The CFTC reports that BNP Paribas Securities Corp. will pay a $90 million civil monetary penalty to settle charges that it attempted to manipulate the ISDAFIX benchmark. New York-based BNP Paribas Securities is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BNP Paribas Group, a French international banking group. BNP Paribas Securities Corp.’s USD ISDAFIX manipulations “involved multiple… Read More >>
Time for a Crypto Cop?
Many people have been wondering when the controversial crypto currency phenomenon will get the regulatory oversight needed to provide safeguards for investors and other participants. In the U.S., the SEC and CFTC are pursuing guidelines and enforcement actions as the crypto efforts move full speed ahead. I’m certain that the regulators would appreciate additional help… Read More >>
CFTC’s Whistleblower Awards Total More than $45 Million
Whistleblower Program Experiences High-Volume Response The CFTC has handed out more than $45 million in multiple whistleblower awards, reflecting the higher volumes and greater complexity of incoming whistleblower submissions, officials say. In fact, the regulator last month acknowledged “an award of approximately $30 million to one whistleblower and the first award was made by the… Read More >>
RJO Pays $750K to Settle Client Supervision Case
Futures broker and clearing firm R.J. O’Brien & Associates (RJO) will pay a total of $750,000 — via a $600,000 penalty to the CFTC and a $150,000 fine to the National Futures Association (NFA) — to settle charges that the firm failed to supervise staff members overseeing customer accounts and violated the terms of a… Read More >>
IBM & CLS Collaborate on DLT Network PoC
IBM and CLS to Work on DLT Proof-of-Concept Effort Computing giant IBM is collaborating with CLS, a market infrastructure group delivering settlement, processing, and data solutions, on a proof of concept (PoC) effort for LedgerConnect, described as a distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform for the financial services industry. The LedgerConnect offering to come is intended… Read More >>
JPMorgan Pays $65M to Settle ISDAFIX Case
The CFTC has settled its benchmark manipulation case against JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) via an order that requires the firm to pay a $65 million civil monetary penalty, and to strengthen its internal controls and procedures to prevent any future attempts to fix interest-rate swaps benchmarks. The order settles charges that JPMC attempted to manipulate the ISDAFIX benchmark “over… Read More >>
SocGen to Settle Bribery, Benchmark Cases for $1 Billion
Paris-based banking giant Société Générale and its wholly owned subsidiary, Société Générale Acceptance N.V. (SGA), are settling with the U.S. Justice Department, the CFTC, and a French authority, Parquet National Financier (PNF), a variety of charges in two cases: a bribery scandal involving officials in Libya, and separately the manipulation of the London Interbank Offered… Read More >>
CFTC Focuses on Crypto Currency Listings
Earlier this week, the CFTC via its Division of Market Oversight (DMO) and Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR) released an advisory that sets up guidelines for CFTC-registered exchanges and clearinghouses registered that want to list virtual currency derivative products. But, before we dive into the new details, it’s useful to review what the CFTC… Read More >>
CFTC Chairman Unveils Swaps Reform Agenda 2.0
Swaps regulatory reform is the focus of a recent white paper/report, “Swaps Regulation Version 2.0: An Assessment of the Current Implementation of Reform and Proposals for Next Steps,” co-authored by CFTC Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo and CFTC Chief Economist Bruce Tuckman. The report was unveiled at the annual meeting of the International Swaps and Derivatives… Read More >>
LabCFTC Wants Your FinTech Contest Ideas
In case you were wondering, LabCFTC, the CFTC’s FinTech initiative, is asking the public for ideas and subjects for innovation competitions “to advance the agency’s FinTech goals,” and to help the regulator advance its array of IT tools. “We launched the LabCFTC initiative to stimulate and promote market-enhancing FinTech solutions,” says CFTC Chairman J. Christopher… Read More >>
