The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is suing Gemini Trust Company, based in New York City, alleging that in 2017 the cryptocurrency exchange made false or misleading statements to the CFTC about the self-certification of a bitcoin futures product. The regulator has filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of… Read More >>
Ad Campaign Exposes SEC’s Sense of Humor
Move over, “Jeopardy,” “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” “The Price is Right” and “Wheel of Fortune!” There’s a new game show in town and it’s backed by a well-known sheriff — the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — now with a sense of humor. Well, sort of. No one expects a barrel of laughs to… Read More >>
BNY Mellon Unit & SEC Resolve ESG Omissions Case
BNY Mellon Investment Adviser (BNYMIA) is paying a $1.5 million penalty to the SEC to settle charges that it made “misstatements and omissions” about the mutual fund reviews that were intended to verify whether environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns were considered when investment decisions were made. As the SEC explains in its order, its… Read More >>
Crypto’s Pitfalls Are the Focus of a New Guide
Say this for the computer kids who bought into the Great Crypto Scam: They (and others who dream of easy riches) are determined to tie themselves to the blockchain, no matter what. Even the recent $300 billion drop in value across the crypto economy (as calculated by the New York Times) hasn’t dissuaded them. The… Read More >>
OSSTRA to Launch a Repo Service & Other News
OSSTRA to Debut a Repo Confirmation Service In an effort to bring more automation to repo operations, post-trade vendor OSTTRA has launched a repo confirmation service that is built upon the MarkitWire electronic trade processing platform, officials say. MarkitWire is from MarkitServ, which is part of the OSSTRA joint venture between CME Group and S&P… Read More >>
Should Buy-Side IT Teams Embrace Open Source?
(FTF News recently reached out to Madeleine Dassule, partner and co-head, technology, at Wellington Management. Dassule has joined the Fintech Open Source Foundation (FINOS) board of directors, a move that coincided with Wellington joining the nonprofit organization. FINOS is a proponent of open source technology, open standards, and collaborative efforts among software development groups in… Read More >>
Allianz Unit Pays Billions in Fines via Fraud Case
Allianz Global Investors U.S. LLC (AGI US) has admitted its guilt in what the SEC is calling “a massive fraudulent scheme” that hid the major risks of a complicated options trading strategy that the firm called “Structured Alpha.” The alleged scheme did not save the Structured Alpha funds, which collapsed and caused investors to lose… Read More >>
FTF Reveals the Winners of the 2022 FTF Awards
Financial Technologies Forum (FTF) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2022 FTF News Technology Innovation Awards competition and to confirm that there will be an in-person gala event later this year to celebrate the industry’s achievements in operational excellence. “I think it’s safe to say that it’s been a long two years. During… Read More >>
Medley & Former Co-CEOs to Pay $10M Penalty
Chapter 11 is not a good look for a manager of assets, don’t you think? And a cautionary tale is always valuable to offset the many temptations that beset the financial services industry, yes? Consider: With their own assets on the line just over a year ago, in March 2021, Medley Management LLC, a Delaware… Read More >>
DTCC to Explore Clearing & Settlement for U.S. CBDC
As cryptocurrencies and their inherent distributed ledger technology (DLT) gain ground in global markets, the U.S. government, among others, is exploring the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) that would provide more protection for investors and financial services participants. Looking ahead to the onset of a CBDC, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp…. Read More >>
