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CFTC Orders Six Financial Institutions to Pay Total of More Than $6 Million for Reporting Failures

October 5, 2019 by industryspread Leave a Comment Filed Under: Regulatory Annoucements Tagged: CFTC, financial institutions, Reporting Failures

Washington, DC – The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced that it issued orders yesterday against HSBC Bank USA, N.A., Société Générale International Limited, The Northern Trust Company, NatWest Markets Plc, The Bank of New York Mellon, and PNC Bank, National Association for reporting failures. Société Générale International Limited and The Northern Trust Company were also charged with failing to supervise in connection with the reporting failures. HSBC was also charged with violating swap-dealer risk management regulations, the first time the Commission has brought such an action.

“Accurate reporting is essential to effective fulfillment of the regulatory functions of the CFTC, including meaningful surveillance and enforcement programs,” said CFTC Director of

James McDonald, CFTC’s Director of the Division of Enforcement

Enforcement James McDonald. “As these actions show, the CFTC will continue to vigorously enforce reporting requirements. The CFTC will also take appropriate action where reporting failures are occurring as a result of serious supervisory failures.”

McDonald further commented on the HSBC matter, “The Commission’s swap-dealer risk management rules are designed to monitor and regulate the systemic risk endemic to the swaps market. At the heart of these regulations is the requirement that swap dealers separately consider the risks unique to swaps as an asset class, separate from their other businesses. This is the first action the CFTC has brought regarding violations of these particular swap-dealer risk management regulations, and the Commission will continue to focus on enforcing these critical requirements.”

Enforcement Action Against HSBC Bank USA, N.A.

On Monday, September 30, 2019, the CFTC filed and settled charges against HSBC Bank USA, N.A., a provisionally registered swap dealer, for failing to establish appropriate risk management systems for its swap activities or to properly report swap data in certain categories, for certain swap transactions, to a swap data repository. The CFTC order imposes a $650,000 civil monetary penalty on HSBC, among other sanctions. The order recognizes that the civil monetary penalty in this matter was reduced in light of HSBC’s cooperation and remediation.

With respect to risk management, the order specifically finds that from January 2013 until November 2015, HSBC did not designate a swap dealer governing body or senior management to fulfill the requisite oversight duties under CFTC regulations. Relatedly, with respect to its swap dealing activities, HSBC failed to:

Separately consider certain risks associated with its swap activities;
Properly approve its risk tolerance limits, risk management program and policies and procedures, and trading policies; and
Properly review its quarterly risk exposure reports, annual audits of its risk management program, and its business continuity and disaster recovery plan.

Pamela M. Geraghty of the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight and Meghan Tente of the Division of Market Oversight assisted with this matter.

The Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this case are Michael Geiser, Peter Janowski, Candice Aloisi, Lenel Hickson, Jr., and Manal M. Sultan.

Enforcement Action Against Société Générale International Limited

On Monday, September 30, 2019, the CFTC filed and settled charges against Société Générale International Limited, a provisionally registered swap dealer, for failing to comply with its swap data reporting obligations as a swap dealer, failing to implement required policies and procedures, and related supervision failures. The order finds that Société Générale International’s swap data reporting failures were widespread and systemic, and occurred in all asset classes and across its reporting obligations under the CEA and Parts 20, 43, 45, and 46 of the CFTC’s regulations. The order further finds that Société Générale International failed to implement policies and procedures reasonably designed to obtain and record facts regarding whether its swap counterparties were U.S. persons, or a conduit affiliate or guaranteed affiliate of a U.S. person, and did not have an effective system to supervise certain activities related to its business.

The CFTC order imposes a $2,500,000 civil monetary penalty on Société Générale International and mandates its compliance with certain undertakings, including continuing its remediation efforts in relation to swap data reporting and updating the CFTC on its efforts and compliance.

The order recognizes that the Commission’s determination of the civil monetary penalty in this matter reflects a substantial reduction from the otherwise applicable penalty based upon Société Générale International’s self-reporting of violations to the Commission, its cooperation with the Division of Enforcement’s investigation, and its comprehensive remediation efforts, which included an analysis and identification of historical errors, implementation of a new swap data reporting architecture, and backreporting corrected data to a swap data repository.

The CFTC thanks and acknowledges the assistance of the National Futures Association with this matter.

The Division of Market Oversight staff members who assisted with this matter are David E. Aron, Thomas Guerin, Meghan Tente, and Owen Kopon. The Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight staff members who assisted with this matter are Rajal Patel and Pamela Geraghty.

The Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this action are Alejandra de Urioste, Chris Giglio, Patryk J. Chudy, Lenel Hickson Jr., and Manal M. Sultan.

Enforcement Action Against The Northern Trust Company

On Monday, September 30, 2019, the CFTC filed and settled charges against The Northern Trust Company, a provisionally registered swap dealer, for numerous violations of the CEA and CFTC regulations relating to swap reporting under Parts 23, 43 and 45 of the CFTC regulations. The order requires Northern Trust to pay a $1,000,000 civil monetary penalty, among other sanctions.

