The concept of digital currencies run by central banks is counter to the chaos-driven cryptocurrency movement. But central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are now seen in a very favorable light because of the protections and order they could bring to the crypto world. Even so, Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen earlier this month… Read More >>
Average Wall Street Bonuses Hit $257,500
Bonus season on Wall Street is here and it could be quite lucrative for some. For achievements in 2021, bonuses for staff at actual Wall Street firms grew by 20 percent over bonuses for 2020, according to the New York State Comptroller’s office. “The average bonus paid to employees in New York City’s securities industry… Read More >>
BNP Paribas to Add 1,000 More Women in IT
On International Women’s Rights Day, March 8, a banking giant made a surprising announcement, and challenged itself to do better: “The BNP Paribas Group has set itself an ambitious target: to have 1,000 more women in our IT professions by the end of 2024, through both internal and external recruitment.” While the Women’s Rights Day… Read More >>
Exploring Lifestyle Gadgets at CES 2022
As promised, I am offering another quick view into the wide, wide world of electronic gadgets that could quickly eat up your bonus and tax returns. For this blog posting, I have scanned consumer items featured at the CES 2022 conference in Las Vegas, which included Pepcom’s Digital Experience! event for journalists. It’s hard to find a… Read More >>
High Stakes for COVID-19 Policies
The stakes are high for financial services firms as they twist themselves into pretzels to formulate policies that prevent disease via the ongoing COVID-19 virus pandemic and yet facilitate flexible return-to-work strategies. All of which makes Credit Suisse Group’s recent executive shuffle apparently related to pandemic policies so interesting. In case you haven’t seen the… Read More >>
Happy Holidays & See You in 2022!
It’s not logical to say but 2021 feels as if it flew by. We had a constant flow of major news events from the January 6 attack upon Capitol Hill to severe weather events and new COVID-19 variants that disrupted plans for a return to a new normal. In fact, the new normal turns out… Read More >>
Wall Street Mulls Key Pandemic Post-Trade Lessons
Some observers on Wall Street are saying that the global pandemic may be heading toward an end phase. I hesitate to agree with that prediction given the many unexpected riptides that the potentially fatal COVID-19 virus has imposed upon the world since its onset in 2020 (or even sooner). So, while we hope that the… Read More >>
Wall Street Firms Show Resilience Amid the Pandemic
Securities trading firms in New York City have been doing well for the past 18 months despite the multiple challenges caused by a global pandemic, the ongoing market volatility, and the loss of 3,600 jobs, says New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli in his annual report on firms that constitute Wall Street. “Wall Street’s… Read More >>
Ransomware Is Hitting Hard in 2021: FinCEN
Sadly, ransomware is hitting its stride in 2021, and is showing no signs of slowing down. While there have been multiple media reports about the rising threat of ransomware, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, recently provided proof that an increase is underway. The report, “Financial… Read More >>
CFTC Focuses on SOFR for Interdealer Brokers
Just in case you were wondering, the CFTC is doing its part for interdealer brokers transitioning from the ill-fated Libor reference rate to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) for U.S. Dollar (USD) non-linear derivatives, which are instruments whose rewards are not set in stone like swaps, futures, and forwards. In fact, the regulator has… Read More >>
