The historic Volcker Rule approved by the SEC and other regulators will impact many facets of a financial services firm’s operations as well as many business practices, and may eventually cause firms to back away from riskier and capital-intensive activities.The rule, a key provision of Dodd-Frank, bans U.S. banks and their affiliates from engaging… Read More >>
SEC Adopts Volcker Rule
The SEC has adopted a final version of the Volcker Rule in a 3-to-2 vote that is a milestone for regulatory reform on Wall Street.SEC Commissioners Daniel M. Gallagher and Michael S Piwowar voted against adoption of the restrictions upon banks and proprietary trading. SEC Chair Mary Jo White and SEC Commissioners Luis A. Aguilar… Read More >>
TowerGroup finds firms are a mix of contradictions as Electra and Eagle forge an alliance
TowerGroup: User Firms a Mix of Recs Contradictions Financial services firms are a mix of contradictions when it comes to reconciliation, according to a new survey conducted by CEB TowerGroup Research. Executives responding to the survey say they have hope that there could be enterprise-wide reconciliation and exception management solutions. But they also admit that… Read More >>
Form PF Forces the Data Management Issue
Following the passage of Dodd-Frank in 2010, investment advisers face a multitude of new challenges connected with SEC registration and reporting requirements. For many advisers, the extensive demands for a variety of new information add to the headaches involved in compliance.While the new reporting requirements impose costly and complex burdens on hedge fund and private… Read More >>
Blazing a New Trail for Cross-Border Derivatives
The rally on Wall Street today spurred by the Fed indicating that its looser money policies will remain for the long term overshadows the good news that European Union regulators and the CFTC have come to major agreements over U.S. derivatives rules. This development will provide much-needed clarity for derivatives markets participants striving to keep… Read More >>
Is Regulatory Reform Causing Systemic Risk?
A strange irony is underway in the financial services industry. A recent client survey conducted by the DTCC finds that compliance with the regulatory onslaught is causing securities firms the greatest concern over systemic risk. A whopping 82% of clients say that meeting regulatory requirements strains their focus on day-to-day risk—effectively undoing the point of… Read More >>
Bloomberg Takes CFTC to Court
Bloomberg is challenging the CFTC in court over a new rule for margining that the media giant says favors futures over swaps. The legal move is seen as an effort to thwart a potential market shift away from swaps transacted via forthcoming swap execution facilities (SEFs) and toward established futures exchanges.Bloomberg, which is laying the… Read More >>
FTF News Prediction #3: The Industry Faces A Rocky Road to the New World of OTC Trading
(Editor’s Note: This story is running in our first-ever FTF News Winter/Spring digital issue that features our top five predictions on industry trends that are likely to be the focus for many securities operations and technology professionals throughout 2013. We will be running our prediction stories from the digital issue throughout the Spring. The digital… Read More >>
Mary Jo White at the SEC
Former U.S. attorney Mary Jo White is likely to be nominated today as the new chairperson of the SEC, according to multiple news reports. This follows rampant speculation in Washington, D.C. over the past week about White taking the helm at the regulator. I am cautiously optimistic about this prospect and am hoping that her… Read More >>
Is the SEC Too Deadlocked to Function?
Back in November, I wrote about the misplaced attention to the horse race for the replacement of Mary L. Schapiro, who stepped down as the SEC chairman on Dec. 14. The focus should have been on quickly finding the right replacement and avoiding a deadlocked situation. Unfortunately, that’s not how it’s working out. As it… Read More >>
