Limboland in Argentina?: Fund managers and global custodians relying on Citibank as their local agent bank in Argentina remain in limbo as to whether or even how Citi will be able to exit the subcustody business in that country. As of press time, FinOps Report was unable to verify whether Citi would still be shutting […]
US Mutual Funds Call for New Rules For “Lost” Investors
Investors of US mutual funds have long relished the benefits the investment vehicles provide: asset diversification, compounding and quick liquidity. Small investors gain the expertise of top portfolio managers, that would otherwise be available only to wealthy and institutional investors. But what investors may not know is that their mutual funds are legally required to […]
Common Tax Reporting Standards: The Tower of Babel
When US lawmakers decided to force foreign financial institutions to ante up the names of all their customers and investors that might owe unpaid US taxes, maybe they knew that they were burdening these financial firms with a complex and costly reporting burden. But who could have foreseen that they were launching a global fad among tax […]
FinOps Takes a Byte out of the News — 3/17/2015
A few news items that may be of interest to our readers… CalPERS Pioneering: US pension giant California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) has become the first pension plan to join a fully committed repo facility at Chicago-headquartered derivatives clearinghouse OCC. The repo facility provides contingency liquidity in the event of a member default or […]
Cybersecurity in the C-Suite: A Matter of “Need to Know”
Cybersecurity has been described as everything from a top-down corporate mission to a shopping list for software packages that monitor networks and systems for suspicious activity. Given the breadth and complexity of even identifying the risks, it’s no wonder that all sorts of management are discovering they’re now riding the cybersecurity bus. Nowhere is this accumulation of corporate […]
Custodians to EU Regulator: Ease Up on New Settlement Rules
Uniform standards for how European securities depositories handle trades that fail to settle on time might sound like good thing — particularly since more than 30 of their markets have moved to a two-day settlement cycle and the phased launch of the new centralized settlement platform, Target2-Securities, is around the corner. But that’s not how the world’s largest custodian […]
Hedge Funds: Beating the Lost-Administrator Blues
You’re the chief executive or chief operating officer of a small or mid-sized hedge fund manager and have just received a call, visit, or letter from your brand-name fund administrator. The message: Sorry, we love you, but can no longer afford to take care of you, because you are too small to be profitable for us. […]
Countdown to FATCA Reporting: Will IT Glitches Mar Good Efforts? (Updated)
UPDATE: Following the publication of this article, the IRS announced it will offer another testing window from March 10 at 2AM EDT to March 12 at 5PM EDT. The test will be open to financial institutions and tax administrations which enrolled in the IDES by March 5 at 5PM EDT. With about a month left to comply […]
Liquid Alt Funds: Five Tips to Survive New SEC Scrutiny
A regulatory fine of US$50,000 might seem like a slap on the wrist for a large fund manager, but when an enforcement action from the US Securities and Exchange Commission makes its way into the agency’s press release and headlines from multiple media outlets it becomes a big concern for compliance and operations managers. In a new […]
Broker Dealers Beware: States Get Creative in Unclaimed Account Search
Knock, knock. Who’s there? If a potential censure or fine from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority or the Securities and Exchange Commission isn’t enough to motivate broker-dealers to ensure their middle and back-office operations are well oiled, perhaps an intensive audit by an unfamiliar firm sent by state regulators will be. The states’ objective: taking over billions of dollars worth […]