The CFTC has settled its benchmark manipulation case against JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) via an order that requires the firm to pay a $65 million civil monetary penalty, and to strengthen its internal controls and procedures to prevent any future attempts to fix interest-rate swaps benchmarks. The order settles charges that JPMC attempted to manipulate the ISDAFIX benchmark “over… Read More >>
Startup Dakota Wealth Management Picks Pershing Advisor Solutions
New Firm Taps Pershing Advisor Solutions BNY Mellon’s Pershing Advisor Solutions has been picked as a custody partner for Dakota Wealth Management, a newly launched investment management firm. Dakota, headquartered in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, currently manages $600 million in client assets, according to a statement, which notes that the average registered investment advisor… Read More >>
IHS Markit to Sell MarkitServ & Acquire Ipreo
Financial data vendor IHS Markit is moving to divest itself of its MarkitServ derivatives processing business, and to acquire Ipreo, a software solutions and data provider whose complementary offerings will result in more comprehensive offerings, officials say. Officials at IHS Markit say the provider of securities trading information, analytics and solutions, is willing to pay… Read More >>
CME Group to Buy NEX Group for $5.5 Billion
Derivatives exchange operator CME Group Inc. is set to acquire NEX Group plc for an estimated $5.5 billion and, if all goes well, the combined provider of transaction processing across futures, cash and over-the-counter (OTC) instruments will be able to offer many post-trade capabilities beyond clearing services. The CME Group encompasses: CME Clearing; the Chicago… Read More >>
2018 Predictions: Advances are Needed for DerivOps IT
(Editor’s Note: In a look to derivative processing in 2018, FTF News reports upon the remarks of the CEO of International Swaps and Derivatives Association). Although not making specific predictions, Scott O’Malia, CEO for ISDA, on Nov. 30, laid out a blueprint for overhauling derivatives processing that could gather steam in 2018. Speaking at ISDA’s… Read More >>
New Collateral Management Strategies Require New Building Blocks
Post-crisis regulation and competitive market conditions have forever changed the collateral management process for securities trading firms. The push to develop new collateral optimization strategies has often uncovered major problems within a firm’s own systems and processes. Most firms have had to move quickly to revamp their internal systems and craft new collateral management operations… Read More >>
Firms Face Cutting-Edge & Conventional IT Challenges in 2018
(Editor’s note: This tumultuous year is winding down but there’s every reason to think that securities operations will continue to make leaps and bounds next year especially when it comes to cutting-edge IT. Erica Borghi (née Choinski), chair of the International Securities Association for Institutional Trade Communication (ISITC), and vice president of Fintech Risk at… Read More >>
EC Proposes Lighter Regulatory Load for Derivatives
The European Commission’s recently proposed changes to the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) not only makes the legislation “simpler and more proportionate,” but also aims to lift some of the compliance burden on smaller financial services firms, corporates and pension funds. The amendments cover a broad range including streamlined reporting obligations, improvements to the quality… Read More >>
Squawker’s Equity Finance Platform Tackles Manual Processes
London-based vendor Squawker’s Equity Finance platform has completed its launch phase and has been deployed at six of the top 10 global investment banks in large part because the platform provides an alternative for investment banks that usually book trades via manual processes and over-the-counter (OTC) against interdealer brokers, officials say. Three more major banks… Read More >>
ISDA’s SIMM Gets a Refresh
The Standard Initial Margin Model (SIMM), a methodology for calculating initial margin for non-cleared derivatives instruments developed by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) is a work-in-progress, confirms Scott O’Malia, ISDA CEO, in a new posting for the ISDA blog derivatiViews. The need for new initial margin calculation requirements drove the creation of SIMM… Read More >>
