The crypto currency phenomenon is almost moving too fast for anyone to sort out and yet remarkable things are happening. For instance, tZERO and BOX Digital Markets have just created a joint venture to lay the groundwork for “the world’s first regulated exchange for trading security tokens,” which are electronic tokens defined as securities under… Read More >>
How AI May Help Speech Transcription for Ops
Among some people in operations, anything related to artificial intelligence (AI) often is met with trepidation because of the potential of AI-based systems eliminating positions in Ops. This fear is somewhat justified even though there is mounting evidence that AI can help financial services firms replace tedious tasks — and not staff members — with… Read More >>
CFTC Focuses on Crypto Currency Listings
Earlier this week, the CFTC via its Division of Market Oversight (DMO) and Division of Clearing and Risk (DCR) released an advisory that sets up guidelines for CFTC-registered exchanges and clearinghouses registered that want to list virtual currency derivative products. But, before we dive into the new details, it’s useful to review what the CFTC… Read More >>
FINRA Checks its Reset One Year On
Officials at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) released a “Progress Report on FINRA360” last month and the regulator is making the case that it has started to reinvigorate itself, particularly in the areas of enforcement and qualification exams. As you may recall, FINRA360 is an effort to see if “FINRA is operating as the… Read More >>
Is Your Job to Make Your Job Obsolete?
Sometimes you are awakened by a concept that is so simple yet so stunning. Such was the case with the opening remarks of industry veteran Ted Leveroni, now a principal at DerivProduct, who kicked off the DerivOps conference last month in Chicago. Over the years, Leveroni has been chief commercial officer for DTCC — Euroclear… Read More >>
LabCFTC Wants Your FinTech Contest Ideas
In case you were wondering, LabCFTC, the CFTC’s FinTech initiative, is asking the public for ideas and subjects for innovation competitions “to advance the agency’s FinTech goals,” and to help the regulator advance its array of IT tools. “We launched the LabCFTC initiative to stimulate and promote market-enhancing FinTech solutions,” says CFTC Chairman J. Christopher… Read More >>
Have You Called Your Regulator Lately?
A recurring message emerged from several of the sessions at our DerivOps conference in Chicago earlier this week. It’s simply this: financial services firms should take advantage of a new, more proactive dynamic between them and regulators. Basically, firms should feel free to tell regulators what they’re doing, especially with so many disruptive phenomena and… Read More >>
Is the Fiduciary Rule Dead?
Whatever happened to what is known as the “Fiduciary Rule,” propagated by the U.S. Department of Labor? To recap: The Labor Department in 2017 was pretty much set to move ahead with the so-called “Fiduciary Rule,” on April 10. But the Trump team halted the rule’s implementation via an executive order, arguing that it needed… Read More >>
JPMorgan Opens Its Research to Amazon’s Alexa
We are hearing a great deal about how artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and robotics — applied individually or via combinations — are going to take over the world, eliminating securities industry jobs and maybe even entire professions. Yet I suspect (my Luddite impulses aside) that disruptive technologies may yield services that we hadn’t anticipated… Read More >>
Reasons to Celebrate the Spring Holidays
Suddenly, we’re moving toward the Spring holidays for many religions (and Spring breaks for many schools). While these are times for fun and adventure with loved ones, they are also opportunities for reflection. As for the securities industry, there are many good reasons to be anxious. Firms and Ops staffs are facing the next wave… Read More >>
