WEBCAST: the impact of risk and regulatory reform

Asset owners are being challenged to respond to the evolving global regulatory environment post-2008, with rules handed down that are sometimes interrelated and at other times in conflict.

The financial crisis of five years ago was centred in the west, and most directives are emanating out of the US and Europe. But these regulations have ramifications for institutions across jurisdictions, which have to adjust resources to meet requirements.

In a webcast with AsianInvestor last week, Northern Trust – a global custodian for institutional investors – sought to break down the variety of regulatory change into something tangible for institutions to act upon.

Paul Douville, senior vice-president and global head of product management, framed the key issues: the risk categories that regulators are targeting and the approaches they are taking as they strive to minimise operational and systemic risks.

One approach has been to put in place mandatory central clearing for over-the-counter derivatives to address transparency concerns in derivatives execution and reduce counterparty risk.

Judson Baker, Northern Trust’s senior vice-president and global head of product management, derivatives and collateral management, focuses on two key areas: the clearing of swaps via central exchanges and the margin impact on both cleared and uncleared swaps. He examines the cross-border application of rules.

The webcast features two interactive poll questions for the audience of Asian asset owners to determine their concerns and priorities as well as a question and answer session at the end.

To listen to the webcast, which was carried out on September 10 and is available on AsianInvestor's homepage online, please click here.