ISITC Plans Website Upgrade, Operational Risk Effort

International Securities Association for Institutional Trade Communication (ISITC) chair Jeff Zoller, has announced plans to upgrade the industry organization's website. Speaking at ISITC's 21st Annual Industry Forum and Vendor Show on March 23, Zoller said the aim was to better facilitate industry discussions concerning data, operations and technology, and to devote attention to related operational risk issues this year.

ISITC's main global site is expected to re-launch in April, with greater document storage and maintenance capabilities to improve users' ability to share market practice documents through the site, Zoller told Inside Reference Data. Interest in discussion threads operated on the current site is leading ISITC to build more discussion and collaboration capability into the new site, Zoller added.

"We'll make it more interactive for our members and help share ideas more in real time, as opposed to emails and conference calls," he says.

At previous ISITC shows, the organization launched working groups—a middle-office working group in 2014 and a regulatory working group in 2013. ISITC is still determining whether its operational risk efforts will take the form of a working group this year, but expects to announce specific operational risk plans at its next Industry Forum meeting May 31 to June 2 in Denver, according to Zoller.

The US Treasury's Financial Stability Oversight Council began seeking comments in December on potential risks to US financial stability, including risk related to reliance on third-party service providers. The FSOC's naming of that risk is another reason for increased concern about operational risk among ISITC's members, according to Zoller.

As firms make decisions about their operating models, including changes in data management and technology, they are choosing whether to use third-party service providers, investment books of record or other new data management capabilities, Zoller explains. ISITC is looking at the common themes all firms are considering when making these decisions that affect their operational risk, he says.

"Our firms are looking to ISITC to help them in ways that are a little bit different than we have in the past," says Zoller. "We'll respond to that, and make sure we have the right people in place to help them, and the right structures, so they're getting the content they need."