What do the FIMA events represent to the data management community – why do people choose to attend?
FIMA London is the largest reference data event of the year. It’s the best chance to get a consolidated view of what is happening, or not, in the industry.

How have current market events impacted the data management community? Have data management projects suffered as a result of IT budget cutting?
Our business is doing well. We are achieving our business targets and our clients are realising cost savings, quality improvement and ultimately more effective regulatory compliance. Some of our clients are seeing budgets cut in all areas except data management.

What lessons have been learned in the field of data management since FIMA 2007 in London?
If you cannot effectively roll up your counterparty exposure quickly, you can get badly burned.

What are the likely hot topics for this year’s event in your opinion?
Counterparty/credit risk, disruptive business models for reference data management

How has the increased regulatory focus on areas such as counterparty risk and fair value accounting impacted the data management industry?
This focus has made the importance of getting the foundation for risk and fair value accounting, the underlying reference data, correct, up to date and transparent.

In what ways could the providers of data and data management technology better support financial institutions in their data management goals?
Content providers can make it less onerous and less expensive for clients to use their data in different departments, geographies and systems.

What are the new challenges facing the industry in the data management space and how can these be overcome?
Same challenges. We need to jointly create innovative new solutions.