Providers of shareholder recordkeeping services for US mutual funds and non-equity accounts could soon face more regulatory oversight if the US Securities and Exchange Commission has its way. The SEC’s lengthy concept release issued late last year suggests that the US regulatory agency wants rules to keep up with the changing times. To that end, […]
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 […]
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 […]
US High Court Asked to Address Rights of Unclaimed Account Holders (Updated)
(Editor’s Note: On February 29, 2016 the Supreme Court decided not to hear the case involving California’s unclaimed property statutes on the grounds the “convoluted history” of the lawsuit made it unsuitable for appeal to the US high court. However, Justice Samuel Alito warned that state unclaimed property laws could face a serious constitutional challenge […]
US T+2 Settlement: The Long Journey Officially Begins
What a difference a day makes. Until September 16, the US financial industry had only been talking about a two-day settlement cycle. Only a preliminary roadmap of the stepping stones to T+2 had been completed, indicating that at least 30 operational workflows will be affected, requiring rule, behavioral and technology changes. On that day Securities and Exchange Commission […]
Fighting Financial Crime: Making Due With the Omnibus Account
A bank or broker-dealer opens an account in its name with a securities depository. One of its customers — a fund manager, broker-dealer or other firm — is involved with either money laundering activities or violating regulations involving sanctions against an individual, country or corporation. Even worse, one of their clients did the dirty deed. […]
Basel III: How Hedge Fund Managers Must Leverage Prime Brokers
“How important is this relationship to you?” That question is often asked by concerned spouses or romantically involved parties to get a status check on just how well their relationship is faring. For the first time ever, hedge fund managers could be forced to pose the same question to their prime brokers, thanks to the […]
AML Transaction Monitoring: Five Steps to Getting it Right
If you think your anti-money laundering transaction monitoring software isn’t working correctly, what should you do? a) blame your vendor and replace the software b) blame your analysts and tell them to work harder c) review your data feeds and inputs d) throw your hands up and think you can’t do anything e) doubt your […]
The Volcker Rule: Managing the Seven Deadly Metrics
The implementation of the Volcker Rule has undoubtedly caused wailing and gnashing of teeth among some of the smartest and best-funded trading operations in the world. While its overarching principle — the prohibition of proprietary trading — might be easy to understand, proving compliance is a whole different ball of wax. With the effective date […]
Commission Unbundling: What Price Is that Research in the Window?
It’s a given that fund management firms should pay for research — aka the ideas and analysis — that helps them make decisions on whether or not to buy or sell a particular stock or bond and when. Yet the European Commission now wants to put their spending on research under the regulatory microscope. A new […]