SIFMA

In this episode of The SIFMA Podcast, SIFMA President & CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. sits down with Lindsey Piegza, Ph. D, Chief Economist and Managing Director for Stifel Nicolaus & Co. and Chair of the SIFMA Economic Advisory Roundtable, to discuss the outlook for the U.S. economy and results from SIFMA's recent survey of chief economists from 27 global and regional financial institutions. To download the survey, visit https://www.sifma.org/resources/news/the-sifma-podcast-a-conversation-with-lindsey-piegza-on-the-2022-mid-year-economic-forecast/

In this far-ranging discussion at the 2022 Operations Conference & Exhibition, Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., SIFMA's president and CEO, sits down with Thomas Pluta, Global Head of the Linear Rates Trading Business at J.P. Morgan and 2022 Chair of SIFMA's Board of Directors, to explore SIFMA's priorities on behalf of our members including: The State of the Markets Treasury Market Structure The Regulatory Agenda Shortened Settlement Cycle The LIBOR Transition COVID: The Ultimate Stress Test And more For related resources and more from the Conference, visit https://www.sifma.org/resources/news/blog-the-state-of-the-markets-their-regulation-and-their-resiliency/

In this episode of The SIFMA Podcast, SIFMA President & CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. sits down with Lindsey Keljo who is Managing Director and Head of SIFMA's Asset Management Group and Jamie Gershkow, Partner at Stradley Ronon for a discussion on the SEC's proposed reforms to money market fund rules.

In this episode of our Wealth Management Leadership podcast series, SIFMA President & CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. sits down with Ken Cella, Principal of the Client Strategies Group at Edward Jones for a conversation on how the pandemic has shaped the way advisors and clients approach the “New Retirement.” We discuss its four pillars of health, family, purpose and finances. We'll also explore how the pandemic led investors to focus more on life's priorities, its impact on retirement savings trends, and how it prompted first-time legacy planning conversations for 44.5 million Americans. For a transcript and more, please visit https://www.sifma.org/resources/news/podcast-wealth-management-leadership-series-ken-cella/

In this episode of our Wealth Management Leadership podcast series, SIFMA President & CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. sits down with Joseph E. Sweeney, President, Advice & Wealth Management, Products and Service Delivery for Ameriprise, Inc., for an introspective discussion on how the advisor-client relationship has evolved in recent decades. We look at the pivotal role that technology has played in changing the way firms, advisors, clients, and employees work, while emphasizing the value of a financial advisor to help investors reach long-term retirement goals and prepare for life's unexpected challenges. For a transcript and more, visit https://www.sifma.org/resources/news/podcast-wealth-management-leadership-series-joseph-sweeney.

In this episode of The SIFMA Podcast, SIFMA President & CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. sits down with Tom Price, Managing Director, Operations Technology & BCP, and Tom Wagner, Managing Director, Financial Services Operations, for a discussion on the financial services industry's cybersecurity efforts. Cyberattacks didn't stop during the pandemic. Rather, they increased. From WannaCry to SolarWinds, attacks have gotten bolder and their threat has grown higher. Here, we discuss how industry-wide efforts over the last decade have also evolved and grown to build effective cyber defenses.

In this episode of our Wealth Management Leadership podcast series, SIFMA president & CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. sits down with Primerica's PFS Investments CEO Estee Faranda for a discussion on reaching middle-income investors.

In this episode of our Wealth Management Leadership podcast series, SIFMA President & CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. is joined by Lisa Kidd Hunt, Executive Vice President, International Services, for Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., for a discussion on the rise of Generation Investor (Gen-I) and the findings from Schwab's new investor survey.

In this episode of our Wealth Management Leadership podcast series, SIFMA President & CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. sits down with Carey Shuffman, Head of UBS's Women's Segment, for a discussion on the unique trends and approaches to serving women investors. For a transcript and more, visit https://www.sifma.org/resources/news/podcast-wealth-management-leadership-series-carey-shuffman/

In this first episode of our Wealth Management Leadership podcast series, SIFMA President & CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. sits down with Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company President & CEO Evamarie Schoenborn for a discussion about how the firm's use of advisory teams has enhanced the advisor-client relationship. For a transcript and more, please visit https://www.sifma.org/resources/news/podcast-wealth-management-leadership-series-evamarie-schoenborn/.

