Mixing up the pieces
The introduction of a seven-day account switching service in the autumn is meant to increase competition among UK High Street banks. Will it succeed?
Regulation
Blog: New Credit Card Surcharges Could Impact Prepaid Market (February 2013)
Blog: New Credit Card Surcharges Could Impact Prepaid Market February 2013 By Lori Breitzke, E&S Consulting LLC A proposed settlement agreement in the In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation—filed in 2005 on behalf of approximately 7 million merchants alleging, among other claims, that MasterCard and Visa had separately colluded […]
Compliance stretching bank resources says Thomson Reuters
Financial services firms are being forced to become increasingly risk-focused due to the continuing pressure of regulation, according to a new survey by Thomson Reuters.
Data protection: the next Y2K?
Transatlantic friction over data protection isn’t exactly a new problem – the industry has been faced with pending regulations for over a decade, but the conflicting demands of European data privacy and US intelligence gathering legislation are coming together to make the issue a serious problem for banking technologists.
Bloomberg puts voice recording into cloud with Orange collaboration
Orange Business Services – Trading Solutions has launched a collaboration with Bloomberg Vault that will record voice data in real time, so that brokers can better comply with regulation on record keeping.
ABN Amro tech failure results in fine
Dutch bank ABN Amro has been fined by Nasdaq OMX Stockholm for a technology failure that led to an erroneous order entering the market.
SEPA Uncertainty
Big banks and their large corporate clients are in the final stages of preparation for the SEPA end date of February next year, but what about the smaller clients in the non-euro countries?
ESMA guidelines could reshape European market making
New guidelines published earlier this month by European regulator ESMA could have a major impact on market making across Europe, according to Matthew Coupe, director of regulation and market structure at NICE Actimize.
EU/US face-off over FISA on the cards
It has been clear for some time now that some of the regulations coming into force around the globe contain contradictions and inconsistencies. A large part of the work done by JWG, Banking Technology‘s partner for our regular RegTech coverage, has been in identifying these, working out their impact on systems and processes and what issues […]
European exchanges unveil MSCI derivatives
European exchanges Eurex and NYSE Liffe are soon to list a host of new derivatives, based on MSCI indices. From March, market participants will be able to trade futures and options based on the MSCI World, MSCI Europe, MSCI All Countries Asia Pacific ex-Japan and futures on the MSCI Frontier Markets.
FCB’s Exit from Issuing Leaves Program Managers Seeking New Partners (February 2013)
February 2013 By Adam Perrotta, Assistant Editor Dozens of prepaid program managers are scrambling to find a new bank issuer with First California Bank (FCB) exiting the issuing business ahead of its acquisition by PacWest Bancorp. In November, PacWest agreed to pay $231 million for FCB’s parent company, Westlake Village, Calif.-based First California Financial […]
National Bank of Abu Dhabi keeps watch over ATMs
The National Bank of Abu Dhabi has adopted a monitoring service from Canadian technology company Inetco Systems, which it says will enable it to better keep track of its ATMs and ensure they are working properly.
Recovery & Resolution: the operational effects of bail-in
Recovery and resolution plans have been on the minds (and to-do lists) of ops and tech departments at the world’s biggest banks ever since they were mandated by the G20 in 2011.
Will Dodd-Frank trade reporting prepare you for EMIR?
On February 28, most of the approximately 70 registered swap dealers will stumble across the finishing line for the remaining asset classes of the CFTC implementation of Dodd-Frank trade reporting regulations. Some may be forgiven for breathing a sigh of relief.
Legal Entity Identifiers: between a “ROC” and hard decisions
As the global method of identifying entities and their ownership structures, the Legal Entity Identifier forms a central part of the G20’s crisis-prevention toolbox. After a few chaotic years of LEI debate and design, regulators are finally nearing the long anticipated starting line for use of the world’s first singular identifier.
HFT: time to talk about how?
2012 seemed like the year of regulators taking a prolonged look at computer trading – defining what it might be, its potential effects, why it may be problematic. It is still far from clear that we have answers to these fundamental questions.
OTC derivatives reforms must be global, says DTCC
As new rules for the reporting of OTC derivatives draw closer around the globe, US post-trade services utility the DTCC is positioning itself as the provider of a global network of trade repositories – but OTC derivatives reform will only work if consistent measures are taken everywhere, says Stewart Macbeth, president and chief executive at the DTCC.
Securities lending: illuminating data?
Regulatory data collection tools have been refined, standardised identifiers nearly constructed and more frequent and granular reporting rolled into regulation. Now that regulators have this mass of data, what is the next step in linking it and putting it to use?
Activ expands Canadian coverage ahead of “naked access” ban
Market data and technology company Activ Financial has expanded its risk gateway tool to cover all Canadian exchanges, ahead of new rules that will require market participants in Canada to have pre-trade risk controls in place across all asset classes from next month.
