Advanced Securities Consulting
ASC is a premier consulting firm specializing in analyzing complex financial transactions. Founded in 2006 by industry veteran Edmon (Ed) Blount, ASC leverages over three decades of securities market experience to deliver unparalleled insights and support to clients.
Our team combines deep practical knowledge in securities lending, finance, corporate governance, and risk management with advanced financial, statistical, and quantitative analysis. This unique approach allows us to uncover critical insights from raw data, providing clients with a comprehensive understanding of their financial landscape.
Our mission is to provide clients with rigorous analysis of financial transactions, expert assessments, and forensic data analysis, empowering them to make informed decisions in complex securities markets.
Advanced Securities Consulting provides institutional investors with holistic analysis and expert recommendations on all aspects of securities lending.
Our experts employ both a qualitative and quantitative approach to contract assessment, performance evaluation, and expert witness testimony, backing up conclusions with statistical and other analyses of relevant market or transaction data.
About
Our Experts
ASC’s consultants draw on many years of wide ranging experience in the banking, finance, and securities industries in areas such as securities finance, corporate trust, contract compliance, risk management, corporate governance, and sophisticated quantitative analysis of market data. Our team-based approach means that we can provide the full range of our expertise and experience to every engagement.
Our Services
ASC offers the courts and boards of directors a wide range of financial consulting services, including expert testimony, contract assessment and evaluation, and data mining and coordinate analysis. Our team draws on experience in finance and government, to bring each engagement the benefits of a multi-disciplined approach. We collaborate with lawyers, economists, regulators, and academics to develop defensible, cost-efficient solutions to challenging problems in the capital markets.
Our Outreach
ASC partners with educational organizations to assist in increasing financial literacy. The Regulatory Outreach for Student Education (ROSE) program engages students in the debate over financial services reform. The program is designed to put students in touch with the regulators, policy-makers, and industry leaders who are currently shaping the financial regulatory landscape. ASC challenges students to participate in discussions shaping the financial market.
Expertise Services
Securities Financing Transactions
Expert Testimony and Complex Litigation Support
Policy and Contract Compliance
Profitability / Performance Measurement
More about Profitability Analysis and Performance Measurement…
Risk Management
Corporate Governance
- Proxies/Empty VotingAdvanced Securities Consulting advises clients on a range of complex instruments and globaltransactions. Our consultants assist clients in areas such as:
- Corporate Actions
- Reporting and Disclosure
- Mutual Fund Governance
Cash and Collateral Management
Capital Markets
- Global Custody
- Cash Management
- Structured Products/Derivatives
- ADRs
Latest News
SEC Extends SLATE Review Period Due to Industry Concerns
Many Believe FINRA Exceeded its Mandate On June 10, 2024, the SEC extended the period by which it must take action on FINRA’s proposed SLATE Rules from June 21, 2024 to August 5, 2024. The extension provides the SEC with more time to consider the proposed rule change and comments received. FINRA’s proposed rulemaking, which […]
Loan Recalls & the T+1 Countdown: Can Securities Lenders Adapt?
Time is Running out for Lenders to Prepare for T+1 and N-PX Loan Recall Wrinkles The securities industry is transitioning to a T+1 settlement cycle, where trades settle one business day after the transaction date. While this shift promises benefits like reduced market risk and lower costs, it poses significant challenges for securities lenders.
The SEC Unveils its Agenda for 2023
A Busy Mix of New Business and Old In its recently updated regulatory flexibility agenda, the Securities and Exchange Commission has announced its regulatory priorities for 2023. A mix of old and new business, the Commission’s 2023 plans include finalizing 29 existing proposals and placing 23 new proposals up for consideration. In a January 4, […]
Beyond Benchmarking: The Race to Predictive Analytics in Securities Finance
10C-1 public data can reveal Watch Lists, but vendor data can predict market leverage and fees
New Money Fund Reforms: Safer and More Resilient Cash Collateral Pools?
More liquidity, transparency, and safety for institutional investors? The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently adopted final rules on money market (2a-7) fund reforms. These reforms are designed to make money market funds more resilient and liquid, potentially making them safer and more attractive vehicles for mutual funds to use as collateral pools for their […]
SEC Adopts Long Awaited Securities Lending Disclosure Rule
Persuasive Public Comment Helps Mold the Final Rule The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted a new rule, rule 10c-1, to increase transparency in the securities lending market. The rule requires certain persons to report information about securities loans to a registered national securities association (RNSA). The RNSA will then make certain information publicly […]
Untold Stories of Market Manipulation: Archegos Capital
How Securities Lenders Unraveled the $100 billion Pump and Dump Scheme By Ed Blount and Dan Hammond “In a matter of days, the companies at the center of Archegos’s trading scheme lost more than $100 billion in market capitalization, Archegos owed billions of dollars more than it had on hand, and Archegos collapsed.”U.S. Federal Bureau […]
Archegos Litigation Heats Up
Rogue Trader’s Collapse Still Ripples Through the Financial Industry In March 2021, Archegos Capital Management, a family office run by Bill Hwang, collapsed in a spectacular fashion, leaving its counterparties with over $10 billion in losses. The collapse of Archegos was one of the largest hedge fund failures in history, and it has since been […]
Modernizing Beneficial Ownership Reporting
The Industry Waits for Final Action from the SEC In early 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed several significant changes to Regulations 13D and 13G, which require certain persons to disclose their beneficial ownership of equity securities. These changes seek to improve the transparency and timeliness of beneficial ownership reporting and to make […]
Predictive AI in Securities Finance: Step One
How to Develop an Efficient, Legally-defensible Machine Learning Infrastructure by Ed Blount and Dan Hammond [1] On April 2nd, 2026, an effusion of data from a daily trove of U.S. regulatory filings will create resources to drive many new use cases for artificial intelligence in capital markets. A clear opportunity exists in securities finance, where […]