Weekly News and Knowledge Bulletin:
Volume 83 - Issue 2
6 sept - 12 Sept, 2010
Editor's Note
CRM-like Strategy Boosts Collections
(By Lisa Valentine)
As the number of loan defaults and late payments rise, collections management is increasingly important for banks. Today, some banks are weathering a 1,000 percent increase in late payments. Newer collections management systems that take a CRM-like approach to aggregating enterprise-wide information can help banks minimize potential defaults.
FSO Knowledge Xchange, in its endeavor to uncover the latest trends, has released its research report on
Service Level Agreement: Monitoring &
Management.
FRSGlobal banking oversight and research solution project will be employed by Central Bank of Oman
The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) has chosen FRSGlobal, the leader in risk and regulatory compliance in order to simplify and manage authorized financial institutions in Oman. FRSGlobal Technologies new Banking Oversight and Research Solutions (BORS) will be implemented by the financial institution by 2011.
The Executive Vice President of CBO stated that electronic banking will over-take manual banking making supervision on banking transactions more crucial. Steve Husk, the CEO of FSRGlobal stated that its expertise and experience in risk management has allowed it to acquire this deal. They also look to capture the rest of Middle East market.
Top Mergers & Acquisitions of the Week
MasterCard Joins Forces with Borderlinx
MasterCard has announced that it will enter into a partnership with Borderlinx to aid clients in international online shopping. Borerlinx automatically applies tax, duty, and shipping charges based on the customers home address simplifying the purchasing process on international transactions. The partnership is part of MasterCards strategic decision to try to increase online spending of card holders. The normal Borderlinx registration fee will be made free for MasterCard customers.
Industry Insights
Anti-Outsourcing Bill: Politics
vs. Economics
(By The FSO Editorial Team )
New York Senator Charles Schumer
has announced that he is supporting an
anti-outsourcing bill that would tax
businesses 25 cents for each call that is
made from the U.S. but transferred to an
overseas data center. Read More...
Credit Ratings - Need for
Centralized Supervision
(By The FSO Editorial Team )
Credit ratings are considered an
economic indicator to gauge a country's
credit position which appends influence
through ratings. Countries like the UK and
US consistently rank better than developing
countries like the BRIC nations. Despite
facing a couple of financial upheavals in
the last decade, analysts continue to
portray these developed nations as a haven
to park funds. Consequently, institutional
investors flock to these countries with
their investments. Read More...
Investment in Commodities: a
Profitable Option in Times of Market
Instability
(By The FSO Editorial Team )
As stated by modern portfolio
theory, assets which are not perfectly
correlated proffer diversification benefits.
International stocks and bonds have been the
key to portfolio diversification for long.
However, in times of market volatility,
domestic and international securities tend
to be highly correlated. Read More...
Top News Stories of the Week
Unemployment rate to rise again in the USA
In anticipation of the unemployment report of August to be published tomorrow, economists are predicting that the unemployment rate will increase. The unemployment rate might rise by 0.1 percent to 9.6 percent which would be the first increase since April. Economists blame the weak economic condition of the country to be responsible for the high rate. Read More...
Funding Lehman Brothers would have meant going against the law
Ben Bernanke, the chairman of Federal Reserve responding to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) stated that providing financial aid to Lehman Brothers during its downfall would have been illegal. The former boss of the failed bank claimed that the bank suffered due to the government's discrimination and inadequate support. Read More...
Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission asses May flash crash
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are assessing different trading models in order to find the cause behind the May 6th 'Flash Crash'. The authorities are examining high frequency trading practices and quote stuffing which is when traders make a large number of orders then cancel them in order to block competitors. Read More...
Spending on IT infrastructure by Capital Market companies will account to USD 13.4 Billion in 2010
The Asset Management firms worldwide will spend around USD 13.4 Billion on IT Infrastructure claims the Tabb Group. Major investments will be made on Data servers, storage, and networking with North America to be the major investor. The Capital Market is more concerned with management of the data centers in the future with less focus on infrastructure. Read More...
