The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun detailed examinations of industry participants to ensure compliance with its new T+1 trade settlement and recordkeeping requirements. Both investment advisors and broker-dealers are being audited to provide information on their policies, procedures, and records related to trade allocation, confirmation, and affirmation processes to the SEC’s Division… Read More >>
FINRA Explores Remote Inspections via Pilot Program
Nearly one-quarter or 22 percent of FINRA member firms have volunteered to participate in a pilot program that would allow them to complete their inspection obligations “without an on-site visit” from a FINRA official, according to the self-regulatory organization (SRO) for U.S. broker-dealers. FINRA notes that 741 firms are participating in the initial pilot, and… Read More >>
Gresham CEO Provides an Update on the Merger
(Gresham Technologies has merged with Alveo, a market data integration and analytics solutions provider, via a transaction led by Alveo’s majority owner private equity firm STG Partners. Before the merger, STG Partners and Alliance Bidco took Gresham Technologies plc private in April via a transaction that valued Gresham at approximately £146.7 million ($190.7 million). The… Read More >>
Franklin Templeton to Deploy BlackRock’s Aladdin
Asset manager Franklin Templeton will be deploying the Aladdin platform from BlackRock to unify its investment management IT infrastructures across public market asset classes, officials say. The Aladdin portfolio management software offers investment firms “a way to view and manage daily investments,” according to BlackRock. “Aladdin is a comprehensive technology solution that supports the entire… Read More >>
Wedbush Forms Cross-Border Alliance to South Korea
Wedbush Financial Services (WFS), a financial services holding company and parent company of Wedbush Securities Inc., has signed a strategic alliance with Hana Securities (Hana), the securities firm of Hana Financial Group, the holding company for Korean institution Hana Bank, officials say. The alliance will yield a new investment channel for Wedbush Securities clients, says… Read More >>
Malaysian Bank Taps Broadridge for Securities Finance Services
AmInvestment Bank, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has deployed a securities finance and collateral management platform from Broadridge Financial Solutions to help the firm expand its prime brokerage business lines and boost its value proposition, officials say. The investment banking arm of the Ambank Group, AmInvestment Bank officials say that the single platform allows the… Read More >>
T+1 Glitches Emerge Between U.S. & E.U. Settlement
At a recent European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) public hearing on T+1 settlement, market participants expressed confidence that misalignments caused by North America’s transition will be resolved once the European Union (E.U.) adopts a shortened settlement cycle. While North America’s transition to T+1 was largely uneventful, hailed as a success by many, including DTCC… Read More >>
Cboe Clear Europe & ABN Amro Test CBDC as Collateral
Cboe Clear Europe, a pan-European clearinghouse, and ABN Amro Clearing Bank N.V., report that they have been testing the use of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) as collateral, essentially exploring the potential of distributed ledger technology (DLT). In particular, they have been “testing the viability of the solution for margin calls outside the opening… Read More >>
Google Cloud’s Quant Collaboration Has Lessons for Ops
We at FTF and FTF News focus much of our attention on post-trade operations. But every once in a while we take a look at some of the breakthroughs happening in the front office. Such advances ripple through to the middle- and back-office Ops teams. A case in point is the quantitative trading firm Hudson… Read More >>
Gresham & Alveo Merge to Offer More Data Services
Following a complex set of financial maneuvers, data reconciliation vendor Gresham Technologies has merged with Alveo, a market data integration and analytics solutions provider, via a transaction that Alveo’s majority owner private equity firm STG Partners helped make happen, officials say. In fact, before the current merger, STG Partners and Alliance Bidco, a company owned… Read More >>
