May 2013

It's More About "Wide Data" Than Big Data, May 22, 2013, Wall Street & Technology
For financial institutions, complexity isn't found in the need to store more vast amounts of data, but in how to manage and utilize data in order to help comply with regulatory requirements. The upcoming challenges will be about managing Wide Data, or the breadth of data across an organization.

Has Interoperability Arrived In Derivatives?, May 16, 2013, Futures & Options World (FOW)
The Memorandum of Understanding signed between the DTCC in the U.S. and Euroclear in Europe could be a step towards interoperability into the derivatives market but challenges lie ahead. Sapient Global Market’s Philip Forkan explains that from the client's perspective, everyone needs more scalability in the margin call process and the buy-side are concerned about the lack of transparency and certainty of settlement.

Staffing for HTML5, May 15, 2013, Slashdot.
Applications today put an increasing emphasis on the client side, including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which requires substantial engineering capabilities and more diverse expertise from front-end developers. Sapient Global Markets’ Bob Holt discusses the staffing process behind hiring a front-end engineer to operate and execute HTML5.

RWE Supply & Trading Taps Sapient, May 14, 2013, Buy-Side Technology
The technology consultancy is tasked with overseeing broad transformation of the German energy specialist's trading and risk management platforms. RWE Supply & Trading, originally the asset management and optimization arm of RWE Group, an electricity provider based in Essen and one the continent's five largest power suppliers, has grown into a full-fledged energy trading house interacting with international wholesale markets and specializing in the European gas industry.

Sapient Announces Strategic Partnership with RWE Supply &Trading, May 14, 2013, Commodities Now
Sapient Global Markets has announced it has signed a strategic IT partnership with RWE Supply &Trading, a leading European energy trading house. Sapient Global Markets will support RWE Supply & Trading to deliver excellent operational efficiency services in an increasingly dynamic and cost-competitive industry. As RWE Supply & Trading’s partner, Sapient Global Markets will also play a proactive role in assessing and proposing new technologies and delivering innovation to assist RWE Supply and Trading in continuously enhancing business excellence.

Collateral Managers Must Contend with Client Money Issues, May 2, 2013, Compliance Complete
Firms are gearing up their collateral management businesses to respond to the heightened demand for collateral once clearing of over-the-counter derivatives becomes mandatory. Sapient Global Markets’ Philip Forkan details the challenges that may result from new collateral requirements, particularly the concern of credit risk and the need for timely and accurate reporting of collateral.

BWise, Sapient Global Markets, TradingScreen and more..., May 1, 2013, The Trade
Now firms can collate data across multiple systems for regulatory reporting using Sapient Global Markets’ CMRS for portfolio reconciliation, which has recently been added to the system. Sapient Global Markets’ Arun Karur explains how CMRS has been extended to help firms comply with heightened global regulatory pressures.

April 2013

Sapient's CMRS to Facilitate Portfolio Reconcilation, April 24, 2013, Buy-Side Technology
The Compliance Management and Reporting System (CMRS) from Sapient Global Markets can now facilitate portfolio reconciliation. CMRS allows firms to collate data from disparate systems, apply reporting eligibility logic, translate it into the destination message format, and deliver it directly to swap data repositories (SDRs).

Sapient Upgrades Compliance Management and Reporting Tool, April 24, 2013, Finextra
Sapient Global Markets, part of Sapient (SAPE) has today announced the ability for its popular Compliance Management and Reporting System (CMRS) to facilitate portfolio reconciliation.

Midstream Adapts To Changing Face Of Energy, April 19, 2013, Midstream Business
As energy is increasingly emerging from nontraditional areas, the midstream is more dynamic than ever. As a result, the midstream has adapted by replacing or expanding current infrastructure. Sapient Global Market’s Dale St. Denis offers insight into the current climate among midstream operators and their customers.

Can CIOs Afford to Ignore Big Data?, April 15, 2013, Dataquest
Big data is creating ripples in the enterprise IT world and it is important for CIOs to consider big data in their plan. Sapient Global Markets’ Abhishek Bhattacharya elaborates on the importance of big data and its capacity to revolutionize business models and decision making in the organization.

Sapient Connects CMRS Platform to DTCC, April 10, 2013, Sell Side Technology.
Sapient Global Markets has created a direct link between its compliance management and reporting system (CMRS) and the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.'s (DTCC’s) Swap Data Repository (SDR). The platform collects and normalizes data from multiple sources and then sends it back in a format that is accepted by the various reporting agencies—such as messaging formats like FpML, which the DTCC accepts, Arun Karur, vice president at Sapient, tells WatersTechnology. (VIDEO: Watch Karur discuss the CMRS platform's functionality soon after its launch last year.)


