Seeing Through the Forest of Financial Regulations

The entire financial services community has had a rude awakening in recent years. The concept of light-touch regulation has evaporated rapidly and a plethora of more stringent requirements has begun to fall into place for the investment management industry. As we heard from Senator Christopher Dodd at Eagle’s Client Conference last year, politicians have been moved to act in response to the dire situation and public ire posed by the financial crisis both in the U.S. and around the world. Regulators and politicians have also been seeking desperately to exorcise the ghosts of the Bernie Madoff scandal, the biggest white-collar swindle of all time. As investment managers everywhere come to grips with a veritable forest of new requirements, we want to take this opportunity to examine the latest developments, the challenges at hand, and the overall regulatory landscape facing our clients around the globe.