The stakes are high for financial services firms as they twist themselves into pretzels to formulate policies that prevent disease via the ongoing COVID-19 virus pandemic and yet facilitate flexible return-to-work strategies. All of which makes Credit Suisse Group’s recent executive shuffle apparently related to pandemic policies so interesting. In case you haven’t seen the… Read More >>
State Street Adopts Hybrid Model & Closes NYC Offices
State Street to Exit Midtown Manhattan The Boston-based State Street will be closing its midtown Manhattan offices and embracing a hybrid working model in response to staff members that have been working remotely in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a prepared statement from the custodian banking giant. “Like most other companies, we… Read More >>
NYSE Mandates Vaccinations for Trading Floor Participants
Vaccinated Personnel Not Required to Wear Masks The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is requiring all personnel working on its open outcry trading floor at 11 Wall Street to be vaccinated, but “masks are optional for vaccinated personnel at this time,” according to a memo obtained FTF News. The Aug. 11 memo to the NYSE… Read More >>
What Will Post-Pandemic Ops Look Like?
Like millions of Americans, I got my second vaccination shot over the weekend and I allowed myself to start thinking about a time when the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown might be history. Of course, it’s difficult to entertain such thoughts when there are still hotspots in the U.S., and when several parts of the world… Read More >>
Momentum is Building for T+1: Q&A
(Editor’s Note: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted many aspects of securities operations and the DTCC just released a white paper, “Managing through a Pandemic: The Impact of COVID-19 on Capital Markets Operations,” that explores how securities operations teams functioned during the worst of the lockdown. The report acknowledges that firms will “further automate” post-trade lifecycles and… Read More >>
Lockdown Hit Dealers Harder Than Buy Side: Survey
Sell-side firms had a tougher time with post-trade operations during the depths of the pandemic-induced lockdown. But buy-side firms had their Ops woes too, according to a new report from the DTCC, the major post-trade infrastructure services and systems provider for the securities industry. Not surprisingly, the report finds that “cash fixed income and cash… Read More >>
COVID-19 Put Cloud’s Value to the Test: Q&A
(Editor’s Note: Financial services firms that were sitting on the fence about cloud computing are changing their minds as they look to the post-pandemic world. So says Julian Trostinsky, vice president, strategy and solutions engineering at Duco Technology, which offers cloud-based, data and post-trade reconciliation systems. Trostinsky has more than two decades of experience helping… Read More >>
COVID-19 Creates a Perfect Storm for Digital Transformation
For securities operations at financial services firms, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a perfect storm for digital transformation. A year since the COVID-19 pandemic began to put a strain on middle and back-office operations, some financial services firms have not only made short-term changes to their securities operations protocols but have begun to plan more… Read More >>
Is Your Back Office an Ugly Duckling?
(The pandemic-inspired market rally rollercoasters and the recent retail vs. institutional trading battles focused on GameStop Corp. and AMC Entertainment Holdings have underscored the operational drawbacks of volatility. The ripple effects are top of mind for Daniel Carpenter, head of regulation at Meritsoft, a provider of specialized cash and tax management solutions — receivables and… Read More >>
Will the London Metal Exchange End Outcry Trading?
London Metal Exchange (LME) officials are seriously considering closing their 144-year-old open outcry futures trading floor, dubbed the Ring, but it’s unclear if this action is a sign that other outcry trading venues will follow suit. The Ring has been shut down for the past 10-plus months by the pandemic lockdown, and in that time,… Read More >>
