Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, Crédit Agricole, and Credit Suisse have been fined by the European Commission for their alleged involvement in a bond-trading cartel that also included Deutsche Bank, which escaped the fine because it reported the situation to E.U. officials. Late last month, the three banks were fined a total of €28,494,000 ($34,589,360) for… Read More >>
Five Banks Settle FX Cartel Charges for $1.19B
The European Commission (EC) stunned the foreign exchange (FX) world with the news yesterday that five major banks — Barclays, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Citigroup, JPMorgan, and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) — have been fined a total of €1.07 billion ($1.19 billion) on charges that they took part in cartels that monopolized… Read More >>
E.U. Authorities Brace for a Hard Brexit
Lost amid all the hot air about Brexit are the many global securities operations that will be disrupted when the U.K. leaves the E.U. One of the more contentious issues for global firms will be how to sort out their interactions with central counterparty clearinghouses (CCPs) based in the U.K. and Europe especially if there… Read More >>
CFTC Strikes Swaps Equivalency Accord with E.C.
In a step toward the nirvana of harmonization, the CFTC and European Commission (E.C.) moved forward with an agreement to accept the legitimacy of each other’s rules on swap margin agreements and to allow swap trading venues under their jurisdictions to follow their home region’s rules. The two-part agreement covers the comparability of trading platforms… Read More >>
E.C. Eyes the Prize of Euro-Denominated Clearing
The European Commission (E.C.) has been trying to get its hands on London’s lucrative $900 billion-per-day euro-clearing business for years and it is using Brexit to seize the prize. While the plans stop short of a forced relocation after the U.K. leaves the European Union (E.U.), newly released proposals from E.C. officials would tighten the… 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 >>
E.U. Kills LSE-Deutsche Börse Merger
On the same day that Brexit launched, the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and Deutsche Börse have definitively called it quits after the European Commission prohibited the proposed merger, citing the potential of a monopoly in the markets for clearing fixed income instruments. The E.C. investigation “concluded the merger would have created a de facto… Read More >>
E.U. Opens Deep Dive into Deutsche Börse-LSE Merger
While non-European authorities have given the thumbs up, European Commission officials have just announced that they are opening “an in-depth investigation” into the proposed merger between the Deutsche Börse Group and London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) to see if the combined organization would limit competition, putting the marriage in conflict with the EU Merger Regulation…. Read More >>
ESMA Amendments Provide Relief via MiFID II
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) recently issued amendments to its draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTSs) under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and Regulation (MiFIR) that should give firms, especially those that trade less frequently, more breathing room. “The amendments are designed to respond to the legitimate concerns of the European… Read More >>
Hong Kong Clarifies Rules for OTC Derivatives Trading
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) proposals on introducing mandatory clearing and expanding mandatory reporting for the second stage of the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives regulatory regime is only the next stage of the territory’s staggered approach to implementing new derivatives rules. The actions were expected and sell- and… Read More >>
