Global professional services company Accenture has acquired U.K.-based capital technology markets consultancy Formicary, as part of its efforts to bolster its capabilities in market infrastructure. This area has become increasingly important as financial services firms look for solutions to combat rising costs incurred under regulatory legislation such as Dodd Frank in the U.S. and the… Read More >>
Sapient Debuts Portal to Compliance Platform
With the official debut of the CMRS Portal, an outsourced, “low-touch” web link, consultancy Sapient Global Markets is targeting smaller securities firms that have a fairly low volume of derivatives trades to report to regulators and other organizations. The CMRS Portal will allow firms to use the services of the established Sapient CMRS (Compliance Management… Read More >>
Texas Hedge Fund to Use Broadridge Platform
Hedge Fund Signs Up for Broadridge’s Service The Austin, Texas-based Prophet Capital Asset Management, a $2.3 billion structured credit hedge fund, is using an integrated trading, portfolio management and operating platform from Broadridge Financial Solutions to support a single platform for trading, according to Broadridge. “An established structured credit fund like ours, with a two-decade… Read More >>
Swaps Clearing in Europe Catching Up to U.S. Rules
The European Union has set the date for its clearing obligation, bringing European financial reform more into line with current U.S. obligations. The publication of the European Securities and Markets Authority’s (ESMA) regulatory technical standards (RTS) in the Official Journal of the European Union on December 1, 2015 will kick over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives clearing into… Read More >>
DTCC Wants Global Framework for Sharing Swaps Data
Post-trade services and infrastructure provider DTCC would like to see the start of an international discussion about a framework for the global sharing of data about swaps transactions in the wake of federal action to remove a Dodd-Frank Act provision that some saw as an impediment to swaps data sharing globally. In a rare moment… Read More >>
Can Banks Really Create a Culture of Compliance?
The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) recent decision to fine Barclays a record £72 million ($108.3 million) for the alleged poor handling of financial crime risks will likely serve to reinforce the public perception of greedy bankers. But have financial institutions made any progress in developing a more positive culture in the new regulatory era of… Read More >>
Credit Default Swaps: Still Toxic after All These Years?
Can the credit default swap market be salvaged? That’s the titular question posed by a new research report from the Kroll Bond Rating Agency, which traces the impact of credit default swaps (CDS), a relatively new instrument designed originally to guarantee loans that supposedly would never default en masse, but which is now widely regarded… Read More >>
CFTC Targets the Op Risk of High-Speed Trading
The CFTC last week unanimously proposed new rules to cut risks related to high-speed trading via the algorithms used by designated contract markets (DCMs). Some analysts say the rules will give the regulator more tools to deal with this key aspect of derivatives trading. However, others caution that the regulator should not put forth rules… Read More >>
S&P May Cut Ratings for BofA, Citi, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley & Others
Eight major U.S. financial services firms may have another issue to worry about as ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is putting them on a watch list for ratings cuts because these firms may be affected by a proposed rule of the Federal Reserve ending bailouts for firms that are “too big to fail.” The eight… Read More >>
The Fed’s Trick-or-Treat on Too Big to Fail
Although Halloween has just passed, the U.S. Federal Reserve this past Friday officially proposed a new rule that would in theory prevent big domestic and foreign banks operating in the United States from relying on “extraordinary government support or taxpayer assistance.” In other words, the Fed is taking on firms that are “Too Big to… Read More >>