In this episode of SIFMA's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Podcast Series, SIFMA's Amena Ross sits down with Cetera's Chantalle Couba to explore the journey to excellence in business, sharing insights on the courage and grit it takes to create a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion.

The Fundamental Review of the Trading Book (FRTB) was initiated by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in the years following the 2007-2009 financial crisis with the aim of completely revising the approach of calculating risk-based capital requirements for trading activities. In this podcast, SIFMA's Peter Ryan, Head of International Capital Markets and Prudential Policy, sits down with Joseph Seidel, Chief Operating Officer, to provide a high-level introduction to the FRTB, describing what it was designed to do and why we are hearing more about it now, and explain what is contained in the package of reforms. To view the transcript and more, visit https://www.sifma.org/resources/news/podcast-a-guide-to-frtb-and-why-its-important/.

International trade and investment in financial services is crucial to U.S. economic growth and job creation. In this podcast, SIFMA's Peter Matheson sits down with Citi's Kimberley Claman and EY's Douglas Bell to discuss why, in an increasingly competitive global economy, it is vital that financial services are integrated into the U.S. international economic strategy. For the white paper, transcript and more, please visit: https://www.sifma.org/resources/news/podcast-why-financial-services-vital-to-us-international-economic-strategy

Moderated by Rudy Rodriguez, Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion at Ameriprise and Chair of SIFMA's Diversity & Inclusion Council, this far-reaching discussion with Penny Pennington of Edward Jones and Suzanne Shank of Siebert, Williams, Shank & Co. explores how these leaders model a culture of inclusion from the c-suite. For transcript and more, please visit: https://www.sifma.org/resources/news/podcast-modeling-a-culture-of-inclusion

In this edition of SIFMA's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) podcast series, SIFMA's Amena Ross, Managing Director of Advocacy, sat down with Samuel A. Ramirez, Jr., President and CEO of Ramirez Asset Management and Senior Managing Director of Samuel A. Ramirez and Company, Inc. to understand how Rameriz & Co. is breaking down barriers.

It is abundantly clear that COVID-19 will have lasting impacts. In this podcast, SIFMA president and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. sits down with Nasser Khodri, President of FIS Capital Markets, to discuss the evolution of operational readiness and how to rebuild for resilience as we chart a path forward.

The face of the individual investor is changing. In part one of this two-part podcast, SIFMA president and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. sits down with Ken Cella of Edward Jones to discuss how financial advice is evolving alongside the changing investor and why it is more critical than ever to work with a financial advisor. In part two, Bentsen and Broadridge’s Dan Cwenar dive into the findings from an unprecedented new study on the retail investor and share some surprising insights.

In the latest in SIFMA’s podcast series, SIFMA president and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. is joined independent financial planning professional Steve Budin, the President of the Budin Group. During their conversation, Steve explains his work on behalf of his clients and community as an independent financial advisor, and why his independent contractor status is important to that work. A bill currently under consideration in Congress known as the ‘PRO Act’ would change how independent contractor status is determined, adversely impacting these hundreds of thousands of independent financial advisors, including Steve.

In this podcast – originally published in March 2020 - Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., SIFMA’s President and CEO, and Kevin Carroll, SIFMA’s Managing Director and Associate General Counsel, discuss the long-standing securities arbitration system and the rather confounding animus toward it by some policymakers. They also dive more specifically into the FINRA arbitration forum, and the securities industry’s experience in that forum.

In this edition of SIFMA's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) podcast series, SIFMA’s Amena Ross, Managing Director of Advocacy, sat down with Gary Hall, Partner and Head of Investment Banking at Siebert Williams Shank & Co., to understand the meaning of DEI to the firm and how it prioritizes DEI in every facet of the business.

