Lost in the tsunami of federal government budget battle news is the welcome development that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has a new, official chairman — Rostin “Russ” Behnam, and that the stage has been set for a full roster of commissioners. On Dec. 16, the U.S. Senate voted unanimously to approve Rostin Behnam… Read More >>
ISITC Promotes Vice Chair to Top Post
Industry standards trade group ISITC has named Kristin Hochstein, the current vice chair, to be its new chair for the 2022-23 term, and she will take over for Lisa Iagatta, who will finish her three-year term as chair by the end of this month. The group, which develops standards and best practices for financial services… Read More >>
LCH Approved for Portfolio Margining of Swaps
CFTC Also Permits Security-Based Swaps Margining The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has approved a request by Banque Centrale de Compensation, doing business as LCH SA, to provide portfolio margining of swaps and security-based swaps in a cleared swaps customer account, officials say. “The order establishes terms and conditions under which LCH SA and its clearing members… Read More >>
tZero’s ATS to Offer Clearing & Settlement
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 >>
Did a Deutsche Bank Whistleblower Get Nearly $200M?
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has just announced a record-setting whistleblower award of nearly $200 million but it was quickly followed by a report in The Wall Street Journal that identified the tipster as someone from Deutsche Bank. The CFTC protects all whistleblowers via confidentiality. In a press release dated Oct. 21, CFTC officials acknowledged… Read More >>
CFTC Focuses on SOFR for Interdealer Brokers
Just in case you were wondering, the CFTC is doing its part for interdealer brokers transitioning from the ill-fated Libor reference rate to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) for U.S. Dollar (USD) non-linear derivatives, which are instruments whose rewards are not set in stone like swaps, futures, and forwards. In fact, the regulator has… Read More >>
CFTC Fines Citi in Second Swaps Reporting Case
The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission has settled charges against Citibank, N.A. and Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. — two provisionally registered swap dealers, aka Citi — for allegedly “failing to comply with certain swap dealer requirements,” and for related charges of supervision failures. Specifically, the CFTC charged that those two Citi units did not… Read More >>
Trading Glitch Spurs CFTC Fine for Interactive Brokers
An electronic trading system that was not ready to receive negative crude oil futures prices and to calculate margin upon them serves as the basis for the CFTC’s recently settled case against Interactive Brokers in its role as a registered futures commission merchant (FCM). The CFTC is alleging that Interactive Brokers failed to prepare its… Read More >>
CFTC Cracks Down on Swaps Data Noncompliance
The CFTC is cracking down on the alleged failures of supervisory systems and other controls that swap dealers and other swap industry participants have set up to be compliant. In particular, the regulator has just announced enforcement actions against Société Générale S.A., Mizuho Capital Markets, and the Refinitiv SEF, among others. “Swap dealer registrants must… 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 >>
