Headquartered in the New York City, the financial services capital of the world, The Henson Group, Inc. (THG) has focused much of its attention on the financial services industry since its founding. This has enabled THG to offer a dedicated Financial Services Practice, staffed by a core team of seasoned technology engineers, each with more than 10 years project experience.

THG’S APPROACH

New products and technologies combined with increasing globalization and consolidation are changing the landscape of the banking and financial services industry. THG's expertise has application throughout all facets of the financial services industry, with clients that are major banking institutions, insurance providers, asset managers and capital markets powerhouses.

Consultants in THG’s Financial Services Practice assist clients in using technology to chart a proper course through the industry's ever changing landscape. To do this, THG's consultants work closely with clients to develop a better understanding of their specific business processes and demands.

Clients also receive THG's unique perspective, providing them with insight into how issues facing the industry will affect their operation. At the same time, clients receive guidance on how to take advantage of the very latest opportunities technology provides.

THG’S SERVICES
Some of the critical areas members of THG's Financial Services Practice have helped navigate for clients include:

• Leveraging Information Across the Entire Enterprise
• Facilitating Globalization
• Ways to Better Identify Investment Opportunities
• Reducing the Complexity of Technology Products
• Increasing Worldwide Fund Tracking Capabilities
• Enhancing Regulation Awareness and Compliance
• Measuring Risk and Risk Management Systems
• Creating New Marketing and Distribution Strategies
• New Product Development

THG’s Focus on Core Financial Services Disciplines
THG's commitment is to provide services that the financial industry needs, nationally and internationally, by professionals who have a clear understanding of its complexities and commercial realities. THG services are framed around the following disciplines:

• Asset Management
• Business Assurance
• Corporate Finance
• Global Employment Solutions
• Internal Audit Services
• Information Systems Assurance and Advisory Services
• Risk Management

The Advantages of Proven Technology Partner
THG’s Financial Services Practice provides IT services and solutions equip leading financial services companies with the technology to maneuver an increasingly treacherous business world.

To get a better idea of just what kind of services THG provides clients, consider the content below that addresses some major industry issues THG’s clients contend with everyday, and the corresponding IT strategies THG provides:

Navigating Regulation FD and Material Information
Regulation Fair Disclosure was a landmark rule passed by the Securities and Exchange Commission to prohibit the selective disclosure of material information by public companies to the market professionals and select shareholders.

The Reg FD rule reads as follows: "Whenever an issuer, or any person acting on its behalf, discloses any material nonpublic information regarding that issuer or its securities to [certain enumerated persons], the issuer shall make public disclosure of that information... simultaneously, in the case of an intentional disclosure; and... promptly, in the case of a non-intentional disclosure."

Information pertaining to your the company is deemed material if there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable investor would consider it important in determining whether to buy, sell, hold, or engage in other transactions concerning the company's securities. Although not intended to be a comprehensive list, the following are examples of information that could be considered material:

● Earnings results or projections
● News of impending merger & acquisition activity
● Pending or threatened litigation
● Senior management hiring, firing, and retirements
● The public or private sale of additional securities
● New products announcements
● Change in auditors and agreements/disagreements with auditors

THG’s Approach:
If Regulation FD has taught the Financial Services anything, it is the fact that today’s company’s must have a firm grasp on its information technology to prevent leaks that could lead to dangerous reprisals from shareholders and regulators.

Therefore, THG enables its clients to better manage the flow of information throughout the entire enterprise with a variety of strategies and solutions. These programs not only significantly reduce the likelihood of a security or regulatory breach, but enable clients to achieve productivity gains and reduce inefficiencies.

Solving Sarbanes-Oxley
The most profound change to federal securities laws since the 1930s, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 dramatically transforms federal regulation of public company corporate governance and reporting obligations. The act also significantly tightens accountability standards for directors and officers, auditors, securities analysts and legal counsel.

Key provisions:
● CEOs and CFOs must certify in each periodic report containing financial statements that the report fully complies with Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and that the information fairly presents the company’s financial condition and results of operations.

● Certifying officers will face penalties for false certification of $1,000,000 and/or up to 10 years’ imprisonment for “knowing” violation and $5,000,000 and/or up to 20 years’ imprisonment for “willing” violation.

● No public company may make, extend, modify or renew any personal loan to its executive officers or directors, with limited exceptions.

● Each company must disclose “on a rapid and current basis” additional information about the company’s financial condition or operations as the SEC determines is necessary or useful to investors or in the public interest.

● All annual reports filed with the SEC containing financial statements must include all material corrections identified by a public accounting firm.

THG’s Approach:
Whether it is accounting, reporting, or monitoring, clients who leverage technology to better manage their information and processes have a proven advantage over competitors.

THG crafts solutions that help streamline the financial reporting and database management systems that are the foundation of any financial services company, while providing custom applications that allow clients to better leverage its proprietary information.

Guiding Regulation G?
In light of the corporate accounting scandals of recent memory and the enactment of Sarbanes-Oxley, the SEC adopted "Reg G" in January this year, which essentially requires publicly-traded companies to state when their earnings reports do not adhere to national accounting standards.
Specifically, Reg G governs the presentation of pro forma financial information in earnings releases and similar public announcements. Furthermore, companies are now required to also furnish numbers that comply with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP).
Therefore, whenever a company discloses or releases material information that includes pro forma information, it needs to reconcile the difference between the pro forma and GAAP numbers.

THG’s Approach:
Financial communications professionals need understand the dangers and differences associated with their decisions. With custom THG solutions that streamline information flow, a company can inject more structure and monitoring into their business processes, while also providing value-added custom applications that prepare executives to better serve the company’s constituencies.