Cyber-security vendor Wynyard Group has hired Andrew France OBE, the former deputy director of cyber-defense operations at British intelligence agency Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) as its new strategic advisor of intelligence, officials say. France spent the last years of his GCHQ career developing a national cyber-defense strategy for the U.K., and his hiring reflects a… Read More >>
SEF Market Fears Regulators Missed Cross-Border Harmony
Regulators tasked with overseeing swaps markets in the U.S. and the U.K. struck a hopeful and conciliatory tone in comments at the SEFCON V conference last week, but market participants were skeptical, with one panelist noting that “hope is not a strategy.” Representatives from the CFTC and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) signaled at the… Read More >>
Survey: Asset Managers Make Peace with Regulators
RIMES, a provider of managed data services for the buy side, reports recent survey results showing an “increase in the readiness of asset management firms to deal with incoming and proposed regulation,” and a growth in positive attitudes toward the necessary changes required to meet regulatory demands. The survey, conducted in conjunction with RIMES’ recent… Read More >>
CFTC: Cooperation Key to Cross-Border Clearing Talks
Dual registration combined with cooperation is likely to be the ongoing theme as European and U.S. regulators address the cross-border harmonization problems for global clearing of over-the-counter derivatives, said Timothy Massad, chairman of the CFTC, said in his speech at a Futures Industry Association (FIA) conference last week. “We are continuing to work with the… Read More >>
CFTC Applying New Cyber-Security Strategy
Amid the many other initiatives it is pushing, the CFTC is taking the threat of cyber-attacks very seriously for the clearinghouses, exchanges and other market infrastructure organizations it oversees, according to Timothy Massad, chairman of the U.S. regulatory agency. At the Futures Industry Association (FIA) conference in Chicago this week, Massad outlined the CFTC’s efforts… Read More >>
FTF Panelists Applaud SEF Package Trade Rule Relief
Operations teams supporting derivatives trading at financial services firms across the nation breathed a collective sigh of relief Wednesday night, when CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad announced his agency will postpone rules that would force market participants to conduct package trades electronically via swap execution facilities (SEFs). Meanwhile, panelists at FTF’s DerivOps New York event on… Read More >>
DOJ Slams JPMorgan with Criminal Charges
JPMorgan is acknowledging through a regulatory filing with the SEC that it is preparing to face criminal charges via the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) for the bank’s alleged role in a widespread manipulation of foreign exchange (FX) markets that came to light last year. By ratcheting up the charges to the criminal level, the… Read More >>
Ex-ISDA CEO to Head Droit Advisory Board
Droit Financial Technologies, a provider of real-time solutions for derivatives pre-trade front-office decision-making and post-trade compliance reporting, has named its new advisory board, which will be headed by former International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) CEO Robert Pickel. The board also includes financial technology investor Mark Beeston and former UBS Group managing board member Seth… Read More >>
Derivatives Markets Fear Fragmentation as Regulators Clash
Financial services firms that participate in derivatives markets on both sides of the Atlantic have found themselves treading difficult water for the past year or so, as regulators have struggled to harmonize cross-border market structure rules and regulations. Industry observers say European and U.S. regulators are on the same page as to the importance of… Read More >>
SEC Makes Available Swaps Data Analyses
Analyses of data regarding the reporting and dissemination of security-based swap-transaction information are now available at the SEC’s website. The SEC reports that the analyses examine the “effect of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s mandated post-trade transparency in the index credit default swaps (CDS) market on total credit exposure, trading volume, and trade size in… Read More >>
