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ARCHIVE
Working to Ensure Funds Can Maintain Vital Services
By Paul Schott Stevens
March 22, 2020
On Friday, I wrote about a critical problem emerging throughout the nation as states issue “shelter-in-place” orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic: the need to ensure that key personnel of mutual fund sponsors and service providers are deemed “essential workers” and thus permitted to report to work to maintain security and services for fund investors.
Over the weekend, two key developments offered some hope that state governors will hear our message and provide the needed relief from their shelter-in-place orders:
- Treasury Secretary Steven M. Mnuchin issued a memorandum for the financial services sector clearly stating federal guidance to states and localities that “the financial services sector is identified as a critical infrastructure sector.” The memo goes on to state: “If you work in a critical infrastructure sector, as defined by the Department of Homeland Security, you have a special responsibility to maintain your normal work schedule”—consistent, of course, with social distancing safeguards to limit the spread of COVID-19.
- On behalf of the Institute, I wrote to Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland, chair of the National Governors Association, and Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York, vice chair, urging them and their fellow governors to take the mutual fund industry and providers of critical services to funds into account as they impose shelter-in-place directives. I pointed out the need for mutual fund companies and their service providers to remain operational to ensure access to invested monies for shareholders across the country.
ICI and its members are not seeking an exemption from these orders for all employees. Quite the contrary. Mutual fund sponsors have risen to the challenge of COVID-19 and, as part of their robust business continuity plans, have ordered much of their staff to work from home.
But not all vital functions can be completed from home:
- Critical information technology and data security activities, such as maintaining optimal computer systems’ performance to support shareholder needs and protect shareholders’ information from cybercriminals, require personnel physically present at a facility.
- Staff also need to pick up and process mail to ensure that shareholder transactions, such as purchases and redemptions, are completed quickly and efficiently on behalf of retail investors.
- Call centers where fund shareholders contact the fund complex with questions and concerns may need some staff in the facilities to maintain full support of the fund shareholders. If staff are prohibited from accessing facilities, mutual funds may be forced to curtail their activity, with severe impact on shareholders across the country.
- Many mutual fund complexes also rely on a network of service providers that deliver vital support to the servicing of the mutual fund shareholders and the operation of the fund. Many of the critical services described above are outsourced to service providers and without their support, the mutual fund may find itself unable to meet the critical needs of fund shareholders.
Secretary Mnuchin’s memorandum—which I have also directed to Governors Hogan and Cuomo—offers strong support for the exemptions that funds and their service providers need for these key personnel. The secretary’s memo, my letter to the governors, earlier guidance from Homeland Security, and other materials on this issue are available at ICI’s COVID-19 Resource Center. I encourage all ICI member firms to call these materials to the attention of relevant officials in states and localities where they have operations.
Paul Schott Stevens is president and CEO of the Investment Company Institute.
Permalink: https://www.ici.org/viewpoints/20_view_coviddevelopments
TOPICS: CybersecurityFinancial MarketsShareholder
During COVID-19 Crisis, Fund Company Staff Are Essential
By Paul Schott Stevens
March 20, 2020
As governments consider extending orders to “shelter in place,” they must include staff of fund companies among the “essential” workers who qualify for an exemption. Fund company staff are very much part of the country’s critical infrastructure, and they must be able to offer their full support to shareholders during these uncertain times.
TOPICS: CybersecurityFinancial MarketsShareholder
2019 Annual Report to Members: ICI's International Work
By Miriam Bridges
November 21, 2019
With the industry's interests bound ever more tightly to global trends, ICI pursues an active international agenda through its international arm, ICI Global. ICI’s international work in 2019 was a period of vigorous effort on a host of issues....
TOPICS: CybersecurityExchange-Traded FundsFinancial MarketsFinancial StabilityGlobalICI GlobalInternationalOperations and TechnologyRetirement Policy
For Good Cybersecurity, Keep Your Eye on the Basics, Says Fidelity’s Chad Renfro
By Todd Bernhardt
June 5, 2018
The computer breaches and hacks that make headlines are typically massive and complicated, and this can lead to the belief that information security solutions must be similarly complex.
