Pennsylvania + Wall

By Tom Price 

Data management, cybersecurity, AI and machine learning, blockchain and distributed ledger technology: when SIFMA hosted its 2017 Operations Conference and Exhibition in Florida, technology, regulation and compliance operations dominated the discussions. Over the last few years, questions on the transformative potential of technology together with the culmination of initial experiments, promising proof-of-concept projects, and analysis of early results have driven the financial services industry to go beyond simply asking what emerging technology can do.... Read more...

By Peter Matheson

The following op-ed was published in The Hill on July 13, 2017. 

Free and fair trade agreements, like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), expand opportunities for American companies to compete in global markets. Through them, the Trump administration can meet its stated goals to increase exports, create American jobs and boost U.S. economic growth.

Trade agreements allow our nation's financial services firms to facilitate economic growth and development by broadening the range of vehicles for savings and investment, lowering the cost of capital for businesses and entrepreneurs and expanding the markets that customers in manufacturing, agriculture and other sectors can sell into. 

NAFTA already helps the U.S. benefit from its competitive advantage in financial services. We have a $4.3-billion surplus in financial services trade with Canada and a $1.1-billion surplus with Mexico, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  

Yet, the world has changed a lot since NAFTA was enacted in 1994. Since then, the financial services sector - like many other sectors - has integrated new technologies, offered better goods and services and complied with a regulatory regime that is constantly evolving. 

A NAFTA modernization can bring our current agreement fully into the 21st century. The U.S. Trade Representative set the negotiation clock ticking on May 18, with a 90-day notification to Congress, which would allow negotiations to begin this summer.  Continue reading ....... Read more...

For the first time since the Federal Reserve launched its stress tests seven years ago, all of America's largest banks have been cleared to release dividends to shareholders after passing the qualitative portion of the tests. Appearing on BloombergTV, SIFMA President and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. voiced the industry’s support of stress tests to ensure market stability but noted there could be more transparency and more efficient application in the process. "The burden of regulation is such that it can begin to tax the system... Are these rules doing what we want them to do?"

By Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr.

Nearly ten years since the financial crisis, the United States economy has recovered more quickly than other jurisdictions due in large part to our robust capital markets and diversified banking system. Our banks are far better capitalized and markets more resilient, having absorbed hundreds of new regulations on top of an already extensive regulatory structure established over the course of the last century..... Read more...

By Kyle Brandon

On Monday, SIFMA’s Economic Advisory Roundtable announced it slightly weakened its GDP outlook for 2017 to 2.1%. The following is a Q&A with Kyle Brandon, Managing Director, Director of Research and staff advisor to the Roundtable.

SIFMA's Economic Advisory Roundtable lowered its GDP forecast from 2.2% to 2.1%. Was there a significant change in its view?

The Roundtable's outlook is slightly weaker numerically speaking, but is essentially the same as our estimate this past December. As it did then, the Roundtable considers business confidence to be the most important factor impacting U.S. economic growth, followed by U.S. fiscal policy (of note, the Roundtable's estimate for business capital investment strengthened considerably from 2.7% to 4.4%). This time around, Federal Reserve interest rate actions were noted as a distant third factor, whereas private credit market conditions made the list in December..... Read more...

By Amy Daniels, Edward Jones

Financial advisors face many challenges, most routine, but a few that can be disturbing. High on this list is the growing financial exploitation of senior investors. I have seen it up-close in my practice, more than once, and I fear we will witness it many more times - unless we act. 

The Threat

How big a problem is this? Estimates suggest that nearly $3 billion per year (The MetLife Mature Market Institute, 2011) is being taken from our seniors in cases reported by newspapers and other media outlets, often by family members or con artists who do not care for or about these seniors - and yet only 1 in 44 cases is reported to authorities (National Adult Protective Services Association, 2016). .... Read more...

By Dr. Angela Gutchess, Ph.D. 

Think about the times when you've commented on the superior mental feats of an older relative.  Or perhaps you've heard another person describe a senior citizen as "just as sharp as ever."  How accurate are these observations? What can hide cognitive declines, putting older adults at risk of financial exploitation?

There is substantial research documenting age-related cognitive declines. Although there are differences in ability levels and the rates at which individuals decline, everyone is expected to show some losses compared to their younger selves in fluid cognitive abilities. Fluid cognition includes effortful, in-the-moment mental actions, including memory, computations and speeded decisions. Such changes are typical of aging, rather than being hallmarks of dementia or other disorders. .... Read more...