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 […]
SEC To CEOs: Keep Track of Chief Compliance Officers
Chief compliance officers at US broker-dealers had better get used to answering a lot more questions from their chief executive officers about how well they are doing their jobs. The US Securities and Exchange Commission has just sent brokerage CEOs a subtle warning: we could hold you legally liable for failing to supervise your chief […]
Europe’s CSDR: New Settlement Fines, New Ops Strains
Operations, technology, legal and network managers at custodian banks and broker-dealers are starting to feel penalized when it comes to all the data collection, reconciliation and numbers crunching work they must do to pass along to their clients the new fines for settlement fails required by Europe’s Central Securities Depository Regulation (CSDR). One of the […]
US Withholding Agents Face the FATCA Music
The US Internal Revenue Service is spreading its love for the Foreign Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) to US shores. US tax operations and corporate tax directors at US banks and broker-dealers serving as US withholding agents must now deal with the IRS’ request for more information on their compliance with FATCA. If they haven’t done […]
Global Network Management: Artificial Intelligence the Charm?
For global custody network managers, analyzing the tsunami of data on dozens of local agent banks and markets to ensure the safety of client assets remains a sore spot. The use of artificial intelligence appears to be an elusive ideal, acknowledge panelists and attendees at a recent global custody event in New York hosted by […]
BofAML’s Fake Trade Reports: Governance Breakdown?
How could Bank of America Merrill Lynch get away with giving institutional customers phony trade execution, transaction cost analysis and expense reports for five years? Ten brokerage operations and IT managers contacted by FinOps Report can only speculate after reading the scant details in separate settlement reports issued by the Office of the Attorney General […]
Cybersecurity and GDPR: the Budget Battles
Protecting critical data will top the list of challenges chief compliance officers face over the next three years. So will figuring out how to calculate and divide the budget with their IT, risk, finance and operations peers. Chief compliance officers are responsible for protecting their firms from reputational and legal risk. They are accustomed to […]