Smaller buy side firms and regulation

Increased regulation has become a way of life in the financial markets. Buy side firms are also devoting a lot of time and energy to meeting regulatory requirements. The share of expenditure for regulation and compliance has also risen accordingly. Firms are often building their IT strategies around the various requirements arising from Dodd-Frank, MiFID II, FATCA, Basel III, EMIR and so on. In this environment, smaller buy side firms are possibly in a tougher position than some of their larger asset management and hedge fund counterparts. The reason is that they do not have the same financial and technological capability and hence have to often adopt a more piecemeal approach to regulation and compliance. Their IT systems and platforms are also not geared fully to meet these needs, and streamlining the same is often beyond the capacity of many such small firms. An interesting development that has resulted from the spate of regulations post-financial crisis is the reduced participation or even effective withdrawal of the banks from different types of risk-taking activities. This has been accompanied by the effort by buy side firms to fill some of these needs. While this is an important area of opportunity for buy side firms, it is also something they should be cautious about. The reason is that the increase in buy side activity has to some extent moved the sell side risk to the buy side. This is accompanied by some liquidity problems due to the declining sell side activity. While smaller buy side firms are probably affected less by this issue than some of the largest asset managers, nevertheless they need to ensure their risk management systems are capable of bearing any new and additional stresses that the larger systemic role of the buy side might bring. Celent is currently conducting a lot of research looking at the various requirements of buy side firms, and I am about to publish a report that discusses the specific needs of smaller buy side firms when it comes to regulation. This research would also look at some of the ways in which these firms can cope with their pressing demands, and discusses how it is important for them to stand back and take a more holistic approach to regulation.