Bitcoin futures contracts launched Monday, Dec. 18, via the CME Group to a mix of fanfare and skepticism about the crypto currency and the underlying infrastructure that are captivating securities operations. Reflecting the concerns of many, ING analysts posted an analysis Sunday, Dec. 17, “Why Bitcoin is Destined to Become a Niche Asset,” that advocates… Read More >>
New Collateral Management Strategies Require New Building Blocks
Post-crisis regulation and competitive market conditions have forever changed the collateral management process for securities trading firms. The push to develop new collateral optimization strategies has often uncovered major problems within a firm’s own systems and processes. Most firms have had to move quickly to revamp their internal systems and craft new collateral management operations… Read More >>
Federal Reserve Fines Deutsche Bank $156 Million
The central bank for the U.S., the Federal Reserve System, has hit troubled Deutsche Bank with $156.6 million in civil money penalties and requirements that the bank improve its senior management oversight and controls relating to foreign exchange (FX) trading. “Deutsche Bank lacked adequate governance, risk management, compliance, and audit policies and procedures to ensure… Read More >>
SEC Shuffles Personnel in Chief Accountant’s Office
SEC Names Interim Chief Accountant as Deputy Chief Accountant to Exit The SEC reports that Wesley R. Bricker has been named the interim chief accountant, heading the commission’s office of the chief accountant, while Chief Accountant James V. Schnurr “recovers from a serious bicycle accident.” In his interim post, Bricker will be the “principal advisor… Read More >>
Report Finds NY State Pension Fund ‘Severely Understaffed’
While the New York State Common Retirement Fund (CRF) is not in trouble, it is “severely understaffed” and needs to pay its staff more to avoid future problems, according to an independent advisor for public retirement systems that specializes in governance, operations and risk intelligence. Key pension fund officials agree that these issues need to… Read More >>
SWIFT Gets on the Blockchain Proof-of-Concept Bus
Financial messaging and services cooperative SWIFT is providing more details about its R&D efforts, including proof of concept efforts, for blockchain/distributed ledger technology (DLT) in a white paper it just completed with global consultancy Accenture The two have combined efforts for a position paper, “SWIFT on Distributed Ledger Technologies: Delivering an Industry Standard Platform through… Read More >>
Blockchain’s Great Promise Faces Great Hurdles
The distributed ledger, or blockchain, as today’s hot financial services technology is also known, may lead to an Internet of Value. But first, important issues have to be resolved. So says Lael Brainard, one of the Federal Reserve’s seven governors. In a recent speech entitled “The Use of Distributed Ledger Technologies in Payment, Clearing, and… Read More >>
Lack of Global Standards Impedes Trade Repositories: ESMA Report
The lack of global standards in the trade repository space (TR) could hinder the repository process, a finding of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) in its recently published 55-page 2016 annual report, which outlines its supervisory priorities for credit ratings agency (CRA) governance as well as the quality and data access for TRs…. Read More >>
Asia-Pacific Firms Resist FATCA Compliance
Financial institutions across Asia Pacific are trailing behind their Western counterparts in preparations for evolving global tax reporting regulations due to cultural and regulatory issues, according to a new report by compliance software specialist Wolters Kluwer Financial Services and the GRC Institute (GRCI), the association for Asia-Pacific governance, risk management and compliance professionals. Canvassing 40… Read More >>
GLEIF Takes Charge of the LEI Effort
Editor’s note: The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), the body overseeing the Global Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) System, has taken center stage in the effort to promote the usage of the LEI standard. In fact, GLEIF has just launched the Global LEI Index, “a golden copy of all past and current LEI records including… Read More >>
