Editor's letter

Editorial

Last month, the University of Reading in the UK, in conjunction with NASD, the world's largest private sector regulator for securities firms and brokers, announced that it is to launch the world's first masters degree in capital markets regulation and compliance. The move is about time, considering how complex the regulatory world appears to be these days.

In fact, there could well be a degree solely dedicated to structured products regulation. In this issue, we report how the French regulator, Autorite des Marches Financiers, has requested that all product providers provide additional information pertaining to a product's risk levels in its advertising literature. In our cover story, we also examine how the European Union's Savings Tax Directive is worrying a few high-net-worth investors with its rules limiting privacy. Structured product manufacturers, meanwhile, have noticed an opportunity here and believe their investment offerings may provide those investors with a much needed lifeline.

And talking of lifelines, where would any structured products professional be without technology? We devote some space this month to the technology companies that make the everyday operations of structurers and distributors possible. See our technology guide starting on page 32.

A move towards greater consolidation among technology vendors and the demand for broad-based software solutions is encouraging global investment banks, smaller regional banks and some distributors to turn to external vendors for their trade processing, risk management and price valuation needs. Given that virtually every bank talks up the success of their structured products business in quarterly results these days, risk technology companies are unsurprisingly devoting more resources to developing solutions for the market.

Masters degrees in computer programming have existed for as long as I can remember, but I imagine it's only a matter of time until masters in risk technology programming become available as well.