According to the order, over a period from 2013 through at least 2018, Northern Trust failed to correctly report hundreds of thousands of swap transactions to a swap data repository as required by the CEA and CFTC regulations. These swap reporting violations resulted from Northern Trust’s failure to adequately supervise its swap dealer. Contributing to the failure to supervise was that Northern Trust repeatedly hired compliance personnel for the swap dealer who lacked the specific technical expertise necessary to ensure swap dealer compliance.

The order recognizes Northern Trust’s substantial cooperation during the Division of Enforcement’s investigation, and remediation in the form of a substantially reduced civil monetary penalty.

The Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this action are Jason T. Wright, Patricia Gomersall, Luke B. Marsh, and Paul G. Hayeck.

Enforcement Action Against NatWest Markets Plc

On Monday, September 30, 2019, the CFTC filed and settled charges against NatWest Markets Plc, formerly The Royal Bank of Scotland plc, a provisionally registered swap dealer, for failing to comply with its obligations to submit to the Commission accurate large trader reports (LTRs) for physical commodity swap positions, as required under Part 20 of the Commission’s regulations. According to the order, all or nearly all of the LTRs NatWest submitted to the Commission from July 2012 to June 2017 contained inaccuracies.

The order specifically finds that from July 2012 to June 2017, NatWest submitted LTRs that contained millions of errors in required data fields. These errors fell into dozens of categories, including missing data presented in a format inconsistent with CFTC requirements.

The CFTC order imposes an $850,000 civil monetary penalty on NatWest, among other sanctions. The order recognizes that the civil monetary penalty was reduced in light of NatWest’s cooperation and substantial remediation.

The Division of Market Oversight staff members who assisted with this matter are Owen Kopon, Kristin Liegel, and Jennifer Newman.

The Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this case are Gabriella Geanuleas, Candice Aloisi, Lenel Hickson, Jr., and Manal M. Sultan.

Enforcement Action Against The Bank of New York Mellon

On Monday, September 30, 2019, the CFTC filed and settled charges against The Bank of New York Mellon, a provisionally registered swap dealer, for numerous violations of the CEA and CFTC regulations relating to swap reporting. BNYM is the world’s largest custody bank and asset servicing company. The order requires BYNM to pay a $750,000 civil monetary penalty, among other sanctions. The order recognizes BNYM’s substantial cooperation during the Division of Enforcement’s investigation of this matter and remediation in the form of a substantially reduced civil monetary penalty.

According to the order, from December 31, 2012 through at least 2018, BNYM failed to correctly report hundreds of thousands of swap transactions to a swap data repository as required by the CEA and CFTC regulations. BNYM’s swap reporting failures included failing to correctly report tens of thousands of foreign exchange (FX) swaps from December 31, 2012 through July 2, 2018, failing report tens of thousands of swap transactions with BNYM affiliates and, from December 31, 2012 through at least December 31, 2018, failing to correctly report bunched trades (transactions with investment managers acting as agents for one or more principals).

The Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this action are Jason T. Wright, Patricia Gomersall, A. Daniel Ullman II, and Paul G. Hayeck.

Enforcement Action Against PNC Bank, National Association

On Monday, September 30, 2019, the CFTC filed and settled charges against PNC Bank, National Association (PNC), a provisionally registered swap dealer, for failing to comply with its swap reporting obligations as a swap dealer. According to the order, PNC failed to properly report legal entity identifiers (LEIs), primary economic terms, and continuation data to its swap data repository (SDR); failed to file large trader reports for its physical commodity swaps; and failed to timely report certain trades to its SDR. The CFTC order imposes a $300,000 civil monetary penalty on PNC, among other sanctions, for these reporting violations.

PNC’s reporting failures were in violation of the reporting requirements of Parts 20, 43, and 45 of the CFTC regulations.

The order recognizes PNC’s self-reporting before it knew the full extent of its violations and its full cooperation with the Division of Enforcement, the Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight, and the Division of Market Oversight. The order also recognizes PNC’s remediation of its swaps reporting issues both on an ongoing basis and with respect to historical reports, including transactions no longer on PNC’s books.

Division of Market Oversight staff member Benjamin DeMaria and Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight staff members Pamela M. Geraghty, Thomas J. Bloom, and Kurt J. Harms assisted in this matter.

The Division of Enforcement staff members responsible for this matter are Trevor Kokal, David C. Newman, Candice Aloisi, Lenel Hickson, Jr., and Manal M. Sultan.

