The CFTC division of clearing and risk (DCR) has issued a guidance regarding recovery and wind-down plans for registered clearinghouses that are systemically important derivatives clearing organizations (SIDCOs). The recovery and wind-down plans are “critical element[s] of risk management and contingency planning,” the commission says, pointing out that SIDCOs are required by its regulations to… Read More >>
Deutsche Bank Securities Fined $6M for ‘Blue Sheet’ Woes
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reports that Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, has been fined $6 million for “failing to provide complete and accurate trade data in an automated format in a timely manner when requested by FINRA and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).” “Blue sheets” is the informal… Read More >>
CFTC, Industry Groups Push for Policing of Algo Traffic
Key industry groups are weighing in on the CFTC’s proposed rule governing automated trading, urging separate rule-making phases and pre-trade risk controls on all orders in a bid to prevent electronic trading markets that suffer from systems gone wild. In their letter to the CFTC, the Futures Industry Association (FIA), the FIA Principal Traders Group… Read More >>
CFTC Penalizes Bitfinex $75K for Illegal Transactions
The CFTC has ordered online bitcoin exchange Bitfinex to pay $75,000, settling charges that it offered illegal off-exchange financed retail commodity transactions in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and that it failed to register as a futures commission merchant (FCM). The bitcoin exchange says in its own statement that it “proactively contacted the CFTC in September… Read More >>
The Ongoing Woes of FCMs
Derivatives expert John P. Needham, president of Needham Consulting, alerted us more than a year ago at Financial Technology Forum’s DerivOps Chicago conference in April 2014 to the fact that 10 futures commission merchants (FCMs) are handling 75 percent of U.S. customer segregated funds…
SunGard Launches Utility for OTC Clearing
Financial technology and services giant SunGard has launched its Post-Trade Derivatives Utility with Barclays as its anchor customer and is targeting futures commission merchants (FCMs) that need alternative services support, officials say. SunGard’s utility offers support for derivatives clearing operations and technology services for trade clearing, trade lifecycle management, margin processing, brokerage, reconciliation, data management… Read More >>
SunGard Targets FCMs via Derivatives Clearing Utility
FinTech giant SunGard Financial Systems has launched a venture to cut costs and fatten margins for derivatives brokers, unveiling a new derivatives industry clearing utility that the vendor says will increase operational efficiency by streamlining redundant workflows at clearing firms. The SunGard Derivatives Utility, as it’s called, was born out of a partnership with Barclays… Read More >>
U.S. Bank Pays $18M Settlement for Alleged Lax FCM Oversight
A federal court has ordered U.S. Bank to pay $18 million to customers of Peregrine Financial Group (PFG), the now-bankrupt futures commission merchant (FCM) accused of defrauding its customers of more than $200 million, allegedly in part because of lax controls at U.S. Bank that allowed the fraud to go unnoticed. The episode highlights the… Read More >>
Firms Uncertain About Derivatives Clearing: Sapient Report
Derivatives markets participants face a great deal of uncertainty over post-crisis clearing mandates, and are interested in the establishment of a purpose-built market utility to address buy-side clearing requirements, according to a survey released by Sapient Global Markets. The survey features the responses of 153 market participants and was conducted at the 2014 Futures Industry… Read More >>
FTF Panelists Applaud SEF Package Trade Rule Relief
Operations teams supporting derivatives trading at financial services firms across the nation breathed a collective sigh of relief Wednesday night, when CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad announced his agency will postpone rules that would force market participants to conduct package trades electronically via swap execution facilities (SEFs). Meanwhile, panelists at FTF’s DerivOps New York event on… Read More >>
