Bitcoins, the digital “crypto” currency that in 2017 became one of the world’s fastest growing assets, reaching a high of more than $11,000, an increase of more than 900 percent for the calendar year, may still have its detractors, who compare its sudden popularity to Dutch Tulip Mania in the 17th century, or to the… Read More >>
Deutsche Börse Taps UniCredit Bank for Next CEO
New Deutsche Börse CEO to Serve for Three Years The next CEO for the Deutsche Börse will be Theodor Weimer from UniCredit Bank who will serve for three years, starting Jan. 1, 2018, according to the supervisory board of the exchanges and clearing company. The 57-year-old Weimer “will take over from CEO Carsten Kengeter who… Read More >>
CFTC’s Giancarlo Sounds the Alarm on E.U. Overreach
There are so many moving parts to the Brexit negotiations between the U.K. and the E.U., but the European Commission’s wish to tighten its grip on non-European clearinghouses has rankled U.S. regulators. In an opinion piece titled “An EU Plan to Invade U.S. Markets,” published in The Wall Street Journal by J. Christopher Giancarlo, chairman… Read More >>
Cargill Fined $10M for Alleged Swaps Trading Violations
The CFTC reports that it has simultaneously filed and settled charges against Cargill, alleging that the Minnesota-based agricultural, commodity, and financial services giant sent swaps counterparties and a swaps data repository (SDR) “inaccurate marks” that obscured “up to ninety percent of Cargill’s mark-up.” The settlement order means that Cargill, Inc. will pay a $10 Million… Read More >>
CFTC Penalizes Morgan Stanley for Large Trader Omissions
The CFTC has ordered Morgan Stanley and Co. to pay a $350,000 penalty for omitting futures and options data from its required part 17 large trader reports. Morgan Stanley’s omissions spanned a 10-year period, from 2007 to 2017, and affected “thousands of line items of information,” according to the CFTC’s order, which simultaneously filed and… Read More >>
CFTC Strikes Swaps Equivalency Accord with E.C.
In a step toward the nirvana of harmonization, the CFTC and European Commission (E.C.) moved forward with an agreement to accept the legitimacy of each other’s rules on swap margin agreements and to allow swap trading venues under their jurisdictions to follow their home region’s rules. The two-part agreement covers the comparability of trading platforms… Read More >>
Clearinghouses Pass CFTC Liquidity Stress Tests
The CFTC’s recent settlement liquidity stress test analysis of three well-known clearinghouses — CME Clearing, ICE Clear U.S., and LCH, Ltd. — finds that all three could “meet their settlement obligations on time,” despite simulated defaults by clearing members. The CFTC analysis, which follows its initial supervisory stress test of clearinghouses that was published in… Read More >>
NEX Optimisation CEO to Leave as Division Revamps
Global COO Ken Pigaga to Be New CEO of NEX Optimisation Jenny Knott, the CEO of the NEX Optimisation post-trade division of NEX Group, is stepping down from her post as the division undergoes a restructuring, according to NEX Group officials. In addition, Ken Pigaga, global chief operating officer (COO) of NEX, has been appointed… Read More >>
Morgan Stanley’s FCM Subsidiary Penalized $500,000
The CFTC has settled charges against Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, for “failing to diligently supervise the reconciliation of exchange and clearing fees with the amounts it ultimately charged customers for certain transactions on the CME Group, ICE Futures US, and other exchanges.” Headquartered in New York City, Morgan Stanley & Co., or MSCO, is… Read More >>
CFTC Hires Director for Swap Dealer Oversight Division
Partner from Steptoe & Johnson Law Firm Joins as DSIO Director Arrivals and departures are continuing at the CFTC. Matthew B. Kulkin has been named director of the CFTC’s division of swap dealer and intermediary oversight (DSIO), joining from the Steptoe & Johnson LLP law firm, where, as a partner, he “advised financial market participants… Read More >>
