Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded and fined two UBS Group subsidiaries, UBS AG, and UBS Securities Asia Ltd., HK$9.8 million and HK$1.75 million, respectively, for alleged “regulatory breaches.” The total fine of HK$11.55 million is approximately $1.5 million in U.S. currency. The SFC is a financial regulator that oversees brokers, investment advisers… Read More >>
Do Regulators Need to Clarify CCO Liability?
“Regulators, compliance officers and the investing public would all benefit from the adoption of a framework for evaluating potential cases against chief compliance officers (CCOs) in the financial sector.” So says the New York City Bar Association, which has offered a proposal for doing just that. The proposal, a follow-up to the committee’s February 2020… Read More >>
Bitcoin-Based Futures Are Risky Business: Regulators
An investor bulletin from the SEC and the CFTC is warning investors to be fully aware of the risks that come with Bitcoin-based futures given the many pitfalls that come with cryptocurrency trading. The “Funds Trading in Bitcoin Futures” bulletin from earlier this month targets “investors considering a fund with exposure to the Bitcoin futures… Read More >>
Julius Baer Laundered Money to Support Bribery Scheme
As expected, private Swiss firm Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd. (BJB) is resolving a criminal case with the U.S. Justice Department by paying a fine and penalties that are more than double what the bank admits to laundering. The full amount BJB will pay is $79.7 million. The bank has also admitted its role… Read More >>
LJM Disputes Fraud Charges from SEC & CFTC
The Securities & Exchange Commission has filed a civil action against two related investment advisories and two portfolio managers. The commission alleges that LJM Funds Management Ltd. and LJM Partners Ltd. “fraudulently misled investors and the board of directors of a fund they advised about LJM’s risk management practices and the level of risk in… Read More >>
The 2021 FTF Awards Winners Unveiled!
Financial Technologies Forum (FTF) is pleased to announce that operational excellence and major achievements in financial technology innovation surged in 2020 as evidenced by the winners of the 2021 FTF News Technology Innovation Awards competition. The winners of the FTF Awards competition, now in its tenth year, are being announced today, June 7, and they… Read More >>
SimCorp & JPMorgan Partner to Ease Ops Integration
A new collaboration between SimCorp and JPMorgan’s Securities Services group is intended to help their mutual clients share intraday and multi-asset data — a key part of a new effort to bring interoperability and transparency to SimCorp’s systems and the investment bank’s pre-trade, post-trade, trading, and treasury solutions. This tighter integration between front-and-middle office operations… Read More >>
CEO Says PE Acquisition Gives Fenergo ‘Unicorn Status’
Fenergo achieved “unicorn status,” says Marc Murphy, president and CEO of the KYC and client management software solutions vendor, because it’s been acquired by private equity firms Astorg and Bridgepoint via a definitive agreement they signed with venture capitalist firm Insight Partners, which owned the Dublin-based provider. Several media outlets have reported a wide range… Read More >>
Can Listed Derivatives Give Sustainability a Boost?
In case anyone thought otherwise, exchanges for derivative instruments do have a big role to play in facilitating sustainability, according to a joint report recently released by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) and the United Nations Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative (SSE). The joint report, “How Derivatives Exchanges can Promote Sustainable Development — An Action… Read More >>
Score Priority Settles AML Case with FINRA
Broker-dealer Score Priority has settled with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which charged the New York City-based firm with anti-money laundering (AML) violations. According to FINRA, the firm, which changed its name from Just2Trade, Inc. in January 2020, “failed to develop and implement an anti-money laundering (AML) program reasonably designed to achieve and monitor the… Read More >>
