In other news, we have BNP Paribas’s new NYC tower, JPMorgan’s ICE links, Northern Trust’s executive shuffle, TradeZero’s SEC settlement & Nasdaq’s latest acquisition.
Société Générale to Deploy FIS Solution
Société Générale and systems and services provider FIS report that the French banking giant will be using the FIS Cleared Derivatives Suite for a “strategic transformation of its derivatives clearing back-office.”
“As part of the agreement, the investment bank and financial services group will transition their existing derivatives clearing and settlement IT environment to FIS Cleared Derivatives Suite,” according to an official statement.
“The listed derivatives clearing business is a core part of our Prime Services business franchise at Société Générale,” says Christophe Lattuada, chief operating officer (COO) of Global Banking & Investor Solutions (GBIS) at Société Générale, in a prepared statement. “Our decision to select FIS to provide our next generation post-trade clearing technology, represents a significant investment, with a trusted partner, to support the long term growth of this business.”
BNP Paribas Moves Into Redesigned NYC Headquarters
BNPP in NYC
BNP Paribas reports the official opening of its redesigned office building at 787 Seventh Avenue in New York City.
The 54-story skyscraper, designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes and built in 1986, was formerly named the Equitable Center, the well-known bank says in a statement, adding that the rebranding of the building with the bank’s name “coincides with the Bank’s signing of a new 20-year lease in 2020 as part of a broader reorganization of its regional presence and a demonstration of its commitment to New York City as its regional hub.”
The new location will “house over 2,300 employees from the Bank’s core CIB business lines, including global markets, global banking, and securities services,” per the statement. “Several BNP Paribas businesses previously housed in other locations around NYC will also be moving into the midtown building, including Exane US,” which the bank recently bought.
The building, which recently received a green-building certification, is in the final phase of a three-year renovation, the bank’s statement adds.
The bank also has American facilities in Jersey City, N.J., and Chesterbrook, Pa., as well as a presence in Montreal, Canada, San Francisco, CA, Denver, CO, and Boston, MA, per the statement.—L.Ch
JPMorgan Connects to ICE ETF Hub
Fearghal Woods
Officials at the Securities Services group of JPMorgan report that they can facilitate new connectivity between exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers and the ICE ETF Hub of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) as a way of improving ETF workflows.
“The integration of JPMorgan’s Securities Services business into the ETF Hub builds on our mission of improving ETF workflows by establishing connectivity for ETF issuers,” says Peter Borstelmann, president of ICE Bonds, in a prepared statement. “This integration broadens the ETF Hub’s community and brings greater efficiencies to our customers.”
“As demand for negotiated baskets continues to grow, adopting and using proven infrastructure to support that momentum is critical,” says Fearghal Woods, global head of ETF product in Securities Services at JPMorgan, in a prepared statement. “The ICE ETF Hub provides our customers with access to innovative workflows that help improve the negotiation process and further expands our support capabilities in fixed income. We are pleased to be deepening our relationship with ICE, as together we continue to modernize and bring additional efficiencies to the ETF ecosystem.”
JPMorgan serves as the administrator, custodian and ETF service provider to various ETF issuers, and its ETF servicing platform supports 40 authorized participants and more than 400 traders globally, officials say.
Northern Trust Shuffles Execs for Front Office & FX Solutions
Chicago-based Northern Trust reports the appointments of John Turney as global head of front office solutions and Marisa Kurk as head of global foreign exchange (GFX). Turney, who has led GFX since 2018, reports to Melanie Pickett, head of asset owners, Americas.
Kurk joined Northern Trust as chief operating officer (COO) for GFX in 2019 and was named chief strategy officer in 2021. She will report to Guy Gibson, global head of capital markets.
Front Office Solutions and Capital Markets are divisions of Northern Trust Asset Servicing, “which provides asset servicing, fund administration and middle office solutions to institutional asset managers and asset owners around the globe,” according to the bank’s statement.
Founded in Chicago in 1889, Northern Trust has offices in 22 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., and across 23 locations in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.
Its statement notes that, as of March 31, 2022, Northern Trust had assets under custody/administration of US$15.5 trillion, and assets under management of US$1.5 trillion.—L.Ch
SEC & TradeZero America Settle Meme Stock Case
The SEC has penalized broker-dealer TradeZero America and its co-founder Daniel Pipitone for allegedly misleading customers when officials at the firm said that they did not restrict customer purchases of meme stocks in early 2021, when, according to the regulator, restrictions were in place for 10 minutes.
“In late January 2021, many brokers restricted investors’ ability to purchase a group of highly volatile stocks generally known as ‘meme stocks,’ ” SEC officials say. “According to the SEC’s order, on January 28, 2021, TradeZero was instructed by its clearing broker not to allow its customers to purchase three meme stocks. TradeZero ultimately halted purchases for about 10 minutes.”
But the SEC alleges that “after the halt, TradeZero and Pipitone made misleading public statements via interviews, social media, and in a press release in an effort to distinguish their company from brokers that restricted trading during that period. For example, in a Reddit ‘Ask Me Anything,’ Pipitone said, ‘That some trading firms are blocking these symbols is disgusting, unprecedented… Our clearing firm tried to make us block you and we refused.’ ”
In settling the case, TradeZero and Pipitone “consented to the entry of the SEC’s order finding that they violated Sections 17(a)(2) and (3) of the Securities Act of 1933,” according to the SEC. “Without admitting or denying the charges, TradeZero and Pipitone agreed to a cease-and-desist order, retention of an independent compliance consultant to ensure future compliance with the federal securities laws, a $100,000 penalty for TradeZero, and a $25,000 penalty for Pipitone.”
FTF News reached out to TradeZero for comment, but a public relations representative said the firm declined to comment.
Nasdaq to Acquire Metrio
Nasdaq, Inc. reports that it has “entered into an agreement to acquire Metrio, which it characterizes as a privately held provider of environmental, social and governance (ESG) data collection, analytics and reporting services.”
Nasdaq plans to “integrate Metrio’s software as a service (SaaS) platform into its suite of ESG solutions.” The transaction is expected to close by mid-June, Nasdaq says, adding that financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed.
“ESG,” of course, stands for trading focused on environmental, social and governance factors, rather than on simple shareholder value.
Metrio is based in Montreal. — L.Ch
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