FINRA Gives tZero ATS the Green Light The tZero ATS, an alternative trading system/broker-dealer subsidiary of blockchain technology vendor tZero, reports that it has achieved what it says is a milestone development — the approval to offer settlement and clearing services for securities transactions for itself and its broker-dealer affiliates, officials say. The Financial… Read More >>
SEC Sought ISITC’s Advice on T+1: Q&A
(FTF News recently spoke with Lisa Iagatta, the ISITC chair for the past three years, as ISITC’s Virtual Fall Forum 2021, held earlier this month, was winding down. Iagatta touched on the T+1 shorter settlement cycle push, led by the DTCC, SIFMA, and the ICI, and looked back at her time at the helm, which… Read More >>
Northern Trust Uses Algorithms to Find Initial Margin
Northern Trust Develops Offering with Acadia With help from vendor Acadia, Northern Trust launched an automated solution for initial margin (IM) calculation that exploits algorithms to find assets that will help firms meet regulatory obligations, officials say. The solution was developed to help clients meet the September 1 deadline for compliance with the Uncleared Margin… Read More >>
Raymond James Boosts STP by 40 Percent
Raymond James Deploys Syn-TAC Upgrade Raymond James officials report that they have renewed an existing contract for GBST’s middle-office post-trade solution, Syn~TAC, in a bid to boost the firm’s straight through processing (STP). A GBST client for more than seven years, the firm has also completed an upgrade to the latest version of Syn~TAC, officials… Read More >>
EC Blesses IHS Markit-CME Joint Venture
Proposed J.V. Seen as Complementary CME Group, an operator of derivatives trading venues, and IHS Markit, an information and analytics vendor, have gotten the blessings of the European Commission for their joint venture of post-trade services. “The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of joint control over a newly created… Read More >>
SmartStream & Acadia Target Collateral Interest Payments
SmartStream System to Use Acadia’s Margin Manager Post-trade solutions vendor SmartStream Technologies is partnering with Acadia, the former AcadiaSoft, which changed its name and mission from a collateral management automation provider to an integrated risk management services vendor for derivatives transactions, officials say. The SmartStream TLM Collateral Management solution “will work alongside Acadia’s interest statements… Read More >>
Crypto Undermines SEC’s Mission: Sen. Elizabeth Warren
Sen. Warren Urges SEC to Consider Crypto Regs Wall Street critic U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is asking Gary Gensler, the chair of the SEC, via a recent letter, to investigate the ways that cryptocurrency exchanges “may be undermining the SEC’s mission” as a regulator of securities trading markets. The letter from Warren, who is… Read More >>
Equiti to Use FlexTrade’s FX Platform MaxxTrader
MaxxTrader to Bolster Equiti’s Prime Services Equiti, an online trading technology provider, will be using the MaxxTrader foreign exchange platform from FlexTrade Systems as the basis for its prime of prime services offering, officials say. MaxxTrader will help Equiti provide its prime of prime customers with “global FX liquidity aggregation, trade execution management, and institutional… Read More >>
‘State Street Digital’ to Offer Crypto Asset Services
Nadine Chakar Tapped to Head New Division The financing of digital assets will be a key focus for a new division of custodian State Street Corp. The just-launched State Street Digital is tasked with building upon the firm’s current digital capabilities, and then expanding into cryptocurrencies, central bank digital currency, blockchain, and tokenization, officials say…. Read More >>
CFTC Mulls SOFR Start Date for Interdealer Brokers
MRAC Subcommittee Urges July 26 Start Date A key CFTC subcommittee is recommending that interdealer brokers replace the trading of U.S. Dollar linear interest rate swaps (IRS) based upon the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) with the trading of IRS based upon the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) starting July 26, 2021, and to continue… Read More >>
