Schroders Takes Minority Stake in Forteus Invesment management giant Schroders is investing in Forteus, an asset manager with a focus on blockchain technology and digital assets. Schroders officials say that they will develop next-generation investment solutions via the new arrangement. Forteus is the asset management arm of the Numeus Group, a diversified digital asset… Read More >>
BNP Paribas Settles Swaps ‘Smoothing’ Case for $6M
Smoothing. It sounds like porn, and that’s because it is. Financial porn, that is. Here are the questions of the week: Is a six-million dollar penalty for “incorrectly reporting swaps and adjusted daily mark disclosures” enough of a hit to the nose that it will get an alleged wrongdoer’s attention? Or is six-million smackers simply… Read More >>
EY Penalized $100M via SEC’s Exam Cheating Case
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged auditor Ernst & Young LLP with “cheating by its audit professionals on exams required to obtain and maintain Certified Public Accountant (CPA) licenses, and for withholding evidence of this misconduct from the SEC’s Enforcement Division during the Division’s investigation of the matter.” Ernst & Young (EY) “admits the… Read More >>
DTCC Report Hub Attracts 70+ Clients
More than 70 firms have signed up for a service that manages regulatory reporting requirements for 14 jurisdictions — the DTCC Report Hub — an offering of post-trade systems and services provider Depository Trust & Clearing Corp., officials say. In late 2020, the DTCC acquired a platform for compliance management reporting, dubbed the Compliance Management… Read More >>
UBS Broker & SEC Settle Complex Case for $25M
UBS Financial Services has agreed to pay a total of $25 million to the SEC to resolve charges that it allegedly failed to give its financial advisors adequate training or supervisory oversight in support of a complex options trading effort, the Yield Enhancement Strategy (YES), that caused surprise losses for investors. SEC officials say that… Read More >>
National Securities Corp. Pays $9M to Settle FINRA Case
Clearly, FINRA, the brokerage industry’s self-regulatory authority, is not happy with the National Securities Corp. FINRA has ordered NSC to pay approximately $9 million, “including disgorgement of $4.77 million in net profits the firm received for underwriting 10 public offerings in which NSC attempted to artificially influence the market for the offered securities.” The firm neither confirms nor… Read More >>
FINRA May Hire More Crypto Crime-Fighters
FINRA appears to be in the market for crypto crime-fighters just as pioneering cryptocurrency players have laid off significant percentages of their workforce as the crypto crash/winter takes hold. The crypto slump has been underway for weeks and has driven down the value of Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies amid volatile markets rocked by inflation, war, interest… Read More >>
Weiss Asset Management Penalized $6.9M via SEC Case
The Securities and Exchange Commission reports that Weiss Asset Management LP, an investment advisory firm known by its acronym WAM, has agreed to pay approximately $6.9 million to settle charges that “it violated the federal securities laws when it unlawfully purchased stock in seven public offerings after selling short those same stocks.” Specifically, the WAM… Read More >>
DTCC’s 20022 Corporate Actions Leap & Other News
DTC & Broadridge Score a Corporate Actions First With help from Broadridge Financial Solutions, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC) reports that it has taken a big step toward fully automating the corporate actions lifecycle via its subsidiary, The Depository Trust Company (DTC). The DTC processed the “first-ever, fully-automated voluntary reorganization ISO 20022 instruction,” part… Read More >>
Schwab Subsidiaries Settle SEC Case for $187M
Three Charles Schwab investment adviser subsidiaries have agreed to pay a total of $187 million to settle SEC allegations that a robo-adviser system, Schwab Intelligent Portfolios (SIP), facilitated cash allocations in investors’ portfolios that ultimately lowered their returns “by approximately the same amount as an advisory fee would have,” according to the regulator. “Without admitting… Read More >>
