The SEC is moving to close a loophole in cross-border, security-based swaps trading that allows firms to sidestep U.S. regulation and facilitates regulatory arbitrage between markets in the U.S and the European Union. In a vote last week, the SEC adopted rules that “require a non-U.S. company that uses personnel located in a U.S. branch… Read More >>
CFTC Designates NFA as SDR Data Recipient
CFTC Designates NFA as SDR Data Recipient The CFTC issued an order authorizing the National Futures Association (NFA) as “a designee to receive access to data maintained by swap data repositories (SDR),” officials say. The NFA is touted by the CFTC as the “only registered futures association (RFA)” actually registered with the commodities regulator. “As… Read More >>
Barclays, Credit Suisse Pay for Dark Pool Violations
Barclays Capital Inc. and Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC will pay a combined total of $154.3 million to the State of New York and the SEC to settle investigations into “false statements and omissions made in connection with the marketing of their respective dark pools and other high-speed electronic equities trading services,” according the office… Read More >>
ICE Promotes to Fill Senior Management Posts
ICE Promotes Senior Managers Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE), the operator of clearinghouses, data services and such exchanges as the New York Stock Exchange, reports the following senior management moves: Ben Jackson, president and chief operating officer (COO) of ICE Futures U.S., has been named to the newly created post of ICE chief commercial officer, where… 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 >>
SEC Targets Mutual Funds, ETFs via Curbs on Derivatives
As expected, the SEC has voted to propose new derivatives rules that would limit leverage and other risks for mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and other registered investment companies in the derivatives markets. After a 90-day comment period, the commission is likely to move forward on the new rules. New rules are needed, the commission… 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 >>
Virtus Settles AlphaSector Case with the SEC for $16.5M
Investment management firm Virtus Investment Advisers is paying a total of $16.5 million to settle a case with the SEC, which alleges that the firm misled mutual fund investors among others via advertisements that allegedly reported false historical performance data about AlphaSector, an exchange-traded fund (ETF) portfolio strategy. The charges against the Hartford, Conn.-based firm… Read More >>
FSB’s Capital Requirements Target ‘Too Big to Fail’
The Financial Stability Board (FSB), the six-year-old international body created in response to the Great Recession, has issued requirements intended to keep “systemically important” banks solvent particularly during crisis in an effort to prevent firms that are “too big to fail” and have to be bailed out via government funds. The financial requirements for banks… 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 >>
