The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to register blockchain-enabled transfer agents has resurrected the issue of how it can apply securities laws to a nascent unproven technology. San Francisco-based Securitize has laid claim to being the first “agent” registered by the SEC to have developed an open-source blockchain based protocol for shareholder recordkeeping with […]
State Street’s US$88M Fine Highlights Deceptive “Pass-Along” Custody Fees
How can a global custodian bank convince clients for almost two decades that a twenty-five cent cost to transmit a message through the SWIFT network transmission is really worth a $5 “pass-along” fee? Easily, when fund managers aren’t paying attention and no one at the custodian bank is minding the shop. That’s no longer the […]
IRS: Get Your Data Right on FATCA and QI Certifications (Or Else)
The US Internal Revenue Service is turning tax operations and compliance departments into data and paperwork geeks when it comes to meeting their requirements for FATCA and QI. Did your tax operations department withhold the correct amount of tax for the right account and file the form correctly by deadline? That’s what an IRS auditor […]
Cryptoasset Valuation: Fair Value or Fair Game?
Fair value– the term used by accountants to refer to the correct valuation of assets for financial reporting purposes — shouldn’t be taken at face value by fund managers or investors when comes to cryptoassets. Anyone who comes to the table unprepared for a potential dispute is foolish as shown in a recent lawsuit involving […]
Unique Product IDs: Next Challenge for Swaps Reporting
Data operations, trade desk and regulatory reporting managers may soon have gear up for new administrative tasks — and potentially extra fees– when reporting their over-the-counter derivatives transactions to trade repositories using unique product identifiers. The UPIs mark the latest in an array of codes financial firms and trading platforms must use to describe the […]
SS&C’s Win of Trade Secrets Suit Highlights Hiring Risks
SS&C Technologies’ recent US$44 million jury verdict in a lawsuit against Clearwater Analytics has put Wall Street’s legal and human resource managers on alert to protect their firms from the receipt of trade secrets when hiring key employees from the competition. “HR and legal departments are a company’s first line of defense against litigation from […]
Consolidated Audit Trail: Those Messy Data Linkages
US brokerage operations managers are quickly turning their attention to how they will meet the cumbersome requirements for data linkages now that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has been stepped in at the eleventh hour to operate the new consolidated audit trail (CAT). The initial phase-in of CAT — 2a and 2b– starting in […]
SEC: Your Words Count in Suspicious Activity Reports
Anti-money laundering compliance managers at US clearing brokers will need to take a closer look at their process for when they file suspicious activity reports and what they say in light of a recent court ruling involving penny-stock clearing broker Alpine Securities. In granting summary judgment in favor of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s […]
Reg Compliance 2019: Tips to Ease Data Pain
When it comes to handling the data challenges inherent in regulatory compliance, 2019 will no exception for middle and back-office buy and sell-side operations, compliance and technology managers. While the rules of MIFID II and EMIR likely took up much of their attention over the past few years, a survey of about fifty operations, compliance […]
Trump’s Iranian Sanctions: New Policing Compliance Twists
What’s old is new again when it comes to US sanctions against Iran. Well almost, for anti-money laundering compliance managers and analysts at US banks. US President Donald Trump’s resurrection of sanctions against Iran in August and last month will force wire departments and correspondent banking units at US banks to dig deeper into the […]