenges. Market failure and a new breed of more complex products are challenging the principles of Shariah although the market has fared relatively well and is growing by 15-20% each year. Complinet continues to play a pivotal role in helping to shape opinions and share perspectives throughout the GCC region by working with regulators and firms throughout the Gulf. Our summit takes place next week in Doha where we'll be debating topics such as re-benchmarking local regulatory skills, using more sophisticated AML approaches to solve new challenges and understanding how the region will compete as a global financial center as new reforms begin to take hold.

Waking the Sleeping Dragon

2010-02-04T11:41:00.001-08:00

I picked up my visa today from the Consulate of the People of China. Our Middle and Far East country manager, Leas Bachatene and I are on a tour in February with a couple of our business partners, Deloitte in Hong Kong and Singapore and then off to meet with our new reseller, Tide in Beijing.

Complinet provides risk and compliance information around the world and what I am beginning to realize more than anything else is that the notion of a global financial village or a fully connected commercial entity is largely superficial. It is not that the fundamental banking practices and even techniques are wildly different, and certainly the profit motive is

extremely potent in every region but it is the regulatory culture and perhaps even the ethical drivers that I am interested in.

Where the west has largely unbridled capitalism with more product complexity, astounding booms and the inevitable busts propped up by teams of regulators desperately attempting to strike the right balance between reform and recovery, the Middle East maintains a strong faith based system where the principles of Shari'ah remain deeply embedded in the investor psyche. This is not at a commercial level but more at a religious one.

In effect the absence of ethics is supplanted with a deeper and even more meaningful purpose.

Now contrast that with China (not including it's western-model banking enclave - Hong Kong) and you get some sense of how this 'command culture' begins to struggle with rigid ideas and a relatively new commercialism that challenges our old view that somehow Communism, or Socialism directly correlate with a stagnant, non-competitive and unsophisticated financial system - The truth is very different.

So, for Complinet's customers, spanning 81 countries we see that local content, while critical does not substitute an authentic understanding of the cultural nuances in those regions in which they operate. To help our clients, Complinet's global reach is growing constantly with offices open in the Middle and Far East and I am excited in how we are beginning to work with local regulators to help form markets (such as the GCC) and create greater cohesion around the world.

We collaborate with a committed set of clients, and there are some truly incredible opportunities but as a provider of information technology you must beware not to arrive with any preconceived notions. Spend a lot of time listening to the market and embrace those cultural differences - they make the world of compliance a colorful place to operate in.

Next generation - User generated

2010-02-01T12:34:00.000-08:00

An interesting debate is taking place at Complinet regarding the value of user generated content (UGC). The principle is that our subscribers evolve from passive readers to active participants and that collectively they build a base of high value information that is profiled, shared and rated in the community. Of course we're all increasingly familiar with the concepts of UGC. For most of us this is the restaurant reviews and hotel feedback we get on various sites that use that real customer insight to add legitimacy to a paid for review. In expert networks such as Complinet's, this would involve risk and compliance professionals across the globe commenting on proposed rule changes or regulatory developments in the consultation period.

The issue with expert networks is how well controlled this content is. On the one hand there is a general acceptance that this is not sterile editorial commentary but raw market insight, and so what you may lose in structure you gain in color. Complinet is a fascinating company in that it is highly innovative but all the while is dealing with critical industry information that must be well defined, categorized and delivered with diligence and incredible accuracy - clients demand this..

So it's a compromise for sure but on balance there is a lot that can be gained by having our clients become more active. I like this idea a lot and with the right caveats this layer of subject matter can provide a very real and authentic sense of how the community is 'feeling' about a topic.

The debate continues but Complinet, as always, leads the way by carefully considering the options, working with clients and the latest technology on how to 'trend' topics, build wiki type taxonomies that are dynamic and a community of risk and compliance professionals around the world with a common goal to avoid regulatory failure and to assist for the greater good of the industry.

