The CFTC has finalized new rules for cybersecurity safeguards systems-testing requirements at its most recent open meeting at which Chairman Timothy Massad called the risk of cyberattack “probably … the single greatest threat to the stability and integrity of our markets today.” At the meeting, commissioners approved final rules for testing requirements for designated contract… Read More >>
RNC Genter Deploys Single-Point Access to Fiserv Network
Firm to Use Fiserv’s Asset Manager Connect Asset manager RNC Genter Capital Management is using Asset Manager Connect from Fiserv to “increase access to managed account sponsors and grow their client base,” officials say. The Asset Manager Connect links lets firms easily communicate with managed-account sponsors across the Wealth Management Network from Fiserv, officials say…. Read More >>
Support Growing for ISDA’s Initial Margin Standard
Support is growing for a new methodology for calculating initial margin for non-cleared derivatives instruments that was developed by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA). Simultaneously, exchange and clearinghouse operator, the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), reports that the ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) group, a provider of regulated benchmarks, launched a crowdsourcing facility in support of… Read More >>
SEF for Rolling Hemp-Backed Trades Joins FinTech Sandbox
Seed CX, a Chicago-based, new swap execution facility (SEF) for trading hemp as a commodity, has just been selected by the FinTech Sandbox to join its community of innovators, an opportunity that follows shortly after the CFTC approved the SEF. The SeedCX SEF’s mission is to help agricultural market participants to hedge risk and to… Read More >>
Settlement Helps Steven A. Cohen Return in 2018
The ongoing saga of billionaire hedge fund manager, Steven A. Cohen, completed another episode with his settlement this week with the CFTC, which may help him create a path back to investing other peoples’ money by 2018 or beyond. The former hedge fund heavyweight Cohen settled with the SEC this past January after the regulator… Read More >>
CFTC Gives Compliance Officers More Time to File Annual Reports
Chief compliance officers at futures commission merchants (FCMs), swap dealers, and major swap participants may have more time to file annual reports because of amendments that the CFTC is proposing for a key regulation. CFTC officials announced on August 9 that it will be publishing in the Federal Register proposed amendments to CFTC regulation 3.3… Read More >>
BarCap to Pay $2M in CFTC, FINRA Fines
Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of the London-based banking multinational, has been hit with $2.1 million in fines for various reporting, clearing and trading violations, and for related supervision failures. Those penalties include an $800,000 fine from the CFTC and a $1.3 million fine from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). FINRA fined BarCap,… Read More >>
Binary-Options Firms Fined $4.58M, Banned from Trading
Two web-based binary-options firms, Vault Options, Ltd. and Global Trader 365, have been hit with a $3 million civil monetary penalty, plus $1,587,731 in restitution, and have been banned from future trading, for defrauding their customers and violating the Commodity Exchange Act. The two companies, both based in Israel, apparently are no longer doing business… Read More >>
CFTC Clarifies Wind-Downs, Recoveries for Key DCOs
The CFTC division of clearing and risk (DCR) has issued a guidance regarding recovery and wind-down plans for registered clearinghouses that are systemically important derivatives clearing organizations (SIDCOs). The recovery and wind-down plans are “critical element[s] of risk management and contingency planning,” the commission says, pointing out that SIDCOs are required by its regulations to… Read More >>
CFTC Blesses DTCC-SWIFT LEI Utility for Another Year
CFTC Hopes Global LEI System to Be More Operational in a Year The legal entity identifier (LEI) utility operated by the DTCC and SWIFT can continue for another year in the hope that the global LEI system will become fully operational in that time, according to the CFTC, which just issued an order extending the… Read More >>
