RegTech


DTCC and Euroclear target collateral shortfall

US post-trade services company the DTCC and Belgian settlement specialist Euroclear are planning to create a joint service that aims to provide better, safer collateral management for market participants.

Funds under fire

The funds industry is going through a time of great change, with a combination of regulation, cost pressure, consolidation and globalisation forcing many participants to take a close look at their business and operating models and consider what their future role in the ecosystem should be. For some, this means outsourcing activities, creating opportunities for […]

Integrating the LEI to enhance data and risk management

With the newly formed LEI Foundation moving forward with establishing processes for issuing and managing the Legal Entity Identifier through its Regulatory Oversight Committee and the registration of seven pre-Local Operating Units, it is worth taking a step back to understand exactly why the industry is pushing forward with the LEI and what it could achieve.

German banks set standard framework for clearing OTC derivatives

A legal framework for the standardised clearing of OTC derivatives has been established in Germany with the approval of standardised documentation by the German Banking Industry Committee, the Deutsche Kreditwirtschaft. The DK has published the framework agreement, called the CRV – Clearing-Rahmenvereinbarung – for use by German banks and their buy-side customers with immediate effect. The document […]

FCA to focus on competition and communication

The UK financial services sector has asked new regulator the Financial Conduct Authority to do more to support competition, improve its communication with the industry and provide clearer and more predictable regulation, according to a the results of a survey published by the FCA today.

ASX prepares client clearing for OTC derivatives

The Australian Securities Exchange has set out plans to offer client clearing of OTC derivatives before the end of the year, in a move designed to provide new risk management controls to Australian investors.

Dodd-Frank 1073 amendments ease bank fears

Banks can breathe a sigh of relief following the publication of amendments to US Dodd-Frank Rule 1073 today, which should allay fears that draconian regulation was about to stifle cross-border payments.

Diplomacy needed to secure London’s future as a financial centre

A difficult future for the banking industry, but a potentially great one for London as a financial centre, was predicted by Sir John Gieve, chairman of VocaLink and former deputy governor of the Bank of England, speaking at the opening of Swift’s Business Forum in London today. But the industry must be careful and diplomatic if it wants to have any real say in how the future is shaped.

Swift sees expanding role as facilitator for industry collaboration

As delegates gather for the third Business Forum organised by Swift in London this week, issues on the global impact of regulation and the banking industry’s response to it are more pressing than ever Perhaps equally pertinent to the conference – the largest event Swift organises aside from the annual Sibos conference and exhibition, with […]

Video: Dermot Turing, Clifford Chance, at International Payments 2013

Dermot Turing, partner at Clifford Chance, told the IPS conference that regulators are hampering innovation by making it hard for the industry to collaborate though application of competition law. He advocates that banks – particularly from the transaction and payments world – should be educating the regulators in order to get better regulations.

Standard Chartered targets collateral shortfall

Standard Chartered has enlisted Clearstream and Euroclear to make more efficient use of collateral, as tough new financial regulations drive investor fears of an impending collateral shortfall.

HFT is here to stay says GreySpark report

Despite its negative public perception, high-frequency trading can act as a force for good in capital markets by adding efficiencies that help investors get a better deal – but only if it is properly regulated, according to new research by technology consultancy GreySpark Partners.

Lack of market surveillance systems “significant problem” says IOSCO report

The absence of market surveillance tools in many jurisdictions and regions is “potentially one of the more significant problems facing the markets in light of technological developments, such as the rapid speed of trade execution and increase in order volume”, says the International Organization Of Securities Commissions in its final report on surveillance.

DTCC hires Tierney to head Asia Pacific unit

US post-trade services utility the DTCC has appointed Peter Tierney as regional head of Asia, as the company continues its drive to be a global centre for OTC derivatives reporting.

New Bank Payment Obligation standards launched by Swift

Swift and the Banking Commission of the International Chamber of Commerce have introduced new legal and technology standards for the new Bank Payment Obligation payment instrument. The BPO allows buyers and suppliers to secure and finance international trade transactions.  It provides the benefits of a letter of credit in an automated and secured environment, and […]

TradeTech panellists see politics riding roughshod over regulation

Discontent with regulation cast a cloud over delegates on the first day of the TradeTech conference in London, as senior industry executives pondered on the politicisation of the debate and the perceived failure of regulators to deliver efficient markets.

