Four recent enforcement actions by the US Securities and Exchange Commission each highlight a different area of concern by the regulatory agency and each sends a loud and clear message in hefty fines and professional punishment. We think they offer valuable lessons to readers of FinOps Report on how to steer clear of legal landmines. Conflict […]
Best AML Programs Hinge on Best Models
Market, credit and operational risk. It has become common practice for financial firms to measure, monitor and reduce each of these three categories using accepted models, or methodologies, which rely on data inputs to generate the correct results necessary to make the right decisions. Unfortunately, the same doesn’t apply to money laundering activities even though […]
Unbundling Commissions from Research: Big Pain, but Any Gain?
Customers are supposed to understand and agree on exactly what they are paying for. Right. It sounds like a truism, but it isn’t always true. Deals may contain perks or incentives that are never explicitly detailed in the agreement. If they suddenly have to be spelled out and agreed upon, item by item with the […]
Post-Trade Matching: No Quick FIX
After offering a new alternative to fund managers and broker dealers to match the economic details of securities transactions, FIX Trading Community is finding that the industry pickup is slow. Although early adopters report that it’s just as good as central matching — and better in some ways — no one expects a mass migration away […]
Fund Managers: Fixing EMIR Reporting Glitches
Now that more than a year has passed since they’ve had to deal with new reporting requirements under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR), fund managers are belatedly waking up to the fact they could soon face whopping regulatory fines for not submitting correct data on their derivative transactions to accredited trade repositories. Regulatory operations […]
News to Use: EquiLend, 4sight and Russia’s NSD
Match, Game On: Borrowers and lending agents in securities transactions executed through EquiLend, an electronic trading platform, will now be able to reconcile far more transaction details and enable lending departments to work smarter. Although EquiLend’s new matching engine is still geared to US and foreign securities, the company expects it to have greatest uptick in […]
News to Use: Citi, DTCC and CUSIP Global Services
Limboland in Argentina?: Fund managers and global custodians relying on Citibank as their local agent bank in Argentina remain in limbo as to whether or even how Citi will be able to exit the subcustody business in that country. As of press time, FinOps Report was unable to verify whether Citi would still be shutting […]
News to Use: ISITC, BNY Mellon, Custom House and More
Oversight Pointers: Fund managers will soon have practical guidance for best practices in overseeing outsourced operations contracts with custodian bank, fund administrators and other post-trade service providers. The ISITC, trade group representing operations specialists from over 100 buy and sell-side firms, is publishing a white paper with its recommendations in the fall. The guidelines, ISITC officials […]
FinOps Takes a Byte out of the News — 3/17/2015
A few news items that may be of interest to our readers… CalPERS Pioneering: US pension giant California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) has become the first pension plan to join a fully committed repo facility at Chicago-headquartered derivatives clearinghouse OCC. The repo facility provides contingency liquidity in the event of a member default or […]
Broker-Dealers: Good Hygiene Reduces Cybersecurity Attacks
When it comes to mitigating cybersecurity attacks, broker-dealers are quickly taking a chapter out of the textbook on good dental hygiene. Just as regular brushing and flossing can go a long way to preventing tooth decay and gum disease, so can a consistent program of vigilance work against aggressive external and internal hackers, say cybersecurity experts. With the US Securities […]