In trying to harmonize the operations of European securities depositories, regulators may well be creating unintended operational and financial burdens for the settlement houses and their members in dealing with trades which fail to settle on time. “The shorter timetable for settlement and the fines for late settlement will be far more difficult to implement […]
Reconciliation Moves Into Fee Accounting
Once viewed strictly as a matter of matching up cash, positions and transactions, the middle-office task of reconciliation is quickly moving into the trade-execution and post-trade space. The reasons are self-evident: not only are regulators demanding better control of operational risk, but C-level management are requiring more precise analysis of the bottom line for each unit. “It’s all […]
Russia: Is the NSD Coming in from the Cold?
With Russia’s regulatory and settlement infrastructure on the mend, foreign fund managers appear to be slowly forgiving the market’s past indiscretions and giving Moscow its long-awaited international stature. Granted, Russia has a long way to go before it can match the likes of its more established peers across the globe. Settlement delays, stolen securities, uncertainty […]
What to Do When the CFTC Gets Into Your Phone Calls
A new requirement from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that all oral communications on some over-the-counter transactions be recorded, could end up being technologically and economically unfeasible. In its role as overseer of the burgeoning US$650 billion swaps market — a designation assigned by the US Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act — the CFTC […]
Middle Office Takes Center Stage in Hedge Fund Valuation Fiasco
A recent fine of US$9 million the US Securities and Exchange Commission levied against a UK hedge fund advisor and its former US holding company shows the operational risk faced by alternative investment funds when middle-office controls fail to correctly handle the signs of a bad valuation. The settlement, announced on December 9, 2013 arose […]
Global LEIs: A ‘Virtual’ Turn of Events?
With little information emerging from the Regulatory Oversight Committee (ROC) on how a central operating unit (COU) would work as part of a global initiative for new identification codes for business entities, market consensus appears to have emerged suggesting a virtual model for data distribution is the best way to move forward. Under such a […]
FCA Leaves Asset Owners to Self-Police Custodian Fees
In deciding not to monitor the fees charged by UK custodians for some value-added outsourced services, the UK’s securities watchdog may have just opened a floodgate of lucrative business for third-party consultants. A new committee just established by the UK fund management trade group Investment Management Association (IMA) along with fund managers and custodians is […]
FATCA: How to Reduce Ops Risk
At the core of FATCA is the need for foreign financial intermediaries to know and report whether securities accounts are owned by US persons who are deliberately trying to avoid paying their correct share of US taxes.In fulfilling the rules of FATCA, the US legislation designed to catch US tax evaders, financial firms would be […]