Our free FinTech roundup also covers: the SEC’s FinHub, TrueFX & Sucden, Northern Trust Canada, and a first for the CFTC Chairman.
CME to Add Safety Measures to Options Floor
CME Group reports that it will reopen its Eurodollar options trading pit on August 10, 2020.
In advance of that reopening date, the company intends to “reconfigure the pit to meet social distancing standards and put additional safety measures in place,” CME officials say in a statement.
“All other open outcry trading pits will remain closed until the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois reach Phase 5 of their reopening plans,” the Chicago-based company adds.
“Upon reopening, and before accessing the trading floor, all traders and their clerks will be required to sign a waiver acknowledging and accepting the inherent risk that COVID-19 presents in the open outcry environment,” CME Group’s statement notes. “Additional compliance requirements and procedures for accessing the trading floor will be forthcoming.”
SEC Launches Virtual FinHub Meet-Ups
The SEC’s Strategic Hub for Innovation and Financial Technology, a.k.a. FinHub, is launching virtual, peer-to-peer, meet-ups (P2Ps) to give members of FinTech communities a chance to interact with FinHub staff and discuss general issues, specific questions, or make presentations about their work, according to the regulator.
“FinHub staff recognizes the present challenges and difficulties with in-person meetings and travel posed by COVID-19,” officials say. “To facilitate ongoing communications, FinHub will host a series of thematically-based virtual P2P meet-ups over the next few months. During each series, FinHub staff will meet virtually with innovators, entrepreneurs, or firms that wish to discuss issues related to that series’ theme.”
The first round of meet-ups will happen during the week of July 6, and the theme will be regulatory technology (RegTech). Those who want to book a virtual P2P meeting need to use this form: https://www.sec.gov/finhub-form Participants can direct questions to FinHub staff through the form.
“RegTech tools have the potential to enhance investor and market protections, and FinHub staff is inviting industry engagement concerning these technologies,” according to the SEC. “FinHub staff encourages anyone working on RegTech solutions or implementations to engage with FinHub as a part of this initiative.
Future dates and information about the virtual P2P meet-up series will be available via the SEC’s FinHub page at http://www.sec.gov/finhub
Sucden Joins TrueFX Clearing Network
TrueFX, an over-the-counter (OTC) foreign exchange spot trading market for the buy-side, reports that Sucden Financial, a multi-asset execution, clearing and liquidity provider, has joined the TrueFX Clearing Member (TCM) network.
The TCM network “allows buy-side firms of all sizes to directly access liquidity on TrueFX from leading market makers without an intermediary,” TrueFX officials say in a statement. “Clients of TrueFX have the option to clear through Jefferies FXPB, the central credit counterparty for TrueFX, or open an account with a TCM and gain access.”
TrueFX describes itself as an “accessible, low cost, spot trading facility delivered by Integral technology, centrally cleared by Jefferies FX Prime Brokerage and supported by a network of TrueFX clearing members, including FXCM, Axicorp, Velocity Trade and Sucden.”
Integral, founded in 1993, describes itself as a “cloud-based platform … for FX institutions that want to design and deliver complete solutions tailored to their businesses.” The vendor notes that it maintains development, support, and sales offices in Palo Alto, Calif., New York City, London, Tokyo, Singapore, and Bangalore.
Sucden Financial, headquartered in London, maintains a Moscow office and has subsidiaries in Hong Kong and New York, the firm points out.
Northern Trust Canada Wins New Pension Client
Toronto-based Northern Trust Canada has been appointed by the University of Victoria to “provide trustee, global custody, pension benefit payments and associated services for its approximately CAD $2.0 billion in pension and foundation assets.”
“UVic selected Northern Trust Canada for its strong focus on client service, leading-edge technology and single operating platform, which allows us to realize best practices and become more efficient,” Andrew Coward, the University of Victoria’s treasurer, says in a statement.
Coward adds that the university is “thankful to have transitioned to Northern Trust early in the New Year as we have experienced seamless support and service during the current Covid-19 pandemic. Automated Benefit Payment processes have been very helpful to UVic staff as they work from home.”
Northern Trust Corp. describes itself as a “provider of wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking to corporations, institutions, affluent families and individuals.”
Founded in Chicago in 1889, Northern Trust has offices in 22 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., and across 22 locations in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region, officials add. As of March 31, 2020, the firm reports that it had assets under custody/administration of $10.9 trillion, and assets under management of $1.1 trillion.
CFTC Chairman Joins IOSCO Board
Heath Tarbert
Heath P. Tarbert is the first chairman of the CFTC to be elected to a leadership post on the board of an influential, international standards-setting body, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), according to the CFTC.
Tarbert will serve as IOSCO Board Vice Chair for a term starting this year and ending in 2022.
Tarbert is the first CFTC official to join IOSCO since it was established in 1983. The regulator itself became an associate member of IOSCO in 1988, and subsequently an ordinary member in 2013, according to the CFTC.
Most recently, IOSCO and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) have been driving the global effort to reform margining and collateral for uncleared swaps under the Uncleared Margin Rules (UMR) reforms.
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