Genstar to Be Majority Owner of Combined Company Governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) solutions vendors ACA Group and Foreside Financial Group have signed a definitive agreement to combine their two companies, officials say. Private equity firm Genstar Capital, which invested in Foreside earlier this year, will become the majority owner of the combined business… Read More >>
BlackRock Raises Base Salaries & Expectations
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, appears to be growing even bigger according to its second quarter results. In the wake of this enviable growth, the firm has done the rarely thinkable — announced plans to raise base salaries by 8 percent “for all active employees up to and including the director level” by September… Read More >>
Rep’s Strategies Spur FINRA Charges & Fine for Firm
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has hit a brokerage in Cincinnati, Ohio with a censure, a fine of $275,000, and the obligation to make more than $1 million in customer restitution. The broker is the O.N. Equity Sales Company, Inc. (ONESCO), which “offers various investment products, including deferred variable annuities, to the public through its 760… Read More >>
Firms May Need to Revamp AML Policies: Report
U.S. banks may need to update their anti-money-laundering (AML) policies as a result of key provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021 (NDAA), which primarily covers appropriations for the U.S. Department of Defense programs, activities, and military personnel. However, the NDAA also covers many “matters relating to foreign nations,” according to the overview… Read More >>
Climate Change Puts Banks at Risk: NYS DFS
“Climate change is happening now, and we have to take steps to manage the financial risks now,” says Linda A. Lacewell, the superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYS DFS). “We simply can’t wait any longer to deal with it. “We want to ensure that every institution is managing its own… Read More >>
Northern Trust Launches Another Umbrella Trust
Northern Trust has launched an umbrella trust, dubbed the Datum One Series Trust, that it will offer to asset managers that would prefer to focus on distribution and investment goals, and let the custodian manage the infrastructure and back-office services. The new offering will include operational infrastructure support services via an integrated model, says Barbara… Read More >>
SEC Probe Spurs Firm to Revamp MNPI Policies
Private equity firm Ares Management is settling with the SEC over charges that it lacked proper policies and procedures to oversee the handling of “material nonpublic information [MNPI],” a.k.a. insider information, according to the regulator’s order. The case revolves around the firm’s representation on a board of directors “of a listed issuer” in the Ares investment… Read More >>
HSBC Halts Layoff of 35,000 Staffers
HSBC is putting the brakes on a layoff of 35,000 staffers that was originally announced in February, in a move to ease hardships during the pandemic. Other firms such as Morgan Stanley either have or are mulling similar halts to staff reductions. “I take the well-being of our people extremely seriously,” says Noel Quinn, group… Read More >>
Japanese Exchanges to Work with IBM Japan on Blockchain Project
Officials of the Japan Exchange Group (JPX) and IBM Japan recently announced that they are jointly developing proof of concept (PoC) tests for the Blockchain distributed ledger technology. This effort marks another major project for the financial services industry, which has been rapidly exploring how Blockchain can be applied to a variety of securities operations…. Read More >>
Nasdaq Launches Data Centers in Ontario
Nasdaq’s Directors Desk corporate governance offering will be expanding its presence in the Canadian market, with the opening of two new data centers in Ontario, officials say. Nasdaq expects the move will enable it “to more effectively service clients,” according to a company statement. Just like Nasdaq’s servers in the U.S. and Sweden, the Canadian… Read More >>
