A new survey-based report finds that buy-side firms are embracing tokenization strategies because they will broaden the investor community by “democratizing access to tokenized assets,” and more than half of survey respondents have a team focused on tokenization-related or digital assets initiatives. The new report, “Tokenization gaining altitude: From pilot projects to industry standard,” is… Read More >>
NBG in Cyprus Deploys Smartstream’s Recs Platform
The National Bank of Greece (NBG) in Cyprus has gone live with a reconciliation solution that leverages artificial intelligence (A.I.) technologies — the Air system from Smartstream — and has replaced four incumbent systems, officials say. The implementation is intended to help the bank’s operational efficiency by “reducing daily manual processing effort and eliminating the… Read More >>
SEC Approves a Blockchain-Native Clearing Agency
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the first, and for now the only, blockchain-native clearing agency — the Paxos Securities Settlement Co., LLC (PSSC), a subsidiary of blockchain infrastructure platform provider Paxos, officials say. PSSC, which will be governed by Section 17A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, is now able… Read More >>
GitHub Incident Could Put Firms at Risk: FINRA
Officials at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) are warning broker-dealers and other securities firms about the potential ripple effects of a cyber-attack upon the popular open source code platform GitHub. The cyber incident “involving GitHub could compromise software supply chains and expose sensitive code across thousands of organizations,” FINRA says in its cyber alert…. Read More >>
SEC & NFA to Improve Cooperation via MoU
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the National Futures Association (NFA), a self-regulatory organization (SRO) for the U.S. derivatives industry, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) designed to improve their “cooperation, coordination, and information sharing” for common regulatory interests, officials say. The MoU is intended to foster closer cooperation “on matters of mutual… Read More >>
SEC Faces Pushback on Public Company Reporting Proposal
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has put forth a proposal to give public companies the option of filing reports semiannually instead of quarterly, streamlining compliance with federal securities laws. However, key industry players are pushing back, arguing that investors could be hurt by information gaps and that market efficiency could take a hit…. Read More >>
TPT Deploys Eventus Validus Surveillance Platform
A futures proprietary trading firm, Take Profit Trader (TPT), recently deployed a trade surveillance solution, the Eventus Validus platform, for simulated and live-trading environments, say officials at Eventus, a provider of trade surveillance and financial risk solutions. “Take Profit Trader has deployed Validus across its entire trading ecosystem, ensuring every stage of the trader journey,… Read More >>
SEC & CFTC Want to Ease PF Disclosure Obligations
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are proposing Form PF amendments that they say will ease the reporting burdens for private funds. Form PF is “the confidential reporting form for certain SEC-registered investment advisers to private funds, including those that also are registered with the CFTC as a… Read More >>
FINRA Launches a Portal to Mitigate Cybersecurity Threats
As Shakespeare noted in Henry IV, Part 1, discretion is the better part of valor, which, translated, means it’s better to be safe than sorry. This is especially true when it comes to cybersecurity protections. Major geopolitical events have been making financial services firms anxious about an acceleration in cyberattacks. In response, the Financial Industry… Read More >>
BlackRock’s Aladdin & BondXN Target MBS Trading Problems
BlackRock’s Aladdin platform is being integrated with an electronic trading and data venue for mortgage-backed securities (MBS) from BondXN Inc., and this new partnership will allow clients of both companies to access BondXN’s Specified Pool and TBA trading capabilities via the Aladdin platform, officials say. Officials add that they hope the effort will lead to… Read More >>
