A-Team Insight Blogs The latest content from across the platform
FIRMS’ Valuation & Risk Strategies Group Launches Valuations Transparency Initiative
Following the restructuring of the Fixed Income Risk Management Services (FIRMS) unit to combine its securities evaluations, valuations services and market research teams into one group last month, the Standard & Poor’s owned analytics and research group has launched a new transparency initiative for fixed income valuations. The vendor is now offering the assumptions data…
Fair Value Has Been Defined (Sort of), But What is Going on with the Harmonisation Agenda?
Last month, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) got together to hammer out a final definition for the term ‘fair value’. They agreed that it means an “exit price” in most markets, but in illiquid markets or those that are less active this involves the consideration of a…
ISDA Augments Documentation Committee Leadership, Adds Advisory Board with Buy Side Expertise
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) today announced that it is broadening the leadership of the ISDA Documentation Committee by forming an advisory board that will encompass buy and sell side institutions to better represent global documentation needs across constituencies. The board will provide strategic guidance and leadership to the Documentation Committee’s work on…
Sunrise on Oracle
Oracle last week finally completed its $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems, and the company wasted no time in setting out its road map for how its software and Sun’s hardware (and some software) are going to be packaged together so that the sum is greater than the two parts. A surprise – kinda –…
UK FSA Confirms will Require Firms to Publish Consolidated Complaints Data
As part of its drive to compel financial services firms to provide more transparency into their data, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has confirmed this week that it will require UK firms to publish information on how they handle complaints. According to the regulator, this will help people see how firms are performing in this…
Moody’s Faces Revenue Decline in Data and Analytics Biz, But Uptick in Risk Software for Q4
Although ratings agency and data and risk management solution provider Moody’s experienced a positive end to the year overall in terms of revenues, with a fourth quarter revenue increase of 16.9% on the previous year’s figures, the vendor’s research, data and analytics business was down for the quarter by 1%. The risk software segment, however,…
Many US Firms Getting Ready Early for XBRL and Considering its Use in the Wider Data Context, Says XBRL US Survey
Many US firms are taking action to get ready early for the introduction of XBRL tags for financial statements later this year, according to a recent survey by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and standards body XBRL US. A total of 73% of the 215 respondents had already begun their testing for…
Fortis Prime Fund Solutions Opts for SuperDerivatives’ Reval for Revaluations
Valuations solution vendor SuperDerivatives has bagged its second client of the year in the form of custodian and fund administrator Fortis Prime Fund Solutions, which has opted for the vendor’s revaluation service to source pricing for illiquid and complex derivatives. According to Amod Kumar, global head of strategy, business improvement and control at Fortis, the…
Fiserv Overall Revenues Improve in Fourth Quarter, But Financial Segment is Down 4% for 2009
After a difficult third quarter, Fiserv has indicated that its overall financial prospects picked up in the fourth quarter of 2009, with a 2% increase in net revenue on the previous year’s figures at US$1.01 billion. This means that the vendor’s total adjusted revenue for the year was down 1% on 2008, from US$3.89 billion…
Pricing Partners Launches Price-it VaR
Pricing Partners announced the release of a new module providing value at risk (VaR) and stress tests calculations today. With the recent unpredictable market movements, the accurate calculation of VaR, risks and stress tests on complex products has become a crucial issue for banks, risk control departments, asset managers and hedge funds. This new module,…