New OCC Exec to Take Control in May The Options Clearing Corp. (OCC), the equity derivatives clearing organization, reports that John P. Davidson, a veteran in the financial services industry, has joined as president and chief operating officer (COO), effective May 8. Davidson, who will report to OCC Chairman and CEO Craig Donohue, and replaces… Read More >>
DTCC Fills Key Equity Clearing Post
DTCC Hires from Options Clearing Corp. The DTCC, a post-trade market infrastructure services provider, reports that Michael McClain has joined as a managing director and general manager of equity clearing. McClain will be responsible for heading the “day-to-day equity clearing business operations and strategic initiatives,” and will report to Murray Pozmanter, managing director and head… Read More >>
Has Your Firm Been ‘Spoofed?’
(Editor’s Note: Digital Age market manipulation via practices known as “spoofing” and “layering” are hitting home for many firms and regulators are beginning to take notice. For instance, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and major exchange companies recently alleged that the broker-dealer, Lek Securities, and its CEO facilitated acts of layering, spoofing and cross-product… Read More >>
CFTC Fines, Bans Two Citi Traders for Spoofing
The CFTC has issued two separate but related orders settling charges against Stephen Gola and Jonathan Brims for spoofing — generally defined as “bidding or offering with the intent to cancel the bid or offer before execution” — in U.S. Treasury futures markets while trading for Citigroup Global Markets Inc. (CGMI). The actions against the… Read More >>
CFTC Taps Federal Prosecutor to be Enforcement Director
Jamie McDonald to Start CFTC Post on April 10 James McDonald, who has served as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, has been named the director of the CFTC’s Enforcement Division, according to the CFTC’s Acting Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo. McDonald will replace Vince McGonagle, who has been serving as acting director… Read More >>
Deutsche Bank’s NYC Lab to Explore AI & Cybersecurity
Deutsche Bank officials have opened an innovation lab in New York City that they say is their fourth globally, and will be focused on several IT areas including artificial intelligence (AI), cloud technology and cybersecurity. The lab is located in Lower Manhattan’s Fulton Center and will enable the bank to “access a leading innovation ecosystem… Read More >>
RCG Picks a President for Structured Products
Rosenthal Collins Group Hires from RJO Rosenthal Collins Group (RCG), a futures clearing firm, reports the appointment of Hilton T. Sheng to the new position of president, structured products division. Sheng, a futures industry veteran, will operate out of the New York office and will “build on the company’s newly established expertise in structured products,”… Read More >>
Indata’s iPM Epic Update Targets MiFID
iPM Epic Uses Big Data Technology Indata, a software, technology and services vendor targeting buy-side firms, has released an update of its iPM Epic software suite that offers “significant functionality enhancements” for the implementation of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II. More than 350 changes were made to the iPM Epic software suite… Read More >>
RBS Pays $85M Fine in Benchmark-Rigging Case
U.S. regulator CFTC fined the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) $85 million for its alleged role in manipulating the ISDAfix benchmark, which is tied to the $311 trillion interest rate swaps market. The civil penalty against the U.K. state lender is the fourth settlement the regulator has struck in its four-year-long investigation. All of the… Read More >>
Richard Ketchum Re-Emerges at MarketAxess
Richard Ketchum Joins MarketAxess Board of Directors Richard G. Ketchum, a Nasdaq and SEC veteran and former chairman and CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), will be serving on the board of directors of MarketAxess Holdings Inc., as of April 1, 2017, officials say. In his career, Ketchum has served in many senior… Read More >>
