Like other big and complex industries, the world of Wall Street has always had an inclination for acronyms, which are meant to simplify the sometimes complex terminology of “responsible investment.” In theory, one of the most recently adopted acronyms — ESG, which stands for environmental, social, and governance — should be the easiest to understand and
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FinCEN Helps Firms Red Flag Financing for Hamas
The weapons of modern war include tanks, missiles, and jet fighters launched from aircraft carriers far out at sea. Governments can draw on national treasuries to fund the monumental costs of that kind of war in the 21st Century. But where did Hamas, a terrorist organization based in an impoverished refugee camp with few financial
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CFTC Enforcement Unit Urges Higher Penalties
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Division of Enforcement has issued an advisory “designed to give enforcement staff guidance on future enforcement resolution recommendations to the Commission.” One long-time securities industry observer summarized the enforcement advisory’s import by saying “The big news here is that the CFTC will no longer be letting firms off the hook
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Key Senators Want to Tax Crypto Brokers Now
The chair of the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs and six other Democratic senators have sent a joint letter to the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Daniel Werfel calling on their agencies to “swiftly implement their recently proposed tax reporting requirements
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Financial Crime Fighting’s Price Tag Hits $206B
Financial crimes cost banks and other financial services institutions big bucks. This means that complying with the rules and processes meant to deter those financial crimes costs big bucks too. Makes sense, right? Now, thanks to our friends at LexisNexis and Forrester Research, we have a snapshot of the actual numbers. According to the report “True Cost
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Consultancy Issues Alert About QR Code Phishing
“What happened?” North Carolina-based Fairview asks about the “uptick” in phishing reported by its clients. Of course, it’s a rhetorical question. But there’s nothing rhetorical about the impact of an answer on the financial services industry. Fairview Investment Services is a consultancy, based in Raleigh, that offers support for investment advisers and other financial institutions
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SEC Proposes IT Amendments for EDGAR
Fall is in the air. And that means big new movies and TV shows (despite the strikes by Hollywood writers and actors). This year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has gotten into the spirit of the season with a proposal to amend EDGAR. EDGAR, as we all know, is shorthand for the Electronic
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Institutional Investors Embrace ESG Despite Barriers: Survey
Is it time to whip some environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data points into the soufflé of your investment strategies? Let’s check in with BNP Paribas. By that old clock chiming on the wall of the FTF News newsroom, we can tell that it’s that time of the year again: the 2023 edition of the annual
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FBI, FINRA Alert Firms About Email Cyberattacks
A recent alert from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warns financial services firms using Barracuda Email Security Gateway (ESG) Appliances, even those with “up-to-date security patches,” that they “remain at risk for continued computer network compromise from threat actors exploiting a zero-day vulnerability.” The FBI’s alert also referred to “suspected PRC Cyber Actors,”
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Firms Want More ESG Data: Report
“More than nine in 10 executives plan to increase ESG data spend, but data linkage and managing multiple vendor feeds dilute value,” according to a recent survey by market data and news giant Bloomberg and market research firm Adox Research. Adox provides “advice and marketing for banks, asset managers, custodians, and tech providers.” “ESG,” as
