Allianz Global Investors U.S. LLC (AGI US) has admitted its guilt in what the SEC is calling “a massive fraudulent scheme” that hid the major risks of a complicated options trading strategy that the firm called “Structured Alpha.” The alleged scheme did not save the Structured Alpha funds, which collapsed and caused investors to lose… Read More >>
How to Navigate Inflation, a Pandemic & War: Q&A
(Trading and risk management teams at global securities firms are facing a perfect storm of rising inflation, the ripple effects of the pandemic, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Gil Guillaumey, head of strategy — capital markets at Adenza, recently answered questions from FTF News about these concerns and about the best ways forward amid… Read More >>
Market Maker Adopts Torstone Platform & Other News
Torstone to Provide Post-Trade Ops to Tower Research Capital Market maker Tower Research Capital reports that it will be using the post-trade services of vendor Torstone Technology to grow and diversify its traded asset classes, officials say. “As we continue to diversify into new asset classes and trading strategies, at ever-increasing volumes, we need… Read More >>
CFTC Hopes Carbon Offsets Forum Will Spur Innovation
Rostin Behnam, the chair of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), is hoping to jumpstart industry interest in carbon offsets via the regulator’s first-ever Voluntary Carbon Convening, slated for June 2 via the CFTC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. “As climate change is a collective action problem, I believe a joint effort between the CFTC and… Read More >>
Ex-SWIFT CEO Campos Joins PPRO & Other News
PPRO Appoints Campos as Independent Chairman Former SWIFT CEO Lázaro Campos was appointed the first independent board chairman for PPRO on April 25, according to the provider of digital payments infrastructure technology. SWIFT provides global financial messaging software, services, and systems. Campos was appointed to the board “to strengthen … governance in the next phase… Read More >>
FINRA Fines Two Crowdfunding Portals
FINRA is taking aim at two companies known for crowdfunding. First, a definition of crowdfunding, courtesy of Investopedia: “Crowdfunding is the use of small amounts of capital from a large number of individuals to finance a new business venture. Crowdfunding makes use of … social media and crowdfunding websites to bring investors and entrepreneurs together,… Read More >>
FTF Reveals the Winners of the 2022 FTF Awards
Financial Technologies Forum (FTF) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2022 FTF News Technology Innovation Awards competition and to confirm that there will be an in-person gala event later this year to celebrate the industry’s achievements in operational excellence. “I think it’s safe to say that it’s been a long two years. During… Read More >>
SEC Hires 20 Crypto Cops & Other News
SEC Adds to Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reports adding 20 positions to its crypto assets and cyber unit, which is tasked with “protecting investors in crypto markets and from cyber-related threats.” The unit, in the SEC’s enforcement division, will grow to 50 dedicated positions, officials say. The unit,… Read More >>
Bloomberg Takes On Corporate Actions Complexity: Q&A
(FTF News recently got the chance to check in with Maureen Gallagher, the global head of enterprise reference data at Bloomberg. Our Q&A covers missing and incomplete corporate actions, the changes that Bloomberg is making to its corporate actions offerings, and the impacts of emerging, disruptive technologies. In her role, Gallagher oversees not only corporate… Read More >>
Asset Tokenization Could Reinvent Post-Trade Ops: Report
Asset tokenization holds a lot of promise for traditional capital markets, particularly via the underlying blockchain technology. But getting to the new benefits could mean a gradual replacement of some incumbent post-trade platforms, systems, and services. That’s what David Easthope tells FTF News. Easthope is a senior analyst covering market structure and technology for the… Read More >>
