RegTech

Financial regulation drives London jobs growth despite economic and political uncertainty

London-based financial services professionals moving to new jobs in 2014 boosted their salaries by an average of 18% – and an increasing number of people did so, with year-on-year figures showing a 51% increase in people looking for new positions. But gloomy economic forecasts, combined with the seasonal drop in hiring over the Christmas period suggest that firms have postponed major hires to the current quarter.

The need for a resilient global network of FMIs

By facilitating payments, and clearing and settling transactions in the securities and derivatives markets, financial market infrastructures are essential nodes in a complex and ever more integrated international network of capital flows. The consequent inter-dependencies between financial market infrastructures will create new resiliency challenges

Derivatives markets brace for Basel III margin crunch in 2015

Derivatives market participants are concerned about the impact of new margin requirements for non-cleared derivatives under Basel III, with a large number unsure whether they will even have to comply with the rules, according to new survey published today by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association.

Cryptocurrencies overcome California legal hurdle – but the battle is not over yet

Digital and alternative currencies, including Bitcoin, can now be used for transactions in California, following the implementation of bill AB129 on 1 January 2015. The new bill is a step forward for cryptocurrencies which have faced tough opposition and scrutiny from global regulators. However, serious doubts about the safety of digital currencies have been voiced by banks.

Steven Maijoor

ESMA: ‘crowdfunding would benefit from regulation’

The European Securities and Markets Authority says that crowdfunding platforms are incentivised to operate in a way that they fall outside existing regulations, which is holding back their growth and increasing risks for investors.

Banks falling behind on liquidity monitoring says Swift

Fewer than a third of banks are at the implementation stage of projects implementing the Basel intraday liquidity monitoring rules that come into force next month – and most believe that industry collaboration will be needed to achieve a successful outcome.

The e-invoicing play for banks

The replacement of business processes based on paper documents with the exchange of information in electronic form is a highly beneficial global trend, and the competitiveness of Europe’s economic activity will benefit from this migration.

DTCC and FS-ISAC launch cyber threat “beacon” system

A platform for sharing cyber-security threat intelligence among financial services companies has been launched by US post-trade utility the DTCC and non-profit security organisation FS-ISAC. Called Soltra Edge, the platform gathers data about cyber-security threats and converts it into a standardised format for sharing.

European Payments Council unveils SEPA rulebooks for 2015

The European Payments Council has set out new requirements under the Single Euro Payment Area Credit Transfer and Direct Debit schemes, including changes to the time cycle, business to business rulebooks and the process for SDD collection, following SEPA implementation in August.

“Woefully inadequate” CCPs could pose major systemic risk

Despite the G20 plans put in place since the financial crisis, CCPs are still vulnerable to unforeseen risks and could put the whole financial system in jeopardy in the event of a catastrophic default, according to senior financial services executives speaking in London today.

FIX focuses on high performance with consolidated effort

FIX Trading Community has combined all its high performance trading and market data initiatives into a single working group, emphasising the importance that high performance has in the FIX family of standards. The next generation of the FIX Protocol will fully support high performance on all levels (application, presentation, session) to offer an open standard that can replace today’s proprietary interfaces for high performance trading and market data.

European banking industry under the competition and regulatory spotlight

It has been a busy week for the banking industry. The first big news was the publication of a comprehensive health check of 130 large European banks by the European Central Bank, which was commissioned in response to the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone. Brussels lauded the latest investigation as the most intense scrutiny that European banks have ever been put through.

Banking and biometrics – a whirlwind romance?

As Bob Dylan, famously sang, The Times, They Are A-Changin’. Once, the tools required to carry out a bank raid usually comprised a shotgun, old stockings and a bag labelled “swag”. Today, it’s a laptop, computer programming skills and patience. And the nature of the crime is changing too – previously, the goal was often to get away with a few thousand pounds, before lying low for a while. Now, the “prize” sought may be the theft of millions or the personal details of thousands, to be then sold on.

CCP “contagion” fears spark derivatives debate

Controversy over the handling of derivatives dominated talk at the Mondo Visione Exchange Forum this week, where panellists contested the value of interoperability and whether CCP contagion might bring down the financial system.

FSB ‘too big to fail’ proposals welcomed by industry

The Financial Stability Board is proposing a new minimum standard for total loss-absorbing capacity, which is designed to provide confidence that systemically important global banks can absorb losses without upsetting financial stability and the wider economy.

