Posts by Anna Reitman

artificial intelligence, coronavirus, Finch Capital, fintech

Finch Capital published a report that discusses the challenges and opportunities the fintech sector will face both during, and after, the covid-19 crisis. Finch Capital is 6-year old firm and…

Hazeltree and HedgeLegal collaborate on comprehensive UMR guide

April 1, 2020

Hazeltree, the leading provider of integrated treasury management and portfolio finance solutions, and HedgeLegal, the emerging leader in trading document negotiation for the buy-side, published “Clearing up the Uncleared Margin…

Citi’s Accelerator: external innovation navigates the coronavirus storm (Premium)

April 1, 2020

Technology

artificial intelligence, automation, Citi Accelerator, coronavirus, fintech, legacy systems, OpenLegacy, ThetaRay, topstory

The outlook for tech startups has received mixed predictions, and prevailing wisdom seems to be that survival looks like capital preservation, sensible opportunism and preparing to emerge from the covid-19…

SIFMA calls for regulatory relief from RegSHO, physical securities processing

March 30, 2020

back office, coronavirus, Regulation SHO, Securities and Exchange Commission, SIFMA

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) and its member firms sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Trading and Markets director, Brett Redfearn, asking…

DTCC on managing risk: defaults, margin calls and financial safeguards

March 30, 2020

coronavirus, DTCC, risk management

With the coronavirus continuing to spread around the world and the markets experiencing unprecedented volatility and volumes, Tim Cuddihy speaks on the role that DTCC plays in safeguarding the markets…

STAC: how can fintech help in the COVID economy?

March 30, 2020

coronavirus, fintech, STAC

The new coronavirus and government responses to it are upending life in nearly every nation on earth. Healthcare providers and researchers are the frontline soldiers in the war against this…

Banque de France recruits for CBDC interbank settlements experiment

March 29, 2020

Banque de France, CBDC, settlement, wholesale CBDC

France’s central bank is calling for applications to experiment with a central bank digital currency for interbank settlements. The aim is to explore the potentialities offered by this technology, and…

Rigetti wins $8.6mn DARPA grant to demonstrate practical quantum computing

March 28, 2020

DARPA, Quantum Computing, Rigetti

Rigetti Computing, a pioneer in hybrid quantum-classical computing systems, has been awarded up to $8.6 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), as part of a larger collaboration…

Bloomberg: J.P. Morgan’s equity derivatives team makes $1.5bn YTD

March 26, 2020

coronavirus, equity derivatives, J.P. Morgan

J.P. Morgan’s equity derivatives traders have generated roughly $1.5 billion in revenue so far this year, according to a person with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be…

ASX delays CHESS replacement due to user feedback amid covid-19 disruption

March 26, 2020

ASX, CHESS, DLT

ASX is replanning the CHESS replacement implementation timetable due to the uncertainty created by the unfolding COVID-19 pandemic. It is also in response to user feedback on timing, requested functionality…

Axios: US first major economy with non-policy driven negative bond yields

March 26, 2020

negative interest rates, US Treasuries

US Treasury yields on one-, two- and three-month maturities all turned negative as investors continued to favor short-term debt that functions like cash. “What you are seeing today is an…

RavenPack releases covid-19 global news monitor for free distribution

March 25, 2020

alternative data, coronavirus, RavenPack

Alternative data services provider RavenPack has made public its COVID-19 news monitoring dashboard. No credentials are required to access the service and the application may also be displayed on company-wide…

Crypto derivatives exchange ZUBR passes trading and risk engine test by Exactpro

March 25, 2020

crypto derivatives, crypto exchanges, ZUBR

Exactpro has successfully finalized full software testing of ZUBR Exchange ahead of its launch. Exactpro’s testing was aimed at providing transparency to ZUBR’s clients and investors, and to ensure robust…

What’s next: Axoni on equity swaps processing using DLT and ISDA’s CDM (Premium)

March 25, 2020

Blockchain, Derivatives, Technology

Axoni, CDM, DLT, Equity Swaps, ISDA, topstory

Early this year, a distributed ledger network for equity swap processing went live when Citi and Goldman Sachs used Axoni’s infrastructure to process trades. We speak with Carl Forsberg, head…

CFTC issues final guidance on actual delivery for digital assets

March 24, 2020

CFTC, crypto derivatives, crypto regulation

After reviewing the variety of comments received and further considering the retail customer concerns at issue, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission believes it has struck “a balance” in its final…

CFTC’s Tarbert: derivatives markets acting as shock absorbers in volatility

March 24, 2020

CFTC, derivatives, volatility

CFTC chair Heath Tarbert made the following comments in a recent article published by the Wall Street Journal: “[F]ar from amplifying risk throughout the financial system, the derivatives markets have…

