This article has been updated to include comments from Incentage provided after its initial publication. Question: When are ISO 20022-compliant message types not like any ISO 20022 message types that are currently in use? Answer: When they are the messages used by the European Central Bank’s Target2 Securities (T2S) platform to communicate with European securities […]
Custodians to EU Regulator: Ease Up on New Settlement Rules
Uniform standards for how European securities depositories handle trades that fail to settle on time might sound like good thing — particularly since more than 30 of their markets have moved to a two-day settlement cycle and the phased launch of the new centralized settlement platform, Target2-Securities, is around the corner. But that’s not how the world’s largest custodian […]
2015: Top Ops Goals for Surviving the Regulatory Crush
With the beginning of 2015 just hours away, middle and back office operations specialists across the globe should count on a visit from C-level executives to set the tone for the new year. Forget about praise for all the hard work in 2014. Everyone now has to roll up their sleeves to address a host […]
T+2 in Europe: Smooth Sailing or Turbulence Ahead?
A non-event. That is how European securities depositories; their bank and brokerage participants, fund managers and software vendors describe the migration of over two dozen European markets to a two-day settlement cycle on October 8. Yet they are all realizing that they must keep up the good work in ensuring seamless middle office procedures. Relying […]
EU Settlements: More Corporate Actions Claims?
In focusing strictly on settling domestic and cross-border trades, the new central settlement platform, Target2Securities (T2S) may end up causing unintended operational glitches and additional costs when it comes to how corporate actions of European issuers are processed. Or so fear some managers who apparently aren’t buying the assertions made by custodians and securities depositories […]
Custodians Under Pressure Refocus on Middle Office Basics
Squeezed from the top and squeezed from the bottom. It’s only natural that custodians and other asset servicing providers are feeling the pinch. A barrage of new regulations, shorter settlement cycle, new European centralized settlement platform on the one side and, on the other, mounting client demands are forcing custodians to refocus their attentions on […]
Europe’s T+2 Settlement: Bond Trades Hardest Hit?
With about thirty European countries moving to a two-day settlement cycle next month, concern is starting to mount that the fixed-income market will trail its equities counterpart in meeting the shorter timetable, leaving fund managers and broker-dealers to pay a heftier cleanup bill than initially anticipated. Securities depositories responsible for settling domestic and cross-boder transactions say that they […]
FIXing Post-Trade Matching: Made to Order
“If it ain’t broken don’t fix it” is a common sentiment in the financial industry. But to afficionados of the FIX message protocol, the process of matching trade details is broken, so it needs solutions Providers of order management systems think they are just the right folks to fix the problem — the so-called monopoly enjoyed by post-trade communications provider […]
Mind the Gap: Brokers Address US-European Settlement Discrepancy
Europe’s move to a two-day settlement cycle in October will cause a lot more stress for broker-dealers than just trying to communicate with their fund managers more quickly. The reason: their clients among US asset managers may have difficulty funding more of their purchases of European securities in at least ten European markets come October 6. From that […]
October 8: The Witching Day for European Settlement
With at least ten European markets set to implement a two-day settlement cycle on October 6, financial firms need to get ready to complete more than just one goal. They should brace themselves for a double-duty workday on October 8, warn settlement experts. That’s when they will have to settle trades in equities in at […]