Two major reconciliation services competitors — Gresham Technologies plc and Electra Information Systems — will be combining into one provider via Gresham’s acquisition of Electra. Gresham officials report that the company “and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Gresham Enterprise Storage” are purchasing “the entirety of the issued and outstanding shares of common stock of Electra … on… 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 >>
DTCC Fights Fragmented Clearing for Treasuries
Fragmented clearing for the U.S. Treasury market is on the minds of those at the DTCC, the industry’s major post-trade services and infrastructure provider, and they have released a white paper that they hope will spark a discussion about this contentious issue. There is even a suggestion that there might be a need for a… Read More >>
Morgan Stanley Joins ICE Futures Abu Dhabi Exchange
IFAD Offers Hedging for Murban Oil Investment banking giant Morgan Stanley & Co. has joined the ICE Futures Abu Dhabi Exchange (IFAD), a new trading venue of exchanges operator Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE), officials say. Morgan Stanley will be an exchange and clearing member. To offer ways to trade and hedge Murban crude oil, ICE launched… Read More >>
Capitolis Taps State Street for Key Post
Capitolis Hires James Reilly A software-as-a-service (SaaS) vendor, Capitolis has hired industry veteran James Reilly from State Street and appointed him as its new head of equity and total return swaps (TRS) funding solutions, officials say. Reilly has two decades of capital markets and financial technology experience. The Capitolis networking software helps firms find liquidity… Read More >>
SIFMA, ICI and DTCC Launch T+1 Outreach
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), the Investment Company Institute (ICI), and The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) are reaching out to financial services firms to gather more information for a new push to shorten the U.S. securities settlement cycle from T+2 to T+1, and they are aiming to complete their information… Read More >>
Momentum is Building for T+1: Q&A
(Editor’s Note: The COVID-19 pandemic impacted many aspects of securities operations and the DTCC just released a white paper, “Managing through a Pandemic: The Impact of COVID-19 on Capital Markets Operations,” that explores how securities operations teams functioned during the worst of the lockdown. The report acknowledges that firms will “further automate” post-trade lifecycles and… Read More >>
OCC Lowers Equity Derivatives Clearing Fee
High Volumes Facilitated OCC’s Reduced Fees The Options Clearing Corp. (OCC), which describes itself as “the world’s largest equity derivatives clearing organization,” is cutting its clearing fee from four-and-a-half cents ($0.045) per equity derivatives contract to two cents ($0.02) per contract effective June 1, 2021, subject to regulatory review, officials say. “The two-cent clearing fee… Read More >>
Lockdown Hit Dealers Harder Than Buy Side: Survey
Sell-side firms had a tougher time with post-trade operations during the depths of the pandemic-induced lockdown. But buy-side firms had their Ops woes too, according to a new report from the DTCC, the major post-trade infrastructure services and systems provider for the securities industry. Not surprisingly, the report finds that “cash fixed income and cash… Read More >>
SteelEye to Expand into North American Markets
SteelEye Raised $17 Million to Fund Growth SteelEye, a compliance technology and data analytics vendor based in the United Kingdom, reports that it plans to expand into North America. Founded in 2017, SteelEye offers a software-as-a-service (SaaS) based regulatory-technology platform for “banks, brokers, and asset managers” that is meant to simplify their compliance processes, officials say. In… Read More >>
