US President Donald Trump’s decision in January to classify drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists has put anti-money laundering compliance executives at US financial institutions doing business in Latin America on high alert when it comes to their AML programs. Based on the US Department of State including eight drug […]
SEC: Clear Path For Crypto Asset Custody?
The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s decision last year to fine Galois Capital for violating its custody rule as well as potential changes to that regulation under the new crypto-friendly Trump administration are fueling speculation about whether one of the critical stumbling blocks to the institutionalization of the crypto asset market– the safekeeping of crypto […]
SEC Exams 2025: T+1 Post-Mortem?
T+1 settlement isn’t over for the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Chief compliance officers at US fund management firms and broker-dealers must be prepared to show how they are meeting the challenge of a one-day settlement cycle, otherwise known as T+1 settlement, if requested by an examiner from the SEC next year. The onus appears […]
NY’s New Cyber Law Shines Stronger Light on C-Level
C-level executives at most financial firms operating in New York will have one more reason besides the fear of a data breach to change their corporate governance for cybersecurity this year– New York State’s amended regulation. Electronic securities lending and borrowing platform EquiLend’s recent announcement it was the target of a ransomware attack followed New […]
Will Wall Street Earn Windfall For US CUSIP ID Codes?
Data management, trading, post-trade operations and compliance managers at buy-side and sell-side firms might one day no longer have to worry about their organizations being forced to pay for US identification codes and could even celebrate their winning over US$1 billion in compensation from CGS and others. Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District […]
What’s a CUSIP Worth? Over US$1B in Class Action Win
If you think you have been fleeced by CUSIP Global Services and others for paying licensing fees for nine-digit alphanumeric identification codes for US securities you might be entitled to a chunk of at least US $1 billion in compensation if a jury decides you’re right. All you must do is be part of an […]
Europe’s CSDR: Fund Managers Monitor Settlement Fails
Operations managers at fund management firms are scrambling to improve how they monitor settlement fails and prevent penalties imposed by their custodian banks just around the corner as mandated under Europe’s Central Securities Depository Regulation (CSDR). A dozen European fund management firms,who spoke with FinOps Report on condition of anonymity, say they are spending more […]
Bloomberg’s FIGIs Win Nod From US Standards Body: Now What?
Bloomberg finally got its wish for FIGIs– acceptance of its securities ID codes as a standard– but whether that equates to popularity for trade and post-trade operations managers remains to be seen. Trade, middle, and back-office operations, and compliance managers at buy and sell-side firms can now be certain that Bloomberg’s financial instrument global identifiers […]
NYSE Puts FINRA in Hotseat For Proxy Distribution Fee Oversight
The issue of which self-regulatory authority will take over the job of setting the maximum fees issuers must pay broker-dealers and banks to mail proxy materials to beneficial shareholders has pitted the New York Stock Exchange against the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. leaving proxy operations managers and corporate secretaries in a lurch. The NYSE, which […]
Preventing Pesky US Treasury Settlement Fails
For US broker-dealer operations managers failing to settle a transaction in US Treasury securities might never have been all that problematic, but with the number of fails rising dramatically during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic one megabank–BNY Mellon– has decided to offer a preventative service in a technology partnership with Google Cloud. As the […]