NSX Re-Launches for Equities, ETFs As expected, the National Stock Exchange (NSX) has re-launched trading operations for equity securities and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and reports that it is offering “low-price market access fees,” officials say. The relaunch follows the SEC’s approval on Dec. 14 to resume trading operations, which includes a phased roll-out of all… Read More >>
Swaps Clearing in Europe Catching Up to U.S. Rules
The European Union has set the date for its clearing obligation, bringing European financial reform more into line with current U.S. obligations. The publication of the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) regulatory technical standards (RTS) in the Official Journal of the European Union on December 1, 2015 will kick over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives clearing into… Read More >>
TrueEX, JPMorgan & RBS Stretch FIX for Swaps
TrueEX, a swap execution facility (SEF), JPMorgan and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have launched the trueFIX automated execution and processing solution for U.S. dollar, Euro and U.K. Sterling swaps that will work with the FIX-based confirmation and affirmation protocol extensions from the FIX Trading Community. The FIX Trading Community is the governing body behind… Read More >>
DTCC Wants Global Framework for Sharing Swaps Data
Post-trade services and infrastructure provider DTCC would like to see the start of an international discussion about a framework for the global sharing of data about swaps transactions in the wake of federal action to remove a Dodd-Frank Act provision that some saw as an impediment to swaps data sharing globally. In a rare moment… Read More >>
U.S. Regulators Crack Down on Reporting Failures with Stiff Penalties
The CFTC and SEC are continuing their crackdown on firms large and small that fail to sufficiently file regulatory reports that have accurate and usable data that can be applied to monitoring and analyzing securities transactions as evidenced by recent actions against Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse Securities. The CFTC has ordered Deutsche Bank to… Read More >>
Survey: Many Firms Still Use Manual Systems for Swaps Ops
Despite multiple efforts to automate the processing of complex swaps, nearly half — 44 percent — of asset managers recently surveyed by FinTech vendor SimCorp say that they rely “mostly or completely” on manual processes for the investment lifecycle. In addition, the survey find that more than 50 percent say that they still need manual… Read More >>
Massad Reinforces CFTC’s Push for Margining Uncleared Swaps
Five years after the onset of the Dodd-Frank Act (DFA), CFTC Chairman Timothy G. Massad outlined last week the regulator’s next phase in the DFA rule-making process, which will include margin collection for uncleared swaps, stress tests for clearinghouses, a new definition of a swaps dealer, SEF trading improvements, and cross-border harmony for swaps data… Read More >>
Massad Favors Regs Hybrid for Cross-Border Uncleared Swaps
CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad says he’s leaning toward a hybrid approach to the problem of regulatory harmony for uncleared swaps transacted across multiple jurisdictions around the globe but he’s careful to note that his agency has not reached any conclusions. “We recognize the importance of having the uncleared margin rules of different jurisdictions be as… Read More >>
Nomura Joins Retreat from Swaps Clearing
Nomura Holdings is getting out of the clearing game for swaps transactions, dropping a previously offered service where the bank acted as a gateway for getting its customers’ swaps trades guaranteed by clearing houses. Nomura is just the latest of several banks to back away from clearing amid low margins and high costs imposed mainly… Read More >>
ISDA: Regulatory Mismatch Fragments Liquidity for Derivatives
Global derivatives markets are continuing to fragment into U.S. and non-U.S. pools of liquidity, according to a new report by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, the latest effort in an ongoing campaign by ISDA to call attention to the issue. The report, “Cross-Broder Fragmentation of Global Derivatives: End-Year 2014 Update,” says the fragmentation of… Read More >>