FINRA, the financial industry’s self-regulatory authority, has charged Wolverine Execution Services with “inaccurately marking sell orders as long rather than short in 18,756 instances.” The firm, based in Chicago, also failed to “document compliance with the locate requirement in 556,388 instances during February 2018,” according to FINRA. Wolverine Execution Services, a subsidiary of Wolverine Trading,… Read More >>
Should the SEC Become a Crypto Cop?
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may be taking on more oversight of the cryptocurrency trading world as there are many troubling regulatory gaps, says SEC Chair Gary Gensler in testimony May 26 before the subcommittee on financial services and general government, which is part of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee. In testimony that covered… Read More >>
SEC & Colorado Firm Settle SARs Filing Case
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged GWFS Equities Inc., a Colorado-based registered broker-dealer that is an affiliate of Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co., with violating federal securities laws governing the filing of Suspicious Activity Reports. Those charges have been settled in the familiar manner: a censure, a $1.5 million penalty, and the firm’s… Read More >>
Abel Noser to Acquire Competitor Trade Informatics
Abel Noser Bolsters Wares via Acquisition Brokerage Abel Noser Holdings is hoping to offer a comprehensive suite of trade analysis, compliance products, and agency-only brokerage technology services by acquiring competitor Trade Informatics LLC, officials say. Like Abel Noser, Trade Informatics provides equities trade cost analysis (TCA), officials say. Trade Informatics also offers the START systematic… Read More >>
T+1 Gets a Nod from SEC Chair Gensler
Gary Gensler, the new chair of the SEC, is provisionally endorsing the industry effort to shorten trade settlement time from T+2 to T+1 as evidenced by his recent testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, overseen by Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA). “I believe shortening the standard settlement cycle could reduce costs and risks… Read More >>
New SEC Enforcement Director Abruptly Resigns
Just one week after she was appointed, Alex Oh has resigned her position as the director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement. Oh cited ”personal reasons,” according to a commission statement. However, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other media report that the abrupt resignation was prompted by the… Read More >>
Whistleblowers in SEC Case Collect $50 Million
Would-be financial criminals beware: “joint whistleblowers,” whose identities have not been revealed, just scored a payday of “over $50 million.” That’s a big incentive to say something if you know something. The whistleblowers who collected the $50 million reported violations of financial-crime rules to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Those violations involved “highly… Read More >>
Gensler’s SEC Will Face ESG, Crypto & Investor Woes
By a vote of 53 to 45, Gary Gensler, a former CFTC chairman, won confirmation by the U.S. Senate to become the next chair of the SEC, ushering in what many expect will be a new era of regulation requiring adherence to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) reforms. The Senate vote, which got the support… Read More >>
ICE’s Bitcoin Custody Firm Gets a BitLicense
NYSDFS Approves Bakkt Marketplace The New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) has approved the application of Bakkt Marketplace, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bakkt Holdings, LLC, for virtual currency and money transmitter licenses, Financial Services Superintendent Linda A. Lacewell reports. The licenses will allow Bakkt Marketplace, a digital currency trading platform,… Read More >>
NYDFS Issues Cyber Alert About Microsoft Exchange
Hackers Are Exploiting Microsoft Exchange Weaknesses Following media reports of cybersecurity vulnerabilities via the popular Microsoft Exchange Server, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) has issued a letter to the financial services industry that “urges all regulated entities with vulnerable Microsoft Exchange services to act immediately.” The letter from the Cybersecurity… Read More >>
