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 […]
Unclaimed Cryptocurrencies: New Legal, Ops Headaches?
States might soon make a real claim on unclaimed virtual currency accounts, forcing digital asset custodians and exchanges to address murky statutes and potential legal liability. “States have a good nose to smell just which industry isn’t compliant with their escheat laws and could target the cryptocurrency market,” cautions Robert Peters, managing director and head […]
FinCEN’s New Reporting Category: Human Trafficking
Anti-money laundering managers at US banks could soon beef up their efforts to help law enforcement catch human trafficking, thanks to a new line item on their suspicious activity reports (SARs). AML executives aren’t responsible for prosecuting the criminals, but they might prioritize sniffing business activity for signs of human trafficking now that the US […]
Opportunity Zone Fund Admin: Can Blockchain Do the Trick?
Blockchain is finding a new opportunity in middle and back-office operations for opportunity zone (OZ) fund managers, but can it outperform the current alternative fund administrators? One Arizona entrepreneur certainly thinks so. Co-founded and part-owned by Nico Willis, chief executive of cost-basis technology provider Networth Services, new fund administrator Agora AltX uses Hyperledger Fabric’s permission-based […]
FRTB: Five Ops Steps to Recalculating Market Risk
Bank trading desk, risk, and data managers are quickly realizing that the term fundamental in the new Fundamental Review of the Trading Book legislation should be taken literally and they don’t have much time left to prepare. The European Union has set January 2022 as the timetable for banks in its jurisdiction to meet more […]
SEC: Old Transfer Agent Rules Apply to New Blockchain
The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to register blockchain-enabled transfer agents has resurrected the issue of how it can apply securities laws to a nascent unproven technology. San Francisco-based Securitize has laid claim to being the first “agent” registered by the SEC to have developed an open-source blockchain based protocol for shareholder recordkeeping with […]
Rule 606: SEC Redefines Discretionary Trades
The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to broadly define what makes a trade execution discretionary will force introducing and executing brokers to walk a thin tightrope when complying with its new Rule 606. They will have to make some tough choices on how much information the executing broker can release on a trade order […]
IRS: Get Your Data Right on FATCA and QI Certifications (Or Else)
The US Internal Revenue Service is turning tax operations and compliance departments into data and paperwork geeks when it comes to meeting their requirements for FATCA and QI. Did your tax operations department withhold the correct amount of tax for the right account and file the form correctly by deadline? That’s what an IRS auditor […]
Cryptoasset Valuation: Fair Value or Fair Game?
Fair value– the term used by accountants to refer to the correct valuation of assets for financial reporting purposes — should’nt be taken at face value by fund managers or investors when comes to cryptoassets. Anyone who comes to the table unprepared for a potential dispute is foolish as shown in a recent lawsuit involving […]
Unique Product IDs: Next Challenge for Swaps Reporting
Data operations, trade desk and regulatory reporting managers may soon have gear up for new administrative tasks — and potentially extra fees– when reporting their over-the-counter derivatives transactions to trade repositories using unique product identifiers. The UPIs mark the latest in an array of codes financial firms and trading platforms must use to describe the […]