Bittrex and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) appear to be heading to court over the regulator’s allegations that the crypto asset trading platform Bittrex, Inc., and its co-founder and former CEO operated an unregistered national securities exchange, brokerage, and clearing agency. Bittrex, Inc.’s foreign affiliate, Bittrex Global GmbH has also been accused of “failing… Read More >>
Derivatives Firms Take Ransomware More Seriously: Q&A
(Editor’s note: In late January, ION Cleared Derivatives, part of the ION Group, reported “a cybersecurity event,” which was a ransomware attack that set off a crisis for the global processing of cleared derivative instruments. The attack got the attention of the CFTC and the Futures Industry Association (FIA) as company officials worked to resolve… Read More >>
Reporter’s Notebook: Merrill Lynch & the FX Fees Case
When crypto companies allegedly scam their clients, it’s often a disaster for the kids and old folks who are convinced to “invest.” But we expect better, much better, from Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, a pillar of the financial services world. That’s one reason it’s troubling to learn that the U. S. Securities and… Read More >>
SWIFT Optimistic After Applying Blockchain to Corporate Actions
Six major financial services firms and the SWIFT financial messaging cooperative report that late last month they pilot-tested a blockchain-based solution that streamlines the communication of “significant corporate events to investors” by getting rid of multiple data problems. In an announcement and a report, SWIFT provided details about this latest collaborative experiment with six securities… Read More >>
Pershing X to Use Snowflake’s Data Cloud & Other News
Pershing X is Expanding Its Services The Pershing X technology provider and business unit of BNY Mellon reports that it hopes to bring new analytics and data management to clients via a collaboration with Snowflake, a data cloud provider. Pershing X is “expanding its stand-alone data service offerings to wealth management firms” via the Snowflake… Read More >>
NFA Adopts Rule Governing Digital Asset Commodities
The National Futures Association (NFA), a self-regulatory organization, is focusing its regulatory authority on digital asset commodity activities by adopting rules that set “anti-fraud, just and equitable principles of trade, and supervision requirements” for members and associates of the NFA. The scope of the newly adopted NFA Compliance Rule 2-51 “is currently limited to Bitcoin… Read More >>
Wells Fargo Settles Sanctions Violations Case for $97.8M
Wells Fargo Bank has settled a self-reported case of sanctions violations with two U.S. agencies — the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Federal Reserve — and will pay a total of $97.8 million to resolve violations of economic sanctions against Iran, Syria, and Sudan. The settlement with… Read More >>
UBS Completes Repo Trade via Blockchain & Other News
Banks Use Broadridge DLR Platform UBS and an unnamed Asian bank have “executed the first cross-border intraday repo transaction on Broadridge’s blockchain-enabled Distributed Ledger Repo (DLR) platform,” according to operations, systems, and services provider Broadridge Financial Solutions. The intraday trade “marks the launch of the next phase in the rollout of Broadridge’s DLR platform …… Read More >>
The SEC Wants Electronic Filing for All Forms
Late last month, the SEC put forward amendments intended to “modernize its information collection and analysis methods by, among other things, proposing that a number of filings be submitted to the Commission electronically on EDGAR [the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval] system using structured data where appropriate,” according to the regulator’s announcement. Many in… Read More >>
BNP Paribas & Clearwater Partnership Yields Combined Services
Custodian BNP Paribas Securities Services and service provider Clearwater Analytics have formed a partnership that is targeting asset owners by combining custody services with investment accounting support from Clearwater, officials say. The gain for potential clients of both is that BNPPSS and Clearwater have coupled their offerings to ensure a preconfigured set-up for all the… Read More >>