Sapient Launches System for DTCC Swaps Reporting, April 10, 2013, Inside Reference Data.
Technology provider Sapient Global Markets is now offering its Compliance Management and Reporting System to users of DTCC Swap Data Repository reporting in a move that will link different messaging formats
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Sapient, InfoReach, Corvil and more…, April 10, 2013, The Trade.
Sapient Global Markets will connect customers using its Compliance Management and Reporting System (CMRS) to report trades to the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation's Swap Data Repository (SDR). Sapient's CMRS lets firms collate data from disparate systems and translate it into a destination message formatter to deliver it directly to regulators and receive confirmation messages from DTCC.


Sapient Global Markets Offers Compliance Reporting with DTCC's Swap Data Repository, April 10, 2013, Automated Trader.
Sapient Global Markets has announced its Compliance Management and Reporting System (CMRS) will be offered for customers connecting to The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) Swap Data Repository (SDR) reporting. CMRS provides firms with a complete solution for meeting regulatory reporting commitments.


Reporting Tie-up Agreed, April 10, 2013, Structure Credit Investor.
Sapient Global Markets is to offer its Compliance Management and Reporting System (CMRS) to customers connecting to the DTCC's swaps data repository. CMRS provides firms with a complete solution for more efficiently and effectively meeting regulatory reporting commitments.

Clearing Dominates Derivatives Discussions, April 5, 2013, Markets Media.
As the OTC markets transition to the brave new world of central clearing, buy-side institutions are moving their compliance efforts into high gear, both at the individual and inter-enterprise levels. Sapient Global Markets’ Jim Bennett provides an update on the Clearing Connectivity Standard (CCS), and discusses how it streamlines operations and reconciliation processes as clearing and service provider firms comply with the CFTC clearing mandate.

New Swaps Standard Offers Buy-Side Flexibility,  April 5, 2013, The Trade.
The clearing connectivity standard (CCS) has been developed by consultancy Sapient Global Markets and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), a trade body, to standardize reporting of payments to CCPs for swaps ahead of a series of US regulatory deadlines throughout the year.

Big Data Opportunity, April, 8, 2013, Financial Chronicle.
With big data opening up huge possibilities around identification of new trends, 4.4 million IT jobs to support it will be created globally by 2015, and there isn’t enough talent in the industry.

Bright Outlook for the Cloud in Financial Services, April 8, 2013, The Trade.
With the opportunity to design and build an infrastructure from the ground up and not having the worry of integrating with or migrating legacy IT systems, NTT Europe and Sapient Global Markets designed a sophisticated cloud platform to address European Datawarehouse’s business challenges. The end-user application developed by Sapient Global Markets is a fully integrated software platform, giving greater accessibility to the various financial institutes to connect to through different cloud technologies.

Buy Side Ambivalent on Margin Requirements, April 2, 2013, Markets Media
While they support the overall objectives of greater transparency and reduced systemic risk that Dodd-Frank, EMIR and similar regulatory initiatives will bring, institutional investment firms worry that regulators are attempting to shoehorn an exchange-based model from the world of futures and commodities onto what is essentially a bilateral, contractual obligation between counterparties, and that this will force them to incur added expenses in the form of increased margin for instruments that are not cleared. Futures exchanges are beginning to offer “swap futures” that they say are the economic equivalent to OTC swaps. Sapient Global Markets defines the purpose of swap futures, and the perceived benefits they provide over interest rate swaps. But as he points out, the interest rate swaps market isn’t going anywhere.

March 2013

Physical Portfolio Optimization, March 2013, Commodities Now
Commodities companies must look beyond reducing costs through only efficiency and automation as they face tighter profitability. One way to do this is to implement ways to create revenue based on current and future assets. Sapient Global Markets provides recommendations to improve margins through physical portfolio optimization.

Palm Oil: Unlocking the Opportunity, March 2013, The Journal of Trading
Globalization has created considerable opportunities in previously regional markets for the astute participant. Sapient Global Market provides an introduction to evolving factors in the palm oil market and explores opportunities for leveraging commercial practices from the oil and gas complex to exploit its potential.

Responsive Web Design: Opportunities and Challenges, March 8, 2013, Slashdot
In such a mobile world, it is crucial that websites be user-friendly no matter what the device. Responsive web designs aims to do this through device-independent design that aims to make website content available to all users regardless of the device used. Bob Holt provides insight into the ins and outs of responsive web design, along with its benefits and drawbacks.

