SunTrust Investment Services (STIS), the investment services subsidiary of SunTrust Banks, an American bank holding company, has agreed to pay a penalty of more than $1.1 million to settle the SEC’s charges that it “collected more than $1.1 million in avoidable fees from clients by improperly recommending more expensive share classes of various mutual funds… Read More >>
SEC Penalizes State Street $35M+ in Transition Management Case
The SEC reports that State Street, the venerable, Boston-based financial services company founded in 1792, has agreed to pay more than $35 million to settle charges that it “fraudulently charged secret markups for transition management services and separately omitted material information about the operation of its platform for trading U.S. Treasury securities.” “Transition management,” the… Read More >>
Industry Veteran Mack Gill Tapped to Be Torstone COO
Gill Leaves CEO Post at MillenniumIT Torstone Technology, the London-based provider of post-trade securities and derivatives processing, has appointed industry veteran Mack Gill as chief operating officer (COO) and as a member of the board of directors, company officials report. Gill, who will be based in London, was most recently the CEO of MillenniumIT, a… Read More >>
SEC Chairman Picks Key Policy Advisors
The SEC reports several additions to the executive staff of Chairman Jay Clayton, who was nominated to head the commission upon the advent of the Trump administration and was sworn in in early May of this year. The newest staff members are “his own people,” as one long-time observer of the commission recently put it…. Read More >>
Nasdaq to Buy eVestment for $705 Million
eVestment to Join Nasdaq’s Global Information Services Group The Nasdaq Stock Market is moving to acquire vendor eVestment, a content and analytics provider, in a bid by the exchanges company to “deliver attractive shareholder returns” via a company whose client base includes asset managers, investment consultants and asset owners, officials report. Nasdaq will pay $705… Read More >>
Industry Braces for the T+2 Big Bang Conversion
After years of preparation, the U.S. securities industry is taking its first steps toward shorter settlement, which for many banks and other financial services firms has meant an end-to-end overhaul for key operations. Over the Labor Day weekend, major industry associations and industry participants will be skipping their last summer holiday to oversee the shortening… Read More >>
Banca IMI Securities Settles ADR Case with SEC
The SEC reports that broker-dealer Banca IMI Securities Corp. (BISC), a wholly owned subsidiary of IMI Capital Markets USA Corp., which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Intesa Sanpaol, an Italian banking group, has agreed to pay more than $35 million to settle charges that it violated federal securities laws when it received… Read More >>
Kames Capital Revamps Fixed Income Team
Kames Fills Key Fixed Income Vacancies Kames Capital, a self-described specialist investment management business, has promoted Stephen Snowden and Adrian Hull to serve as the co-heads of fixed income with immediate effect, officials say. They are replacing staff members who have decided to exit the industry. As of June 30, Snowden has 23 years of… Read More >>
FINRA to Conduct T+2 Tests on August 19
Tests to facilitate the move by U.S. financial markets to a shorter settlement cycle will be sponsored by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) on Saturday, August 19, 2017, according to the self-regulatory organization. Underway for several years, the U.S. push for a shorter settlement cycle crossed a major milestone this past March when the… Read More >>
SEC Whistleblower Awards Total Hits $158 Million
At least two people (or groups) have gotten a whistleblower windfall from the SEC, probably in time for a summer vacation and probably a lot more. Late last month, SEC officials revealed that for two separate cases the regulator had handed out a total of $4.2 million to two whistleblowers, bringing the total in whistleblower… Read More >>
