State Street Corp. is acquiring the custody, accounting, fund administration, global markets, and technology services of private bank Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. — known as BBH’s Investor Services business — for $3.5 billion in cash in a major bid to become the top provider in the investment servicing industry. The firms report that they… Read More >>
CME-IHS Joint Venture Targets OTC Ops Woes
Following an announcement this past January, CME Group and IHS Markit have formally launched a joint venture, dubbed OSTTRA, that will encompass offerings intended to ease the post-trade operational challenges of over-the-counter (OTC) transaction processing for interest rate, foreign exchange (FX), equity, and credit asset classes. CME Group and IHS Markit each own half of… Read More >>
ASX Identifies the Causes for its 2020 Outage
The equity market of the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) suffered an outage last November following the implementation of a new version of the Nasdaq equity market trading system. Shortly thereafter, ASX officials commissioned an independent review to provide an explanation for trading interruption. Released last week, the preliminary results of the review indicate the updated… Read More >>
Crypto Scams Spur Warning from Vermont Regulator
It’s not exactly Ella singing “Moonlight in Vermont.” More like one of those scary-movie shadows falling across the night sky, just before Count Dracula swoops in through the window. An exaggeration? It might not seem like one to Vermont’s would-be investors who — in just one month — reported more than $1 million in crypto-scam… Read More >>
State Street Adopts Hybrid Model & Closes NYC Offices
State Street to Exit Midtown Manhattan The Boston-based State Street will be closing its midtown Manhattan offices and embracing a hybrid working model in response to staff members that have been working remotely in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a prepared statement from the custodian banking giant. “Like most other companies, we… Read More >>
CMA Issues Blueprint for FNZ-GBST’s Breakup
U.K. regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), published on August 25 its Final Undertakings report on FNZ’s acquisition of GBST, and it spells out the next steps for the FNZ-GBST breakup. The CMA wants this breakup because it has concluded that a combined FNZ-GBST would diminish competition in the retail investment platform solutions space…. Read More >>
SEC Reveals Geeky Side via APIs for EDGAR
Wow. Who knew that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had a seriously geeky side? It’s no secret that the SEC and its documentation constitute an endless well of legal gobbledygook that will cure insomnia for many, instill zombie-like behavior in others, and force some individuals into an existential crisis. It is news, though, that… Read More >>
SIFMA, ICI, DTCC Seek SEC’s Help with T+1
The major backers of the move to shorten the U.S. securities industry settlement cycle from T+2 to T+1 by 2023 are moving full speed ahead as they reach out via a letter to the SEC about potential regulatory changes. Officials from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), the Investment Company Institute (ICI), and… Read More >>
Lacewell Leaves Behind a Legacy of Activism
Linda A. Lacewell recently announced that she will be stepping down on August 24 from her position as superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) after two-and-a-half years at the helm. Her departure coincides with the resignation of Gov. Andrew Cuomo who is leaving because of a scandal involving sexual harassment… Read More >>
Regulatory Burdens Don’t End in the Cloud: FINRA
Many securities-trading firms have shifted their IT infrastructures to the cloud, but that does not change their regulatory responsibilities and may lead to new ones, according to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a self-regulatory organization (SRO) for broker-dealers. In a new research report, FINRA officials acknowledge that while cloud computing models promise “the potential… Read More >>
