Posts by Josh Galper

ARRC, SOFR

The Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC) today released recommended contractual fallback language for U.S. dollar LIBOR denominated floating rate notes and syndicated loans. These provisions are for market participants’ voluntary…

INTL FCStone Financial Launches Prime Brokerage Division

April 25, 2019

INTL FC Stone, Prime Brokerage

NEW YORK, April 23, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — INTL FCStone Inc. (NASDAQ: INTL) today announced that its subsidiary, INTL FCStone Financial (“INTL” or “the Company”), has launched a prime brokerage division,…

Murex Launches New LIBOR Reforms Solution

April 24, 2019

LIBOR, Murex

Murex, a global leader in trading, risk management and processing solutions, has launched a new offering addressing the challenges of LIBOR discontinuation and benchmark reforms. It is also collaborating with…

Finadium: Total Return Futures, Total Return Swaps and the Repo Market

April 24, 2019

CCP, Derivatives, Repo, Total Return Futures, Total Return Swaps

Finadium, Repo, topstory, Total Return Futures, Total Return Swaps

Total Return Futures (TRF) are emerging as a competitive product to repo and Total Return Swaps, as reported by Delta One trading desks and witnessed at exchanges and CCPs that…

Korea lets a blockchain seclending platform into the sandbox – should you care?

April 23, 2019

Asia, Blockchain, Securities Lending

blockchain, Directional, Korea, Securities Lending, topstory

Last week the Korea Financial Services Commission approved nine companies for its regulatory sandbox, giving them permission to experiment with new services and products without excessive regulatory burden. One of…

ARRC Releases a User’s Guide to SOFR

April 22, 2019

ARRC, SOFR

The Alternative Reference Rates Committee (ARRC) today released a white paper to help explain how market participants can use its recommended alternative to U.S. dollar LIBOR, the Secured Overnight Financing…

Industry responds to SEC proposals on ETF custom basket creation/redemption (Premium)

April 22, 2019

ETFs, Investments

creation, ETFs, redemption, topstory

The ETF industry and associations are now responding to the SEC’s proposal that ETF operators be able to accept and provide “custom baskets” of cash and securities that are not…

CACEIS/Credit Agricole and Santander to merge asset servicing operations

April 18, 2019

CACEIS, Credit Agricole, Custody, Santander

Crédit Agricole S.A. and Santander sign a Memorandum of Understanding to join forces and create a major global player in custody and asset servicing Crédit Agricole S.A. and Santander enter…

Three ways to read the ENSO Data Insights launch (Premium)

April 17, 2019

Big Data, Derivatives, Regulatory, Securities Lending, Technology

CME, Enso, securities finance data, topstory

ENSO, now a division of CME Group, announced yesterday a new securities finance data product based on hedge fund collected rates. This could be a significant new entrant in the…

CME Group Launches ENSO Data Insights to Aid Best Execution Financing for Hedge Funds

April 16, 2019

CME, Enso, securities finance data

LONDON and NEW YORK, April 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — CME Group, the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that it has launched ENSO Data Insights, a community benchmarking tool…

For SFTs, is there information value in RTS 28 reports? (Premium)

April 16, 2019

Europe, Regulatory

MiFID II, RTS 28, securities financing transactions, topstory

As we near the second year of disclosure publications, we investigate multiple MiFID II RTS 28 best execution reports for SFTs to learn what, if any, is their information value…

NN: How ESG principles can make a difference in securities lending

April 15, 2019

ESG, NN, Securities Lending

The incorporation of sustainability principles in securities lending programs has accelerated in recent years, as more stringent requirements in terms of regulation and transparency have led to a significant increase…

US and European repo market structure for H1 2019 in five charts (Premium)

April 15, 2019

Europe, Repo, US

DTCC, DTCC GCF Repo Index, Federal Reserve, ICMA, Repo, RepoFundsRate, topstory

US and European repo markets have started the year on divergent paths. One seems to be choppy, with ends of months and quarters seeing regular spikes and governments talking about…

Tradeweb hits post-crisis record volume in repo trading

April 11, 2019

Tradeweb Posts Record Trading Volumes as Global Bond Yields Plummet ADV in repurchase agreements of $177.7 bn in March set a post-crisis record on further growth in bilateral electronic trading…

Delta One, LLC and Dynamex Trading, LLC launch equity finance marketplace

April 11, 2019

Delta One, Dynamex, equity finance

NEW YORK, April 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Delta One, LLC and Dynamex Trading, LLC are pleased to announce the upcoming launch of Delta One, a fully transparent, liquid, and actionable equity…

ISLA Publish 2019 Legal Opinions for the Global Master Securities Lending Agreement (GMSLA)

April 10, 2019

GMSLA, ISLA

The International Securities Lending Association (ISLA) has published the 2019 updates to the legal netting opinions which support the Global Master Securities Lending Agreement (GMSLA) for the securities lending industry. Updates have been obtained only for…

