It took a while, but CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo and Chief Economist Bruce Tuckman have responded via a letter to the justified criticisms of derivatives and related activities that the Vatican with the blessing of Pope Francis released this past May. To recap, a Bollettino published May 17 by the Vatican’s Congregation for the… Read More >>
Another Bold Move by Commerzbank?
While the USA was gearing up for the Independence Day holidays in early July, Commerzbank in Germany announced the sale of its equity markets and commodities (EMC) business to Société Générale (SocGen) for an undisclosed sum. On the face of it, the deal helps Commerzbank streamline operations as part of its much-publicized Commerzbank 4.0 strategy,… Read More >>
SEC Filers Must Move to Inline XBRL
Amid the flurry of news about tariffs, scandals, mergers and trade wars, the SEC quietly adopted rule amendments that will require the implementation of the Inline eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) format “for the submission of operating company financial statement information and fund risk/return summary information,” according to the SEC. The amendments are expected “to… Read More >>
Pondering the Disruptions of 2018
Suddenly, we’re heading into the Fourth of July holiday. Independence Day marks the end of the first half of a year that has been marked by ongoing technology disruptions, volatile markets, dramatic geopolitical situations, a flurry of mergers and acquisitions, a crypto currency craze, and a strong sense that while new regulation has not ceased,… Read More >>
MUFG Issues a Cyber Security Management Declaration
When it comes to cyber-attacks, my guess is that financial services firms are petrified that they will be hit hard by a rather successful invasion sooner than later. The potential of such attacks causes firms to clam up and pretend that have no problems until they are forced to acknowledge that a catastrophe is underway…. Read More >>
Are You Ready to Trade Security Tokens?
The crypto currency phenomenon is almost moving too fast for anyone to sort out and yet remarkable things are happening. For instance, tZERO and BOX Digital Markets have just created a joint venture to lay the groundwork for “the world’s first regulated exchange for trading security tokens,” which are electronic tokens defined as securities under… Read More >>
How AI May Help Speech Transcription for Ops
Among some people in operations, anything related to artificial intelligence (AI) often is met with trepidation because of the potential of AI-based systems eliminating positions in Ops. This fear is somewhat justified even though there is mounting evidence that AI can help financial services firms replace tedious tasks — and not staff members — with… Read More >>
Pushing for Post-Trade Reforms Across Europe
This is the season for pollen, Spring holidays and roadmaps from key industry players. Often the new roadmaps mean that some may no longer be on the journey. However, in this case, the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), a trade group for Europe’s wholesale financial markets, is pushing for a roadmap that will… Read More >>
CFTC Focuses on Crypto Currency Listings
Earlier this week, the CFTC via its Division of Market Oversight (DMO) and Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR) released an advisory that sets up guidelines for CFTC-registered exchanges and clearinghouses registered that want to list virtual currency derivative products. But, before we dive into the new details, it’s useful to review what the CFTC… Read More >>
FINRA Checks its Reset One Year On
Officials at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) released a “Progress Report on FINRA360” last month and the regulator is making the case that it has started to reinvigorate itself, particularly in the areas of enforcement and qualification exams. As you may recall, FINRA360 is an effort to see if “FINRA is operating as the… Read More >>
