The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reports that it has censured and fined Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Financial Services (ICBCFS) $5.3 million for systemic anti-money laundering compliance failures, including its failure to have a “reasonable” AML program in place to monitor and detect suspicious transactions, as well as other violations, including financial, record-keeping… Read More >>
ICE Buys TMC Bonds for $685 Million
ICE to Offer TMC’s Services Alongside Its Own The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), owner of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), will be expanding its electronic trading offerings for fixed income liquidity via its $685 million acquisition of TMC Bonds, ICE officials say. The cash transaction will close during the second half of 2018, “subject to… Read More >>
Fed to Mull Changes to the Volcker Rule
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System will be considering changes to the controversial Volcker Rule on Wednesday, May 30, at its open meeting in the nation’s capital, and many in the financial services industry will be watching closely. The Volcker Rule, which is section 619 of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and… Read More >>
Fidessa Picks ION Bid Over Temenos & SS&C Overtures
ION Capital U.K. Ltd., which is indirectly and wholly owned by ION Investment Group Ltd., has won a key round in the battle to buy Fidessa as its $2.3 billion (£1.5 billion) bid has gotten the approval of the Fidessa board, besting a bid from Temenos. “The boards of ION and Fidessa are pleased to… Read More >>
Ex-CFTC Commissioner Calls for Crypto Exchange Regulation
Former CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton says that he is excited by the emergence of digital currencies – he’s even backed one – but he strongly favors regulation to avoid a crypto catastrophe. Chilton spoke earlier this week at FTF’s derivatives processing conference, DerivOps North America, held in Chicago. In a speech at the conference and… Read More >>
Voya Settles SEC’s Conflict of Interest Charges
Voya Holdings Inc. has settled with the SEC over charges that two investment adviser subsidiaries did not disclose conflicts of interest and made misleading disclosures “in connection with their practice of recalling securities on loan so their affiliates could receive tax benefits,” SEC officials say. The Voya adviser affiliates have agreed to be censured and… Read More >>
U.S. Firms Prepare for Tougher E.U. Privacy Regs
(Editor’s note: The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) from the European Union was created to do two major jobs: replace the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC, and to harmonize data privacy laws across Europe, officials report. The new legislation, when it takes effect May 25, 2018, is intended to “protect and empower” data privacy and “reshape… Read More >>
BNP Paribas USA Pleads Guilty to FX Price-Fixing
Officials of the U.S. Justice Department and BNP Paribas USA Inc. (BNPP USA) have settled a case in which the subsidiary of BNP Paribas is pleading guilty to one count of price-fixing via foreign exchange (FX) markets and has agreed to pay a criminal fine of $90 million. According to documents filed recently with the… Read More >>
Industry Cries Out for Bitcoin & Blockchain Reality Checks
Bitcoin futures contracts launched Monday, Dec. 18, via the CME Group to a mix of fanfare and skepticism about the crypto currency and the underlying infrastructure that are captivating securities operations. Reflecting the concerns of many, ING analysts posted an analysis Sunday, Dec. 17, “Why Bitcoin is Destined to Become a Niche Asset,” that advocates… Read More >>
New Collateral Management Strategies Require New Building Blocks
Post-crisis regulation and competitive market conditions have forever changed the collateral management process for securities trading firms. The push to develop new collateral optimization strategies has often uncovered major problems within a firm’s own systems and processes. Most firms have had to move quickly to revamp their internal systems and craft new collateral management operations… Read More >>
