Ahead of the Curve
28 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 days ago -Acadia presents Ahead of the Curve, a podcast that provides unique perspectives and insights into the margin and collateral industry. Hosts from Acadia’s leadership team are joined by special guest speakers from across the industry to share topical perspectives and really get ‘under the skin’ of the issues that are transforming the sector. Produced and recorded by Lansons. www.Lansons.com
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Episodes
Unpacking the Agenda - Part 3
July 08, 2024 15:00 - 30 minutes - 21.1 MBScott O’Malia, CEO at ISDA returns for a ‘threepeat’, his 3rd time on the podcast. He joins John Pucciarelli, Head of Industry Engagement at Acadia for a special 30th episode of Ahead of the Curve. Their discussion ranges from the benefits and adoption of the Common Domain Model (CDM) across the industry, reflections on the advocacy and impact of the latest capital reforms including Basel III end game. Scott and John also discuss the latest regions to adopt Uncleared Margin Rules in 2024, an...
Counterparty Credit Risk – How Regulators are raising the bar in the wake of the Archegos default.
July 08, 2024 15:00 - 25 minutes - 17.8 MBIn this episode of Ahead of the Curve, John Pucciarelli – Head of Industry Engagement and Stuart Smith, Co-Head of Business Development discuss the paper issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervison (BCBS) on the Proposed Guidelines for Counterparty Credit Risk Management. They provide an insight into the guidelines and share their perspectives on the why the regulators felt more stringent controls are required in the wake of the Archegos default. Listen time 25 mins The paper...
Harnessing counterparty credit risk using the open source risk engine
June 11, 2024 13:00 - 18 minutes - 12.9 MBJoin our host Roland Stamm, Partner at Acadia’s Quantitative Services team alongside his colleague Joey O’Brien (Senior Consultant) as they explore the topic of Backtesting of Future Risk Factors. This discussion is inspired by a recent client engagement, focusing on the utilization of the Open-Source Risk Engine (ORE) library within a counterparty credit risk framework and the process of validating exposure simulation models. The whitepaper discussed can be found here (https://www.acadia.in...
Super-charging ORE: How technology advancements have enabled improved run times using GPUs
March 25, 2024 15:00 - 11 minutes - 7.95 MBEric Ehlers, Principal Consultant at Acadia makes his debut hosting Ahead of the Curve podcast alongside his colleague Zeyu (Jerry) Shen. They share their expertise in explaining how to speed up crucial processing time for running complex calculations in Open-Source Risk Engine (ORE) by utilizing GPGPU (General purpose computing on graphics processing units). The tutorial mentioned in the podcast will soon be available on the official ORE repo: https://github.com/opensourcerisk/engine ...
Implementing Open-Source Risk Engine: Accessing online resources
March 25, 2024 15:00 - 21 minutes - 14.7 MBOur host Devin Cook is joined by Alexis David, both Senior Consultants within Acadia’s Quantitative Services team. They discuss the merits of Open-Source Risk Engine (ORE) and explain the myriad of resources available to assist in implementing the software. They share nuggets of information which will be useful to anybody that wanting to use ORE for the first time, or looking to expand their knowledge to understand its latest capabilities. Listen time: 21 mins
Can Open Source Technology truly help to build the future of risk management?
March 25, 2024 15:00 - 17 minutes - 12 MBJoin our host Stuart Smith, Co-Head of Business Development and Scott Sobolewski, Co-Head of Quantitative Services as they discuss the merits of using open-source software. Reviewing the incredible journey of Linux supported by Red Hat and comparing this to Open-Source Risk Engine (ORE), the Acadia-sponsored derivatives risk management and pricing software which is freely available and being utilized by over 150+ firms in the industry today. Scott shares some use cases of ORE and explains ...
