MAS & Google Launch Climate FinTech Initiative The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Google Cloud report that they are launching an initiative “to drive the innovation, incubation, and scaling of climate FinTech solutions in Asia.” The Point Carbon Zero Program is “a collaboration under MAS’ Project Greenprint,” that will spur climate FinTech solutions to… Read More >>
Are We Heading Toward the Age of DLT?
I think it’s fair to say that distributed ledger technology (DLT), a.k.a. the blockchain, is making real inroads into the complex universe of post-trade securities operations. I am referring to the infrastructure-building/plumbing aspects of DLT, which emerged before its role in the wild embrace of crypto- and digital asset transactions, tokenization, etc. The DLT-based systems… Read More >>
Equitable Pays $50M to Resolve Annuity Fees Case
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reports that it has charged Equitable Financial Life Insurance Company with fraud, “for providing account statements to about 1.4 million variable annuity investors that included materially misleading statements and omissions concerning investor fees.” Equitable has agreed to compensate harmed investors, most of whom are public school teachers and staff… Read More >>
Why Post-Trade Data Is Key to Digitization
(Firms engaged in securities trading are being pressured to undergo a digital transformation as soon as possible. It’s no surprise then that some firms are contemplating a big bang overhaul. But that would not be in a firm’s best interest, says Justin Llewellyn-Jones, head of capital markets, North America (equities and derivatives), Broadridge Financial Solutions…. Read More >>
Jefferies Embarks Upon a Major Overhaul
Investment bank Jefferies Financial Group has embarked upon a major overhaul of its business lines in an effort to bolster its core of investment banking and capital markets. But a lot of shifting and shuffling has to happen first, including the combining of Jefferies Group LLC into Jefferies Financial Group Inc. “Jefferies expects to streamline and… Read More >>
SEC’s New Proxy Adviser Rule Stirs Old Woes
The SEC’s recent 3-2 vote to undo key provisions of a Trump-era rule governing proxy advisory firms has fanned the flames of controversy even though the stated goal was to bolster the independence and timeliness of these providers’ offerings. In fact, a major proxy-advice vendor, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), wanted the SEC to rescind the… Read More >>
BNY & Goldman Sachs Test Drive DLT & Other News
BNY & Goldman Sachs Pioneer DLT-Based Securities Financing BNY Mellon and Goldman Sachs have “completed the industry’s first agency securities lending transactions” via the distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform of HQLAᵡ , a financial technology vendor focused on securities finance and repo transactions. “As part of the combined series of 35-day term transactions with a… Read More >>
Should Risk & Resilience for Ops Be One?
Should the securities operations industry rethink the gap between operational resilience and operational risk? Should those working in operations bring the two disciplines closer together, and by doing so, develop a stronger architecture for securities operations? Those are the questions that Guy Warren, CEO at ITRS Group, is pondering and he wants you to ponder… Read More >>
Schroders Embraces Blockchain & Other News Briefs
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 >>
CAT Overseers Shift Key Deadline for Broker-Dealers
A new deadline has been set for a key aspect of the ambitious, big data, securities transaction monitoring project known as the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT). The new deadline is intended to help broker-dealers grappling with the inclusion of information about customer accounts, and the deadline extension will give CAT participants more time to deal… Read More >>
