SEC officials will focus their exams in 2015 on retail investors, market-wide risks and data analytics to uncover illegal activity, according to the Office of Compliance Inspection and Examinations (OCIE). The priorities for exams this year will be “protecting retail investors, especially those saving for or in retirement; assessing market-wide risks; and using data analytics… Read More >>
SIFMA Tech Show in Limbo?
Sometimes interesting things fall into your lap and that’s the case with a bit of news about the future of the SIFMA Tech conference. It appears the future of the venerable technology management show of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is in a state of flux. I reached out to SIFMA’s public relations… Read More >>
FINRA Letter Pushes Building Blocks of Compliance
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has released its tenth annual 2015 Regulatory and Examination Priorities letter, pushing broker-dealers toward the “building blocks for a stronger culture of compliance.” The FINRA letter highlights major concerns that firms will face this year in areas such as key sales practices, and financial and operational and market integrity… Read More >>
Chris Pickles Leads FIGI Push in Europe
Independent financial technology consultant Chris Pickles is leading a campaign in Europe to make the Financial Instrument Global Identifier (FIGI), originally from market data and news giant Bloomberg an industry standard. Pickles, who is based in the U.K., confirms that he is leading the effort to make the instrument identifier, once known as the Bloomberg… Read More >>
Q&A: Droit Just Wants to Become an Industry Standard
Two of the key players behind Droit Financial Technologies — Satya Pemmaraju, Ph.D., founding partner and CEO, and Brock Arnason, founding partner, head of product and strategic alliances — spoke recently with FFT News about the start of the company and how its wares can be applied to a post-trade reporting/compliance infrastructure. Q: Can you… Read More >>
Orc Group’s Owner Acquires Tbricks
Stockholm, Sweden-based Orc Group, a provider of listed derivatives trading technology, reports that its owner, Cidron Delfi Intressenter Holding, has signed an agreement to acquire Tbricks, also headquartered in Stockholm, a provider of trading technology to “market makers, proprietary traders and banks,” according to an Orc statement. Cidron Delfi Intressenter Holding AB, the acquiring entity,… Read More >>
CFTC Allots More Time for Position Limits Rule
CFTC officials have submitted a clarification and notice regarding the reopened comment periods for its rulemaking proposals on position limits for physical commodity derivatives and aggregation. In early December, the regulator’s Agricultural Advisory Committee held a public meeting that discussed, among other things, deliverable supply and exemptions for bona fide hedging positions, officials say. To… Read More >>
CFTC Wins $1.2B in Restitution for M.F. Global Clients
On Christmas Eve, the CFTC is bringing good tidings to those clients left in the lurch by the bankruptcy of MF Global Holdings Ltd. (MFGH). The regulator via the federal court in New York is ordering MFGH to pay $1.212 billion in restitution for the unlawful use of customer funds and to pay a $100… Read More >>
Deutsche Bank FCM Settles with CFTC for $3M
The CFTC is ordering Deutsche Bank Securities (DBSI), a New York-based futures commission merchant (FCM), to pay $3 million to settle charges of improper investment of customer segregated funds, reporting and recordkeeping violations, and supervision failures. CFTC officials say they acknowledge the FCM’s “cooperation and corrective action” after deficiencies were discovered. A spokesperson for the… Read More >>
FSOC Targets Risks Posed by Asset Managers
The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) reports that, on December 18, it voted unanimously to issue a public request for comment (RFC) regarding “potential risks to U.S. financial stability from asset management products and activities.” The FSOC is “seeking input from the public about potential risks to the U.S. financial system associated with liquidity and… Read More >>