Bullseye! Preparing for an Arrow visit

2010-02-01T12:13:00.000-08:00

It's interesting hearing from parties outside of the financial services markets that they perceive little has changed. In fact there is an overriding concern that we'll be back in the next financial crisis within 5 years (according to a survey on the forgotten crisis conducted by Complinet recently).

The story from our customers, who work in compliance for some of the world's most demanding financial services institutions, is quite different. What we're hearing is that the FSA in the UK in particular are carrying out their Arrow visits with more tenacity and a few surprises along the way.

Stories of short time lines and little notice before a visit begins and traders being nabbed on the shop floor and being asked who their designated compliance lead is and so on have firms wondering just how painful this proctological exam is going to be.

I suppose this difference between the perception that regulators are not really working any harder to prevent further transgressions and the reality that firms are biting hard as they prepare for what's coming (and in some cases what has come), lies at the heart of the PR challenge the financial markets now face.

In a lot of ways, financial markets still need to attract investment and that can sometimes be at odds with an overly burdensome regulatory market. However investors need to feel protected and consumers must regain confidence in the system if it is to recover in a sustainable way.

I remember failing my first driving test not because I didn't look in the rear view mirror before pulling out of the parking area outside of the examination center but because I didn't make it clear to my examiner that I had done so. It's not what you do that matters, it's what you are seen to do. And so the FSA must understand that there will be a need to communicate in an effective way, the changes they have made so that firms at least get some public recognition for putting in place the many new steps to avoid further transgressions.

We're putting together a webcast on preparing for a new type of Arrow visit. Keep checking our website, oh and keep looking in that rear view mirror.

Migration - A compliance market on the move

2010-01-29T09:50:00.000-08:00

We've noticed recently that a lot of users from existing client firms are now appearing as potential clients in new firms where they may have recently been hired. This is great for our overall penetration in the market but we'd like to provide some kind of incentive for their new employers to subscribe these practitioners to a service they are clearly familiar with. So we're soon launching a migration, or loyalty program. Tricky to do this without somehow sounding like we're promoting people leaving their current employer, which clearly we are not.

One thing is clear - the market is on the move. Firms are finally re-hiring and many of our old users are back, somewhere new and wanting to get re-connected to the Complinet compliance information service.

We've missed them and want them all back. We'll announce our migration plan along with some new promotional pricing in the coming weeks to keep our loyal customers with us, where ever they've landed. Welcome back!

Regulating social networking

2010-01-15T07:15:00.000-08:00

We're all on a wide number of social networking sites. We follow on twitter, get linked in with business contacts and befriend people on the world's largest on-line community; Facebook - a community larger in population than many countries. There are of course dangers, reputational risk, false claims and so on. Financial services firms are finding themselves under increased pressure to control the flow of information through these channels and where email and IM were the areas for focus for records and policy management owners, those days seem like childs play to controlling the many postings on the world-wide web. Complinet have put together a free event to help guide firms to understand the implications and ramifications. It's amazing but we've had more respondents and registrants to this one topic than any other. So if you're in compliance and trying to meander through the maze of regulatory obligation as it relates to social networking - click here to sign up and listen. Fascinating stuff. social networking

Survey finds the bonus culture needs to change

2010-01-12T06:22:00.000-08:00

Complinet conducted a survey recently on how the bonus culture within banks is perceived by others both within and outside of the financial services market. It shows that while risk taking has reduced somewhat the majority of firms do not feel that the right controls are in place or that the bonus culture has shifted sufficiently so as to change behavior. Complinet has maintained that eliminating the bonuses is of course unrealistic but Compliance people would be helped immensely if the payouts were linked to longer term prosperity inside the firms and perhaps KPIs related to the viability of the various products sold and their adherence to the rules and regulations that govern them. See the interview from today's FT (Financial Times) for a little more or click on the survey link above to get the full survey results.

