July 21, 2008

Past Issues

Regulation & Compliance

Regulators Aim to Stop Spread of Rumors

Federal regulators are cracking down on the potential spread of false and misleading rumors that could potentially affect market conditions. While rumor mongering is not a widespread problem in the financial industry, a few high-profile cases-the SEC investigating 50 hedge funds last week for potentially spreading rumors on the fall of Bear Stearns and Lehman, and halting shorting Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae-have forced regulators to take a strong public stance against such actions. Then there were the arrests last month of former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin for securities fraud and the April settlement of securities fraud and market manipulation charges by Paul Berliner, a former trader with the Schottenfeld Group.

Sales & Marketing

Hey, Boomers, Surf's Up!

Don't just retire. 'Reengage, reinvigorate, redefine, rejuvenate.' That's the inspirational message at MyRetirementShop.com, a new, all-in-one website for the 'at retirement' generation that AXA Equitable Life Insurance launched last Wednesday, after two years of research and numerous focus groups. Many independent sites already exist, but have had limited success attempting to cater to this crowd. AXA's website is notable not just for its comprehensiveness-from a concierge who can schedule a golf tee time, to learning about working while collecting Social Security benefits, to obtaining a doctor's second opinion-but also because it is the first of its kind for a financial services firm. It provides information pertaining to virtually any lifestyle interest or question that a retiree or pre-retiree might have, not just their finances.

Ops & Tech

DTCC, Swift Partner on Alternative Messaging

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC) and the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift) are working together to introduce 12 interoperable XML-based message formats to the alternative investment community. The initiative is designed to allow market participants to connect to DTCC's Alternative Investment Products (AIP) platform, slated to begin testing in the third quarter, via the Swift network using International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 20022-compliant XML messages. Firms will also be able to use proprietary formats through DTCC's Smart network.

Alternative Investments

Europe to Make UCITS Yet More Efficient

The European Union proposed a new set of rules Thursday to make Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities (UCITS) even more efficient by eliminating additional regulatory hurdles. Most notably, the rules- which will replace 10 directives with just one and go into effect in 2011-will allow cross-border mergers of funds, making Europe's mutual fund industry more efficient. They will also permit master-feeder structures and eliminate much of the administrative paperwork currently required to market funds to other markets in the European Union of 27 member states. The revised regulations will also call for a two-page, plain English summary as opposed to the average 60-page prospectus.