Dollar Slips, Yields Fall, Brexit Fears Hound the Pound

July 18, 2019 by Michael Moran Leave a Comment Filed Under: Market News, Market News - Asia Open Tagged: AUD/USD, Brexit, CFTC, ECB, economy, EUR-USD, FCA, FED, financial institutions, Financial markets, financial services, FX trading, GBP-USD, Sino-U.S. trade talks, trading, trading platform, USD/JPY

Summary: The Dollar eased against most of its rivals following softer June Housing Starts and Building Permits data. Expectations that the Fed would lower interest rates led to a fall in US bond yields. Stronger-than-forecast US retail sales data had lifted the Greenback yesterday. Fears of a no-deal Brexit continued to hound the Pound, which hit fresh 27-month lows at 1.2382 before rebounding to 1.2430. UK Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay said that the risk of a no-deal split with the European Union is “under-priced.” The Euro hit a one-week low at 1.11998 before climbing back to 1.1225, at the lower end of its recent range. Expectations of an easing by the ECB has kept the Single Currency on the defensive. The Australian Dollar was little changed at 0.7010 (0.7013 yesterday). USD/JPY slipped to 107.99 from 108.27 on lower US yields. The benchmark US 10-year treasury yield was down 6 basis points to 2.05%. Japan’s 10-year JGB yield was unchanged at -0.13%.

Forex Factory US Building Permits – 18 July 2019

Wall Street stocks fell on weaker than expected earnings.
US June Housing Starts missed forecasts at 1.25 million from 1.26 million. June Building Permits fell to 1.22 million from 1.29 million, and against an expected 1.30 million.
The Fed’s Beige Book economic report saw that the longest US economic expansion remained intact amidst trade risks.

Daily FX EUR USD Chart – 18 July 2019

EUR/USD – The Euro finished slightly higher at 1.1225 after trading in a narrow 1.11998 to 1.123336 range overnight. German 10-year bond yields were 4 basis points lower to -0.29%. The one week low of 1.1200 is providing solid support.
GBP/USD – Sterling slumped to a fresh 27 week low at 1.23820 before rebounding to 1.2430. Traders continued to sell the Pound on the perception that risks are growing for the UK to leave the EU without a transition deal in place. The latest Commitment of Traders report saw speculators dump the Pound for the 4^th straight week.
USD/JPY – The Dollar eased against the Yen to 107.99 from 108.27 yesterday, down 0.22%. Lower US bond yields continue to drag the Greenback lower. Speculative JPY shorts were trimmed by a large USD 1 billion.
AUD/USD – the Aussie Dollar was little changed at 0.7013 (0.7010 yesterday). Australia’s June Employment report is released later today. The dovish leaning RBA kept the Aussie Battler in check, while speculative Aussie short covering supported the currency.

On the Lookout: Today sees Japan’s Trade Balance and Australia’s June Employment report in Asia. The lone European report today comes from Switzerland, reporting its June trade balance.
UK data follow with June Headline and Core Retail Sales, (month and annual). Finally, US Weekly Unemployment Claims and Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index finish the day’s reports.

Trading Perspective: With FX trading in tight summer ranges we look at market positioning. Saxo Bank’s Bloomberg Commitment of Traders/CFTC report for the week ended July 2 (delayed due to the US 4^th of July holiday) saw continued reduction of total net USD longs by speculators. According to Saxo Bank, bullish Dollar bets have now been cut by 65% from the late April peak. The bulk of these cuts have been against the Euro, Canadian Dollar and Yen. The main exception among the major currencies was Sterling (not surprising) where net GBP shorts have increased for the 4^th straight week.

Saxo Bank – Bloomberg COT Report – 18 July 2019

EUR/USD – The Euro held the support level around 1.1200 before rallying to close at 1.1225. This morning the Single Currency opens at 1.1229. Immediate resistance lies at 1.1240 (overnight high traded 1.12336). The next resistance level can be found at 1.1280. Immediate support at 1.1200 should hold with the next support level at 1.1180. The latest COT report was net short Eur bets cut further to -EUR 31,733 from the previous week’s -EUR 56,295. Look for a likely range today of 1.1210-1.1260. Prefer to buy dips.
GBP/USD – Sterling continues to trade heavy with the risk skewed to the downside. That said, Sterling short bets for the week ended July 2 increased to -GBP 64,244 contracts from the previous week’s -GBP 58,937. This is the 4^th straight week of GBP selling. Total short GBP short contracts stand at US$5.69 billion. That is a danger sign despite risks of the Pound grinding lower. Immediate support lies at 1.2380 (overnight low at 1.2382) followed by 1.2340. Immediate resistance lies at 1.2460 and 1.2500. Look for a likely range today of 1.2385-1.2485. Prefer to buy dips.
USD/JPY – The Dollar fell against the Yen on the lower US 10-year yield. USD/JPY closed at 108.00 after trading to 107.971 overnight. Immediate support lies at 107.80 followed by 107.60. Immediate resistance can be found at 108.30 and 108.60. The latest COT report was net speculative JPY shorts cut to -JPY 1,227 (week ended July 2) from the previous week’s -JPY 10,147. That’s virtually square. Look for a likely range today of 107.80-108.30. Just trade the range shag on this one.
AUD/USD – The Aussie was little changed, closing at 0.7013. The dovish tone from the RBA meeting minutes failed to push the currency any lower as shorts continue to support the Battler. Australia is forecast to have created 9,000 jobs in June from May’s 42,300 while the Jobless rate is expected to remain at 5.2%. The latest COT report saw speculative Aussie shorts trimmed to -AUD 58,735 contracts (week ended July 2) from -AUD 66,320. AUD/USD has immediate support at 0.6990 (overnight low 0.69962) followed by 0.6960. Immediate resistance can be found at 0.7030 (overnight high 0.70249) and 0.7060. Look to trade a likely range of 0.6990-0.7040. Prefer to buy dips.