Upcoming Regulation: A 2024 Outlook
February 05, 2024 16:00 - 27 minutes - 18.7 MBJohn Pucciarelli, Head of Industry and Regulatory Strategy and Stuart Smith, Co-Head of Business Development at Acadia sit down to discuss the regulatory outlook for 2024. The pair dig into a 10 year look-back on SIMM and moving forward with the model, an update on Basel III Endgame and what the FINRA 4210 rule means for the US and wider market. Listen now to understand the implications of the regulations and what needs to be done to get ready. Listen time: 27 minutes
Basel III - Not the Endgame – A refreshing perspective
December 12, 2023 10:00 - 26 minutes - 18.8 MBJohn Pucciarelli, Head of Industry and Regulatory Strategy and Stuart Smith, Co-Head of Business Development at Acadia spend time in the studio discussing the potential impact of Basel III on banks and the broader macro economy. An honest, open discussion filled with clear examples provides an insight into the implications of the new Basel regulatory recommendations. A thoroughly informative and enjoyable listen. Listen time: 26 mins Produced and recorded at the Lansons studio.
Completing the circle for fully automated collateral settlement
October 17, 2023 03:00 - 16 minutes - 11.6 MBIn Episode 20 of Ahead of the Curve, Will Thomey and Richard Barton from Acadia discuss the merits of improving efficiency and fully automating the settlement of collateral. The launch of Settlement Manager has spurred the ability for firms to access a unique, controlled, and robust settlement process that immediately settles collateral once a transfer has been agreed. Will and Richard also explore how the industry could pivot towards improved settlement netting and tokenization – further re...
Changes in SIMM - How has the industry reacted?
September 13, 2023 09:00 - 40 minutes - 28.4 MBJoin the Acadia team (John Pucciarelli - Head of Industry & Regulatory Strategy, Stuart Smith - Co-head of Business Development, Scott Sobolewski - Co-head of Quantitative Services and Jacob Ullman - Business Development) as they discuss the PRA review of ISDA SIMM™ and the subsequent changes that ISDA has recommended . The team shares an on the ground view of the use of SIMM and how the industry is dealing with the new recalibration cycles and asks if the industry was ready for this change....
Expanding Open-Source Risk Engine (ORE) Functionality - How it’s flexible deployment offers a real choice for firms
August 07, 2023 23:00 - 13 minutes - 9.8 MBIn this episode Scott Sobolewski, Partner - Quantitative Services, discusses the Open Source Risk Engine (ORE), a powerful and versatile tool for pricing and risk modeling of financial derivatives. ORE is available for free and is already being used by a number of financial institutions to support their risk management and regulatory compliance activities. Listen now to discover the recently expanded functionality and how firms are extending the software for individual use cases. Liste...
Understanding Risk & Capital Management for crypto derivatives firms
May 02, 2023 08:00 - 12 minutes - 8.78 MBIn Episode 17 of Ahead of the Curve, Scott Sobolewski, Partner at Acadia’s Quantitative Expert Services team discusses why more and more crypto currency firms are looking to become regulated entities and the steps required to achieve this. A must listen for any Crypto firm that wants to carve out its niche in the market. Listen time 12 mins
Optimal Margin Management – Heralding a new era in UMR compliance
March 28, 2023 14:00 - 13 minutes - 9.28 MBJoin Chris Walsh, CEO at Acadia as he discusses how the OTC Derivatives industry is mainstreaming UMR compliance and starting to move towards optimizing their performance. Chris shares his insights on how the industry is adapting to a more holistic approach to risk, margin and collateral -coining the phrase Optimal Margin Management. Recorded and produced by Lansons Listen time – 13 minutes
Removing the Risk: Why a centralized risk calculation service has been adopted by the derivatives industry
December 13, 2022 09:00 - 24 minutes - 17.1 MBIn this episode we speak to Acadia’s Donal Gallagher Head of Quant Services, Stuart Smith, Co-head of Business Development for Risk & Data and Jake Ullman, Business Analyst as they discuss the reasons for the huge success of Acadia’s risk sensitivities service – IM Risk Generator. Impressively vast market data libraries, award winning technology and integration with firm’s margin systems has led to over half of all Phase 5 & 6 firms that are under Uncleared Margin Rules to utilize the servic...
