The months-long acquisition saga of interdealer broker GFI Group appears headed for a memorable finale, with GFI Chairman Mickey Gooch reportedly wooing other potential suitors even as rival BGC Partners’ hostile bid remains just short of success. On Friday, Feb. 6, BGC, also an interdealer broker, needed just 1.7 percent more of GFI’s outstanding shares… 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 >>
Calypso Readies Initial Margin Calculation Offering
San Francisco-based Calypso Technology, a specialist in capital markets software, reports that it will be releasing a “new solution for calculating the initial margin required on non-cleared derivatives trades,” officials say. The solution will meet the requirements of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) and the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) for margin… Read More >>
ISDA Targets CCP Default Resolution
The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has issued a position paper setting out a proposed recovery and continuity framework for central counterparty (CCP) clearinghouses. The position paper, “CCP Default Management, Recovery and Continuity,” outlines a “framework for recovery and sets out tools that can be used to re-establish a matched book following the default… Read More >>
CFTC Okays WinJammer for Swap CCO Reports
The CFTC’s division of swap dealer and intermediary oversight (DSIO) reports that swap dealers and major swap participants may now submit their chief compliance officers’ annual reports to the CFTC through an online filing system, WinJammer, and do not need to use the commission’s own web portal. The Winjammer software was developed jointly by the CME… Read More >>
ICE’s IBA Launches Revamped ISDAFIX
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) officials have announced that the ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) will introduce a new calculation methodology for ISDAFIX, starting Feb. 16, 2015, marking a new era for the global benchmark for interest rate swaps. ISDAFIX represents the average mid-market swap rates for three major currencies: the Euro (EUR), British pound (GBP) and U.S…. Read More >>
JPX Taps Nasdaq to Build Osaka Exchange
Japan Exchange Group (JPX) and Nasdaq have partnered to build a next-generation derivatives trading system for the JPX subsidiary Osaka Exchange, officials say. In addition to the trading system, which will operate on Genium INET technology, Osaka will tap SMARTS Market Surveillance for its real-time surveillance needs, supplied by Nasdaq technologies. “We are proud and… Read More >>
Q&A: Derivatives Meet the Cloud via Swaps Hub
Mani Pillai, president and founder of fintech startup Swaps Hub, took some time out of his busy schedule to speak with FTF News about this company, which plans to go live with its solutions in the third quarter of 2015. When it launches, Swaps Hub will offer aggregation and distribution services via a cloud platform… Read More >>
Chris Pickles Leads FIGI Push in Europe
Independent financial technology consultant Chris Pickles is leading a campaign in Europe to make the Financial Instrument Global Identifier (FIGI), originally from market data and news giant Bloomberg an industry standard. Pickles, who is based in the U.K., confirms that he is leading the effort to make the instrument identifier, once known as the Bloomberg… Read More >>
Q&A: Droit Just Wants to Become an Industry Standard
Two of the key players behind Droit Financial Technologies — Satya Pemmaraju, Ph.D., founding partner and CEO, and Brock Arnason, founding partner, head of product and strategic alliances — spoke recently with FFT News about the start of the company and how its wares can be applied to a post-trade reporting/compliance infrastructure. Q: Can you… Read More >>