Happy Thursday and trading all.

CFTC’s Market Risk Advisory Committee to Meet June 12 to Discuss Climate-related Financial Risk

June 5, 2019 by industryspread Leave a Comment Filed Under: Regulatory Annoucements Tagged: Advisory Committee, American businesses, CFTC, ESMA, Farmers, financial institutions, Financial Risk, investors, Market Risk

Washington, DC – The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC or Commission) Market Risk Advisory Committee (MRAC) will hold a public meeting on June 12 at CFTC’s Washington, DC headquarters. CFTC Commissioner Rostin Behnam is the sponsor of MRAC.

At this meeting, the MRAC will focus on climate-related financial risks. In a series of panels, MRAC members and guests will discuss (1) the impact of climate change on the future stability of the global financial system; (2) current domestic and international initiatives addressing financial risks related to climate change; (3) financial industry approaches to the management and mitigation of such risks, including key risk management, governance, and disclosure considerations; and (4) the challenges ahead for regulators and market participants in the derivatives industry.

“The impacts of climate change affect every aspect of the American economy – from agriculture to manufacturing. Assessing climate-related market risk that could impact the stability of our nation’s financial system must be a priority. It’s time for the United States to take a more active leadership role and join our international counterparts in addressing this issue,” said Rostin Behnam, CFTC Commissioner and MRAC sponsor. “This meeting will serve as an important first step towards a comprehensive review of what we can do now to prepare for and mitigate the market risks of climate change to American businesses, farmers, investors, financial institutions, and the broader economy. I look forward to hearing from our distinguished group of experts as well as our MRAC members, and thank them in advance for their efforts on this critically important issue.”

Additionally, the MRAC will receive a status report from the Interest Rate Benchmark Reform Subcommittee, and have a presentation on European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) 2.2, central counterparty stress testing, and Brexit from Steven Maijoor, Chair, European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

A formal agenda for this meeting is forthcoming.

The meeting is open to the public with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. Members of the public may also listen to the meeting via conference call using a domestic toll-free telephone or international toll or toll-free number to connect to a live, listen-only audio feed. Persons requiring special accommodations to attend the meeting because of a disability should notify Alicia Lewis at (202) 418–5862.

What:	Market Risk Advisory Committee Meeting
Location:	CFTC Headquarters Lobby-level Conference Room 1155 21^st Street, NW, Washington, DC 20581
Date:	Wednesday, June 12, 2019
Time:	9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Viewing/Listening Instructions: Watch the live webcast at www.cftc.gov. To listen to the live audio feed, call the toll or toll-free numbers under Related Links. Call-in participants should be prepared to provide their first name, last name and affiliation.

Conference call information:

Domestic Toll Free:	1-877-951-7311
International Toll Numbers:	International Numbers
Conference Passcode:	2665194

Members of the public who wish to submit written statements in connection with the meeting should submit them by June 19, 2019. Written statements should be identified by “Market Risk Advisory Committee,” and submitted by mail or hand delivery to: Christopher Kirkpatrick, Secretary of the Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Three Lafayette Center, 1155 21st Street NW, Washington, DC 20581, or via the CFTC’s website, https://comments.cftc.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments through the Comments Online process on the website. Any statements submitted in connection with the committee meeting will be made available to the public, including publication on the CFTC website, www.cftc.gov.

SEC, NASAA, and FINRA Issue Senior Safe Act Fact Sheet to Help Promote Greater Reporting of Suspected Senior Financial Exploitation

June 2, 2019 by industryspread Leave a Comment Filed Under: Regulatory Annoucements Tagged: Economic Growth, financial exploitation, financial institutions, FINRA, NASAA, regulatory, SEC, Senior Safe Act

Washington D.C., May 23, 2019 — In recognition of the one-year anniversary of the passage of The Senior Safe Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have issued a fact sheet to help raise awareness among broker-dealers, investment advisers, and transfer agents of the Act and how the Act’s immunity provisions work.

The Senior Safe Act Fact Sheet provides information on the immunity and training provisions of the Act, as well as additional resources from the SEC, NASAA, and FINRA.

