Costco Wholesale Corp. has selected custodian bank Northern Trust to provide custody, daily valuation, and brokerage services for Costco’s defined contribution (DC) retirement plan, with $29 billion in assets, officials say. Costco, based in Seattle, is known as the world’s third-largest retailer and operates 861 warehouses, including 591 in the United States and Puerto Rico…. Read More >>
A Climate Data Platform Prototype Debuts at COP28
Inadvertently, I have stumbled upon another climate-related bit of news. This time it’s about the Net-Zero Data Public Utility (NZDPU), described as “a unified, global, open climate data repository” whose information can be used by many sectors including financial services. A variety of securities firms would welcome free, reliable data about the climate change efforts… Read More >>
FCMs Want Automation Over Headcount for Recs
Futures commission merchants (FCMs) offering sell-side clearing have been making “significant progress in automating” post-trade reconciliation since 2021 and want to apply technology rather than staff members to recs problems, according to the fourth quarter edition of the “Acuiti Sell-Side Clearing Management Insight Report.” However, firms have “some way to go to fully optimize the… Read More >>
FINRA Proposal Would Allow Performance Projections & Targets
FINRA is proposing a change to its “Communications with the Public” rule that could let its broker-dealer members send out performance projections or targets about private securities, asset allocations, and other investment strategies. While the move represents an easing of past prohibitions, firms will still be subject to the “stringent conditions” of the self-regulatory organization… Read More >>
FinTech Brief: DTCC’s AIP Services Gains Funds & Clients
DTCC officials have announced a milestone for its Alternative Investment Product Services (AIP), which has had a 20 percent increase in the number of funds to 10,000-plus unique funds. In addition, the number of AIP clients has risen to more than 2,200, an increase of 28 percent. These increases occurred over the past year. The… Read More >>
FinTech Brief: IPC Taps Smartoptics for NY Metro Clients
IPC Systems, a provider of communications and multi-cloud connectivity solutions for securities trading, has selected Smartoptics, a provider of optical networking solutions, in order to meet the demand of New York metropolitan area clients engaged in high-performance algorithmic trading, officials say. The Smartoptics solutions provide low latency connectivity for electronic trading overseen by algorithms. “In… Read More >>
CFA Guide Helps Advance Crypto Asset Valuation
An association for investment professionals, the CFA Institute, says that it is doing its part to foster a framework for crypto asset valuation by issuing a guide intended to help financial services firms working with smart contract platforms, decentralized applications, and bitcoin. The guide, “Valuation of Cryptoassets: A Guide for Investment Professionals,” was developed by… Read More >>
Buy Side Faces Big Risks via T+1 for FX
The push for shorter settlement cycles — trading day plus one, or T+1 — could pose major settlement and operational risks for buy-side participants in foreign exchange (FX) markets, according to guidance from the Foreign Exchange Professionals Association (FXPA), based in Washington, D.C. “The introduction of T+1 is not intended to increase FX settlement risk…. Read More >>
FinTech Brief: Rimes Launches Lab for A.I. Prototypes
Enterprise data management (EDM) provider Rimes has launched an A.I. Lab to be managed by Theo Bell, the provider’s newly appointed head of A.I. product, officials say. The Rimes A.I. Lab is “a dedicated environment where the Rimes product engineering team, in collaboration with clients, can prototype new ideas and applications using proven A.I. [artificial… Read More >>
FinTech Brief: TCS Platform to Replace ASX’s CHESS
The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has selected Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to provide a clearing and settlement platform for the Australian market based upon TCS BaNCS for Market Infrastructure that will replace ASX’s incumbent CHESS system. The TCS BaNCS for Market Infrastructure has been designed for central securities depositories (CSDs), central counterparty clearinghouses (CCPs), exchanges,… Read More >>