There continues to be some concern that the market recovery may quickly fade the memories of some (it's the party without the hangover) and that the US' focus on health reform together with the UK's political shift will overtake what are a set of urgent reforms. On the positive side, we have seem some firms (particularly the larger ones) take very proactive steps to build new controls linking rule changes directly with the market and products sold (operational compliance).

Catching the customer

2010-01-06T08:22:00.000-08:00

About 4 months ago Complinet built out a customer advisory board in the US and UK. We'll add more in the Middle East and Asia this year. Any vendor that launches products to market should find as many ways to catch client feedback and incorporate that into roadmaps and overall product direction. For any market that is driven by government or regulatory events this is really important because customers will fully understand the pain and know the internal challenges they face. Our advisory groups focus on our larger clients such as UBS, Citi, Prudential, Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley but we'll plan forums for smaller firms in April. I often feel that we don't get enough client time. It's always extremely valuable and these forums along with our customer summits which are annual make sure there is an authenticity in our product direction. We actually employ lots of former compliance professionals, former regulators and attorneys but clients are living the pain daily and it's their feedback that drives our activity. So, I highly recommend these forums, captured feedback and loops back into a structured product roadmap for any innovative company.

The Forgotten Crisis

2009-12-16T08:07:00.000-08:00

Last year we launched a successful campaign called The Great Crash which focused on the cyclical nature of regulatory failure and how markets work through them. We looked at the characteristics, interviewing former compliance officers from Lehmans, economists and former Moodys executives. What is interesting in any cycle is the way in which markets rebound and how quickly the period of reflection and reform turns into more cork popping and back slapping. The fact is that the markets needed that period of reflection to think carefully about how to avoid a repeat crash. Some call it a double dip but it's actually more concerning than that. It's the fact that the markets have not really taken stock of the market failures and put in place controls to avoid another occurrence. The truth is that markets will rise and fall and in that process there will be winners and losers. The real question though is how satisfactory is this recovery? How authentic is it and what have we learnt in this most recent cycle? We have a survey in place to ask these types of question for the launch of our new campaign in January titled The Forgotten Crisis. You can complete the survey here.

Compliance by Intravenous

2009-12-16T07:37:00.000-08:00

Compliance departments around the world have logged into our site to get daily updates on rule developments and enforcement actions but something has changed since the Great Crash of 08. Firms need to get a direct feed of all of this risk and compliance information and plug that directly into their own systems. Imagine you're a firm with a risk management platform that tells you which products you sell around the world. Well when a rule changes somewhere, anywhere, that will probably have an impact on one or more of those products. It can require a simple change in marketing materials or may actually require you to change the structure of that product. It's a tricky thing to get right because you want to keep everything on the market while staying in line with the rules. Complinet launched DIS (this stands for Direct Integration Service). Not an overly complicated name - In short, we pipe all of that rich information directly into any system you may have (from Protiviti or Sharepoint) so when a rule changes it is mapped through a global categorization system into those product descriptions and flags the relevant products accordingly. Bigger clients are engaging first but smaller firms will also need to get this done in due course.

The Queen and I - on Bloomberg TV

2009-12-16T07:17:00.000-08:00

I was recently asked to discuss the Queen's speech on Bloomberg as a number of elements covered talked about regulatory reform. I was very pleased to be asked and like that Complinet is emerging as an industry voice in the market. You can see the video on youtube. The speech talked a lot about trust and sustainability and it got me thinking once again about how cyclical the regulatory cycles are. I remember as a kid there was a road where our parents always said 'one day there's going to be a terrible accident on that corner'. For the longest time there was a petition to get a new roadsign and crossing lights but the local authority never provided it. Of course, one day the inevitable happened and there was a fatal accident. Within four weeks the signs were up as was a new crossing light to warn of a sharp turn ahead. I suppose it's human nature to react to this type of thing rather than take preventative action but financial markets can do a better job of prevention versus post mortem.

