The SEC is changing key rules governing how money market funds are handled during times of market stress and is imposing increases in minimum liquidity requirements to “provide a more substantial buffer” amid rapid redemptions, according to the regulator. However, as the 3-2 vote of the commissioners reflects there is controversy over these amendments of… Read More >>
Merrill Lynch Pays $12M to Resolve SAR Charges
Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. and its parent company BAC North America Holding Co. (BACNAH) have settled with the SEC and FINRA over charges that the broker-dealer failed to file approximately 1,500 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) from 2009 to late 2019, resulting in penalties and fines totaling $12 million. The SAR shortcomings came… Read More >>
Aladdin Links to LTX’s Liquidity Cloud & Other News
Aladdin & LTX Users Get Cross-Platform Access BlackRock’s Aladdin platform has a new channel to liquidity via its integration with the Liquidity Cloud offering from LTX, a subsidiary of Broadridge Financial Solutions, and the link helps common clients of LTX and Aladdin to access trading functions of both platforms, officials report. LTX is a… Read More >>
Marcum Settles Alleged SPAC Audit Failures for $13M
If you’re a firm that specializes in auditing other firms, shouldn’t your first duty be to ensure that your audits are accurate? Or should your first duty be to ensure your own growth? The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has the obvious answer. The SEC has charged Marcum LLP, the audit firm in question,… Read More >>
Group Proposes Standards for the ‘E’ in ESG
While a major backlash is underway against investment strategies based upon environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) released in late June a proposal for global sustainability disclosure standards that could bring some clarity to investing based on environmental concerns — the “E” of ESG. If adopted, the standards will… Read More >>
The Crypto Cowboys Must Play by the Rules
In mid-June, the state of New York stopped CoinEx, a Hong Kong-based firm, from offering its virtual currency trading platform to investors in all U.S. markets. CoinEx’s global platform helps investors buy and sell cryptocurrency via its website and mobile app. But there was a catch for its U.S. clients. The company did not register… Read More >>
Carbon Markets Fraud Is On the CFTC’s Radar
Fraud in the burgeoning carbon credit markets is on the radar of the CFTC’s Whistleblower Office in the Division of Enforcement, which recently issued an alert asking the public to report potential Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) violations in this marketplace. The regulator notes that voluntary carbon markets “can support the transition to a low-carbon economy… Read More >>
Growth Will Cause an Ops Revamp: Survey
Asset managers by a large majority expect there will organic growth in their markets and that they will be deploying new technology to help them deal with that growth, according to a new survey conducted by Coalition Greenwich and sponsored by Northern Trust. But the survey reveals a reluctance among firms to implement large-scale redesigns… Read More >>
Crystal Capital Partners to Deploy SS&C Systems & Other News
Crystal Capital to Bolster Ops via SS&C Systems Crystal Capital Partners, an alternative investment platform provider, reports that it has selected the Geneva and Advent systems from SS&C Technologies to “streamline portfolio management and reporting across more than 500 customized portfolios and support further growth,” officials say. “Our integration with SS&C will help streamline the… Read More >>
SEC Wins Legal Battle to Protect Binance Clients
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia has granted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission “emergency relief” that applies to “all the defendants in its litigation against Binance Holdings Limited, BAM Management US Holdings Inc., BAM Trading Services Inc.,” and the order states that Binance platform customers “can continue to withdraw their… Read More >>