The Senior Safe Act was included as Section 303 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which was signed into law on May 24, 2018. The Act addresses barriers financial professionals face in reporting suspected senior financial exploitation or abuse to authorities. Specifically, the Act protects “covered financial institutions” – which include investment advisers, broker-dealers, and transfer agents – and their eligible employees, affiliated persons, and associated persons (“eligible employees”), from liability in any civil or administrative proceeding for reporting a case of potential exploitation of a senior citizen to a covered agency. As an example, this immunity can be helpful when a firm wants to report potential exploitation but fears that the report could violate a privacy requirement.

The immunity established by the Act is provided on the condition that employees receive training on how to identify and report exploitative activity against seniors before making a report. In addition, reports of suspected exploitation must be made “in good faith” and “with reasonable care.” This immunity applies to individuals and firms.

Jay Clayton, SEC Chairman

“Financial professionals can provide a critical frontline role in identifying and reporting senior financial exploitation,” said SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. “The SEC strongly encourages broker-dealers and investment advisers to train their personnel in accordance with the Senior Safe Act. We also encourage all investors, including our most vulnerable, to ensure they are dealing with a registered investment professional.”

“In reminding broker-dealers and investment advisers of the Senior Safe Act’s important immunity provisions, we hope to encourage firms to train their employees on how to detect and report suspected senior financial exploitation. Early detection and reporting are critical to help prevent elder financial abuse and the devastating financial and emotional impacts that ensue,” said Michael S. Pieciak, NASAA President and Vermont Commissioner of Financial Regulation.

“Protecting senior investors has long been a top priority for FINRA,” said FINRA President and CEO Robert Cook. “The Senior Safe Act seeks to empower financial professionals to detect and report cases of suspected abuse of senior investors and we believe it is important to broaden awareness and understanding of the Act throughout the securities industry.”

The Senior Safe Act Fact Sheet is available on the SEC’s website, NASAA’s website, NASAA’s Serve Our Seniors website, and FINRA’s website.

About the SEC:

The mission of the SEC is to protect investors; maintain fair, orderly, and efficient markets; and facilitate capital formation. The SEC strives to promote a market environment that is worthy of the public’s trust.

About NASAA:

Formed in 1919, NASAA is the non-profit association of state, provincial, and territorial securities regulators in the United States, Canada and Mexico. NASAA has 67 members, including the securities regulators in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. NASAA’s U.S. members are responsible for administering state securities laws, commonly known as “Blue Sky Laws.” For more information, visit: www.nasaa.org.

About FINRA:

FINRA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to investor protection and market integrity. It regulates one critical part of the securities industry – brokerage firms doing business with the public in the United States. FINRA, overseen by the SEC, writes rules, examines for and enforces compliance with FINRA rules and federal securities laws, registers broker-dealer personnel and offers them education and training, and informs the investing public. In addition, FINRA provides surveillance and other regulatory services for equities and options markets, as well as trade reporting and other industry utilities. FINRA also administers a dispute resolution forum for investors and brokerage firms and their registered employees. For more information, visit www.finra.org.

Senior Safe Act Fact Sheet

Introduction

The Senior Safe Act became federal law on May 24, 2018.[1] The Senior Safe Act does not mandate any action by financial institutions and regulators. However, for financial institutions and certain eligible employees (discussed below), affiliated persons, and associated persons (“eligible employees”), who satisfy its requirements, the Senior Safe Act provides immunity from liability in any civil or administrative proceeding for reporting potential exploitation of a senior citizen. As an example, this immunity can be helpful when a firm wants to report potential exploitation but fears that the report could violate a privacy requirement. This Fact Sheet provides general information regarding the Senior Safe Act with the goal of educating financial institutions and employees about the benefits of the Act.[2]

What is the Senior Safe Act?

The Senior Safe Act protects “covered financial institutions”[3] – which include investment advisers, broker-dealers, and transfer agents – and their eligible employees, from liability in any civil or administrative proceeding in instances where those employees make a report about the potential exploitation of a senior citizen (defined as not younger than 65 years) to a covered agency.[4] The immunity established by the Senior Safe Act is provided on the condition that (1) certain employees (discussed below) receive training on how to identify and report exploitative activity against seniors before making a report, and (2) reports of suspected exploitation are made “in good faith” and “with reasonable care.” This immunity applies to eligible employees and firms, but the requirements differ slightly, as discussed below.

The inspiration for the Senior Safe Act was Maine’s Senior$afe training program, an initiative launched in 2014 by the Maine Council on Elder Abuse Prevention that is designed to train financial professionals to detect and report cases of suspected senior financial abuse.

What types of employees are eligible for immunity under the Senior Safe Act?

An employee who serves as a supervisor or in a compliance or legal function (including as a Bank Secrecy Act officer), for a covered financial institution; OR
A registered representative, investment adviser representative, or insurance producer affiliated or associated with a covered financial institution.

What types of employees must be trained to receive the immunity provided by the Senior Safe Act?