The Need for Federal Legislation in the LIBOR Transition by SIFMA

In this edition of SIFMA's Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) podcast series, SIFMA’s Amena Ross, Managing Director of Advocacy, sat down with Wendy John, Head of Global Diversity & Inclusion at Fidelity, to review how Fidelity is building a community with its employees as well as investing in diverse communities nationwide through its commitment to financial literacy.

In the latest in SIFMA’s podcast series, SIFMA president and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. is joined by Jason Plank, a financial planning professional on the independent platform with Ameriprise Financial in Edina, MN. During their conversation, Jason explains his work on behalf of his clients and community as an independent financial advisor, and why his independent contractor status is important to that work. A bill currently under consideration in Congress known as the ‘PRO Act’ would change how independent contractor status is determined, adversely impacting these hundreds of thousands of independent financial advisors, including Jason.

Explore how Goldman Sachs is seeks to address racial equity in the financial services industry and its work in back communities, with its clients, and within its own organization.

In the latest in SIFMA’s podcast series, SIFMA president and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. is joined by Ellen Greene, SIFMA managing director, equity and options market structure and Joe Corcoran, managing director and associate general counsel to talk about the current state of the Consolidated Audit Trail, or CAT.

SIFMA president and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen and CEO of the Global Financial Markets Association(GFMA)is joined by Allison Parent, Executive Director of GFMA, and Roy Choudhury, Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), to discuss the new report GFMA wrote in collaboration with BCG, “Climate Finance Markets and the Real Economy: Sizing the Global Need and Defining the Market Structure to Mobilize Capital.” Discover more about the report here: https://www.sifma.org/resources/submissions/climate-finance-markets-and-the-real-economy/.

In this podcast, SIFMA president and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. and managing director Tom Price discuss SIFMA’s new white paper on security tokens. The paper, which was co-authored by SIFMA and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, provides a foundational understanding of how distributed ledger technology (DLT) and digital assets such as security tokens interplay with the current securities market. It also describes the key operational challenges faced by U.S. broker-dealers hoping to adopt this technology and recommends where regulatory clarity would be helpful in addressing these challenges. Learn more at www.sifma.org.

For the second podcast in our D&I series, SIFMA’s Amena Ross, Managing Director of Advocacy, sat down with Jim Reynolds, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Loop Capital Markets LLC, to discuss the financial services industry, diversity and inclusion, and how building an intentional company culture can help recruit and retain diverse talent.

Melissa MacGregor, Managing Director and Associate General Counsel at SIFMA, sat down with Larry Bortstein, Founder of Bortstein Legal Group, and Lou Trotta, Senior Counsel at BLG, to talk about the new white paper SIFMA wrote in collaboration with Bortstein Legal Group, Navigating Regulatory Challenges in Cloud Infrastructure Services Agreements. For a transcript of this discussion and more, please visit: https://www.sifma.org/resources/news/clearing-up-regulatory-obligations-in-cloud-services-2-0

In this first podcast of our Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) series, SIFMA’s Amena Ross, Managing Director of Advocacy, sat down with Edward Jones’ Vanessa Okwuraiwe, Principal of Diversity and Inclusion, to talk about the future of the financial services industry and the innovative D&I programs at Edward Jones. The conversation also highlights the importance of creating a positive and meaningful impact in the communities we serve as well as for our clients and colleagues.

COVID-19 has been unsparing in its impact around the globe, permeating nearly every aspect of our lives. Beyond the direct and severe effects on health and wellness, how we live and work has changed in ways many of us previously thought unthinkable. Business continuity planning, cybersecurity and operational resilience remain among the top agenda items in board rooms across the industry. Ken Bentsen, president and CEO of SIFMA, sat down with Ron Lefferts, global leader of technology consulting at Protiviti, and Tom Price, managing director and head of SIFMA's technology, operations and business continuity team, to explore a new report for SIFMA members that outlines initial lessons learned as well as considerations for business leaders as they strategize over how to build resilience and thrive in this new environment. For a transcript of this discussion and more, please visit: https://www.sifma.org/resources/news/podcast-managing-a-pandemic

In this podcast, Ken Bentsen, SIFMA President and CEO, along with Tom Price, managing director, and Charles DeSimone, vice president, both of whom work on SIFMA’s operations, technology, cyber & BCP efforts, provide an informative overview of the industry-wide business continuity test facilitated by SIFMA on October 24, 2020 and highlight its successful completion.