But—as Chad Renfro, head of enterprise cybersecurity at Fidelity Investments, told a capacity audience at ICI’s recent General Membership Meeting—good cybersecurity doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. Instead, he said, companies that make “strategic, optimized investments in cybersecurity” and that focus on the fundamentals can drastically reduce the amount of risk facing their firm…
TOPICS: CybersecurityEventsGMMOperations and Technology
Cybersecurity at Work: To Confront Evolving Threats, Flexibility Is Key
By Peter Salmon
October 3, 2017
In the previous installment of this series, I examined a few ways to think about the cyberthreats facing us, and thus to guard against them more effectively. Now, with organizations in every sector of the US economy facing increased pressure to safeguard corporate and client data or suffer potentially ruinous damage to their operations and reputation, it seems that some regulators think they should dictate what’s best for all of us, regardless of individual firm circumstances.
TOPICS: CybersecurityFund RegulationOperations and Technology
A Tech-Enabled Future—and Present—for Investment Advice
By Rob Elson
May 30, 2017
The future of investment advice will lie at the intersection of technology and humanity, said panelists at ICI’s 2017 General Membership Meeting. But those panelists—Eli Broverman, cofounder of Betterment; Kelly Coffey, CEO at JP Morgan’s US Private Bank; and Ben Huneke, head of investment solutions at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management—offered differing views on how much of a role people will play.
TOPICS: CybersecurityEventsFund RegulationGMMOperations and Technology
Cybersecurity at Work: I Know What You Know!
Peter Salmon
May 26, 2017
Part of a series of ICI Viewpoints covering cybersecurity issues.
In the previous installment of this series I mentioned that this post would address steps that you should take if your computer is hacked. Well, in light of the WannaCry/WannaCrypt ransomware outbreak, it seems appropriate to address not only what to do, but how to think about the threats facing us.
TOPICS: CybersecurityOperations and Technology
Cybersecurity at Work: Keeping Secure When Away from the Office
By Peter Salmon
February 17, 2017
Part of a series of ICI Viewpoints covering cybersecurity issues.
In the previous installment of this series, we discussed the risks associated with information sharing. One aspect we did not touch on is the inadvertent sharing of information, or data, when traveling for business or pleasure. For example, anyone who has flown lately can clearly observe that planes are full with business travelers, often made obvious by their black ballistic-nylon laptop bags.
TOPICS: CybersecurityOperations and Technology
Cybersecurity at Work: The Risks of Information Sharing
By Peter Salmon
August 23, 2016
In the last installment of this series, we wrote about the importance of information sharing. Though important, there is a balance to be struck; you don’t want to share too much information. Growing up in New York City, for example, my friends and I would poke fun at drivers with personalized license plates. “Why would anyone want everyone to know where they were all the time?” was our usual comment.
Cybersecurity at Work: The Benefits of Information Sharing Networks
By Peter Salmon
June 16, 2016
In the last installment of this blog series, we wrote about the need for training—specifically, cyber tabletop exercises.
TOPICS: CybersecurityOperations and Technology
Ops Leaders Extol the Transformational Power of Data and Analytics
By Todd Bernhardt
May 26, 2016
The evolution of fund companies’ ability to gather and analyze data is creating a revolution in the way that those companies serve their customers, said panelists at “Big Data Initiatives and the Power of the Cloud,” the session that kicked off ICI’s Operations and Technology Conference on May 19 in Washington, DC.
TOPICS: CybersecurityEventsGMMOperations and TechnologyShareholder
SEC Chair White Expects Continued ‘Bright Spotlight’ on Asset Management
By Rachel McTague
May 20, 2016
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is contemplating several new initiatives governing registered funds, in addition to adopting rules this year on reporting modernization, liquidity management, and the use of derivatives, SEC Chair Mary Jo White announced at the opening session on the final day of ICI’s annual General Membership Meeting (GMM).
TOPICS: CybersecurityEventsExchange-Traded FundsFinancial MarketsFinancial StabilityFund RegulationGMMInternationalMutual FundShareholder
Walter Isaacson: Where Art Meets Science
By Rob Elson
May 19, 2016
Our world’s greatest innovations, according to Walter Isaacson, can be traced to “people who truly have a sense of what it is to be human…but also feel very comfortable with science and technology, and can make the connection.” And he’s got the evidence to back this belief up.
