Wall Street continues to turn up the heat against the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s proposal for transaction reporting on securities loans, citing its contradictory analysis on short position and short activity reporting as well as potential operational shortcomings. The SEC recently reopened the comment period for its proposed securities loan reporting plan to adopt […]
US SEC Loan Reporting: Ops Cost of Transparency
The operational and legal challenges of complying with the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s potential requirement to report information on securities loan transactions to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority could outweigh the benefits of transparency to investors, say operations and legal experts. Instead of offering any feedback to the SEC’s proposal, some industry players asked […]
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 […]
Archegos Debacle Prompts Holistic Counterparty Risk Management
The recent implosion of family office Archegos Capital Management should renew interest in counterparty risk management and the need for a holistic program, say some broker-dealer risk management experts. By JP Morgan’s estimates the fallout may have cost some prominent prime brokers, such as combined as much as US$10 billion in trading losses. Archegos’ betting […]
ADRs: Will Blockchain Create a Better Mousetrap?
Unsponsored American Depositary Receipts could be a lot less expensive and more efficient for investors to own and to receive dividends and other corporate action distributions thanks to a new permission-based blockchain platform designed by RISE Financial Technologies, according to the Boston and London-based blockchain technology firm. RISE Financial predicts its new blockchain-based infrastructure, set to […]
Want to be AML Whistleblower? Not So Fast
You work in the anti-money laundering department of a major bank or brokerage and overhear a conversation about how suspicious activity reports are not being filed on a particular client; how the transaction monitoring system is not working properly; or how wire transfers are being made to a country or individual on a US sanctions […]
Registered Investment Funds 2021: New Derivatives Risk Program
For US traders, risk managers, portfolio managers, and boards of directors of registered fund management firms trading in derivatives, 2021 will be the year they figure out which derivatives to trade and how many to trade for more reasons than just making higher investment returns. Complying with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new rule 18f-4 […]
Operational Resilience 2021: The Human Factor
Operational resilience will replace business continuity as the mantra for operations, IT and risk managers at fund management firms, banks and brokers in 2021 requiring a whole new combination of procedures, human interactions and even a bit of technology spend. Operational resilience goes far beyond business continuity. “Operational resilience takes a much broader approach to […]
Blockchain Attorney Klayman Battles MoFo Over Blocked Partnership
Did Joshua Ashley Klayman, one of the US’ top blockchain attorneys, cost herself a partnership in a prominent global law firm, because she chose to focus on the novel field of blockchain and smart contracts, because was female, or because she got pregnant and took three maternity leaves? Those are among the many questions that […]
COVID-19 Accelerates Buy-Side Outsourced Trading
The COVID-19 pandemic is adding fuel to the fire of interest from some fund management firms in outsourcing the execution of their trade orders to third-party specialists. Over the past few years, fund managers have decided that outsourcing isn’t only for middle and back-office functions. It can also be used for trade execution with cost […]