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 >>
SETL Acquired by Colendi & Other News Briefs
SETL & Colendi to Focus on Tokens & Smart Contracts London-based blockchain settlements vendor SETL reports that it has been acquired by Colendi, an embedded fintech services platform provider, based in Instanbul, Turkey, and they plan to create a new public blockchain infrastructure to host native tokens and smart contracts for Colendi’s users. “As… Read More >>
BlackRock Asks SEC to Streamline Climate Risk Reporting
With $10 trillion in assets under management (AUM), BlackRock is generally considered one of the world’s top asset managers. So, when it sends a comment letter about a regulatory matter, people tend to pay attention. Earlier this month, BlackRock sent its list of suggestions to the SEC about the regulator’s push for new regulation that… Read More >>
Corporate Actions Processing Meets ISO 20022: Q&A
(Officials at the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. (DTCC) recently reported that they had taken a big step toward fully automating the corporate actions lifecycle via its subsidiary, The Depository Trust Company (DTC). The DTCC also worked with Broadridge Financial Solutions. In short, the DTC processed the “first-ever, fully-automated voluntary reorganization ISO 20022 instruction,” as… 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 >>
Northern Trust’s Digital Assets Team & Other News
Northern Trust Combines Groups for Digital Effort Northern Trust has combined teams and launched a Digital Assets and Financial Markets group that will be “responsible for supporting the fast-growing digital asset markets and those dedicated to providing market access and insights across the traditional securities services markets,” officials say. The step is a recognition of… 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 >>
SWIFT & Capgemini Explore ‘Disruptive’ CBDCs: Q&A
(Unregulated cryptocurrency markets are crashing and financial market participants are looking toward regulation and particularly the establishment of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Digital currencies controlled by central banks hold the promise of new protections for crypto-, tokenized, and other digital assets, Last month, officials at the SWIFT financial services messaging and systems cooperative and… Read More >>
Cboe’s New Trading Floor Mixes Past & Present
With a lot of fanfare earlier this month, Cboe Global Markets, Inc., a Chicago-based exchanges company that offers trading, clearing, and investment solutions, bucked more than a few trends when it launched a hybrid, open outcry trading floor in “the historic Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) building” at 141 West Jackson Boulevard. “We are continuing… 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 >>
