BUDGET OUTLOOK 2008 IT Budgets Up More Than 10% for Financial Services Firms Despite a difficult year, most financial services firms plan to increase their IT budgets for 2008. But priorities differ across the capital markets, banking and insurance sectors. HOT TOPICS 2008 Technology Executives Have a Need for Speed Our editors asked experts across the financial services industry to predict the hot technology topics for their sectors in 2008. What eight analysts have to say about their sector in their own words. THE NEXT BIG THING Predictive Analytics and Complex Event Processing Technology Move to Cutting-Edge of Financial Services Industry Financial services companies are analyzing rising data volumes with predictive analytics to glimpse the future, segment consumers, build stronger customer relationships and reduce fraud.   ANALYST FORECAST Expect Continuous Change to Accelerate in 2008 The summer of 2007 credit crisis served as a wake-up call for the securities industry, and a host of business drivers and technology trends will reshape the markets in 2008.		FINANCIAL SERVICE CHALLENGES Demand for Quants Heats Up on Wall Street But Recruitment is Hard As trading becomes more mathematical and firms look to revamp their risk management systems, the demand for quantitative skill sets is never ending. The Fallout From CDOs Will Last Through 2008 As data volumes continue to rise, bankers, insurers and traders are leveraging predictive models to anticipate future behavior and events. Complex Event Processing Moves Beyond Algorithmic Trading Risk Management is one of the areas in which firms are finding that CEP can help them gain a competitive edge. Derivatives Processing Will Attract More Dollars, Attention in 2008 It's no longer just about efficiency -- automating derivatives processing can prevent costly mistakes that will be compounded by market turns. Citi, Wachovia, Bank of America Among Firms to Step Up Green IT Investments in 2008 Virtualization, consolidation and remote desktops will be among the most popular initiatives. Wall Street Firms To Globalize IT in 2008 Markets in Asia and Latin America are growing more lucrative, and investment banks and asset managers are setting up shop overseas. But firms must globalize their IT to support international business. Streamlining Global Compliance Globalization continues to be a trend, and companies are finding they can't manage current global compliance requirements efficiently. Data Security: An Increasingly Daunting Task With more data privacy regulations in the pipeline and a focus on outsourcing, companies must ensure they are protecting data both internally and externally.
FROM THE EDITOR Will the CDO Mess Place 2008 IT Budgets In Peril? With write-downs from subprime mortgage losses now approaching $50 billion, Wall Street firms may have no choice but to revise 2008 technology spending budgets. UP FRONT Financial Services Outperform Other Industries in Records Management Sixty-five percent of public and private organizations have not implemented enterprisewide records management policies. Asia Tops World for Money Laundering Risk A global survey of senior anti-money laundering (AML) compliance officers identified Asia as the region currently experiencing the greatest increase in money laundering risk. For Wealth Managers, Specialization Trumps Generalization Consultative wealth managers earn three times more than traditional financial advisors. Equity Transactions Boom Across Global Exchanges Equity transactions increased by an average of 44 percent in 2007. Identity Theft Top Priority for State Legislators More than 200 bills are currently pending at state level.		PERSPECTIVES Be Careful of The Transparent OTC Market Be careful what you wish for. A transparent over-the-counter (OTC) market could cause liquidity to dry up. SHIFTING GEARS Citisoft Appoints Clark as Global CEO Clark will focus on growing the company's business in Australia and Asia. GAIN Hires Andrew Haines as CIO As CIO, Haines will be responsible for overseeing trading and business application development, infrastructure applications and business continuity planning. BGC Appoints Clive England as head of e-commerce for North America AS head of e-commerce at BGC, Clive England will develop hybrid trading applications in the U.S., leveraging the company's technical backbone in the U.K.