It’s the phone call no operations manager wants to get. The trading desk just tried to execute a swap contract, and discovered that the newly hired futures commission merchant (FCM) doesn’t handle transactions in that currency. Or doesn’t accept that kind of collateral. Or isn’t a member of the necessary clearinghouse. Who’s to blame? Good question, […]
Shareholder Ballots: The Quest to Confirm a Vote
An investor receives information about a corporate agenda and casts its votes. It happens every day of the week and most frequently from February through June when most US firms hold their annual meetings. bhad barbie nude But just because a shareholder votes, doesn’t necessarily mean there’s any way to verify the vote made its way […]
Russia: Behind-the-Scenes Progress on Operational Risk
US and European sanctions aside, the Russian securities depository and regulators are staying on track toward their goal of turning Moscow into a major financial center through two badly needed operational reforms — the automated processing of corporate actions and electronic proxy votes for annual meetings in Russian corporations. In line with the global trend toward using ISO-compliant messages for […]
FINRA: New CARDS Does Little to Ease Data Collection Concerns
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) may think that putting new CARDS on the table will help clearing and introducing brokers comply, but they are still not too happy about the hand they’ve been dealt. Granted, in its new version of the so-called CARDS initiative, FINRA has bowed to industry demands with some changes to its initial […]
Regulatory Reporting: It’s All About the Process
As the regulatory reporting mandates keeping coming, there is no question fund management shops are feeling overwhelmed. But they are also realizing that offloading the management of the tsunami of reporting tasks onto third-party service providers isn’t working out as well as they expected. Both sides are on a steep learning curve in handling the mission-critical function and fund managers are learning the […]
DTCC’s Institutional Tri-party Repo Clearing: Great Idea…Maybe
A recent proposal by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. to serve as the middleman for a large chunk of the institutional tri-party repo market through its subsidiary Fixed Income Clearing Corp. might sound like a great way to reduce counterparty risk and the potential for fire sale of collateral, but with so few details unveiled […]
T+2 in Europe: Smooth Sailing or Turbulence Ahead?
A non-event. That is how European securities depositories; their bank and brokerage participants, fund managers and software vendors describe the migration of over two dozen European markets to a two-day settlement cycle on October 8. Yet they are all realizing that they must keep up the good work in ensuring seamless middle office procedures. Relying […]
New Criteria for US Accredited Investors: Looming Pain for Alt Funds?
The Securities and Exchange Commission might think it is protecting Americans from risky investments as it considers changing the criteria for defining accredited investors, but middle and back-office executives at hedge fund management shops are worried their livelihoods and client service levels are at risk. The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act requires the SEC to […]
Aggregating Swaps Data: Putting the Cart Before the Horse?
How can we effectively monitor systemic risk in the swaps market? That is the question now facing regulators around the world, and if financial firms were to have their way a federated approach to aggregating data would be the best option, they tell FinOps Report. Whether this scenario — one of the options now under review by […]
US SEC: Will It Finally Address CUSIP Fees?
After years of complaining about the fees they are paying for the issuance and use of CUSIP codes, issuers of fixed-income securities and the financial firms which use the securities identifiers may finally have found a friend at the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The US regulatory agency isn’t investigating CUSIP Global Services’ licensing fees […]