Bitfinex deploys market abuse tool to get rid of wash trading and layering

March 24, 2020

Bitfinex, digital asset exchange, market surveillance

BBitfinex, a digital asset trading platform, has deployed a proprietary surveillance tool to combat market abuse and help promote orderly trading on the exchange. Named Shimmer — a term also…

ICMA Euro commercial paper (ECP) materials to be made available to the wider market

March 23, 2020

Bank of England, Commercial Paper, coronavirus, ICMA

Following the announcement of the Bank of England’s Covid Corporate Financing Facility (CCFF) and in the interest of supporting the overall market, the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) is making…

Basel Committee says use liquidity buffers and HQLA to support real economy, absorb losses

March 23, 2020

BIS, coronavirus, FSB, HQLA, liquidity buffers

The Basel III framework includes capital and liquidity buffers that are designed to be used in periods of stress. These include the capital conservation buffer and, by extension, the countercyclical…

Bakkt completes $300mn fundraising

March 23, 2020

Bakkt, digital assets, fundraising

Bakkt announced it’s completed a $300 Million Series B financing, with investors such as Intercontinental Exchange, Microsoft’s M12, PayU, Boston Consulting Group, Goldfinch Partners, CMT Digital, and Pantera Capital. In…

The Desk: bond pricing battle shutters Nordic funds

March 23, 2020

coronavirus, corporate bond liquidity, Fixed Income, liquidity risk

Several Nordic fund managers have been shuttering fixed income funds, mainly in the corporate bond space, to allow them to get prices from banks for their holdings, as illiquidity bites.…

European Commission to activate suspension of EU budget rules

March 22, 2020

coronavirus, European Commission

The European Commission proposed the activation of the general escape clause of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) as part of its strategy to respond quickly, forcefully and in a…

FT: banks, industry associations press exchanges for detail on managing risk of home trading

March 21, 2020

banks, coronavirus, exchanges, risk management

Capital markets have swung wildly in recent weeks, but exchanges, clearing and settlement houses have broadly held up. Practices designed to smooth volatile markets, such as circuit breakers — which…

UK approach to SFTR in line with ESMA – delay to July

March 20, 2020

Financial Conduct Authority, SFTR

The European Supervisory and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a statement addressing the challenges firms are facing to meet their reporting requirements under the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation (SFTR) before…

Panetta: ECB could expand list of intermediaries for refinancing operations

March 20, 2020

coronavirus, ECB, Fabio Panetta

In an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Fabio Panetta, member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, answered questions on market conditions. Q: Can you explain…

bfinance: snapshot of liquid alternative strategies in stressed markets

March 20, 2020

bfinance, hedge funds, liquid alternatives

It’s now time for “liquid alternatives” to stand up and be counted. The last real opportunity for many hedge funds and liquid alternative strategies to demonstrate their diversification benefit was…

Get the weekly SFM update – our March 20 newsletter is online

March 20, 2020

Top Stories: Closing exchanges, short selling bans and circuit breakers: what works and why (Premium); Tracking US repo stress as part of dollar funding demand (Premium); Coronapocalypse: volatility makes a…

Coronapocalypse: volatility makes a comeback, are markets ready? (Premium)

March 18, 2020

Derivatives, Hedge Funds, Technology

Burton-Taylor, CBOE, coronavirus, hedge funds, Hercules Investments, topstory, VIX, volatility

There’s only one thing that’s certain about the markets: volatility is back. We talk to a hedge fund trading it, and dig into some of the most recent stats, strategies…

Eurekahedge: AI and crypto funds slightly down in February

March 17, 2020

artificial intelligence, cryptocurrencies, Eurekahedge, hedge funds

Fund managers using AI/machine learning strategies lost 0.59% in February, breaking their streak of five consecutive positive months since September last year. On a year-to-date basis, the Eurekahedge AI Hedge…

Clearstream, Natixis among financial institutions launching investment fund blockchain platform

March 17, 2020

asset management, blockchain, Clearstream, Credit Suisse, FundsDLT, Luxembourg Stock Exchange, Natixis Asset Management

Clearstream, Credit Suisse Asset Management, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, and Natixis Investment Managers have announced a Series A investment in FundsDLT to develop a novel decentralized technology platform to facilitate…

Bank of England calls for comments on conceptual “platform” model for CBDC

March 16, 2020

Bank of England, CBDC

A Bank of England paper considers the question: as the issuer of the safest and most trusted form of money in the economy, should the central bank innovate to provide…

Cboe goes electronic on covid-19 outbreak, modifications enable complex trading strategies

