A 10 percent rise in bonuses for Wall Street securities industry participants reflects how trading firms were able to overcome the pandemic-related challenges of 2020, says Thomas P. DiNapoli, comptroller for the state of New York, via his annual report upon payments made to employees beyond their salaries. However, trading firms have been relying on… Read More >>
Did Compliance Pass the Test of Remote Traders?
The pandemic-induced lockdown put compliance systems to the test for many financial services firms because so many employees, including those on the trading floors, were suddenly working from home and more vulnerable to attack. At the same time, the pandemic put on hold cutting-edge, emerging technologies and their usefulness for compliance as firms braced themselves… Read More >>
How Three Traders Allegedly Caused $81M in Losses
The SEC reports that Citigroup recently agreed to pay $10.5 million in penalties to settle charges involving its books and records, its internal accounting controls, and its trader supervision. Citigroup Inc. and its U.S. broker-dealer subsidiary, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (CGMI), also will pay a $5.75 million penalty to settle the inaccurate books and records… Read More >>
A Break in a Major Hacking & Fraud Scheme
Earlier this month there was a development in one of the most ingenious hacking and securities fraud efforts in a long time — one that in theory would make for a great crime/thriller movie. To refresh your memory, we reported [ http://bit.ly/2bLHdUQ ] that in a major anti-fraud action, the SEC issued charges against 32… Read More >>
IPC Buys Etrali from the Gores Group
Once fierce competitors in the trading turret business, IPC Systems and Etrali Trading Solutions are becoming one company as a private equity firm, the Gores Group, has sold Etrali to IPC, officials say. IPC and Gores Group officials decline to reveal the commercial terms of the acquisition. The Paris-based Etrali is a provider of voice… Read More >>
Traders in Euribor Trials Could Face Jail Time
Although it is too early predict the fate of the six traders charged by the U.K.’s Securities Fraud Office (SFO) for allegedly manipulating Euribor, the unexpectedly long jail sentence of Tom Hayes in a similar case could set a precedent if they are found guilty. Hayes is a former UBS and Citigroup derivatives trader who… Read More >>
Investors Still Like Sell-Side Salespeople
An interesting report on how investors still rely on sell-side advice and interactions even while swap trading is moving quickly to electronic platforms slipped past me, but it’s worthy of belated notice. The report (issued late last month) from Greenwich Associates, “Interest-Rate Derivatives Sales: Not What It Used To Be, But No Less Important,”… Read More >>
LIBOR Fallout: Lloyds Fires Eight
Lloyds Banking Group, which this past summer paid $370 million to settle charges in the U.S. and the U.K. that between 2006 and 2009 it had been involved in the manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and other benchmark interest rates, reports that eight employees have been dismissed in connection with the scandal…. Read More >>