MarkitSERV and Misys team for FX derivatives clearing service
OTC derivatives trade processing service MarketSERV and banking technology provider Misys have partnered to create a service for CCP clearing of FX derivatives trades.
Commerzbank adopts visual security tool for mobile payments
Germany’s Commerzbank has adopted a visual transaction signing tool from British security firm Cronto for its online banking customers, designed to protect against Trojan malware.
Fircosoft signs AML watch list reseller in India
FircoSoft has signed a partnership with Indian IT services specialist iSolve to resell its watch list filtering products to financial institutions in India, where anti-money regulations are tightening. iSolve already sells compliance solutions to financial institutions in India, making the addition of FircoSoft’s filtering solutions to iSolve’s portfolio a logical step. It will be mainly targeting […]
Nasdaq OMX helps Polish clearing house prepare for EMIR
Polish clearing house KPDW CCP has deployed technology from Nasdaq OMX to help it meet the European Commission’s new EMIR rules on OTC derivatives. Under EMIR, the majority of OTC derivatives will have to be centrally cleared via central counterparties. The rules are intended to reduce systemic risks in financial markets by removing the possibility […]
BAML targets Asia Pacific treasury management
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has launched a treasury management reporting tool, CashPro Accelerate, in Asia Pacific.
Osborne drags UK financial system kicking and screaming into 12th Century
Just a day after Osborne vowed to drag the UK payments systems into the 21st century by, er, improving cheque clearing times, a ceremony dating back to the 12th century was getting underway in the City of London.
Funds managers sign with Eurex for OTC derivatives clearing
Next month, the European Commission’s EMIR regulation on the central clearing and reporting of OTC derivatives is due to take effect in Germany. Investment managers Insight Investment and OFI Asset Management have begun clearing OTC derivatives on Eurex via its new service, EurexOTC Clear.
Market abuse highlights vulnerable European equity market
The imposition of an £8 million fine against defunct Canadian day trading firm Swift Trade earlier this week illustrates the potential for abusive strategies that distort markets – and the need for a new approach from regulators, according to Matthew Coupe, director of regulation and market structure at NICE Actimize.
More than a third of euro transactions lack accurate SEPA data
New research from Experian shows that “only 65% of euro transactions have fully accurate destination routing data and 12% of electronic payments made to and from businesses in euros currently contain data errors”.
Banks to go the same way as pubs? OFT boss moots branch sharing to increase competition
UK retail banks could be forced to share branch premises with rivals under plans to increase competition in the market, according to the chief executive of the UK’s Office of Fair Trading, Clive Maxwell.
CME gears up for European OTC deluge
As new rules for the central clearing of OTC derivatives loom ever larger on the horizon in both Europe and the US, technology is helping to make the transition easier – but the kind of contracts being traded may well change, according to CME Group.
Planning for profitability
Regulatory demands and improved profitability are fuelling a move to dynamic capital planning, but few banks have firm plans.
Seller beware
Conduct risk, which places emphasis on providers of credit to treat customers fairly, will challenge them to deliver higher standards of customer support across the whole relationship.
Industry “not ready” for OTC derivatives reform
Four out of five financial institutions are not ready for new regulations governing the trading, reporting and clearing of OTC derivatives, according to a new survey by US communications company IPC.
Washington watchdog raps regulators over Dodd-Frank rule-making
US financial services regulators have not properly evaluated the impact of rules they have proposed or introduced in implementing the Dodd-Frank Act, and should improve their co-ordination says a critical report from a congressional watchdog.
Cameron’s EU speech: a battle of wills
UK Prime Minister David Cameron gave a speech earlier this week in which he promised to hold a referendum on UK membership of the EU by 2018, if he is re-elected. The speech reflects pressures not just in the Conservative party, but fundamental differences in Europe as a whole over how to approach financial markets and the wider economy.
EBA proposes year-end deadline for large bank recovery plans
The European Banking Authority has adopted a formal recommendation to push major EU cross-border banks into developing group recovery plans by the end of this year.
MiFID II faces national challenges
Proposals in Germany that would affect the country’s capital market structure could create problems of regulatory arbitrage when the European Commission’s MiFID II arrives in 2015-16, according to Mark Spanbroek, general secretary at the FIA European Principal Traders Association.
International clearers form ‘Liquidity Alliance’
An alliance between central securities depositories in Germany, Spain, Brazil, South Africa and Australia aims to tackle the expected global shortfall in collateral arising from tough new financial regulation.
Fightin’ talk: the regulatory backlash begins …
Far from coming out of a post-crisis period of grieving and re-learning how to engage with the wider world, the financial services industry looks like it is returning to its old belligerent self.
French regulator raises temperature of debate in London
A heated argument that erupted between panellists at an event in London yesterday signals deep divides in Europe over the role that financial regulators should take as France and Germany introduce their own national rules.
