Regulators Set to Tighten Grip, Focus on Accountability and Transparency in 2009
The current financial meltdown has been partially blamed on a lack of regulation. To correct the problems that contributed to the crisis, regulators should target specific problem areas while making sure they don’t overregulate and asphyxiate the markets.

Low Latency Spending Moves Full Speed Ahead
Trading firms still need to focus on reducing data latency to keep up with the competition. With spending cuts and reduced IT spending forecasts, CIOs will still find the funds to invest in technology that speeds up the trading process.

List of Victims of Madoff’s Alleged Fraud Grows
Investors around the world have scrambled since Friday to assess potential losses from an alleged $50 billion fraud by Bernard Madoff, the Wall Street icon arrested last week. The list of investors announcing losses continues to grow.

AllianceBernstein Names Wall Street Veteran as CEO
AllianceBernstein Holding LP appointed Wall Street veteran Peter Kraus, a former Merrill Lynch executive, as its chairman and chief executive, replacing retiring Lewis Sanders.

SEI Implements Assette Software for Institutional Client Reporting
Assette presentations and Assette statements add flexibility and efficiency

2009 CIO Challenges: Regulation
Industry experts look at the impact of regulation in 2009, and how CIOs can deal with the requirements of new regulations.

Holland & Knight Forms Madoff Advisory Group
Assists clients in determining losses

Euroclear Sets New Messaging Standards
Approval granted from the ISO 20022 registration bodies

Corporate Fraud and Misconduct Risks Driven by Pressure to do ’Whatever It Takes’
Fewer episodes reported by companies with ethics and compliance programs

SEI Implements Assette Software for Institutional Client Reporting
Assette presentations and Assette statements add flexibility and efficiency

Canadian Markets: Second-half rout punishes TSX; year ends with 35% loss
Canadian stocks Wednesday got a late-afternoon lift from surging oil prices, putting a positive finish on a year bruised by the commodity sell-off and credit crunch.

Vast Majority of Banks Lack Enterprise-Wide View of Risk

NYSE Euronext Manages Exponential Data Growth in U.S. with Greenplum
Exchange group relies on Greenplum in the U.S. to support surveillance and other next generation analytic applications.

SEC Officially Mandates Interactive Data for Financial Reports
Large firms must start filing financial reports in XBRL format in June 2009.

My Stupidest Calls of 2008
A look back at an active year in CAPS.

AIG may seek to ease loan repayment terms: reports
NEW YORK (Reuters) – American International Group Inc may seek to ease terms for repayment of a $60 billion U.S. government loan in a bid to get better prices for its assets, according to media reports.

U.S. lawmakers to question SEC watchdog about Madoff (Reuters)

Reuters – The internal watchdog at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will testify Monday at a hearing by U.S. lawmakers who want to know how the investor protection agency failed to detect the alleged $50 billion fraud by Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff.

Chinese shares fall in slow preholiday trading (AP)
AP – Chinese stocks fell for a seventh straight session on Tuesday, as banks and property developers led a broad decline in lackluster trading.

Blackstone cuts its hedge funds
Blackstone is shrinking its hedge fund business as it becomes the latest private equity firm to look for ways to cut costs as a result of the market downturn

More Hedge Funds May Fail Amid Bets on Madoff
For years, hedge fund manager Sandra Manzke trusted Bernard Madoff to deliver steady returns for her clients. Instead he may have delivered a fatal blow to her business.

Ennis Menaced by Weak Macro Environment
Ennis barely holds it together after an abysmal quarter, but remains affordable.

Madoff to meet SEC deadline on assets: lawyer (Reuters)

Reuters – Accused swindler Bernard Madoff will send U.S. regulators a list of his assets, liabilities and property by Wednesday’s court-ordered deadline, his lawyer said.

Oil eases below $39, down more than 60 percent in 2008
LONDON (Reuters) – Oil eased below $39 a barrel on Wednesday, heading for a fall of more than 60 percent in 2008 as the global economic slowdown bit deep into energy demand and the latest U.S. inventory data showed further rises in fuel stocks.

Energy Stocks: Energy stocks ending rocky year with modest gains
Petroleum, natural gas shares and oil service shares fall ahead of weekly inventory data in the last trading day of 2008, closing the books on a wild and weaker year.

LyondellBasell considers bankruptcy filing
NEW YORK (Reuters) – LyondellBasell, the world’s third-largest petrochemical company, is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as part of its efforts to restructure debt, a company spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

GMAC eases burden with $21.2 billion debt swap
NEW YORK (Reuters) – GMAC, the General Motors Corp financing affiliate that received a $6 billion infusion from the government, completed a multibillion dollar debt swap on Wednesday designed to bolster its capital.

Top Dell executives leave as PC maker restructures
BOSTON (Reuters) – Two top executives at Dell Inc are leaving the No. 2 PC maker as part of a reorganization designed to boost sales as it struggles to regain share from bigger rival Hewlett-Packard Co.

Investing Scams: 10 Tell-All Questions
How to spot a swindle before it’s too late.

Futures Movers: Crude trades modestly lower, on track for worst-ever year
Crude-oil futures track toward their worst year on record, a reflection of concerns that a weakened global economy will undercut energy demand.

Sinoenergy Corporation Announces Fourth Quarter and 2008 Fiscal Year End Results

Onstream Media Corporation Reports Fiscal 2008 Fourth Quarter Financial Results

SAND Technology Announces First Quarter Results for Fiscal 2009

Alliance California Municipal Income Fund, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter Earnings

Wall St rises after Fed efforts to boost economy
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks rose on Wednesday, the end of the one of Wall Street’s worst years, as investors looked to 2009 for fresh policies that would stave off the deepening recession.

3 Tech Stocks to Buy in 2009
Get your head in the clouds.

Mortgage activity surges at US banks
Banks are having trouble dealing with a flurry of mortgage applications, after record loan defaults and job cuts have stretched resources to the limit

Why Now Is Not the Time to Sell
Here’s how you can win big after losing.

‘Blackout’ trading extension postponed until April 1
Market regulators in Hong Kong said they will defer implementation of a stricter blackout rule for share trading by company directors for three months, effectively reversing course a handful of trading hours before the new rule was due to come into effect.

Madoff investor warned its clients
One of the biggest investors in Bernard Madoff’s alleged $50bn fraud explicitly warned its clients of the danger that his brokerage ‘could abscond with those assets’, but still attracted $2.75bn, according to documents sent to investors

Blagojevich names former state attorney general to Senate seat
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appoints the state’s former attorney general, Roland Burris, to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama. Senate Democrats vowed to block the decision.

Bring On the Cacophony
The band pushers are possibly starting their own band. Oh no!