E-trading platform for securities lending EquLend has agreed to pay pension funds and others part of a whopping $500 million and to revamp its governance policy to settle an antitrust class-action lawsuit which includes prime brokers Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase and UBS. The plaintiffs in the case led by the Iowa Public […]
SEC’s Proposed New Custody Rule Fails Industry Litmus Test
Fund management and custodian operations and legal experts are warning the US Securities and Exchange Commission that its proposed changes to its custody rule, which requires registered investment advisers to select a qualified custodian to safeguard their assets, are far too impractical and costly. “The new proposed rule is contrary to existing business practice and […]
T+1: Fund Managers Tackle Pain Points
Operations directors at fund management firms are starting to review post-trade communications, securities lending, liquidity management, and corporate actions as the critical processes keeping them awake at night when preparing for a one-day settlement cycle (T+1) for US securities in May 2024. Analyzing internal workflow and interactions with broker-dealers and custodian banks is essential to […]
SEC’s Oversight of Cryptomarket Prompts Funding Debate
The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to ask Congress to increase its fiscal 2023 budget to more closely monitor the cryptoasset market has resurrected the issue of whether members of one asset class should subsidize oversight of another, but there is no change in sight. The regulatory agency’s crypto-related enforcement actions have soared over […]
What’s a CUSIP Worth? Over US$1B in Class Action Win
If you think you have been fleeced by CUSIP Global Services and others for paying licensing fees for nine-digit alphanumeric identification codes for US securities you might be entitled to a chunk of at least US $1 billion in compensation if a jury decides you’re right. All you must do is be part of an […]
Europe’s CSDR: Fund Managers Monitor Settlement Fails
Operations managers at fund management firms are scrambling to improve how they monitor settlement fails and prevent penalties imposed by their custodian banks just around the corner as mandated under Europe’s Central Securities Depository Regulation (CSDR). A dozen European fund management firms,who spoke with FinOps Report on condition of anonymity, say they are spending more […]
Chief Compliance Officers Revisit Personal Liability
It’s all about context. That’s one key factor a group of financial service compliance professionals wants the US Securities and Exchange Commission and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to consider when holding a chief compliance officer personally liable for the wrongdoing of his or her company’s employees. The recommendation of the National Society of Compliance Professionals […]
LIBOR: Transition 1-2-3 in 2022
Breakups can be messy and switching from the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) to alternative reference rates (ARRs) will be no exception for trading, operations, fintech, risk and compliance managers in 2022. An ounce of preparing next year can translate into a pound of preventing errors in 2023, caution LIBOR operations and legal experts who […]
Autism Center of Alleged Crypto Inventor Wright’s Fraud Trial
A brilliant autistic cryptocurrency developer or a brilliant con artist? That’s what a federal jury in Miami has to decide about Australian-born Craig Wright, who alleges he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of the most popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin and underlying blockchain technology. Ira Kleiman, the brother of the late Dave Kleiman, sued Wright in 2018 […]
S in ESG Stands for Supply Chain
Do you know how green your third-party service providers are? That’s the question risk and vendor procurement managers at fund management firms, banks and broker-dealers must soon answer correctly or face reputational and regulatory consequences, say legal and data experts in environmental, social and governance policies. The vendors can be anyone from a fund administrator, […]