Chapter 11 is not a good look for a manager of assets, don’t you think? And a cautionary tale is always valuable to offset the many temptations that beset the financial services industry, yes? Consider: With their own assets on the line just over a year ago, in March 2021, Medley Management LLC, a Delaware… Read More >>
State Pensions Face Anti-ESG Backlash
Now that Earth Day has come and gone again, it might be an appropriate time to consider the right-wing conservative backlash against public pension funds and their ESG investing. “ESG,” as FTF News readers know, stands for “Environmental, Social, and Governance.” ESG is meant to ensure that boardrooms and shareholders consider factors beyond simple fluctuations… Read More >>
PCAOB Helps Auditors Sort Out Russian Sanctions
The global flow of economic sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine is ongoing and getting more complex. To help broker-dealers and their auditors stay on top of sanctions and their impacts, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) recently released a “Spotlight” guide on the subject: “Auditing Considerations Related to the Invasion of… Read More >>
‘Cowen Digital’ Launches & Other News Briefs
Cowen Division Focuses on Digital Asset Custody Cowen Inc. has officially launched the Cowen Digital division to provide a platform for trade execution and custody solutions that support digital assets traded by institutional clients, officials say. The new division, based in Stamford, Conn., offers custody solutions via Cowen’s partnership with PolySign’s Standard Custody & Trust,… Read More >>
State Street Fast Tracks Digital Asset Custody Services: Q&A
(Earlier this month, State Street Digital, part of State Street Corp., signed a licensing agreement with an institutional digital asset custody and trading infrastructure vendor, Copper.co, based in London. State Street Digital is using Copper to fast track the construction of its custody services for active cryptocurrencies and other digital assets. Those services, which are… Read More >>
SEC Gets Serious About Cybersecurity Risks
We know that Vladimir Putin commands an army of hackers that he’s unleashed before — to interfere in American elections and to spread social-media disinformation. The current media and intelligence-services consensus is that — in the wake of the multiple economic sanctions imposed on him and his henchmen over the war against Ukraine — he’s… Read More >>
CNR & SEC Settle Client Fraud Charges for $30M
Boutique registered investment adviser City National Rochdale (CNR) will pay more than $30 million to settle charges that its “undisclosed conflicts of interest defrauded current and prospective clients,” the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reports. The $30 million-plus from CNR will be placed into an SEC fund for distribution to “harmed investors.” SEC officials… Read More >>
Sanctioned Securities Face Ops & Trading Halts
As the Russian military further invades Ukraine, aiming for the capital Kyiv, the global economic sanctions are beginning to take hold for securities-trading firms as the financial retaliations impact trading activity and securities operations. FTF News has been keeping track of the growing list of economic sanctions against Russia via coverage at “SWIFT Expels Key… Read More >>
Wall Street Responds to the Ukrainian Humanitarian Crisis
As financial services firms face the challenges of intense market volatility, the ongoing flow of sanctions, and the many other ramifications stemming from Russia’s horrifying invasion of Ukraine, they are also responding to a humanitarian crisis that has only just begun. For instance, investment bank Jefferies announced that it will holding a “Doing Good Global Trading… Read More >>
T+0 Settlement via New Exchange & Other Briefs
SEC Approves BSTX’s Launch The SEC has blessed the creation of a regulated, national securities exchange facility, dubbed BSTX, that can settle instruments in one day (T+0) while providing blockchain-based market data reporting, officials say. The BSTX is a trading facility of BOX Exchange and a joint venture of tZero Group, Inc., and BOX Digital… Read More >>