Unpacking the Agenda Part 2: Crypto, ESG, UMR
August 16, 2022 12:00 - 34 minutes - 23.4 MBEpisode 14 of Ahead of the Curve welcomes back Scott O’Malia, CEO of the International Swaps & Derivatives Association (ISDA). In a friendly, relaxed and truly enjoyable conversation with Acadia’s John Pucciarelli, Scott discusses some of the trending topics that emerged from ISDA’s AGM in May 2022 including Crypto and ESG, as well as providing insight into the final phase of Uncleared Margin Rules (UMR). Scott shares ISDA’s honest and open perspectives on the Bank of England’s PRA letter re...
Collateral Validation: Demystifying the Complexity & Challenges
July 06, 2022 08:00 - 18 minutes - 12.8 MBIn this episode of Ahead of the Curve, Will Thomey, Co-head Business Development at Acadia together with Lis Hadingham, Business Development Director at Transcend discuss some of the challenges facing collateral receivers in light of regulations like Uncleared Margin Rules and more broadly the impact of the current macro-economic environment. They shed light on how firms are addressing the complexity of validating collateral posted on their behalf in custody accounts through better technolog...
The Evolving Risk Management Landscape: How to stay competitive in the post UMR world
June 29, 2022 10:00 - 14 minutes - 10.1 MBJoin Chris Walsh, CEO at Acadia as he discusses his vision for the future of the derivatives industry once all six phases of the Uncleared Margin Rules (UMR) are completed in September 2022. From the role of Acadia to the industry’s focus on optimizing initial margin and the growing importance of analytics, Chris shares his expertise and advice on how firms need to be increasingly proactive in their risk management strategy to remain competitive. Recorded and produced by Lansons.
Wrapping up the final phase of UMR: The crucial role of initial margin monitoring
April 28, 2022 06:00 - 24 minutes - 16.7 MBJoin Julie Mostefai and Pierre Mauchamp from BNP Securities Services as they discuss with David Radley at Acadia the timeframe for uncleared margin rules (UMR) Phase 6 compliance. They speak about the important role of initial margin monitoring to help firms save time and money on their regulatory journey and explain the benefits of the partnership between Acadia and BNP Securities Services for mutual clients. Produced and recorded by Lansons.
Moving forward with Backtesting: Unravelling European requirements for IM model validation
February 11, 2022 10:00 - 22 minutes - 15.4 MBJoin Deepak Sitlani, Partner at Linklaters and Robert Kirchner, European Head of Acadia’s Quantitative Services as they discuss initial margin model validation for firms under EMIR regulation. They unravel the latest RTS and explain why Backtesting is as important for firms under the uncleared margin rules today as it is in the future when the RTS comes into force. Find out what happens if a Backtest fails and how Phase 5 and 6 firms can be “regulatory ready”. Listen time 20 mins. Recorded...
Open-Source Technology – What role can it have in the risk industry?
January 26, 2022 08:00 - 23 minutes - 16.5 MBJoin Acadia’s CEO Chris Walsh, Co-Head of Quantitative Services Roland Lichters, and Partner Scott Sobolewski as they sit down to dig deeper into the importance of open-source technology in derivatives pricing and risk analysis. They explore the value of investing in and utilizing open-source code and discuss some use cases for Open-Source Risk Engine (ORE) such as derivatives valuation, model validation and computing XVAs. Discover how Acadia has used ORE for some of its risk services. We ...
Below the Threshold – How Phase 5 & 6 firms can save time and money by monitoring initial margin
November 17, 2021 09:00 - 13 minutes - 9.62 MBJoin Jeff Rosen, Managing Director at Société Générale and Mark Demo, Head of Community Development at Acadia as they chat about the final phases of uncleared margin rules (UMR). Jeff provides an industry perspective on the progress of Phase 5 firms and highlights some of the pitfalls that Phase 6 firms should be aware of as they begin their preparations for September 2022. However, the real focus of the podcast is on initial margin monitoring. Discover how firms can delay becoming operati...
