With the arrival of MiFID II, trade execution will no longer be solely the concern of the trading desk. It will take a village of compliance, operations, portfolio managers, IT managers and even website designers for financial firms to prove they have met the best execution requirements of the second incarnation of the Markets in […]
Countdown to US T+2: Five Last Minute Tips
It’s now or never when it comes being ready for the pending two-day settlement cycle in the US. With September 5, the day T+2 becomes effective, just around the corner, operations and IT managers are taking the opportunity to verify that their front, middle and back office systems are tweaked correctly. And that their counterparties […]
SEC’s Liquidity Rule: How to Bucket Your Assets
Highly liquid, moderately liquid, less liquid, and illiquid. Classifying securities in one of those four buckets for the first time under the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s new liquidity rule will force compliance and risk managers at US mutual funds and exchange-traded funds to implement new operational procedures by next year. “Fund managers will have […]
EU Benchmarks: Time to Take Inventory
Some middle office and compliance managers will soon have their work cut out for them creating a benchmark inventory management process to show European regulators that they use approved benchmarks. Effective January 1, 2018, the European Benchmark Regulation (BMR) will require that European Union-supervised entities who want to enter into financial contracts or instruments referencing […]
T+2: Exchanges Ex September 5 for Corporate Actions
With the two-day settlement cycle on the horizon in the US, market players have their hands full, ensuring they have adapted their front, middle and back-office operations correctly before September 5. However, one major concern about the changeover has just been relieved. The New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq have eliminated September 5 as an […]
US Broker Pushes SEC to Make Blockchain Rules
US financial firms, concerned about how to implement blockchain technology without running afoul of future regulations, might soon find some long overdue guidance from the Securities and Exchange Commission. The US regulatory agency has been called to action by Ouisa Capital, a New York broker-dealer that operates an alternative trading system (ATS) for trading unregistered securities. […]
Private Equity Admin: Blockchain Revolution?
In another entry of blockchain into a new operational realm, Northern Trust’s announcement that it has installed the first functioning blockchain for private equity funds administration has been drawing a lot of attention. Yet that’s no guarantee that institutional investors in private equity funds or other fund administrators will be enamored with the idea. say investment, operations, […]
DSB Floats a New Payment Plan for OTC ISINs
Swaps dealers and other financial firms which need international securities identification numbers (ISINs) for over-the-counter derivative contracts will pay for receiving the codes based on one of three new categories they select from a new pricing model released by the Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB), being launched by the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA). The […]
Dole Class Action Ruling: Short-Selling Clawback Next?
US brokerage and bank operations and compliance managers will soon have to face an onerous back-office and legal challenge — figuring out how to make short sellers pay back $2.74 plus interest for each share of Dole Foods shorted more than three years ago. That money would be used to compensate beneficial investors who are considered the […]
Pre-Release ADRs: More SEC Fines on the Way?
First ITG. Who is next? That is the question fund managers and other investors are asking themselves after learning that the US Securities and Exchange Commission fined broker-dealer ITG $24.4 million for violating regulations on how it used the pre-released shares of American Depositary Receipts (ADRs). The SEC says that ITG violated Section 17(a)3 of […]