Departures are in full swing at the SEC since SEC Chair Mary Jo White announced this past November that she will be stepping down from the top post, sparking an exodus of high-level personnel (http://bit.ly/2ggL1lI). In her wake, Michael Piwowar has been serving as the SEC acting chairman. Not long after White’s announcement, Andrew J…. Read More >>
FINRA Expels Lawson Financial, Bars CEO on Fraud Charges
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reports that it has expelled Phoenix-based Lawson Financial Corporation, Inc. (LFC), and has barred Robert Lawson, LFC’s CEO and president, from the securities industry on charges of committing securities fraud when Lawson “sold millions of dollars of municipal revenue bonds to LFC customers.” The municipal revenue bonds Lawson sold… Read More >>
Mirae Asset Securities Using FIS for Next Move
Mirae Asset Securities (USA), the wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of Mirae Asset Financial Group, is entering the hedge fund investment allocation space and will be using the Securities360 solution from FIS as it attains self-clearing status. Previously, the firm introduced accounts through a correspondent clearing firm for about two decades and had no need for… Read More >>
Broadridge Names Chief Commercial Diversity Officer
Broadridge Creates Senior Position to Advance Diversity Broadridge Financial Solutions reports that Frieda Lewis has been named managing director, chief commercial diversity officer. In 2008, Lewis joined Broadridge, a provider of investor communications and technology-driven solutions for banks, broker-dealers, mutual funds and corporate issuers, as managing director, global relationship management. “She is credited with launching… Read More >>
Ops Staffs to Heed the Call of Disruption in 2017
(The word “disruption” has been noted by pundits as one of the most over-used in 2016. However, the term still accurately describes the changes underway in securities operations — and across financial services — that shook multiple groups, disciplines and conventional wisdom. To appease linguists and help operations staffs, FTF News in this final installment… Read More >>
Credit Suisse Securities Fined $16.5M for AML Failures
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reports that it has fined Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC $16.5 million for “anti-money laundering (AML), supervision and other violations.” FINRA finds, specifically, that, from January 2011 through September 2013, Credit Suisse “failed to effectively review trading for AML reporting purposes.” FINRA also finds that, from January 2011 through… Read More >>
Merrill Lynch Fined Over Charges of Inadequate Supervision
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reports that it has fined Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. $6.25 million, for “inadequately supervising its customers’ use of leverage in their Merrill brokerage accounts.” In addition, the firm will pay approximately $780,000 in restitution. Merrill Lynch neither admitted nor denied the charges, FINRA says. Merrill Lynch,… Read More >>
Symbiont Attracts Industry Luminaries to Board
Daniel Gallagher and Todd Ruppert Join Symbiont’s Board of Directors Symbiont, a smart-contract and distributed ledger technology (DLT) start-up based in New York City, has named former SEC Commissioner Daniel Gallagher and Todd Ruppert from T. Rowe Price to its board of directors. Gallagher served as commissioner of the SEC for four years before being… Read More >>
Object Trading Up to Speed on SGX’s Titan Platform
Object Trading DMA Coordinated with Titan A vendor of multi-asset trading systems, Object Trading, reports that its services will work with the Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) latest trading platform, Titan, based upon Nasdaq’s Genium INET platform. In conjunction with Titan, Object Trading will handle market data, order execution and pre-trade risk constraints for its clients… Read More >>
SEC Approves FINRA’s Plan to TRACE U.S. Treasuries
The SEC has approved the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s proposal to require FINRA members to report transactions in U.S. Treasury securities, with the sole exception of savings bonds, to TRACE, FINRA’s trade reporting and compliance engine. July 10, 2017 is the implementation date for the bond-trade reporting requirement, says FINRA, the nonprofit industry organization that… Read More >>
