In other FinTech news, Markit debuts FX affirmation, and Duco is working with CME Group.
Six Types of Cybercriminal to Avoid
BAE Systems, the London-based, multinational security company, recently released profiles of “six prominent types of cybercriminals” and detailed how they could hurt companies around the globe, officials say.
Threat intelligence experts at BAE Systems have compiled a list, “The Unusual Suspects,” that has been created from “research that uncovers the motivations and methods of the most common types of cybercriminals,” according to BAE. “The intention of the campaign is to help enterprises understand the various enemies they face so they can better defend against cyberattacks.”
BAE Systems officials have profiled six cybercriminal types:
- The Mule – naive opportunists that may not even realize they work for criminal gangs to launder money;
- The Professional – career criminals who work 9-to-5 in the digital shadows;
- The Nation State Actor – individuals who work directly or indirectly for their government to steal sensitive information and disrupt enemies’ capabilities;
- The Activist – motivated to change the world via questionable means;
- The Getaway – the youthful teenager who can escape a custodial sentence due to their age;
- And The Insider – disillusioned, blackmailed or even over-helpful employees operating from within the walls of their own company.
Markit Launches FX Affirmation for Interdealer Brokers
Markit, a financial information services vendor, has launched a service that helps banks affirm foreign exchange (FX) trades executed by interdealer brokers, officials say.
In fact, seven interdealer brokers and eight banks have signed to use the service, which expands Markit’s centralized solutions for the FX market, officials say.
Affirming over the counter (OTC) trades through a centralized service reduces operational risk and replaces paper or voice-based processes to check the accuracy of trade data. “The MarkitSERV FX Broker Affirmation service provides a platform for banks to consolidate trade notifications from multiple interdealer brokers and validate transaction data before they are processed into trading and risk systems,” vendor officials say.
“Centralizing trade affirmation for OTC FX is an important step in improving post trade operations,” said Robin Wemyss, global head of FX options at JPMorgan, in a prepared statement. “Trade execution in FX is fragmented across multiple brokers and other venues and we welcome innovation such as this that helps us consolidate systems and streamline operations.”
Broker Affirmation covers FX spots, forwards, swaps, non-deliverable forwards, non-deliverable swaps, vanilla options, non-deliverable options, barrier options and digital/binary options, officials say. The service can also be used when multiple products are combined in strategy trades. The service uses FpML messaging and facilitates trade reporting and clearing obligations.
Duco and CME Group Team Up
Duco Technologies, a reconciliation vendor, and CME Group, a conglomerate of derivatives exchanges and clearinghouses, have teamed up for “a pioneering agreement” that the CME Group hopes will “dramatically transform its member firms’ fee control processes,” say officials from both companies.
“Beginning later this year, CME Group will offer Duco’s innovative reconciliation service to its member firms, enabling them to vastly simplify processes around fee structures – without needing to invest in infrastructure or IT resources,” say CME Group officials. “Duco Cube will ensure that the firms’ back-office systems are aligned with CME Group’s exchange fee pricing components, eliminating manual work, driving efficiency and ensuring accuracy between parties.”
The agreement is intended to “significantly improve efficiency for the nearly 350 clearing and non-clearing firms” that the CME Group it serves, says Christian Nentwich, Duco CEO and co-founder, in a prepared statement.
“This partnership will go a long way to help CME Group member firms further improve a crucial element of the trade cycle, paving the way for other data control opportunities,” says Patrick Thornton-Smith, chief marketing officer (CMO) at Duco. “We already have a number of FCM customers using Duco Cube for a wide range of reconciliation and workflow tasks.”
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