It’s that time of year again when we unveil the nominations for the FTF News Technology Innovation Awards for 2019. We are proud to say that this year we have an assortment of new and established industry nominees that share a commitment to pursuing excellence in securities operations. It was a challenging process to review… Read More >>
CFTC Kept Watch During the Shutdown
One of the unknowns of the 35-day, partial federal government shutdown that ended on January 25 is what happens when the regulators aren’t looking. For the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), it “continued to perform essential market-critical functions throughout the shutdown,” says Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo in a statement issued on Jan. 28 when… Read More >>
FTF News & ISITC Extend Alliance
FTF News is happy to announce a big step for us and we hope a major boost to what we are providing to you — we will be the exclusive media partner for ISITC throughout 2019. As you know, the ISITC industry trade group has made a major commitment to foster standards and best practices… Read More >>
Could We Please Avoid the ‘The Blockchain Wars?’
Many industry observers are expecting the blockchain/distributed ledger technology (DLT) movement to yield real-world results (and tests) this year, which is making some entrenched concerns nervous and some rebels very happy. In fact, we reported on how HSBC has been using a DLT implementation internally to settle more than three million foreign exchange (FX) transactions… 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 Explains Smart Contracts
Through its LabCFTC extension for FinTech innovation, the CFTC has issued a primer “intended to be an educational tool” to explain what a “smart contract” actually is (in case you’re not certain), and to point out some of its shortcomings. “Fundamentally, a ‘smart contract’ is a set of coded computer functions,” according to the primer…. Read More >>
A Recap of the Deutsche Bank Raids
Last week’s raids on Deutsche Bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt and key bank branches by approximately 170 German law enforcement officials have sent shock waves throughout the financial services world. This must have been especially nerve-wracking news for those firms working so hard to stay within the difficult lines of compliance. Essentially, the German authorities say… Read More >>
CFTC Tightens Uncleared Swap Margin Requirements
Just in time for the winter holidays, the CFTC approved a final rule to tighten its uncleared swap margin requirements, known as the CFTC Margin Rule, and the changes made an appearance in the Federal Register, Vol. 83, no. 227, Monday, Nov. 26, 2018. Essentially, the changes will take effect by the end of this… Read More >>
A Few Reasons to Be Thankful in 2018
For this blog, I usually focus on the rarely seen, between-the-lines aspects of the major securities operations issues and trends that we cover via FTF News. I have tackled many subjects over the years and I hope I have brought more light than heat to many matters essential to helping firms optimize their operations. But,… Read More >>
E.U. Derivatives Reporting Will Get Funky After Brexit
The U.K. and E.U. negotiations over Brexit appear to be at a critical moment as the negotiators for both sides have just presented a preliminary agreement. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May will unveil the deal to her cabinet and England this week. However, the initial pushback to the agreement has ranged from negative to skeptical,… Read More >>
