The Federal Reserve at its May 30 meeting unveiled changes to the controversial Volcker Rule — which prohibits proprietary trading and banks from owning hedge funds or private equity funds — in a move widely seen as a response to industry pressure and is in keeping with the will of the Trump administration. Fed officials… 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 >>
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 >>
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 >>
Q&A: Ops Cost-Cutting to Survive Market Turmoil
(Editor’s note: Volatile global markets are becoming the norm for 2018 and as yet there isn’t a consensus on the underlying reasons. Many industry observers are predicting that there will be more corrections to come as inflation and interest rate increases worry investors. Whatever the actual causes, there have been moments of turbulence that are… Read More >>
Q&A: Upgrade IT Systems Despite Furious Market Correction
(Editor’s note: Global financial markets have been rising and falling dramatically over the past two weeks and many industry observers say that markets are going through a correction/selloff. Ultimately, volatility returned to markets and many analysts say that it may become the new normal. “We suspect that the volatility will likely continue in both directions… 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 >>