TOPICS: CybersecurityEventsGMM
Cybersecurity at Work: Exercise Is Important
By Peter Salmon
April 20, 2016
In this installment of our series focusing on cybersecurity, we are going to look at exercising—not the type of exercising that many of us do to stay in shape, though that is a good place to start.
TOPICS: CybersecurityOperations and Technology
Cybersecurity at Work: Incident Response Plans and What They Entail
By Peter Salmon
March 21, 2016
In this second posting in our series, I’d like to focus on computer incident response planning. In last month’s post, I mentioned that there are many more data breaches that take place than we are made aware of through the media. These cybersecurity events can affect networks large and small, from large multinational corporations to your own home.
Cybersecurity at Work: Creating Passwords That Are More Secure
By Peter Salmon
February 17, 2016
Welcome to the first in a monthly series of ICI Viewpoints focusing on sound practices in cybersecurity.
TOPICS: CybersecurityInternationalOperations and Technology
Cybersecurity: Managing Risk in an Increasingly Connected World
By Todd Bernhardt
June 12, 2015
It’s increasingly obvious that we live in a world where cyber threats are evolving quickly and will remain persistent. But though such risks can never be eliminated, they can be managed, said panelists at ICI’s Operations and Technology Conference, held in conjunction with the Institute’s General Membership Meeting May 6–8 in Washington, DC.
TOPICS: CybersecurityEventsFund GovernanceGMMOperations and Technology
Fresh Perspectives on a Changing World
By Miriam Bridges
May 29, 2015
Implications of globalization, the impact of the Millennial Generation on product development, the search for alpha in a world full of passive products—these were among the top priorities and concerns of the fund industry discussed by a panel of industry leaders at ICI’s 57th annual General Membership Meeting (GMM), held May 6–8 in Washington, DC.
TOPICS: CybersecurityFund RegulationGMMICI GlobalMutual FundSavings
SEC Chair White Affirms Agency Has Tools to Address Risks in Industry
By Rachel McTague
May 8, 2015
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has the tools it needs to address systemic risks to the extent they exist in the asset management industry, said SEC Chair Mary Jo White at the opening session on the final day of ICI’s annual General Membership Meeting (GMM). White also announced that David Grim—who had been serving as acting director of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management—has just been named director of the division. White said she is thrilled that Grim, a 20-year veteran of the SEC in the investment management area, is taking the reins at a time when the Commission is moving forward to implement proactive regulations for the industry.
TOPICS: BondsCybersecurityEuropeEventsExchange-Traded FundsFederal ReserveFinancial MarketsFinancial StabilityFund RegulationGMMGovernment AffairsInterest RateInternationalMutual FundShareholderTreasury
Adapting to the Rapidly Evolving Cybersecurity Environment
By Todd Bernhardt
June 6, 2014
Because external hackers typically try to “look like an insider” when attempting to penetrate IT systems, “every cyberattack is likely an ‘internal’ attack,” according to Mark Clancy, managing director of technology risk management at the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC).
TOPICS: CybersecurityEventsGMMMutual FundOperations and Technology
Now Off the Hill, Senator Snowe Still Brimming with Ideas, Advice
By Rob Elson
June 5, 2014
U.S. policy is ripe for reform in a number of key areas, but changes to ease the polarized political environment must come first, former U.S. senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) told the crowd during the final session of ICI’s 56th annual General Membership Meeting (GMM), held May 20–22 in Washington, DC.
TOPICS: CybersecurityEventsFederal ReserveFinancial MarketsFinancial StabilityFund RegulationGMMGovernment AffairsMutual FundRetirement PolicyShareholderTreasury
Navigating a Changed—and Global—Industry
By Jeanne C. Arnold
May 23, 2013
Navigating the ever-changing landscape and increasingly global nature of the fund industry took center stage during several panels at ICI’s 55th General Member Meeting (GMM).
TOPICS: CybersecurityEventsGMMInternational
GMM Panelists Share Tips on Strengthening Cybersecurity
By Andrew Gillies
May 7, 2013
Cybersecurity gained prominence as a topic of discussion at ICI’s General Membership Meeting (GMM), held last week in Washington, DC. “Hugely important,” said Mary John Miller, the Treasury Department’s under secretary for domestic finance, in her GMM remarks.
TOPICS: CybersecurityEventsGMM
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