ISDA 2019 Margin Survey: Top 20 Firms Collected Nearly $160 Billion in Initial Margin at Year-End 2018

April 10, 2019

HONG KONG, April 10, 2019 – The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) has published its latest margin survey, which shows the amount of initial margin (IM) collected by…

World Federation of Exchanges says 2018 derivatives volumes exceeded 30 billion contracts

April 10, 2019

derivatives, IOMA, World Federation of Exchanges

THE WORLD FEDERATION OF EXCHANGES PUBLISHES ANNUAL IOMA DERIVATIVES REPORT Volume of derivatives contracts traded exceeds 30 billion London, Wednesday 10 April 2019 – The World Federation of Exchanges (“WFE”), the…

Three ways to jump-start securities finance volumes (Premium)

April 10, 2019

CCP, Derivatives, Securities Lending

CCPs, securities finance, topstory, Total Return Futures, Total Return Swaps

Securities finance volumes are in the doldrums after a robust Q1-Q3 2018, leaving some market participants wondering when revenues will return. Solutions are around the corner however, and can reasonably…

DTCC partners with Droit for reporting eligibility services to Trade Repository

April 9, 2019

Droit, DTCC, SFTR

ISDA AGM, Hong Kong, China, April 8, 2019 – The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced that…

ISDA Asia derivatives survey cites the importance of close-out netting

April 9, 2019

Asia, close-out netting, derivatives, ISDA

Nearly three quarters of survey respondents expect the proportion of foreign exchange derivatives trading executed in Asia ex-Japan to increase over the next three to five years, while 63% predict…

Basel Committee issues a consolidated version of its standards

April 9, 2019

Basel Committee, Basel III

Today the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision launched a new section of its website that sets out a consolidated version of its global standards for the regulation and supervision of banks.…

Finadium: Custodians and Client Facing Technology

April 9, 2019

Big Data, Custodians, Technology

Big Data, Custody, Finadium, technology, topstory

The global custody business is becoming digitized, and custodians have adopted innovative strategies in delivering data, widgets and APIs to their global, diverse client bases. A new report from Finadium…

SGX launches Total Return Futures on the Nikkei 225

April 8, 2019

SGX, Total Return Futures

Innovative listed derivatives, based on Nikkei 225 implied equity repo, offers risk-management solution that addresses Asia’s largest securities financing market SGX futurises another class of OTC derivatives to help clients…

NYT article on fund pricing, negative fees and securities lending

April 8, 2019

fidelity, mutual funds, negative fees, New York Times, Securities Lending, Vanguard

A Price War Has Driven Fund Fees to Zero. They May Be Set to Drop Further. Investment fees have dropped so low that you may have assumed they have gone…

MarketAxess and Virtu Financial partner on global ETF and Fixed Income trading

April 8, 2019

ETFs, MarketAxess, Virtue Financial

NEW YORK, April 04, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Virtu Financial, Inc. (NASDAQ:VIRT) and MarketAxess Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: MKTX), two global leaders in electronic trading, today announced a partnership to provide…

Finadium launches enhanced analytics for US mutual funds and ETFs in securities lending; invites beta testers for online access

April 8, 2019

ETFs, Investments, Securities Lending, Technology

ETFs, Finadium, mutual funds, Securities Lending, topstory

Finadium has created an enhanced database of US mutual funds and ETFs in securities lending that incorporates SEC filings and additional industry content. The database provides clients a comprehensive analysis…

Fidelity Investments adds affiliate National Financial Services as agent lender

April 6, 2019

fidelity, Securities Lending

Q&A: NEW SECURITIES LENDING AGENT FOR THE FIDELITY FUNDS Q1: I understand you are making some changes to your securities lending program? What can you tell me? A: That’s correct.…

Reuters: Hong Kong to cap securities margin financing

April 5, 2019

HONG KONG, April 4 (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s financial markets watchdog plans to limit the amount brokers can lend against shares to five times their capital. Margin financing is an…

BNY Mellon and BlackRock partner to deliver data and technology on the Aladdin platform

April 4, 2019

Aladdin, Blackrock, BNY Mellon

The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (“BNY Mellon”) and BlackRock, through its BlackRock Solutions business, announced today a strategic alliance to deliver integrated data, technology, and asset management servicing…

ICMA survey shows continuing steady growth in the European repo market – market size reaches EUR 7,739 billion

April 4, 2019

ICMA, Repo

The European Repo and Collateral Council (ERCC) of the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) has today released the results of its 36th semi-annual survey of the European repo market. The…

Thursday news roundup: SOFR end of March, Modern Monetary Theory, Brexit liquidity risk (Premium)

April 4, 2019

Central Banks, Liquidity Management, Regulatory, SOFR, UK

Brexit, Modern Monetary Theory, SOFR, topstory

There’s been a lot of news this week that deserves a mention, and one piece of non-news. This Thursday roundup covers big recent events that we haven’t mentioned elsewhere. Continue…

ESMA launches third EU-wide stress test exercise

April 3, 2019

CCP, ESMA, stress test

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has today published the frameworkfor its third EU-wide Central Counterparties (CCPs) stress test, marking the launch of its latest CCP stress test exercise.…

Fed blog: Are New Repo Participants Gaining Ground?

