(The information in this article was updated on December 11 to reflect the European Central Bank’s new changes to the T2S migration timetable). When first envisioned in 2008, Target2 Securities (T2S) was hailed by the European Central Bank as a single settlement platform to reduce the post-trade processing costs associated with domestic and cross-border European securities […]
US Anti-Bribery Corruption Laws: Guilty Until Proven Innocent?
Know-your-customer isn’t the only motto financial firms should live by. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has put human resource, compliance and risk departments of financial institutions on high alert that they have to know a lot more about candidates for internships and employment, as evidenced in a recent multimillion dollar penalty paid by BNY […]
Australia’s Take on T+2: Why Worry?
When it comes to reducing the time it takes to settle trades from three days to two days, the Australian and US markets appear to be a study in 0pposites, just like the seasons. Although C-level operations and technology executives may be sweating in the blazing summer heat down under, they sound cool when speaking […]
US Swing Pricing: Getting the Process Right
The US mutual fund managers may soon be following in the footsteps of their European peers in adopting swing pricing, but how ready are they to overcome the operational and compliance challenges? If the tone of discussions at a recent standing-room-only event hosted in New York City by the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry (ALFI) is any indication, the answer is […]
Europe’s New AML Directive: Keep Digging for Customer Data
As if knowing the basics about your customer weren’t difficult enough, how about knowing a lot more, verifying what you think you know, and doing the same when it comes to the customer’s direct and indirect investors and controlling parties. That is what European regulators will eventually require from financial institutions doing business in the […]
Fund Managers: On Countdown for New Uncleared Swaps Margins
US banking regulators might not have directly overseen the activities of fund management shops in the past, but when it comes to uncleared bilateral swap contracts, that stance is changing fast. The new arrangement will come at a hefty cost for heavy users of the bespoke deals. Under final rules released October 22, a host of […]
Harmonizing ISO 20022 Messages: Only Best Efforts Apply
Understanding unfamiliar accents and dialects can be hard, even if you come from the same country and supposedly speak the same language. Imagine how users of ISO 20022-compliant messages must feel as they struggle to process the current variants of the up-and-coming messaging standard. Their solution: create ISO harmonization groups and hope they can reach […]
Managing Your Vendor Risk? New Data Hub Helps Out
Can we trust this vendor? That question is the foundation of a process the begins long before a contract is signed and continues until the vendor and the customer firm part ways. Managing any relationship with a third-party provider can be taxing for a financial firm, requiring ongoing scrutiny, recordkeeping and now regulatory expectations. It is […]
FCMs: Fund Managers Swap One Cost for Another
Fund managers can no longer assume all is well in their relationships with their futures commissions merchants. As many face changing or even lost relationships with their FCMs, the big question they are forced to answer: What do we do now? Their choices: either find another FCM, reduce the number of centrally-cleared swaps transactions they trade, or […]
Playing With Swing Pricing: Tough Choices for US Fund Managers
The goal of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s new proposed rules for swing pricing for mutual funds may be noble, but their potential implementation is already causing plenty of strife, say operations insiders. A swing price, according to the US regulatory agency is an adjustment to the net asset value, based on a huge purchase […]