Chills typically precede colds or fevers, which can be treated through medication. But when the chills are related to cancellation of settlement and other services by the US market infrastructure Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC), they can be as deadly as the Bubonic plague, say critics, who are now battling the efforts of its […]
Intergovernmental Agreements: Blessing or Curse in Complying With FATCA?
Intergovernmental agreements will help foreign financial institutions more easily meet the requirements of the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which aims to curtail tax evasion by US persons abroad. Or so financial firms around the world were told by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and their local tax authorities. That’s not exactly a […]
Not in the CARDS? US Clearing Brokers Protest Customer Reporting
A new reporting plan designed to flag possible misbehavior by US brokers, is drawing backlash from their back-office correspondent clearing firms responsible for complying. Their complaints? They run the gamut from the overwhelming costs and liabilities involved in following new rules to questions of how the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is going to manage the flood of data […]
Fund Managers: Get Ready to Monitor Phone Calls on Swap Deals
It isn’t often that regulators take into account the concerns of market participants on the difficulties in implementing new rules. When it happens it is a great relief — particularly for some fund managers who are already struggling to meet new trading and clearing requirements for swap contracts. But when it comes to the recent […]
Fund Managers and FATCA: Behind the Curve Or Just Being Prudent?
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which aims to help the US Internal Revenue Service catch potential tax evaders outside its radar, has always been viewed as a difficult regulation for financial firms to follow and with key deadlines close at hand some fund managers still apparently overwhelmed. They are so overwhelmed that they are massively unprepared […]
Bad European Data Validation Rules Give Banks Reporting Jitters
joi evaaviolettt It’s hard enough for bank operations and financial reporting specialists to fill out all the data points and formats required by regulators in filing mandatory documentation evidencing financial soundness. But when a major banking regulatory watchdog — the European Banking Authority — issues 290 incorrect data validation rules, the whole reporting process can […]
Middle Office Takes Center Stage in T+2
Once the unsung sibling of the front and back office, the middle-office could finally get its long overdue recognition as the US prepares to shorten its trade settlement cycle silkyplatypus315 facebook from three days to two. Squeezed between traders praised for making lucrative deals and operations experts at the end of the line moving cash and securities around to meet […]
Compliance and IT Experts: Strange Bedfellows in Managing Cybersecurity Risk
When it comes to newly heightened US regulatory oversight of cybersecurity risk, compliance directors face risks of their own. They will be on the front line when examiners from the Securities and Exchange Commission come calling to evaluate their cybersecurity programs. But to even answer the SEC’s questions, not to mention have an acceptable working program to […]
Custodians Whammied by New US Leverage Ratios
US regulators may be well-intentioned in mandating that eight systemically important banks maintain higher supplementary leverage ratios (SLRs) than their European peers, but for some of the world’s largest custodians their decision could spell higher costs of doing business — and a trickle down effect on fund management clients. With the new SLR requirements not taking effect […]
Investment Breaches: Prevention Better than Consequences
Portfolio compliance experts at fund management firms may not like to talk about their accidental breaches of investment guidelines, but they are quickly waking up to their need to do something about them. There is simply too much at stake. Portfolio compliance is a fundamental competence investors and regulators assume they’re getting. Admitting to even a few breaches doesn’t inspire confidence, […]