Twitter

2009-12-16T07:07:00.000-08:00

I love twitter. I only really got it when someone explained this as 'micro blogging'. Since then we have set up two corporate twitter sites (complinet and complinetjobs). We're getting quite a nice following on both and actually spend a lot of time commenting on our various events like our customer summit and awards events.

For people who are busy this is a nice way to get short bursts of information from us. We also link our RSS feeds to twitter too. On a more personal level I have a twitter site called @manhattanlife which I keep up. I am hooked.

Screening in Asia

2009-12-16T07:03:00.000-08:00

I knew the size of the population would be a key factor and of course language but the lack of name variance is a new challenge for the filtering engine. Got me thinking about how a population that size would cope with due dilligence, KYC and general anti money laundering. We're working with local partners but it is clear that the opportunity is matched by the size of the challenge. Interesting new translation tools available from Google that are incredibly impressive so we'll have a viable offering for those markets too.

The Asian Market

2009-12-14T06:17:00.002-08:00

One of Complinet's products helps firms screen employees or clients against sanction lists and PEPs and so on.. We've done a very good job in the US and UK as well as English speaking parts of Asia and the Middle East (Singapore, Hong kong and Dubai). We're now looking into mainland China and the challenge is daunting. I knew the size of the population would be a key factor and of course language but the lack of name variance is a new challenge for the filtering engine. Got me thinking about how a population that size would cope with due dilligence, KYC and general anti money laundering.

Enforcement to Supervision - iBriefings for the train ride home

2009-12-14T06:17:00.001-08:00

http://www.complinet.com/connected/gateway/ibriefing/#Topics

Regulation versus oversight

2009-12-14T06:16:00.001-08:00

Met with the head of the Enterprise Data Management Council (www.edmcouncil.org) over lunch. His view of regulation versus oversight was an interesting one. He explained that in his view regulation was a set of rules that govern the way firms should operate whereas oversight was the process by which firms ensure adherence. I know it may seem like semantics but I liked the idea that firms needed to think more, not only about how they follow the rules but more about how they operationalize this for a competitive advantage. At the very least firms need to understand how to address these regulatory requirements while rapidly delivering highly competitive products to their markets before anyone else. I suppose in a lot of ways, the way firms meet regulations, how they might automate these process and how they build this into some form of workflow to provide evidence of their adherence is the difference between putting a tick in a box and world-class risk management. Will be interesting to see who the winners will be in this world of new regulatory reform.

Middle East versus The West - Which banking model will prevail?

2009-12-01T11:29:00.001-08:00

I grew up in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia to be precise and I was always fascinated by the cultural differences and social nuances as a child. I attended our GCC summit in Dubai (gcc-09) last year where the topic of Shari'ah banking was discussed in the context of the failures in 'western' banking. What was interesting was how Shari'ah is being held up as the new model given some of the ethical elements baked into this faith based system. Transparency is not a requirement it is a fundamental in a system that is all about sharing risk and owning the things you trade. Our webcast will look at the differences between the western model and islamic banking. (Islamic versus westing banking webcast). As with all things I suspect the answer lies in a balance between the two. What is clear is that the tone called for a more ethical and honest approach to how firms invest their client's money.

The 'very' hot topic of compliance...

2009-12-01T11:18:00.000-08:00

Complinet is receiving a lot more interest from larger firms as they start re-thinking how to deal with the fallout following the market failure. So now, inevitably comes the regulator's reactions and reforms.

The press are picking up that this is a hot topic as investors need to get some regained sense of confidence in the system and the controls firms put in place to manage risk. It's interesting to see how firms are addressing this challenge. Complinet is getting involved by putting our regulatory content, traditionally delivered via an on-line news portal, directly into a firm's risk or policy management system. The idea that firms can tie all those live rule changes into their control systems is critical not only to better understand risk but to communicate more effectively with regulators. Check out our recent media coverage (complinet's media coverage). There will be more information coming soon on what we are calling 'Direct Integration Service or DIS for short.