Are you invested in agreement digitization?
October 25, 2021 07:00 - 30 minutes - 21.1 MBFollowing an independent study and webcast, John Pucciarelli at Acadia, Audrey Blater at Aite-Novarica and Katie Morgan at LIKEZERO dig deeper into the benefits of firms adopting a data digitization strategy in this refreshing podcast. They explore the significant cost savings that the industry can realize of up to $1.19BN by eliminating redundant processes and digitalizing OTC Derivatives CSA agreements. They speak candidly about the research project that highlighted the overall lack of con...
A critical moment of industry change – the impact of SA-CCR Capital
June 09, 2021 08:00 - 25 minutes - 17.8 MBThe Standard Approach to Counterparty Credit Risk or SA-CCR is a new capital regulation that will create a series of prudential and market changes intended to make the financial system safer. Donal Gallagher, Co-Head of Quantitative Services at Acadia together with Justin Klug, President at Capitolis discuss both the challenges and the possibilities affected by this new regulation which will have a profound impact across all derivatives users. Recorded and produced remotely by Lansons.
Unpacking the Agenda: The Biden Administration, a new SEC Chairman, UMR Phase 5, LIBOR, and the digital future ahead.
April 28, 2021 07:00 - 46 minutes - 31.8 MBJoin us for a special extended episode of Ahead of the Curve as we sit down with derivative market leaders Scott O’Malia CEO of ISDA and John Shay Chairman of AcadiaSoft. They discuss the agenda for the new Biden administration, the focus for the SEC under the newly sworn in chairman Gary Gensler, the Archegos default, Game Stop, the impacts and potential new reforms coming for capital markets and much more. We also check in on UMR Phase 5 progress and the current landscape of LIBOR reform...
Transformation: What does this really mean for the Derivatives industry?
February 05, 2021 07:00 - 13 minutes - 9.51 MBJoin Chris Walsh, CEO AcadiaSoft as he discusses the firm’s recent acquisition of Quaternion – how the strengths, strategic and cultural fit of both firms will bring new capabilities to mutual clients in terms of managing risk in an optimized manner. Chris shares his excitement of the acquisition as a game changer for the future transformation of the Derivatives industry.
Leaving Libor: The Road to Risk Free Rates
September 11, 2020 11:00 - 32 minutes - 22.5 MBIn this Episode of Ahead of the Curve, John Pucciarelli – Head of Industry & Regulatory Strategy at AcadiaSoft is joined by guest speaker Ann Battle, Head of Benchmark Reform at ISDA (International Swaps & Derivatives Association). Ann provides us with her expert insight into why we are transitioning from IBOR benchmarks towards RFRs (Risk Free Rates). This in-depth analysis is both educational and informative as John and Ann share the shortcomings of existing interest rate benchmarks and th...
Crunch time: Why data standardization in OTC Derivatives matters
July 31, 2020 15:00 - 33 minutes - 22.8 MBIn this second episode of Ahead of the Curve, AcadiaSoft’s Chief Product Officer, Fred Dassori and Head of Product Management, Richard Barton are joined by Donal Gallagher, CEO at Quaternion Risk Management. They provide fresh insights into how data standards in OTC Derivatives can help to mitigate risk. Taking us on a journey that spans the evolution of data standardization from the financial crisis in 2008 to present day with some positive predictions for the future. Produced and Recorded...
Adapting to change – how crisis fuels innovation
May 28, 2020 09:00 - 20 minutes - 13.9 MBIn the first episode of Ahead of the Curve, AcadiaSoft’s Head of Community Development Mark Demo and Head of Industry & Regulatory Strategy John Pucciarelli discuss the ongoing impact of the Coronavirus on the financial industry and how crisis such as this often fuel industry innovation. They also take a look at how margin call volumes have changed during market volatility and offer their outlook on the major challenges ahead for firms in scope for phases 5 and 6 of uncleared margin rules. ...