April 3, 2019

Fed, Liberty Street Economics, Repo

Following the 2007-09 financial crisis, regulations were introduced that increased the cost of entering into repurchase agreements (repo) for bank holding companies (BHC). As a consequence, banks and securities dealers…

Basel Committee looks at a sectoral application of the countercyclical capital buffer

April 3, 2019

Basel Committee, Countercyclical Capital Buffer

In May 2017, the Basel Committee’s Research Task Force initiated a work stream on sectoral countercyclical capital buffers (CCyBs). It was tasked to produce two deliverables that would contribute to…

Finadium securities lending conference in NYC May 2-3 spotlights asset manager, hedge fund, bank and vendor experts

April 3, 2019

Securities Lending

FISL, FISL NYC 2019, Securities Lending, topstory

The 3rd annual Finadium Investors in Securities Lending (FISL) conference arrives in New York on May 2-3. The agenda is nearly set, and features a wide range of asset managers,…

US regulators propose limits to big banks holding TLAC of other big banks

April 2, 2019

Regulatory, TLAC, US

The federal banking agencies on Tuesday proposed a rule to limit the interconnectedness of large banking organizations and reduce the impact from failure of the largest banking organizations. The proposal…

ICE Benchmark Administration Successfully Completes the Transition of LIBOR Panel Banks to the Waterfall Methodology

April 2, 2019

ICE Benchmark Administration, LIBOR, waterfall

LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services, announced that ICE Benchmark Administration Limited (IBA) has…

Report: The Future of Clearing, from the World Federation of Exchanges and Oliver Wyman

April 2, 2019

Clearing, World Federation of Exchanges

The World Federation of Exchanges (“WFE”), the global industry group for exchanges and central counterparties (CCPs), today published a joint report with Oliver Wyman examining the post-crisis developments that have…

Markets warned on populism eroding central bank independence

April 2, 2019

Central Banks, Regulatory

Central Banks, ECB, monetary policy, topstory, Yves Mersch

The European Central Bank’s Yves Mersch, Member of the Executive Board, recently spoke about central bank independence. There is a long history of argument on this topic, and central bank…

Canada tightens rules on dividends withholding tax in a securities lending arrangement

April 1, 2019

Canada, Securities Lending

Generally, when a person borrows a share, he or she is obligated to make payments to the lender as compensation for any dividends paid on the share until such time…

Options Clearing Corp seclending CCP volume down 0.5% in March 2019 year over year

April 1, 2019

CCP, OCC, Securities Lending

OCC’s securities lending CCP activity was down 0.5 percent in new loans from March 2018 with 117,521 transactions last month. Year-to-date stock loan activity decreased 2.5 percent from 2018 with…

DTCC gains approval to expand sponsored repo business, makes first trade

April 1, 2019

New York/London/Hong Kong/Singapore/Sydney,April 1, 2019 – The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced its proposal to expand…

WSJ: New Benchmark Rate, Gunning to Replace Libor, Gains Traction

April 1, 2019

LIBOR, WSJ

Trading in forward contracts using the benchmark rate expected to replace Libor surged to a record this month. Interest-rate swaps are contracts that allow users to hedge or bet on…

Reuters: Banks should quickly adopt LIBOR alternatives: Swiss expert

April 1, 2019

LIBOR, Reuters, SARON, Switzerland

Banks should adopt alternative reference interest rates swiftly ahead of the expected end of Libor in 2021, said a Swiss expert and member of a panel developing the country’s alternative…

Basel Committee publishes follow-up reports on Basel III implementation assessments

April 1, 2019

The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has published overviews of follow-up actions taken or planned by member jurisdictions as of end-2018 to address deviations from the Basel standards identified as…

Emerging markets are building out securities lending. Will investors show up?

April 1, 2019

Market infrastructure, Securities Lending

BVL, Emerging Markets, Securities Lending, topstory, WFE

The World Federation of Exchanges called for it. Emerging markets are doing it. But will investors engage in it? This is the question for build-outs of securities lending platforms in…

ABA: FDIC Approves Proposal to Exclude Central Bank Deposits from SLR

March 31, 2019

ABA, FDIC, Leverage Ratio, SLR

March 29, 2019 The FDIC today approved a joint agency proposal to exclude central bank deposits from the denominator of the supplementary leverage ratio for banking organizations predominantly engaged in custody banking…

Federal Reserve Board releases additional information on its stress testing program

March 29, 2019

Federal Reserve, stress tests