A Week to Remember

This week has been full of activity that will shape the nature of enterprise risk management ("ERM") programs in the months and years to come.  First, the logjam in the U.S. Senate finally broke with the start of floor debate on financial regulatory reform.  At the same time, hearings into the dealings at investment banks during the height of the financial crisis surfaced some interesting points on the need for more integrated risk management across financial institutions.

There were also several risk management industry conferences with significant keynote addresses.  A great summary of these events can be found on the OpenPages blog.  OpenPages is a strategic partner with Wheelhouse Advisors and provides a technology platform that enables the integration of risk management practices within companies.  As companies look to ready themselves for regulatory reform and strengthen their ERM programs, they will certainly need solutions like OpenPages to become more resilient to the rapidly changing risk and regulatory landscape.

No doubt that this will certainly be a week to remember for the evolving state of ERM and regulatory reform.

Financial Reform Bill Emerges from Senate Committee

The financial regulatory overhaul bill finally emerged from the Senate Banking Committee yesterday after a 13-10 vote along party lines.  According to many experts surveying the political landscape in Washington D.C., the bill will likely be modified to gain broader support to ensure passage by the full Senate.  Here is what Bloomberg reported about the voting outcome and the bill today.

The final version “will be a much more business-friendly bill,” because Democrats will need to make concessions to win support from Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, the banking panel’s top Republican, said Paul Miller, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets in Arlington, Virginia. “They won’t get a bill done until Dodd and Shelby agree on the compromise, but Republicans do want to get a bill done this year,” said Miller. “So there’s incentive for both sides to come to agreement.”

The likelihood of major regulatory change this year continues to grow.  Are you prepared?  If not, Wheelhouse Advisors can help.  Visit www.WheelhouseAdvisors.com to learn more.