The Senior Safe Act does not mandate that any employees be trained. However, to qualify for the immunity provided by the law, training must be provided to and completed by the employees who are eligible for immunity (see above) and those employees who may come into contact with a senior citizen as a regular part of their professional duties or may review or approve the financial documents, records, or transactions of a senior citizen in connection with providing financial services to a senior citizen.

What are the training requirements under the Senior Safe Act?

The Senior Safe Act provides that, to receive the immunity provided by the Act, the training must: (1) instruct any individual attending the training on how to identify and report the suspected exploitation of a senior citizen internally and, as appropriate, to government officials or law enforcement authorities, including common signs that indicate the financial exploitation of a senior citizen; (2) discuss the need to protect the privacy and respect the integrity of each individual customer of the covered financial institution; and (3) be appropriate to the job responsibilities of the individual attending the training.

How soon must employees be trained to receive the immunity provided by the Senior Safe Act?

For current employees, affiliated persons, and associated persons, as soon as reasonably practical. New employees or persons who become affiliated or associated with a covered financial institution have no later than one year from the date of hire, affiliation, or association to complete the training.

What records of training must be maintained?

Records of employees who completed the training and the content of the training must be maintained by the covered financial institution and made available to a covered agency with examination authority over the covered financial institution, upon request, except that a covered financial institution shall not be required to maintain or make available such content with respect to any individual who is no longer employed by or affiliated or associated with the covered financial institution.

How do the requirements for “individual immunity” and “institutional immunity” differ?

An eligible employee who has received the training and makes a disclosure to a covered agency in good faith and with reasonable care receives individual immunity pursuant to the Senior Safe Act. A covered financial institution also receives institutional immunity when an eligible employee makes a disclosure to a covered agency and all employees have received training to the extent necessary to qualify for immunity under the Senior Safe Act.

Does the immunity provided by the Senior Safe Act allow for contacting third parties?

No, the qualified immunity established by the Senior Safe Act applies only to disclosures made by a covered financial institution or an employee of such institution to a “covered agency,” not a third party.

Where can I find additional information?

SEC Resources:
SEC Seniors webpage

NASAA Resources:
Serve Our Seniors website

FINRA Resources:
FINRA’s Senior Investors webpage
Regulatory Notice 17-11, SEC Approves Rules Relating to Financial Exploitation of Seniors (March 2017)
FINRA Securities Helpline for Seniors: 844-57-HELPS (844-574-3577)
FINRA Securities Helpline for Seniors webpage
Report on the FINRA Securities Helpline for Seniors (December 2015)
Protecting Seniors From Financial Exploitation (April 25, 2018)
FINRA Investor Alerts

[1] The Senior Safe Act, which was included as Section 303 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, was signed into law on May 24, 2018.

[2] This document should not be construed as providing legal advice.

[3] The Senior Safe Act defines the term “covered financial institution” as credit unions, depository institutions, investment advisers, broker-dealers, insurance companies, insurance agencies, and transfer agents.

[4] The Senior Safe Act defines the term “covered agency” to include a state financial regulatory authority (including a state securities regulator or law enforcement authority and a state insurance regulator); a state or local adult protective services agency; the SEC; an SEC-registered national securities association (e.g., FINRA); a federal law enforcement agency; or any Federal agency represented in the membership of the Financial Institutions Examination Council.

ICE Data Services Launches New Service With Credit Benchmark Data to Provide a Comprehensive, Daily Market View of Credit Risk

May 11, 2019 by industryspread Leave a Comment Filed Under: Regulatory Annoucements Tagged: Credit Benchmark, Credit Benchmark Data, credit risk, Daily Market View, financial institutions, ICE, ice data services, New York Stock Exchange

ATLANTA & NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), a leading operator of global exchanges and clearing houses and provider of data and listings services, today announced that ICE Data Services has launched ICE Credit Risk, an innovative new suite of analytics. These analytics measure credit risk by combining daily market credit risk analytics with monthly fundamental credit views from financial institutions. Consensus estimates will be provided on an exclusive basis by Credit Benchmark, a leader in consensus-based credit analytics.

“The current approaches in the market used to measure credit risk are either slow to

Lynn Martin, ICE Data Services President and COO

respond to market activity, do not measure risk at a security level or do not take into account more fundamental reviews of credit risk,” said Lynn Martin, President & COO of ICE Data Services. “As such, market participants lack a single, up-to-date view that combines fundamental company analysis with current market data including liquidity scores, market reflective spreads and related price analytics. Through our collaboration with Credit Benchmark, we’re able to quickly launch an innovative new product that will provide more transparency and new risk management tools to the bond market.”

“ICE’s expertise in delivering rich fixed income analytics to the market makes them a natural collaborator with Credit Benchmark,” said William Haney, Credit Benchmark’s CEO. “Our consensus data will help power the new ICE Credit Risk offering further extending the use of our network-sourced analytics. Given where credit markets are trending, this launch is well timed and gives investors an important edge.”

