Although members of parliament (MPs) have been on summer recess, the U.K. government has been busy issuing a series of Brexit position papers on a range of subjects, including the customs union, standard checks on goods exports, the legal regulatory framework and data protection. The hope is that the position papers will help accelerate negotiations,… Read More >>
Banca IMI Securities Settles ADR Case with SEC
The SEC reports that broker-dealer Banca IMI Securities Corp. (BISC), a wholly owned subsidiary of IMI Capital Markets USA Corp., which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Intesa Sanpaol, an Italian banking group, has agreed to pay more than $35 million to settle charges that it violated federal securities laws when it received… Read More >>
DTCC Declares Omgeo Alert an SSI Utility
Post-trade infrastructure services provider DTCC has designated its recently enhanced Omgeo Alert repository for standing settlement instruction (SSI) data as a de facto “single and centralized” SSI utility. DTCC officials timed the announcement to coincide with SIFMA’s T+2 shorter settlement conference in New York today. The utility approach to SSI data management began about three… Read More >>
T+2 Settlement Clears Final SEC Hurdle
The U.S. push for a shorter settlement cycle crossed a major milestone when the SEC amended a key rule this week to shorten the standard settlement cycle for most broker-dealer securities transactions from three business days, known as T+3, to the a settlement cycle of two business days, T+2. This sets the stage for T+2… Read More >>
Morgan Stanley Settles Customer Reserves Case
Morgan Stanley & Co. has agreed to pay a $7.5 million civil penalty as part of a settlement with the SEC over allegations that the firm violated the regulator’s Customer Protection Rule. The rule governs “customers’ cash and securities so that they can be promptly returned should the broker-dealer fail,” SEC officials say. However, “complex… Read More >>
JPMorgan Services Fannie Mae’s MBS Holdings
JPMorgan Provides Trade Processing, Settlement and Recs Services Investment banking giant JPMorgan is supporting Fannie Mae’s mortgage-backed securities (MBS) holdings via the firm’s custody and fund services platform, bank officials say. JPMorgan officials say the bank has “successfully transitioned” for safe-keeping and settlement services for collateral backing Fannie Mae-issued MBS held in their Collateral Trust… Read More >>
SEC to Explore DLT at Nov. 14 Fintech Forum
Second SEC Panel Focuses on Clearing and Settlement SEC officials and industry participants will explore distributed ledger technology (DLT) and other IT innovations impacting trading, settlement and clearing via a panel session during the regulator’s Fintech Forum, slated for Nov. 14, at the SEC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. The forum, which is open to the… Read More >>
SETL, Cobalt DL to Create FX Post-Trade DLT Solution
Two distributed ledger technology (DLT) pioneers SETL, a London-based financial blockchain specialist, and Cobalt DL, a private peer-to-peer network provider, have joined forces via a new partnership intended to yield a post-trade platform for foreign exchange (FX) transactions. “In June 2016, SETL announced the launch of our blockchain-powered OpenCSD platform, which enables any market participant… Read More >>
Blockchain Project Tests Post-Trade Ops for Swaps
Barclays, Citi, Credit Suisse and JPMorgan with the help of Axoni and other vendors have been successfully testing since June post-trade processes based on blockchain/distributed ledger technologies and smart contracts that support over-the-counter (OTC) equity swaps. “Industry collaboration is key in driving blockchain innovation and Barclays is keen to remain at the forefront of this,”… Read More >>
SEC Blesses T+2 with Rule Change
The push for a shorter settlement cycle got a quiet boost from the SEC late last month when the regulator formally proposed a rule amendment urging the settlement cycle for most securities transactions change from three business days after the trade date (T+3) to two business days after the trade date (T+2). A key group… Read More >>