SEC Adds to Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reports adding 20 positions to its crypto assets and cyber unit, which is tasked with “protecting investors in crypto markets and from cyber-related threats.” The unit, in the SEC’s enforcement division, will grow to 50 dedicated positions, officials say. The unit,… Read More >>
Fidelity Gives a Nod to Bitcoins & Other News
Fidelity Launches a 401(k) Plan for Digital Assets Fidelity Investments will allow individuals to allocate a portion of their retirement savings to Bitcoin if their employers also agree to allow the cryptocurrency to be part of a 401(k) plan, officials say. To facilitate this change, Fidelity has launched the “workplace Digital Assets Account (DAA)” 401(k)… Read More >>
U.K. Authorities Push for Post-Trade Ops Overhauls
An influential U.K.-based task force focused on post-trade operations has issued a report calling for major changes in three “core areas:” non-economic trade data, client onboarding, and uncleared margin management. In addition, a key U.K. authority, the Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities Markets Standards Board (FMSB), has promised to act on the recommendations. The FMSB… Read More >>
SIFMA Urges T+1 Start After Labor Day 2024
One of the leaders in the push for T+1 settlement, SIFMA has relayed in a letter to the SEC its recommendations for the start date of a shorter settlement cycle — Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024 — and for rule changes that would mitigate “potential adverse consequences.” SIFMA, the Investment Company Institute (ICI), and The Depository… Read More >>
DTCC to Explore Clearing & Settlement for U.S. CBDC
As cryptocurrencies and their inherent distributed ledger technology (DLT) gain ground in global markets, the U.S. government, among others, is exploring the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that would provide more protection for investors and financial services participants. Looking ahead to the onset of a CBDC, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp…. Read More >>
Broadridge Revamps ProxyVote App & Other News
ProxyVote Updates Target Ease-of- Voting & Query Concerns Broadridge Financial Solutions has improved its ProxyVote app to help investors gain easier access to proxy information, officials say. “The enhancements make it easier than ever for investors to access and review proxy information in upcoming annual meetings of the companies and mutual funds they own, and… Read More >>
Broadridge & DTCC Target Voluntary Corporate Actions
Broadridge Financial Solutions is laying the groundwork for an automated path for voluntary corporate actions in standardized ISO 20022 format via a connection to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp.’s new automated process for submitting instructions, officials say. The securities industry has been wrestling with the inefficient manual aspects of corporate actions processing for many… Read More >>
Key Groups Push to Start T+1 in 2024
The goalpost for the move by U.S. equities markets from T+2 to the shorter T+1 settlement cycle has shifted from 2023 to the first half of 2024 after an outreach to the industry revealed that more time was needed to revamp and test systems, workflows, and operations to facilitate this fundamental change to securities transaction processing…. Read More >>
North American Firms Could Face CSDR Penalties: Q&A
(Earlier this month, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC), a post-trade market infrastructure systems and services provider, reported that its Exception Manager platform for trade exceptions would include an optional Central Securities Depositories Regulation or CSDR service. The DTCC is also launching a new link between the Exception Manager offering and its Central Trade… Read More >>
CloudMargin & Margin Tonic to Launch AANA Service
Collaboration to Target Ongoing UMR Calculations CloudMargin, a collateral and margin management vendor, and Margin Tonic, a service provider for collateral and post-trade operations, are working together to launch “a global Average Aggregated Notional Amount (AANA) calculation service” that trading firms can use to navigate the phases of the Uncleared Margin Rules (UMR) regulatory reforms…. Read More >>
