Abel Noser Bolsters Wares via Acquisition Brokerage Abel Noser Holdings is hoping to offer a comprehensive suite of trade analysis, compliance products, and agency-only brokerage technology services by acquiring competitor Trade Informatics LLC, officials say. Like Abel Noser, Trade Informatics provides equities trade cost analysis (TCA), officials say. Trade Informatics also offers the START systematic… Read More >>
T+1 Gets a Nod from SEC Chair Gensler
Gary Gensler, the new chair of the SEC, is provisionally endorsing the industry effort to shorten trade settlement time from T+2 to T+1 as evidenced by his recent testimony before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, overseen by Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-CA). “I believe shortening the standard settlement cycle could reduce costs and risks… Read More >>
Bank of Ireland to Hire 130 Technologists
New Staff Tasked to Deliver a Digital Transformation Officials at the Bank of Ireland recently announced that they have begun recruiting to fill 130 technology positions whose mission will be to deliver on an “ambitious digital agenda.” Part of that digital agenda is likely to include support for the bank’s securities trading activities even… Read More >>
Wall Street Resists Full Embrace of DLT: Report
Blockchains based upon distributed ledger technology (DLT) have the capacity to undo the “complexity, opacity and fragmentation of capital markets,” but they lack a clear path to wider acceptance, are competing against other disruptive technologies for funding, and represent a threat to traditional industry institutions, according to a new report from World Economic Forum (WEF)…. Read More >>
CME Group Ends Most Open Outcry Trading
Eurodollar Options Pits to Stay Open Derivatives exchanges operator CME Group has announced that the physical trading pits shut down since March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic will remain permanently closed as global financial markets move toward a post-pandemic phase. Not all open outcry venues will close, though. “The Eurodollar options pit, which was… Read More >>
FINRA Alleges Oppenheimer Misrepresented Cost Basis Data
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has fined Oppenheimer & Co. $525,000 on allegations that it “negligently misrepresented” cost basis information for customer account statements and IRS 1099 tax forms and is requiring the firm to bring in a consultant to recommend changes to the procedures, systems, and controls used to track cost basis data…. Read More >>
SIFMA, ICI and DTCC Launch T+1 Outreach
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), the Investment Company Institute (ICI), and The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) are reaching out to financial services firms to gather more information for a new push to shorten the U.S. securities settlement cycle from T+2 to T+1, and they are aiming to complete their information… Read More >>
SS&C Cuts Global Staff by 2.2 Percent
SS&C Cites Cost Containment for Layoffs SS&C Technologies Holdings, Inc., a provider of post-trade software-based services and systems, has laid off 2.2 percent of its global work force, according to a presentation of financial results for the first quarter of 2021, and full year, which ended March 31, 2021. “Earlier this month, we announced… Read More >>
ABN AMRO Pays $575M to Settle AML Case
ABN AMRO Bank NV is paying approximately $575 million, which includes a fine and disgorgement, to the Netherlands government to resolve charges that the Dutch banking giant violated anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorism financing laws. The bank has accepted an offer from the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service (NPPS) in a case that encompasses violations… Read More >>
Score Priority Settles AML Case with FINRA
Broker-dealer Score Priority has settled with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which charged the New York City-based firm with anti-money laundering (AML) violations. According to FINRA, the firm, which changed its name from Just2Trade, Inc. in January 2020, “failed to develop and implement an anti-money laundering (AML) program reasonably designed to achieve and monitor the… Read More >>
