US clearinghouses, such as the National Securities Clearing Corp. (NSCC), could become either a thing of the past or take a backseat, if custodian Paxos has its way in clearing and settling US securities. The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s recent no-action letter to Paxos allows the firm to serve as a clearinghouse for a […]
Central Clearing for US Treasuries: Pipedream or Reality?
The have and have-nots. That is how operations and compliance executives at some fund management firms speak about the bifurcated system for how trades in US Treasuries clear. Fund managers tell FinOps Report they want a level playing field with broker-dealers. That means that buy-side trades in US Treasuries, such as bills, notes and bonds, […]
ISINs for OTC Derivatives: Is Licensing an Issue?
Update 9/25/2017: Financial firms using ANNA’s new Derivatives Service Bureau to receive ISIN codes for OTC derivatives can expect to receive rebates for overpaying far more quickly, DSB officials now say. Likewise, financial firms will also have to fork over more money if they have underpaid. Instead of waiting until the end of 2018 to recalculate […]
Seeking Depository: Call Ireland’s Central Bank (Updated)
Update (May 3, 2018) Bank and broker-dealer members of Euroclear UK & Ireland now have to worry about where they will settle trades in Irish equities post-Brexit. They will no longer be able to do so through the shared UK and Irish depository and parent Euroclear recently announced that it has abandoned plans to set […]
DSB Floats a New Payment Plan for OTC ISINs
Swaps dealers and other financial firms which need international securities identification numbers (ISINs) for over-the-counter derivative contracts will pay for receiving the codes based on one of three new categories they select from a new pricing model released by the Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB), being launched by the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA). The […]
Blockchain 2017: Regulatory Reality from FINRA
Straight from the horse’s mouth, US broker-dealers have just been advised about the many ways their use of blockchain could impact their compliance with rules imposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) — including recordkeeping, clearance and settlement, anti-money laundering, trade reporting and customer statements. FINRA , the US self-regulatory agency for broker-dealers, has issued a […]
Uncleared Swap Deals: Clarity Is Work in Progress
“It’s not that complicated.” Regulators might have thought that setting specific rules for margining uncleared swap transactions would make life easier for financial firms because they will won’t have to negotiate over how, or even whether to collateralize their deals. They couldn’t have been more wrong. So said panelists and attendees at the International Swaps […]
Blockchain for US Settlement: Three, Two, One, Takeoff? (Update)
(Editor’s Note: On Sept 14 itBit announced that its flagship Bankchain and other post-trade projects would be run out of a new firm Paxos with the same management. The former itBit, would be a division of Paxos, and continue to operate its crypto-currency trading platform). If US blockchain afficionados have their way, the technology […]
Fund Managers to SEC: Change DTCC, ICE Swaps Rules
Fund managers are asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to force Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. and ICE to adapt their rulebooks to match their limited reporting responsibilities for security-based swap transactions. The Asset Management Group (AMG) and Investment Company Institute (ICI) say that the DTCC’s Trade Repository and the ICE Trade Vault have overstepped the […]
Blockchain: DTCC Takes the Plunge with Repo Project
The decision of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) to try out distributed ledger technology for processing repurchase agreements has drawn plenty of attention from Wall Street and blockchain enthusiasts. It also has participants in the repo business at the edge of their seats, watching to see how their bottom lines could be affected. The DTCC’s announcement […]