Ripple protocol integrated into risk management system from Yantra

Yantra Financial Technologies, an electronic payment systems developer, has integrated its latest system for risk scoring of payments with the Ripple real-time settlement protocol. The integration means that institutions using the Ripple protocol can analyse transactions in seconds, including what other payments the customer recently made and potential concerns regarding a specific transaction. Risk levels can be assigned to certain transactions based on pre-determined criteria.

Finance made social

The social contract between the banking system and society is fundamentally broken. We deserve a financial system that we can all be proud of, one that is fairer and more sustainable than the current iteration.

EC lending plans could resurrect securitisation market

The European Commission has introduced new rules designed to encourage investment and trigger liquidity – including the use of “high quality” securitisation. The move has been welcomed cautiously by experts, despite the controversial role of securitisation in the financial crisis.

NYSE defends controversial “retrograde” self-regulation plan

Financial market participants have criticised plans for the New York Stock Exchange to begin monitoring itself through its non-profit division, NYSE Regulation, describing the move as a “retrograde step” that will never work in practice. NYSE is currently monitored by FINRA, an independent organisation.

Cool it on compliance, says HSBC

Cool it on compliance, says HSBC

While banks want to root out fraudulent activity as much as governments do they “need to take the temperature down”, said Bob Werner, global head of financial crime compliance and group general manager at HSBC. Speaking at a panel session on trends in financial crime compliance, Werner said: “Every time something goes wrong we don’t need the scalp of a regulator or the scalp of a banker.”

… and financial warfare is unleashed

… and financial warfare is unleashed

The threat of banks de-risking and exiting regions and businesses in fear of sanctions-related fines is upon us, said Juan Zarate, the ex-deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism to US President George W Bush. Zarate was speaking at a Standard Chartered session yesterday morning about his new book, Treasury Wars: The Unleashing of a New Era of Financial Warfare.

Cross border co-operation is key to the safe evolution of financial markets

Global financial markets are experiencing a paradigm shift as governments, regulators and participants recalibrate the processes and structures underpinning global finance. The challenge is to repair and remedy where needed, with dialogue between central banks, regulators and participants, but also to avoid creating fragmented markets or worse, unintentionally reintroducing risk.

SEC beefs up surveillance as Barclays probe results in $72 million fine

The Securities and Exchange Commission has stepped up its drive to monitor and enforce the financial markets by implementing new surveillance tools to examine and inspect reconciliations. The deal comes as the US regulator charges Barclays with failing to build adequate compliance systems and the bank suffers a fine in the UK.

ESMA puts IT on the regulatory agenda for credit ratings agencies

The European Securities and Markets Authority has set out a series of tough new proposals for how credit rating agencies should be regulated. The proposals have reignited debate over the agencies, which have been controversial for their alleged role in the financial crisis.

Dark pools, market manipulation and benchmark rigging top risks warns report

Regulators in the US and Europe are stepping up investigations into dark pool activity, market abuse and manipulation of financial benchmarks following a spate of damaging incidents in recent months. Tougher regulatory oversight could have a significant impact on all three areas, according to a new report by financial services technology provider SunGard.

Swift’s Chris Church: making plans for Sibos

As delegates finalise their plans to attend Sibos in Boston this month, Chris Church, chief executive Americas and global head of securities at Swift, discusses what they can expect

Faisal Bank gets to grips with Islamic risks

As demand for Islamic banking services continues to rise, Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt has overhauled its risk management to better handle the unique needs of ethical banking.

Trading automation, regulations, and systemic risk

The financial services industry has always pursued technical supremacy. But after years of financial crisis and attempted reforms to improve the transparency and understanding of risk exposure in financial services, we seem as much in the dark as ever …

Standard Chartered NY forced to suspend clearing following AML concerns

Standard Chartered Bank’s New York business has been ordered to suspend US dollar clearing services to retail clients of the bank in Hong Kong, following an investigation by the New York State Department which determined its transaction monitoring system does not meet anti-money laundering requirements.

FX industry calls for greater accountability on IBOR benchmarks

ACI, the foreign exchange industry body, has called for the adoption of a new Model Code for sell-side and buy-side firms on financial benchmarks, to harmonise codes of conduct and prevent a recurrence of the Libor and other recent rate fixing scandals.

Ready for the ‘summer of 39’ aftermath?

This summer, regulatory pressure on financial services firms has ratcheted up to unprecedented levels. Many may have breathed a sigh of relief as Dodd-Frank rule-making slowed … but the respite was only fleeting. Since July, the industry has been bombarded with 39 new consultation papers in the EU and UK alone

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