Gemini Says It Has First-Mover Advantage Gemini Trust Co., a cryptocurrency exchange and custody company, reports via a company blog that its broker-dealer candidate Gemini Galactic Markets has gotten the approval of self-regulatory organization FINRA to operate as an SEC-registered broker-dealer, and to be a FINRA member. The Gemini Team blog post argues that the… Read More >>
New CFTC Chairman Faces Long To-Do List
Heath P. Tarbert, the Acting Under Secretary for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, has won Senate confirmation to be the next chairman of the CFTC, and will face regulatory concerns ranging from finishing Dodd-Frank reforms to the emergence of instruments based on crypto-currencies during his term, slated to last until April 2024. Following the… Read More >>
Murex Focuses New Offering on LIBOR Transition
Murex & LCH Also Working on Clearing Issues Murex, a specialist vendor for trading, risk management and processing solutions has launched a transition offering and a task force to address “the challenges of the 2021 discontinuation and benchmark reforms” that will end the usage of the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR. Over the years,… Read More >>
Regulators Brace for Impacts of a Hard Brexit
The Brexit saga continues as the government of the United Kingdom debates how to create either a clear, negotiated path away from the European Union or leave via a much more risky, unnegotiated “hard exit.” As of this Monday night, April 1, the U.K. parliament was still mulling its options. The only certainty is that… Read More >>
CFTC, U.K. Build a Regulatory Bridge Over Brexit
As the United Kingdom faces the March 29 deadline for Brexit, the CFTC and the Bank of England along with the Prudential Regulation Authority (BoE), and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are providing clarification on the regulatory framework governing derivatives processing and clearing between the U.K. and U.S. if and when the UK completes its… 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 >>
Senate Confirms Giancarlo as Next CFTC Chairman
The CFTC has a nearly full slate of commissioners with the U.S. Senate’s unanimous vote late yesterday to promote J. Christopher Giancarlo from acting chairman to chairman, and to confirm Brian D. Quintenz, a Republican, and Rostin Behnam, a Democrat, as new commissioners. Quintenz will join the CFTC from Saeculum Capital Management, “where he is… Read More >>
Options Clearing Corp. Taps Citi for New President-COO
New OCC Exec to Take Control in May The Options Clearing Corp. (OCC), the equity derivatives clearing organization, reports that John P. Davidson, a veteran in the financial services industry, has joined as president and chief operating officer (COO), effective May 8. Davidson, who will report to OCC Chairman and CEO Craig Donohue, and replaces… Read More >>
Giancarlo Moves Up to Acting Chairman of CFTC
CFTC Shuffle: Aitan Goelman to Exit As expected, the CFTC designated J. Christopher Giancarlo, a current commissioner, as the acting chairman of the CFTC on January 20. At the same time, just as the Trump team took power Aitan Goelman, a key enforcement director for the futures, options and swaps regulator, announced his plans to… Read More >>
Senate Confirms New CFTC Chairman, Commissioners
By a voice vote late on Tuesday, the U.S. Senate approved President Barack Obama’s nominee for chairman of the CFTC Timothy Massad, the TARP overseer, according to media reports and the websites of U.S. Senators. The Senate also confirmed by voice vote the nominee for the Republican commissioner’s seat J. Christopher Giancarlo. Sharon Yvette Bowen,… Read More >>
