Financial services firms have about six weeks to comply with a new SEC rule that regards testimonials as advertisements, and many perceive the changes they will need to make as daunting. Hearsay Systems, a social media compliance, and digital client engagement provider, reports that it has updated its compliance capabilities to help firms come up… Read More >>
BofA Securities Fined $5M via OTC Reporting Case
“Oops, I did it again” might work as an excuse once, maybe even twice, especially if accompanied by a twinkly smile. But 7.4 million times? It’s not that innocent, as Britney might say. Let’s all sing along with the verse: FINRA, the self-regulating authority for U.S. broker-dealers, which is overseen by the Securities and Exchange… Read More >>
24 States Forbid ESG Investing via Public Pension Funds
A major Republican backlash is underway in at least 24 U.S. states against public pension fund managers making investment decisions based upon environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns and principles. Those leading the backlash say that when the ESG filter is applied to investment decisions, it leads to portfolio losses, which harm pensioners. Non-ESG investments… Read More >>
Corporate Actions Meets DLT via SWIFT & Other News
American Century, Citi & Vanguard Join SWIFT Project SWIFT, the global financial messaging, systems, and services cooperative, reports that it is “collaborating with seven securities players — including asset managers and custodians American Century Investments, Citi, Vanguard and Northern Trust — to drive efficiencies in communicating significant corporate events.” The corporate actions project is based… Read More >>
Get Ready for a Major Battle Over ESG
Call it a fight over conflicting ideological screening methods or a backlash against a backlash. But, regardless of the initial label, a major political battle over environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles is gathering steam. As conservative U.S. states fall in line against the usage of ESG principles for public pension investments, 13 state treasurers… Read More >>
Broadridge Targets Proxy Voting in Denmark & Other News
Proxy Solution Supports New Shareholder Rights Broadridge Financial Solutions reports that it has begun live operations of a “golden copy” event notification and direct vote execution service that is intended to streamline proxy voting in Denmark, The service is the result of a collaboration between Broadridge and Danish central securities depositary Euronext Securities Copenhagen, and… Read More >>
Murex’s MX.3 Links to ICE Data & Other News
Murex Integrates Offerings from ICE Data Services Murex, a trading, risk management, and processing solutions vendor, reports that it has created a more efficient way for its MX.3 platform to access fixed income and derivatives data offerings from ICE Data Services, part of the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). The MX.3 platform supports trading, treasury, risk and post-trade operations…. Read More >>
Fines Drop 25% in First Half of 2022: Report
You don’t think it’s good news, do you? A study reports that, at mid-year, global enforcement penalties against financial institutions (and their employees) for not complying with anti-money laundering (AML), environmental, social and governance (ESG) and data-privacy regulations have fallen by a whopping 25 percent, compared to the same period last year. They’re down this… Read More >>
Bankrupt Firm Wins $57M Arbitration Against Alleged Fraudster
A liquidation trust for IFS Securities, Inc., a bankrupt broker-dealer based in Atlanta, Ga., has won an arbitration award of $57 million against a former IFS trader, Keith A. Wakefield, an alleged fraudster who held the post of managing director and head of fixed income trading at the firm, officials say. A key aspect of… Read More >>
Prime Trading Taps Iress to Cut Data Latency
Proprietary trading firm Prime Trading has implemented solutions from Iress — formerly QuantHouse — to access key data feeds and transaction support services via application programming interface (API) links that boost data quality, cut data latency, and bring down costs, officials say. “Previously, during peak moments of high market volatility, Prime Trading experienced data latency… Read More >>
