The Derivatives Working Group of ISITC, a securities industry standards group, is helping to spotlight a problem that has gotten lost in the shuffle of a pandemic and sudden recession. Essentially, how do users of the SWIFT financial messaging network process negative trading prices on commodity futures? “The effort was spurred by recent market event… Read More >>
CFTC Extends IM Deadline for Phase 5 Firms
Citing the operational challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CFTC extended the initial margin (IM) deadline for Phase 5 firms from September 2020 to September 2021, but sidestepped moving the IM deadline for Phase 6 firms. Phase 5 firms now have another year to comply with the IM requirements for uncleared swaps under the regulatory… Read More >>
Northern Trust’s Client Portal Gets a Cloud Makeover
Online Report Center Will Become a Cloud Service Northern Trust is relaunching a client-facing portal, the Online Report Center, as a cloud-based service with a redesigned user interface, officials say. The revamped service “is currently in its beta phase with a select group of clients. The full release for all clients will be available later… Read More >>
Bitcoin Futures & Options Exchange Gets CFTC Nod
Bitnomial Exchange Designated as a Contract Market Chicago-based Bitnomial Exchange has gotten the greenlight from commodities regulator CFTC to become a designated contract market (DCM), which means that it can launch as a Bitcoin futures and options exchange. “The CFTC issued the order under Section 5 of the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) and CFTC regulation… Read More >>
NYFIX Matching Now Supports SWIFT Messaging
Itiviti & ECS Partner to Bolster NYFIX Matching Itiviti, a technology and service provider to financial institutions, reports the advent of a partnership with ECS Fin, a provider of financial messaging services and transaction-processing solutions, that will add trade settlement to NYFIX Matching. The partnership, Itiviti says, will enable NYFIX Matching to process trade messages… Read More >>
CFTC Scores Default Judgment Against Alleged FX Fraudster
An alleged foreign exchange (FX) currency investment fraudster and his defunct investment company are now facing a default judgment in the Northern District of Georgia for “failing to plead or otherwise defend” against the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s allegation that they “fraudulently solicited and misappropriated nearly $700,000 from more than 50 clients in a… Read More >>
Ex-CEO Found Guilty of Binary Options Fraud
A Maryland federal court has convicted a citizen of Israel residing in the United States of three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy for organizing a scheme to market approximately $145 million in binary options. A “binary option” is a financial instrument with an appeal that might remind gamblers of what draws… Read More >>
FactSet Launches KYC App for Client Due Diligence
FactSet Combines KYC & RPA for New App FactSet, a provider of financial information and analytical applications, reports the release of FactSet KYC, a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) application intended to streamline Know Your Customer due diligence. The new app combines KYC robotic process automation (RPA) with FactSet content and public registries, improving the efficiency and… Read More >>
Merrill Lynch Commodities Penalized $36.5M for Spoofing
The CFTC reports that it has settled charges against Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc. (MLCI), a provisionally registered swap dealer that is part of the Bank of America Corp. (BAC), for “spoofing, manipulation, and attempted manipulation over a six-year period with respect to certain precious metals futures contracts.” The settlement will cost MLCI an estimated $25… Read More >>
Traiana Aims Post-Trade Service at Equity Swaps
Traiana Targets Ops Efficiency & Settlement Risk A service to automate key post-trade stages of equity swaps processing has been launched by Traiana, an infrastructure solutions provider for trading and risk management. The vendor wants to automate “manual, labor intensive and inefficient” post-trade affirmation, officials say. The new Equity Swaps Lifecycle Management offering “normalizes data… Read More >>