BCBS: getting back to first principles

At first glance, the Basel Committee’s new Principles for stronger banking risk governance appear to represent another huge change management challenge for global institutions.

Angry TradeTech delegates clash over HFT

A session at Trade Tech in London fell into chaos earlier today, as furious delegates hurled accusations across the table and members of the audience sparred aggressively with panellists.

US regulators seek huge budget increases to keep up with industry

It’s not just the banks that are struggling with the costs of regulation – so are the regulators. In the US. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has requested a 52% budget hike to $315 million dollars – described by one of its own commissioners as “improbable and unsustainable”.

Regulate to innovate?

Bankers can seem a little bit schizophrenic when it comes to regulation – much of the time they complain about the sheer weight of the regulatory burden they face, but at other times they talk of regulation as an opportunity. It could well be that as they have finally realised regulation – and plenty of it – is inevitable, some banks have decided to make a virtue out of it.

IPS 2013: SEPA benefits hard to see for corporates

As the February 2014 deadline for implementation of Single Euro Payment Area compatible instruments approaches, focus is moving from banks to corporates – and the increasingly clear picture is that few European corporates see any great benefit from adopting the standards involved.

Beyond a joke

A journalist, a politician and a banker walk into a bar … sounds like the beginning of a joke, doesn’t it? Feel free to submit a punchline: personally, I’m starting to think that it would be a very sour joke. With banker-bashing now an established national pastime, the press having spectacularly fouled their own nest […]

State banking: reforming the UK infrastructure

At the beginning of March, George Osborne travelled to the English seaside town of Bournemouth to make a speech at the JP Morgan operations centre there. It wasn’t Henry V’s St Crispin’s Day speech, but it may well go down as a watershed moment in the history of the UK financial services sector. Osborne is […]

Competition regulation will stifle payments innovation

Proposed policies intended to promote competion in payments could stifle innovation and standardisation in the payments and transaction banking sectors, according to a partner in a leading law firm. Dermot Turing, partner in the international financial institutions and markets group at Clifford Chance, told delegates at the International Payments Summit in London that moves by […]

Venn Partners unveils structured products risk tool

Credit advisory and investment partnership Venn Partners has launched Venn Risk Analytics, a financial analysis platform that it says will provide an independent and transparent approach to the analysis and valuation of structure finance products.

Mirror, mirror: how does your risk data look?

Following the release of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision’s Principles for Effective Risk Data Aggregation, middle and back office professionals in major financial centres now find themselves with a number of difficult questions, that senior management must be able to answer and evidence.

Citi sets out segregated collateral service

As tough new rules requiring the collateralisation of OTC derivatives take hold in Europe and the US, Citi has retooled its OpenInvestor investment services to include segregated collateral custody accounts – a move the bank says will help mitigate counterparty risk and improve collateral efficiency.

AMLD IV: Prove you’re doing it right

Anti-Money Laundering systems and controls continue to make news in the wake of the high profile failures of 2012. On 5 February, the proposal for the updated EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive was finally released. The proposal imposes a number of new requirements significantly increasing the scope and volume of firms’ KYC processes likely to be required by 2014.

Riding the OTC rollercoaster

As new rules for OTC derivatives take hold in Europe and in the US, banks and asset managers face a complex cocktail of mandatory clearing, reporting and increased collateral requirements.

Regulating the -IBORs: a global view of benchmarks?

Benchmark manipulation and fallout from it is not new news, but the global drive to regulate benchmarks is. Europe has made the first move to controlling benchmark manipulation but global co-ordination is needed to create an approach that works for everyone.

Finland’s Alandsbanken adopts SunGard risk management tools

Nordic bank Alandsbanken has chosen risk management tools from SunGard, which it says will help the bank to comply with new financial regulations. SunGard’s Ambit Risk and Ambit Performance products will be used by the bank to manage interest rate and liquidity risk and help the bank keep track of its balance sheet.