Clearing Trade Reporting Hurdles, March 5, 2013, Inside Reference Data
With many firms now familiar with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's trade reporting requirements, the next big challenge is the European Market Infrastructure Regulation. Once these two have been overcome, new reporting requirements in other regions should be easier to manage. Mark Steadman explains the questions raised by the counterparty requirements, including whether the domicile of a counterparty should be based at an office level or at a legal entity level.

Gearing Up for FATCA Registration: 5 Critical Steps, March 5, 2013, Tabb Forum
Financial institutions have until Oct. 25, 2013, to register on the IRS's new FATCA Registration Portal. While that may seem far off, given the great multitude of financial institution across the globe and their complex interconnectedness, it would be wise to understand now whether you need to register and what you’ll need to do. Chris Collins explains the five key steps institutions need to focus on to comply with the new regulations.

February 2013

Dodd-Frank Revision Set To Bring Data Sharing A Step Closer, February 25, 2013, Financial News
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, the US post-trade infrastructure company, has said it is hopeful that Congress will proceed with the removal of a key clause in the Dodd-Frank Act which threatens to frustrate the G20 reform program. New rules in the US and Europe are forcing firms to report their derivatives trades to a central location known as a trade repository, which will reduce systemic risk by giving regulators visibility of trading firms’ trading exposures. The Dodd-Frank “indemnification” provision requires foreign regulators to grant US-based data repositories indemnification in exchange for access, meaning US repositories are not liable should foreign regulators misuse the data.


Will Futures Replace Swaps?, February 25, 2013, FOW
Whilst the topic of Swap Futurization has been a consistent feature in regulatory dialogue and media focus for a number of months; a great deal of uncertainty still remains that makes it difficult to forecast what the impact will ultimately be upon the OTC derivatives market.

Optimize: The How and Who, February 15, 2013, Waters Technology
Market conditions are ripe for the implementation of new, more advanced systems that will mitigate the additional collateral requirements demanded by Dodd–Frank and the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) when it comes to central counterparties (CCPs). Ben Larah discusses the need for small institutions to invest in out-of-the-box solutions.
 
Will Dodd-Frank trade reporting prepare you for EMIR?, February 15, 2013, Banking Technology
While undoubtedly a major milestone, it is worth noting that the Dodd-Frank trade reporting deadline on February 28 is but one of the first of the G20 reporting commitments to go live, with many more to follow. There is enough difference between it and the EU equivalent, EMIR (regulated and implemented by the European Securities and Markets Authority), to stand up and take notice. Author Mark Steadman delves into the challenges that remain for EMIR implementation even for firms that are already prepared for Dodd-Frank requirements.

January 2013
 
A ‘Darwinian Moment’ For Business, January 2013, Consulting Magazine
Given continued regulatory change, Chip Register sits down with Consulting Magazine to discuss best practices for 2013 and how Sapient is helping client more effective use their data to prepare for the new regulatory regime.
 
Reg AB requirements quirks analysed, January 31, 2013, International Financial Law Review
Regulation AB could bring loan level data transparency to the US securitisation industry and reduce regulators’ reliance on credit ratings. But market participants say tweaks must be made to the proposal for the industry to continue its recovery. Kevin Samborn and Dave Colling discuss potential challenges and opportunities associated with the new regulation.
 
Mandatory Electronic Exchange: Determining the Right Market Model for OTC Derivatives, January 31, 2013, Advanced Trading
Here, Ryan Baccus, Paul Gibson and Jon Szehofner cover the concerns from industry experts that the transition to high-touch, bi-lateral voice transactions to multiple trading venues could harm liquidity. This article helps determine the right market model for OTC derivatives.

What We Mean When We Talk About HTML5, January 28, 2013, Slashdot
This comprehensive contributed article covers multiple aspects of HTML5, including what it is, what it is not, its benefits, its drawbacks, the future of HTML5 and who should use it.
 
Optimize: The Whens and the Whys, January 25, 2013, Waters Technology
Collateral management is a key concern resulting from Dodd–Frank and EMIR. Ben Larah offers color on the varied estimates of the impending collateral shortfall, and the remaining uncertainty about its impact.
 
Trade Documentation Gets Technology Push, January 25, 2013, Markets Media
Financial and energy market participants are being challenged with a one-two punch of increased regulatory requirements and stringent budget constraints. This covers the recent technological developments in trade documentation, including One for Capital Markets, the cloud-based platform developed by Sapient in conjunction with representatives from G15, to ensure market compliance with the CFTC and ESMA’s rules.

ICE Gets Green Light on Portfolio Margining, January 18, 2013,  Markets Media
ICE has received regulatory permission to offer portfolio margining to buy-side customers and clearing members, creating new opportunities for portfolio margining. Sapient’s Chip Register discusses shifting technology models within financial services.