ICE Credit Risk uses innovative sources of information, such as ICE’s Liquidity Indicators^TM, evaluated pricing, analytics and reference data on approximately 2.7 million fixed income securities, and combines it with Credit Benchmark’s consensus credit information, which derive credit risk insights from a contributed data model that harnesses the collective intelligence of the world’s leading financial institutions that are taking on credit risk.

By bringing these factors together, ICE Credit Risk provides daily credit risk metrics for global corporate bonds at a security level enabling faster signals for monitoring early deterioration or improvement of credit. It also establishes daily risk spread premiums and offers a credit perspective on both publicly rated and non-rated bonds, which can help expand the universe of investable securities.

This new service complements the existing broad range of data solutions that ICE Data Services provides, including award-winning pricing and analytics, indices and exchange data via secure, flexible connections. These services help customers address their investing, trading, compliance and risk management requirements across a broad range of asset classes.

About Credit Benchmark

Based in London and New York, Credit Benchmark is a financial data analytics company offering an entirely new source of credit risk data: the credit risk assessments of the world’s leading financial institutions. Credit Benchmark was founded in 2012. The company offers an objective, dynamic and forward looking measure of risk that reflects the aggregated views of multiple financial institutions that have direct exposure to the underlying entities. Its coverage includes a sizable and granular universe of tens of thousands of unrated entities where no market-accepted credit metrics exist today.

About Intercontinental Exchange

Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE) is a Fortune 500 company formed in the year 2000 to modernize markets. ICE serves customers by operating the exchanges, clearing houses and information services they rely upon to invest, trade and manage risk across global financial and commodity markets. A leader in market data, ICE Data Services serves the information and connectivity needs across virtually all asset classes. As the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, the company is the premier venue for raising capital in the world, driving economic growth and transforming markets.

Trademarks of ICE and/or its affiliates include Intercontinental Exchange, ICE, ICE block design, NYSE and New York Stock Exchange. Information regarding additional trademarks and intellectual property rights of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. and/or its affiliates is located at http://www.intercontinentalexchange.com/terms-of-use. Key Information Documents for certain products covered by the EU Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products Regulation can be accessed on the relevant exchange website under the heading “Key Information Documents (KIDS).”

Evaluated pricing (including fixed income evaluations), continuous evaluated pricing, end-of-day evaluations, and Fair Value Information Services related to securities are provided in the US through ICE Data Pricing & Reference Data, LLC and internationally through ICE Data Services entities in Europe and Asia Pacific.

ICE Data Services does not purport to be an NRSRO or a credit rating agency, or to provide credit ratings.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 — Statements in this press release regarding ICE’s business that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see ICE’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors in ICE’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, as filed with the SEC on February 7, 2019.

Thompson Reuters & IBM launched New AI to Improve Regulatory Compliance Challenges

May 3, 2019 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: financial institutions, financial services, IBM, manual risk, OpenPages, professionals, regulatory compliance, Regulatory Compliance Challenges, Risk, Thompson Reuters

Thompson Reuters, a multinational mass media and information firm has partnered with tech giant IBM and launched a new AI which aims at simplifying regulatory compliance challenges faced by Financial institutions. Major Banks and financial institutions are seeing an ever growing regulatory compliance requirement. Through this joint collaborations, both companies aim to offer financial institutions access to RegTech Solutions offered by IBM cloud that features real time financial services data from thousands of content sources. While IBM is already actively offering this service via its own product, with the integration of new AI and data combination mechanism, the partnership enables the product to overcome its previous limitations. IBM currently caters to nearly 97% of the world’s top banks with domain knowledge of Promontory Financial group – a wholly owned subsidiary of IBM. IT has also been developing end to end RegTech software for finance service industry. Meanwhile, Thomson Reuters has been delivering a focused comprehensive view of global regulatory environment using trusted intelligence via its various Fintech Products.

Through this collaboration they have developed an AI to enable risk and compliance professionals to keep pace with regulatory changes, manage risk and reduce the overall cost of compliance. The addition of this new AI and data combination mechanism to the product is expected to help financial institutions monitor, analyze and act upon regulatory developments worldwide in real time thereby improving their service offerings. When speaking about this partnership and their new product, Alistair Rennie, General Manager of Watson Financial Services, IBM stated “Combining worldwide regulatory-specific content, AI and advanced analytics, IBM OpenPages with Watson provides visibility into pending regulatory changes to take the guesswork out for compliance professionals. It also helps project exactly what business impact those changes will likely have on the organization. This regulatory intelligence solution developed with Thomson Reuters brings a new level of insight and intelligence to the complex challenges of regulatory compliance”. According to the press release, the finance industry is seeing a sharp increase in regulatory alters each day and predicts that there will be over 300 million new regulations by 2020.

