The world of cryptocurrencies is an alternate yet visible reality that is gaining ground slowly but surely amid the established Matrix of supposedly real money. To recap, the main digital/cryptocurrency is the non-political online Bitcoin “backed exclusively by code,” according to the Bitcoin Foundation website. “This means that — ultimately — it is only as… Read More >>
SIFMA Tech Show in Limbo?
Sometimes interesting things fall into your lap and that’s the case with a bit of news about the future of the SIFMA Tech conference. It appears the future of the venerable technology management show of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association is in a state of flux. I reached out to SIFMA’s public relations… Read More >>
Ops Story of the Year: The Return of the T+2 Push
It’s been a dynamic year when straight through processing (STP) and the push for T+2 settlement cycles made big comebacks while disturbing layoffs and ongoing fines and penalties appeared to be on the rise. We at FTF News have compiled the following list of the top Ops stories, trends, new currents and online video coverage… Read More >>
Two Guidances and a Farewell to 2014
Much needs to be tied up at the end of the year but unfortunately time speeds up. So before this interesting year wraps, I’d like to shine the spotlight on two guidances — a brand new one from the CFTC and an older one from the New York state government that got little coverage the… Read More >>
Ops Resolutions for 2014?
With great trepidation, I am putting forth 10 suggested resolutions for operations in 2014. I am aiming for limited, well-defined achievable goals or at least some creative daydreaming on how to improve post-trade functions, workflows and IT in what I suspect will be an adventurous year.1.) I will automate some aspect of reconciliation or I… Read More >>
Readers Pick FATCA as Top Story for 2013
Three of the top news stories for 2013 among FTF News readers dealt with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The adoption of the Volcker Rule by regulators was the second most popular story while the FIX protocol’s advances into post-trade processing also attracted lots of attention. SAC Capital’s admission of guilt also garnered… Read More >>
Get Ready for the Age of Volcker
Some participants at Sifma’s Annual Meeting last month were telling me that the Volcker Rule would never see the light of day. They were confident that the proposed changes made over the past two years had made the pending Dodd-Frank reform unrecognizable, even harmful to financial services firms. Surely, the regulators would drop it —… Read More >>
Is the JPMorgan Penalty Just the Start?
The $13 billion penalty levied by the Justice Department and other officials against JPMorgan for its “serious misrepresentation” in the packaging of residential mortgage-backed securities is a clarion call for financial services firms that law enforcement and regulators are on high alert for RMBS-related fraud. The JPMorgan case is also a harbinger of more to… Read More >>
Bill Clinton Advises Sifma on Its Charm Offensive
Bill Clinton began his speech at Sifma’s Annual Meeting this week by saying that he has great freedom to say whatever he wants because he’s an ex-president and that, he wistfully added, no one pays attention to him. He could not have been more wrong. As we saw, his comments for news website OZY about… Read More >>
A Halloween Treat: Interim CICIs Become Permanent
Unfortunately, I do not have a Halloween tale about an operations nightmare that would scare the bejesus out of you. Instead, there appears to be a bit of good news on the global legal entity identifier (LEI) front, which is a welcome change from the recent horrors of government shutdowns, record fines and markets fearing… Read More >>
