CFTC Amends & Ends LIBOR Usage The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has issued a final rule ending the requirement that interest rate swaps reference the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) in order to complete the clearing process — another milestone marking the end of the scandal-ridden LIBOR. The final rule modifies the CFTC’s… Read More >>
Two Ex-JPMorgan Traders Convicted for Market Manipulation
A federal jury in the Northern District of Illinois recently found two former precious metals traders at JPMorgan Chase & Co., guilty of fraud, attempted price manipulation, and spoofing via a precious metals futures contracts scheme that occurred over an eight-year period and encompassed “thousands of unlawful trading sequences,” authorities say. The two, now-convicted, ex-traders… Read More >>
It’s Time to Check the T+1 Playbook
To say the least, the securities-trading industry has been a little busy since it shifted to a trading day plus two business days settlement (T+2) cycle in 2017. Yet, despite market volatility, disruptive technologies, epic political and social changes, a pandemic, soaring inflation, and an ongoing war in Europe, the industry-wide drive to an even… Read More >>
Buy-Side Demand for Analytics Is Surging: Q&A
(FTF News recently reached out to Abhik Pal, a senior director and global head of research practice at CRISIL Global Research and Risk Solutions, about the buy side’s needs for data analytics. Pal is one of the co-authors of a new report, “Unlocking Value in Data and Analytics,” that urges sell-side firms to adopt a… Read More >>
Jefferies Embarks Upon a Major Overhaul
Investment bank Jefferies Financial Group has embarked upon a major overhaul of its business lines in an effort to bolster its core of investment banking and capital markets. But a lot of shifting and shuffling has to happen first, including the combining of Jefferies Group LLC into Jefferies Financial Group Inc. “Jefferies expects to streamline and… Read More >>
Schroders Embraces Blockchain & Other News Briefs
Schroders Takes Minority Stake in Forteus Invesment management giant Schroders is investing in Forteus, an asset manager with a focus on blockchain technology and digital assets. Schroders officials say that they will develop next-generation investment solutions via the new arrangement. Forteus is the asset management arm of the Numeus Group, a diversified digital asset… Read More >>
BNP Paribas Settles Swaps ‘Smoothing’ Case for $6M
Smoothing. It sounds like porn, and that’s because it is. Financial porn, that is. Here are the questions of the week: Is a six-million dollar penalty for “incorrectly reporting swaps and adjusted daily mark disclosures” enough of a hit to the nose that it will get an alleged wrongdoer’s attention? Or is six-million smackers simply… Read More >>
EY Penalized $100M via SEC’s Exam Cheating Case
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged auditor Ernst & Young LLP with “cheating by its audit professionals on exams required to obtain and maintain Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licenses, and for withholding evidence of this misconduct from the SEC’s Enforcement Division during the Division’s investigation of the matter.” Ernst & Young (EY) “admits the… Read More >>
DTCC Report Hub Attracts 70+ Clients
More than 70 firms have signed up for a service that manages regulatory reporting requirements for 14 jurisdictions — the DTCC Report Hub — an offering of post-trade systems and services provider Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., officials say. In late 2020, the DTCC acquired a platform for compliance management reporting, dubbed the Compliance Management… Read More >>
UBS Broker & SEC Settle Complex Case for $25M
UBS Financial Services has agreed to pay a total of $25 million to the SEC to resolve charges that it allegedly failed to give its financial advisors adequate training or supervisory oversight in support of a complex options trading effort, the Yield Enhancement Strategy (YES), that caused surprise losses for investors. SEC officials say that… Read More >>