SIFMA President and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. and SIFMA Managing Director Justin Sok discuss the proposed New Jersey financial transaction tax (FTT) and the negative impact FTTs have on investors and savers.

Exploring the SIFMA - Cerulli Individual Investor Research Project

The financial industry's response to the global coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and the search for a 'new normal' In the face of a global pandemic, the financial industry has relied upon its robust business continuity planning efforts. Ken Bentsen, president and CEO of SIFMA, sat down with Ron Lefferts, global leader of technology consulting at Protiviti, and Tom Price, managing director and head of SIFMA's technology, operations and business continuity team, to explore the story behind the industry’s business continuity planning efforts in the face of a global pandemic. Transcript and more: https://www.sifma.org/resources/news/podcast-managing-a-pandemic/

Following up on a pair of blogs published over the last two weeks, our latest podcast dives into the 2020 CCAR stress testing and additional considerations related to COVID-19. Joe Seidel, Chief Operating Officer at SIFMA sat down with Coryann Stefansson, Managing Director and head of prudential capital and liquidity policy and Carter McDowell, Managing Director, Associate General Counsel, and head of prudential policy to discuss why there is no compelling case, particularly related to the capital markets, to step away from current validated methodologies for CCAR.

SIFMA recently conducted a survey and released a report assessing how member firms are communicating with their financial advisors (FAs) and how, in turn, FAs are communicating with their clients during this period of unprecedented physical, emotional, and financial challenge. In our latest podcast, SIFMA CEO Ken Bentsen sat down to discuss the findings with our Ken Cella who leads the Edward Jones Client Strategies Group, Kent Christian, President of Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, and Evamarie Schoenborn, President and CEO of Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company.

The global pandemic COVID-19 has caused extreme shocks to our economy and financial markets. A symbol of these unprecedented times, on March 23, the New York Stock Exchange closed its physical floor and moved to fully electronic trading. Ken Bentsen, SIFMA president and CEO, sat down with Ellen Greene, SIFMA's Managing Director of Equity and Options Market Structure and Katie Kolchin, CFA and Director of SIFMA Research, walk us through an analysis by SIFMA Insights to find out whether the closure of NYSE's physical floor has impacted its market share.

The emergence of COVID-19 in the first quarter of 2020 caused severe shocks to the economy and capital markets. Volatility, as measured by the CBOE Volatility Index, or the VIX, has reached historic highs. The VIX has started to come down, but remains elevated. In this discussion, we ask: is the worst of the market rout behind us?

The latest edition of SIFMA’s podcast series covers a recent development related to the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) – the major regulatory initiative by the SEC and 24 self-regulatory organizations (SROs) aimed at enhancing regulators’ ability to monitor and analyze trading activity. SIFMA and its members are supportive of the CAT and its regulatory intent but remain concerned regarding the risks of sensitive customer information being compiled in one government-mandated database, and the liability that comes with that risk. Last week, SIFMA acted to formally challenge the CAT Reporter Agreement industry members are required to sign by SROs to gain access to the database. In this podcast, Ken Bentsen, SIFMA President and CEO sits down with Ira Hammerman, SIFMA Executive Vice President and General Counsel and Ellen Greene, Managing Director of Equity and Options Market Structure to talk more about the risks associated with CAT and the reasoning behind the challenge.

The Federal Reserve, the Department of the Treasury and Congress have undertaken unprecedented actions to buy financial assets, unclog the pipes of the financial system and increase its capacity. Congress has also taken swift action, passing three phases of stimulus packages as of the time of this discussion. In the third and final segment of our series on how COVID-19 is impacting the financial markets, Ken Bentsen, SIFMA President and CEO sits down with Rob Toomey, head of SIFMA’s capital markets practice, and Coryann Stefansson, head of prudential capital and liquidity policy for an overview of the Fed and Treasury’s actions so far, as well as those of the Congress, the market’s response, and what might be ahead. SIFMA’s team continues to closely monitor the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and its impact on our industry and the markets; guidance and resources for the industry are available at www.sifma.org/bcp.

