RJO Acquires Lombard Forte Securities R.J. O’Brien & Associates, a Chicago-based futures brokerage and clearing firm, is expanding its presence in the Middle East via its acquisition of Lombard Forte Securities Ltd. (LFS), a Dubai-based interdealer broker (IDB). RJO, which acquired LFS through its affiliate RJO MENA [Middle East & North Africa] in Dubai, is… Read More >>
Sell-Side Firms Are Reviving Key Projects: SmartStream
(Sell-side firms are reviewing and reengaging strategic projects in the wake of a pandemic that caused staff to work remotely, says Jason Ang, program manager, TLM Collateral Management, at SmartStream Technologies. This return to strategic projects amid lockdowns and re-openings means the sell side is re focusing on collateral and its importance for credit risk… Read More >>
Crypto-Crime Toll Hits $1.36B in Early 2020
The current year “could see the second-highest value in cryptocurrency crimes ever recorded,” according to a recent report issued by CipherTrace. Specifically, in the first five months of 2020 “crypto thefts, hacks, and frauds totaled $1.36 billion,” CipherTrace says. CipherTrace was founded in 2015, by Silicon Valley business people, and it was funded initially by… Read More >>
Task Force Takes On Global Post-Trade Woes
The Bank of England is setting up a task force to implement the recommendations of a special panel that focused last year on the $20 billion spent annually on a “patchwork of manual or outdated technological processes” that support post-trade operations at firms across the globe. The Post‑Trade Technology Market Practitioner Panel of the U.K.’s… Read More >>
OpenGamma & IHS Markit Target Margining Rules
OpenGamma & IHS Markit Begin Collaboration OpenGamma, which characterizes itself as a margin optimization provider, reports a new collaboration with IHS Markit, which characterizes itself as a provider of critical securities information, analytics and solutions. The vendors are jointly offering a system for mutual clients looking to reduce the cost of margin management. Their offering… Read More >>
Cboe Postpones Trading Floor Reopening
Cboe Global Markets has postponed the re-opening of its “South Loop” trading floor until Monday, June 15, a week later than previously announced. The reopening of the officially named Cboe Options Exchange (C1) trading floor “was previously scheduled for Monday, June 8, 2020,” according to the latest Cboe statement. “The decision to postpone the reopening… Read More >>
DTCC Tests DLT’s Usage for Post-Trade Ops
Post-trade infrastructure provider the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. has launched two experiments — dubbed Project Ion and Project Whitney — that are collaborative industry efforts to investigate how distributed ledger technology (DLT) might strengthen post-trade processes such as the elimination of manual processes in the private markets, and new securities settlement via public markets,… Read More >>
Firm Launches Trading System Despite Pandemic
An Australian specialist fund manager, Atlas Infrastructure, went live with Indata’s Architect AI OMS and portfolio management solution this month despite the disruptions cause by the COVID-19 pandemic, and with the vendor’s help, completed a deployment remotely. The travel restrictions caused by the pandemic meant that Indata worked with Atlas “completely on a remote basis… Read More >>
SEC Tells Firms to Focus on LIBOR Replacements
The SEC does not want financial services firms to take a wait-and-see attitude toward the transition away from the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate or LIBOR — the regulator wants firms to be more proactive about the move away from the controversial benchmark. The regulator through a staff statement wants market participants to proactively manage their… Read More >>
FCA Mulls Ban on Crypto-Based Instruments
U.K. regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), is causing a stir with its consideration of a ban on the sale of derivatives and exchange traded notes (ETNs) that are tied to certain types of crypto-assets. FCA officials say that they are considering new rules to “address harm to retail consumers” via the sale of these… Read More >>
