Mizuho Capital Markets (MCM) will pay more than $6.8 million to settle allegations brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) that the swap dealer mishandled key foreign exchange (FX) forward transactions and put its clients at a disadvantage, officials say. The CFTC order settles charges against the New York-based bank holding company and will… Read More >>
Coinbase Sues SEC for Crypto Clarity
A big cryptography firm is suing a big government regulator. It may be a pivotal moment in the sometimes fraught relationship between crypto and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, says that the crypto exchange is taking “another formal step to seek regulatory clarity from SEC for the crypto… Read More >>
Barclays Capital Fined $2.5M via LOPR Reporting Case
Barclays Capital Inc., a member of FINRA, the broker-dealer industry’s self-regulatory authority since 2007, has agreed to a censure and a $2.5 million fine for allegedly failing to report, or inaccurately reporting, over-the-counter (OTC) options positions to the Large Options Positions Reporting (LOPR) system. That alleged reporting hiccup happened approximately 4.3 million times from January… Read More >>
Will Europe Move to T+1?
The move to a shorter settlement cycle for European equities has many more moving parts than the transition in the U.S. and Canada, which are moving fast from the current trading day plus two (T+2) settlement cycle to the shorter, one-day, T+1 time frame for equity markets. In addition, Europe does yet face pressure from… Read More >>
Goldman Sachs Settles Swap Violations Case for $15M
Goldman Sachs & Co. is settling a case of alleged swap-trading violations with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for $15 million. The regulator alleges that the firm in 2015 and 2016 “failed to provide the clients with the transparency that the regulations require.” In particular, the CFTC “found that Goldman failed to disclose dozens… Read More >>
Reporter’s Notebook: Merrill Lynch & the FX Fees Case
When crypto companies allegedly scam their clients, it’s often a disaster for the kids and old folks who are convinced to “invest.” But we expect better, much better, from Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, a pillar of the financial services world. That’s one reason it’s troubling to learn that the U. S. Securities and… Read More >>
SWIFT Tests API for CBDCs & Other News
SWIFT’s CBDC Connector Shows ‘Potential’ Officials at SWIFT, the global financial messaging services and systems cooperative, say that 18 central and commercial banks foresee “clear potential and value” in a connector for Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) based upon an application programming interface (API) that is SWIFT’s experimental solution for interlinking CBDCs. SWIFT reports that… Read More >>
CFTC Mandates UPIs for Swaps Records & Reporting
Without much fanfare, the CFTC in mid-February ordered registered entities and swap counterparties to use the unique product identifiers (UPIs) supplied by the Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB) for swaps in the credit, equity, foreign exchange, and interest rate asset classes to bolster transparency and compliance with CFTC swap recordkeeping and reporting requirements. In addition, the… Read More >>
NYDFS Bolsters Crypto Fraud Monitoring Tools & Other News
NYDFS Redoubles Crypto Fraud Detection Efforts The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has improved its cryptocurrency fraud detection of New York State-regulated entities via “new insider trading and market manipulation risk monitoring tools,” according to Adrienne A. Harris, superintendent for the NY DFS. The new monitoring tools will help NY DFS detect… Read More >>
SEC & CFTC Penalize Options Clearing Corp. for $22M
The Options Clearing Corp. (OCC), regarded as the largest equity derivatives clearing organization in the world, has announced settlements with the SEC and CFTC that add up to $22 million and are based on a self-reported case of shortcomings in meeting internal efforts to lower key operational risks. The cases revolve around the implementation of… Read More >>
