Anti-money laundering managers at US banks could soon beef up their efforts to help law enforcement catch human trafficking, thanks to a new line item on their suspicious activity reports (SARs). AML executives aren’t responsible for prosecuting the criminals, but they might prioritize sniffing business activity for signs of human trafficking now that the US […]
Opportunity Zone Fund Admin: Can Blockchain Do the Trick?
Blockchain is finding a new opportunity in middle and back-office operations for opportunity zone (OZ) fund managers, but can it outperform the current alternative fund administrators? One Arizona entrepreneur certainly thinks so. Co-founded and part-owned by Nico Willis, chief executive of cost-basis technology provider Networth Services, new fund administrator Agora AltX uses Hyperledger Fabric’s permission-based […]
SEC: Old Transfer Agent Rules Apply to New Blockchain
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 […]
Rule 606: SEC Redefines Discretionary Trades
The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision to broadly define what makes a trade execution discretionary will force introducing and executing brokers to walk a thin tightrope when complying with its new Rule 606. They will have to make some tough choices on how much information the executing broker can release on a trade order […]
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 — should’nt 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 […]
SEC’s New Rule 606: Execution Transparency At a Cost
For brokerage trade operations, compliance and IT managers, giving fund managers a lot more details about where and how their trades were executed to fulfill the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s enhancements to Rule 606 could turn into a major operational headache. At issue is how much data broker-dealers have readily available, how much they […]
Unclaimed Assets: Delaware Lawsuit Resurrects Ops Headaches
Unclaimed property operations managers at US financial firms need to stay proactive when it comes ensuring correct administrative and reporting procedures, warn compliance experts. The costly alternative: whopping state fines. A recent lawsuit filed by Illinois-based chemical supplier Univar against the state of Delaware provides ample evidence that Delaware is being even more vigilant in […]
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 […]