Data utility — it’s a buzzword, which has cropped up sporadically in the data management arena and is now making a comeback, albeit in diverse flavors. The latest wave of incarnations: a reference data utility launched by IBM and GoldenSource, and a know-your-customer (KYC) data utility disclosed by global messaging network SWIFT. Their unveilings earlier this […]
New Swaps Clearing Rules Trigger Services Shakedown
Brave new ideas, especially when they are mandated by regulators, typically trigger a messy shakedown of systems and services — out with the old, in with the new with a lot of cost and waste lying by the roadside for others to benefit. Such is the case with the multi-faceted regulatory drive to squeeze potential systemic risk out […]
SEC Attacks Systemic Risk Through Big Clearing Agencies
More collateral, more risk-related metrics and possibly higher fees for participants. That’s what banks, broker-dealers and even their fund manager customers might face should the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s new oversight rules for six large systemically important market infrastructures be implemented. Four years after the US adopted the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, the SEC has finally come up […]
Recordkeepers Seek New Rules for Unclaimed Securities Accounts
With billions of dollars in unclaimed US securities accounts at stake, stock transfer agents are now lobbying for changes — and some consistency — in outdated state rules. As if tracking down the holders of unclaimed securities accounts weren’t hard enough for shareholder record-keepers, they must also deal with a multitude of conflicting and often […]
Validating NAVs: An Ounce of Prevention Saves a Lot of Grief
Net asset value, or NAV for short: it’s a basic calculation which hundreds of mutual and other investment fund managers have to make each day to allow investors to know just how much they will pay to buy and sell shares or units. While the timetable for when the figure must be struck might differ, […]
Scottrade Fine: $2.5 Million When “Oops” Isn’t Enough
US IT and compliance directors need to pay a lot closer attention to how they jointly test and evaluate critical data generated by back-office systems. That’s the bare bones lesson, according to ten IT and compliance managers speaking with FinOps Report, that financial firms should learn from Scottrade’s reporting fiasco which resulted in a fine […]
Where the Buck Stops: FINRA Fines BBH and Anti-Money Laundering Director
Absolute personal responsibility with little to no authority. That’s how anti-money laundering specialists at some of the world’s largest banks summarize the job description of Brown Brothers Harriman’s global director of anti-money laundering (AML) activities. Besides a hefty fine to be paid by BBH in a settlement, Harold (Hal) Crawford will pay US$25,000 to the US Financial […]
FINRA: Even Tougher Margining Rules
US broker-dealers and their fund manager customers that deal in forward-settling agency mortgage-backed securities or similar asset classes better prepare for even more legal and operational stress. The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has just come up a set of far more rigid and comprehensive rules than guidelines from a committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, […]
Hedge Fund Managers: Taming the Data Headache
It’s a given that hedge fund managers consume data — and lots of it — to ensure the most lucrative trading strategies and efficient post-trade processes. They need to know just how the global market is moving at every fraction of a second every business day and just which transactions must be cleared and settled […]
Legal Entity Identifiers: Scrutiny of EU Firms Tightens
When the concept of a new global legal entity identifier first took shape among regulators in the US and across the globe, it was hailed as a brilliant revolutionary move. Financial firms and trading counterparties could now be appropriately identified and tracked by regulators seeking to mitigate systemic risk. No longer would they have to […]