Congress has passed three stimulus packages to combat the severe effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic. In the second of a three-part series on how COVID-19 is impacting the financial markets, we explain each of the three phases of the stimulus, what matters most for the financial markets, and what might lie ahead.

In this podcast, Ken Bentsen, SIFMA President and CEO, and Kevin Carroll, SIFMA Managing Director and Associate General Counsel and our lead on litigation, arbitration, and private client legal matters talk about implementation process of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation Best Interest, known as “Reg BI.”

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is front and center in the United States and across the world. In this podcast, Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., SIFMA's President and CEO, and Thomas F. Price, SIFMA Managing Director, Technology, Operations and Business Continuity, discuss BCP efforts to protect industry personnel and maintain operational resiliency during the COVID-19 pandemic. SIFMA’s Business Continuity Planning team continues to closely monitor the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and its impact on our industry and the markets; guidance and resources for the industry are available at www.sifma.org/bcp. For a transcript, please visit www.sifma.org/resources/news/podcast-covid19-and-operational-resiliency/ Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. is president and CEO of SIFMA, the voice of the nation’s securities industry. Thomas F. Price is Managing Director, Technology, Operations and Business Continuity at SIFMA.

In this podcast, we discuss the long-standing system of arbitration for dispute resolution, and the rather confounding animus toward it by some policymakers. We also talk more specifically about the FINRA arbitration forum, and the securities industry’s experience in that forum.

A discussion about the Federal Reserve's 2020 Supervisory Scenarios for the Annual Stress Test, in particular about what changes were made around the Global Market Shock element but also where there is remains room for improvement.

With a sustained commitment to addressing the risk of money laundering and financial crime through securities firms, as well as strong collaboration between firms and with the regulatory community, much has been achieved by our industry in helping to make our financial system safer and more secure. With that understanding, however, comes the knowledge there will be much more change to come. In this podcast, SIFMA President and CEO, Kenneth E. Bentsen Jr., is joined by Steve Shine, Chief Regulatory Counsel at Prudential Financial Inc, and Cathy LaFalce, Managing Director and Global Head of AML Compliance Risk Management, Markets and Banking at Citi, to talk about the history of efforts to counter money laundering and other financial crimes in the securities industry and what the future may bring in this space. Learn more about this issue at www.sifma.org.

In a speech delivered on Friday January 16, Vice Chairman for Supervision of the Federal Reserve Randal Quarles laid out a suite of changes he intends to make to the central Bank’s oversight of financial institutions, particularly around transparency, accountability, and fairness. In this podcast, we discuss his proposed changes and what they could mean for U.S. capital markets.

The Dodd-Frank Act requires large financial institutions to submit resolution plans. In this podcast, SIFMA's Joe Seidel and Carter McDowell discuss significant milestones achieved and what they mean for the U.S. capital markets.

The passage of bipartisan legislation, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement – better known as the SECURE Act - marks the biggest legislative change to America’s retirement system in more than a dozen years. In this podcast, SIFMA president and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. and SIFMA managing director and associate general counsel, Lisa Bleier, explain what the SECURE Act means for retirement savers.

Under the Consolidated Audit Trail, or CAT, broker-dealers will be required to report every equity and options transaction, as well as certain personal information of retail and institutional clients, to a database operated by 24 SROs. SIFMA and its members are supportive of the CAT and its regulatory intent – however, we have repeatedly expressed strong concerns regarding the risks to customer information. Data security must be a paramount concern with a database this large. In this podcast, SIFMA president and CEO, Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. is joined by SIFMA’s Ellen Greene to discuss the risks posed by the CAT, who bears the liability in the event of a data breach and why reasonable access limits are needed now. For more information, visit www.sifma.org/consolidated-audit-trail