Solutions
The CFTC has settled charges against Bitcoin options platform operator Coinflip and its chief executive officer Francisco Riordan for conducting commodity options transactions without complying with the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC Regulations.
Specifically, the charges relate to operating a facility for the trading or processing of commodity options without complying with the CEA or CFTC Regulations otherwise applicable to swaps or conducting the activity pursuant to the CFTC’s exemption for trade options. Coinflip is based in San Francisco, California, and Riordan resides in San Francisco.
The Order finds that, from in or about March 2014 to at least August
The UK’s only independent depositary firm, INDOS Financial, has reached USD5 billion in assets under depositary in its first 15 months of existence.
Bill Prew, pictured, chief executive officer of INDOS Financial says that business is coming, not just from its traditional hedge fund audience but also from the private equity and real estate sector, with three more funds about to come on board.
October will see the arrival of a dedicated and experienced manager for those sectors. “There is a growing acknowledgement of the benefits of an independent depositary in the private equity and real estate space” Prew
Beeks Financial Cloud – which helps institutions trade foreign exchange securely and quickly through the cloud – has bought Chicago-based futures specialist VDIware for an undisclosed seven-figure sum.
The acquisition was self-funded by Beeks Financial Cloud, without borrowing.
The move follows last year’s purchase of New York-based Gallant VPS by Beeks Financial Cloud subsidiary BeeksFX VPS, and the parent company’s set-up of a Japanese arm with staff and an office, in Tokyo.
Berkshire Capital – a New York-based investment bank specialising in mergers and acquisitions in the financial services sector – advised on the VDIware deal.
Berkshire and
GMEX Group has partnered with the Central Asian Stock Exchange (CASE) based in the Republic of Tajikistan through its GMEX Technologies (GMEX Tech) subsidiary.
Tajikistan is currently undergoing a significant period of change with a range of projects being supported by the European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD), The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Key priorities include the delivery of an improved banking sector to attract new investment. The introduction of a fully transparent and advanced technological exchange and clearing solution will support this process.
The CASE exchange application was granted in 2015 by the
TraderServe has been added to Colt PrizmNet, a financial services extranet connecting providers of financial content to Capital Markets firms. TraderServe will provide access to Algoguard – a validation engine for MiFID II compliance – via PrizmNet from next month.
The service will be available to all Capital Markets participants who require the ability to demonstrate compliance for algorithm testing under MiFID II, irrespective of location.
Nick Idelson (pictured) of TraderServe, says: “The timing of delivery of Colt’s new extranet – Colt PrizmNet – is ideal in light of the requirements for testing that MiFID II brings and the
Arthur J Gallagher has enhanced its liability and crime insurance solution for investment managers IMI Pro to provide its broadest cover yet.
The Gallagher-designed policy, backed by ‘A+’ rated capacity, responds to the needs of managers and funds by covering personal liability, civil liability and crime in one comprehensive package exclusive to Gallagher clients.
Notable enhancements include:
Full limit mitigation cover — insureds can take mitigating action immediately, without obtaining insurers’ prior consent, to the full limit of the policy. This will cover payments made and costs incurred in seeking to avoid claims that would be covered under
LME Clear, the clearing house for the London Metal Exchange (LME) market, has received approval from the Bank of England to accept LME metals warrants as collateral, making it the first clearing house ever to be able to offer this facility.
An LME warrant is a document of possession issued by warehouses for metal held on the owner’s behalf. This latest initiative from LME Clear will allow market participants to post this proof of ownership as collateral as part of the clearing process, giving the LME market a new source of protection against risk.
“LME Clear’s ability to take warrants
SS&C Technologies Holdings has unveiled its Evare Data Services Portal, a managed service for financial data acquisition, normalisation, transformation and delivery, serving as a data transformation hub for over 500 financial services firms globally.
The new real-time web-based portal redefines how financial services firms securely and efficiently monitor their data flows. To help operations teams holistically manage their client's external reconciliation, performance and accounting processes, the Evare Data Services portal offers users direct access to wide array of data such as: daily data transmissions; letters of authorisation; account reconciliation reports; and other client-specific service information. With improved visibility into their
FIX Flyer, a provider of electronic trading software to financial firms and the global capital markets, has integrated ZeroGC into its offering, which is designed to eliminate performance spikes while reducing overall latency.
ZeroGC is the result of two years of research and development with partners and clients. FIX Flyer has also achieved full certification of Java 8, which offers significant performance and security features over previous versions.
In addition to optimising performance, this latest release introduces powerful new tools for the developer. New storage and processing modules are available that include high performance message storage and the use of
Guernsey has extended market access to EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs) and Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) doing business in Guernsey.
The move follows the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA)’s advice to the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament that the EU Alternative Investment Fund Management Directive (AIFMD) passport should be extended to Guernsey.
Guernsey’s Government, the States of Guernsey, has now amended its Investor Protection regulations for AIFMs and AIFs based in EU Member States that have fully implemented AIFMD in order to enable easier movement between Guernsey and EU markets.
Guernsey’s Chief
