(Correspondent clearing provider RQD* Clearing (RQD) recently announced that it is broadening its partnership with broker-dealer TradingBlock to cover clearing and execution for the firm’s active and retail trading lines. In addition, RQD and TradingBlock are collaborating on TradingBlock’s forthcoming retail trading platform. TradingBlock, whose clients include proprietary traders and small hedge funds, was among… Read More >>
NYSDFS Urges Crypto Firms to Use Blockchain Analytics
Cryptocurrency businesses licensed by the state of New York are being strongly urged to use blockchain analytics to improve policies, processes, and procedures, according to a guidance issued by Adrienne Harris, superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS). Cryptocurrencies, aka virtual currencies, are based upon distributed ledger technology (DLT), also called… Read More >>
Gensler Pushes for Bond Trading Ops Overhaul
SEC Chair Gary Gensler is calling for a revamp of operations for U.S. fixed income markets — representing $53 trillion in securities — and is calling for price transparency, faster bond reporting, and more transparent post-trade processes, arguing that a new openness would improve counterparty risk management, bolster evaluations of trade execution quality, and increase… Read More >>
Is ESG Blurring Too Many Lines?
ESG-based investing efforts and their related operational adjustments are getting real for many securities firms. And the ESG push is beginning to blur many lines that many never questioned before. For those who have not been following ESG too closely, the Investopedia website offers a succinct definition: “Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria are a… Read More >>
A Prime Broker for Digital Assets & Other News
Finansiv Offers Link Between Fiat & Crypto Trading Finansiv, a digital asset prime brokerage that caters to retail and institutional investors in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital assets, reports that it has gone live and is executing over-the-counter (OTF) client trades. Finansiv officials say that in addition to offering “access to fiat spot markets,” they… Read More >>
U.K. Authorities Push for Post-Trade Ops Overhauls
An influential U.K.-based task force focused on post-trade operations has issued a report calling for major changes in three “core areas:” non-economic trade data, client onboarding, and uncleared margin management. In addition, a key U.K. authority, the Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities Markets Standards Board (FMSB), has promised to act on the recommendations. The FMSB… Read More >>
SIFMA Urges T+1 Start After Labor Day 2024
One of the leaders in the push for T+1 settlement, SIFMA has relayed in a letter to the SEC its recommendations for the start date of a shorter settlement cycle — Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024 — and for rule changes that would mitigate “potential adverse consequences.” SIFMA, the Investment Company Institute (ICI), and The Depository… Read More >>
Jury Convicts Key Player in Malaysian Fund Scandal
A federal jury recently found a former Goldman Sachs managing director guilty of bribing government officials to get lucrative deals via the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) investment and development fund and guilty for laundering the proceeds on a massive scale. Following an eight-week trial, the jury in the Eastern District of New York convicted Ng… Read More >>
Goldman Sachs Veteran Joins Bosonic & Other News
Bosonic Hires Paddy Boyle from Goldman Sachs Bosonic, which characterizes itself as a “decentralized Financial Market Infrastructure (dFMI) business with a real-time clearing and settlement service for crypto and digital assets,” reports that Goldman Sachs veteran Paddy Boyle has joined the firm as its global head of clearing and derivatives. Boyle, an industry veteran, is… Read More >>
PCAOB Helps Auditors Sort Out Russian Sanctions
The global flow of economic sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine is ongoing and getting more complex. To help broker-dealers and their auditors stay on top of sanctions and their impacts, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) recently released a “Spotlight” guide on the subject: “Auditing Considerations Related to the Invasion of… Read More >>
