The Committee for the National Institute of Finance (NIF), which has proposed the set-up of a central financial reference data repository headed by a new federal agency in the US to manage systemic risk, has continued its lobbying efforts in the past month. On the other side of the pond, there continues to be increased interest in the European Central Bank-championed initiative.

I've heard that one of the top people in publishing never looks back, but always focuses on the future. That's exactly what I'm trying to do too after winning a company competition, and regrettably being filmed saying it felt like winning the X-Factor - a popular UK talent show similar to Idol. However, I might not be the only one in the data industry to regret past action. The main focus in the market is still to learn from all mistakes that were made before the economy took a turn for the worse, and come up with new systems that can help prevent future crises.

In fact, the latest buzz word is systemic risk. The Committee for the National Institute of Finance (NIF), which has proposed the set-up of a central financial reference data repository headed by a new federal agency in the US to manage systemic risk, has continued its lobbying efforts in the past month. More than 100 people have now signed a petition in support of NIF, and the group says it is making progress towards its immediate objective, which is to get a legislative sponsor, a member of Congress, who will advocate for the draft legislation produced by the Committee.

On the other side of the pond, there continues to be increased interest in the European Central Bank-championed initiative. Francis Gross, the main person behind the ECB reference data initiative, which is also centred around creating an industry-wide reference data repository, has participated in regular NIF conference calls, and the idea is to have some type of alignment between the two activities when it comes to data standards.

The two efforts, which are becoming increasingly important for the industry, are perhaps not going to result in any overnight changes, but this is about creating a better financial system for the next generation. Still, the momentum is also building for more immediate changes, and firms are increasingly recognizing that high-quality data is a key enabler for enhancements in other parts of their business.

This is sure to be a topic of conversation when the conference season kicks off again this month. It all starts with the Swift-organized conference Sibos in Hong Kong, and Carla Mangado, staff writer on Inside Reference Data, will be there to report on the latest developments in the corporate actions and standards space - as well as the back-to-back drinks receptions and dinner parties.

After that, our very own European Financial Information Summit returns to London, where the Inside Reference Data stream is set to be the highlight of the year for the regional reference data community.

This article appeared originally in the September, 2009, edition of Inside Reference Data.