March 16, 2020

CBOE, electronic trading, Securities and Exchange Commission

Cboe announced that it will temporarily close its open outcry options trading floor as a precautionary measure to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19, and the US Securities and Exchange…

CloudQuant: ESG for shortsellers using alt-data

March 15, 2020

News and Notes – Fintech, Uncategorized

alternative data, CloudQuant, ESG, Short selling

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing is based on the premise that firms with higher quality management and resources will operate well and their value will rise in the market.…

Alternative Data Council set up for investment industry standards

March 13, 2020

alternative data, FISD, SIAA, standards

With the number of alternative data vendors increasing rapidly across the financial industry, the Financial Services Information Division (FISD) of the SIAA (Software and Information Industry Association) has created the…

Wolters Kluwer: PoC shows AI can automate large parts of regulatory reporting

March 13, 2020

artificial intelligence, PwC, regtech, Wolters Kluwer

Much has been made of the potential of new technologies to streamline highly manual processes or those involving large amounts of data. Regulatory reporting, with its reliance on vast quantities…

DeFi’s ecosystem under stress on market conditions

March 13, 2020

decentralized finance, DeFi, MakerDAO

On March 12, ether (ETH) saw a dramatic drop in price, losing 30% value in approximately 24 hours. This, plus a rapid increase in gas prices put stress on the…

Get the weekly SFM update – our March 13 newsletter is online

March 13, 2020

Top Stories: Central banks can’t solve the coronavirus but are succeeding in a key area; Finadium: Best Practices in Risk Management for Securities Finance; ISLA: how beneficial owners are taking…

HKMA outlines sound practices for risk management in algo trading

March 12, 2020

algorithms, HKMA

After a review of algorithmic trading last year, the HKMA released a note setting out the regulator’s expectations on authorized institutions’ (AIs’) risk management for algo-trading activities, including some sound…

Japan regulator launches global network for blockchain governance

March 12, 2020

blockchain, Financial Services Agency, G20, Japan

The Financial Services Agency Japan (JFSA) and Nikkei announced the launch of a new global network named Blockchain Governance Initiative Network, which aims at providing an open and neutral sphere…

ECB Banking Supervision provides temporary capital and operational relief in reaction to coronavirus

March 12, 2020

ECB, LCR, Stress Capital Buffer

Banks can fully use capital and liquidity buffers, including Pillar 2 Guidance Banks will benefit from relief in the composition of capital for Pillar 2 Requirements ECB to consider operational…

ECB announces additional LTROs among monetary policy measures

March 12, 2020

The ECB Governing Council decided on a comprehensive package of monetary policy measures: (1) Additional longer-term refinancing operations (LTROs) will be conducted, temporarily, to provide immediate liquidity support to the…

ISLA: how beneficial owners are taking the lead on ESG (Premium)

March 11, 2020

Securities Lending

ESG, ISLA, ISLA Council for Sustainable Finance, sustainability finance, topstory

Sustainable finance and ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) investing is gaining traction across the asset management community. We talk to Andrew Dyson, ISLA’s CEO, about how securities lending is leading on…

FCA begins review on data and advanced analytics in wholesale markets

March 10, 2020

Data, data analytics, Financial Conduct Authority

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has begun a review into the use and value of data and advanced analytics in wholesale financial markets, both now and in the future. The…

ING invests in seclending blockchain platform HQLAx

March 9, 2020

blockchain, collateral, HQLA, HQLAx, ING, Securities Lending

ING has invested in securities lending platform HQLAx, which went live in December 2019. ING’s blockchain team developed the initial version of the HQLAx application, which uses blockchain to facilitate…

J.P. Morgan blockchain report tracks mainstream adoption

March 9, 2020

bitcoin, blockchain, clearing and settlement, cryptocurrencies, DLT, J.P. Morgan, MMF, stablecoins

J.P. Morgan released its annual update on the latest developments in the adoption, evolution and performance of blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. It now includes analysis of stablecoins and the rise…

Barclays: US liquidity conditions and funding stresses could push Fed to Standing Repo Facility

March 9, 2020

Fed, Repo, Standing Repo Facility

Concerns over liquidity conditions and funding stresses could encourage the creation of a standing repo facility (SRF), which would permit banks to convert Treasury holdings to reserves on-demand at a…

BBH webinar: Covid-19 impacts and considerations

March 9, 2020

BBH, coronavirus, volatility

As an increasing number of firms instigate travel restrictions and governments enact quarantine measures, experts from Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH) share their views on the potential short and long term…

J.P. Morgan to work on quantum algos with Honeywell, quantum computer launching in 3 months

March 8, 2020

Honeywell, J.P. Morgan, Quantum Computing