It is a highly taxing and time consuming process for professionals to ensure manual risk and regulatory compliance. It takes long for professionals to read all information and allocate alters based on applicability and impact forcing financial institutions to utilize disparate data and AI system to meet said requirements. However, the latest offering from this joint venture enables banks and major finance institutions to digitize manual governance, risk and compliance process by integrating all their risk data using their product which has global coverage of more than 900 regulatory bodies and 2500 collections of regulatory and legislative materials. Thomson Reuters & IBM have already been collaborating since 2015 to resolve industry specific problems in area such as health care and data privacy via AI & Data intelligence. With launch of this joint venture AI, IBM OpenPages gains access to Watson 8.0 enabling the users of this product to get an updated user experience allowing for increased engagement transforming the way risk and compliance professions work. Users of OpenPages can now create libraries of relevant regulatory requirements, map them to their international framework and evaluate their impact to the business. This helps compliance professionals easily and actively participate in risk management as part of their day to day activities as the new AI helps them gain a holistic view of their risk and regulatory responsibilities.

Update to E-Payments User Protection Guidelines

April 28, 2019 by industryspread Leave a Comment Filed Under: Regulatory Annoucements Tagged: E-Payments, financial institutions, industry news, MAS, regulatory announcement, transaction, User Protection Guidelines

Singapore, 25 April 2019… The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has updated the E-Payments User Protection Guidelines (“Guidelines”) to clarify that the Guidelines do not override customers’ instructions to their financial institutions on transaction notification thresholds for e-payments.

Under the Guidelines, financial institutions, such as banks, are expected to provide notifications to their customers for all e-payment transactions. These notifications allow customers to monitor e-payment transactions, and report unauthorised transactions promptly to their financial institutions. The Guidelines did not address situations where a customer chooses to receive fewer notifications of transactions that are above specified thresholds and of certain payment types.

In response to customer feedback, MAS has updated the Guidelines to clarify that customers can continue to set their preferred transaction notifications even after the Guidelines take effect on 30 June 2019. As these preferred notification settings result in fewer notifications sent to the customer, there may be implications on his ability to monitor for unauthorised transactions and his liability for such transactions. In such cases, MAS expects financial institutions to inform their customers of these liability implications.

For more information about the Guidelines, please refer to this link.

SWIFT Appoints Javier Pérez-Tasso as its New Chief Executive Officer

April 25, 2019 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: banks, EMEA region, financial institutions, financial services, Gottfried Leibbrandt, Javier Pérez-Tasso, Swift

SWIFT

SWIFT, the world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services provider or the transfer of the international payments has appointed Javier Pérez-Tasso as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective from July 1, 2019. After taking over the position of the CEO, he will be based out of the company’s headquarters in Belgium.

Mr Javier Pérez will replace Gottfried Leibbrandt, who announced his intention to step down from the position back in December of last year. Mr Javier Pérez is currently the CEO for the Americas and UK region in SWIFT.

Following Gottfried Leibbrandt’s decision to step down from the CEO role, the Belgium-headquartered company had roped in the services of a professional search firm. The appointment of Javier Pérez was done after the comprehensive search of suitable candidate both from external and internal sources.

Commenting on the appointment, SWIFT Chairman Yawar Shah, said:

“I am delighted to announce Javier’s appointment with the full endorsement of the Board. SWIFT has an exceptionally strong management team which has enabled the Board to appoint an internal candidate and which will also allow for a smooth transition.”

Perez is with the company since 1995 and knows all the critical function of the company which will help him to steer the company right from taking over the CEO position. At the initial stages, he had held a number of technology and leadership roles in business development in the EMEA region.

Pérez-Tasso added:

“I thank the SWIFT Board for its trust and feel privileged to lead SWIFT and serve its customers as CEO. I am fortunate to start this mandate building on Gottfried’s strong legacy, and I look forward to maintaining our focus on operational excellence as well as to accelerating SWIFT’s transformation during a period of unprecedented change and opportunity for the community,”

European Equities Lower after Weak Data

April 18, 2019 by Nikolas Papas Leave a Comment Filed Under: Market News - European Open Tagged: Asian stocks, banks, Bitcoin, Brent Oil, ECB, economy, EUR-USD, FED, financial institutions, Fitch Ratings, FOMC monetary policy, monetary policy, Sino-U.S. trade talks, trading platform

Asian stocks finished lower from nine months highs, after worse than expected figures from Japan. Sino-US trade relations were in focus again today as White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said “very good progress” was being made in talks. The Nikkei225 main index lost 0,89 percent to 22,080, the Hang Seng benchmark in Hong Kong finished 0.46 percent lower at 29,982. Chinese stocks also finished lower, with Shanghai Composite finishing 0.12 percent lower at 3,259, and in Singapore, the FTSE Straits Times index finished 0.17 percent lower at 3,342. Australian equities fell after climbing 25 points at its best levels, those gains were erased following the strong jobs numbers for March. The index edged 3 points higher to 6259.8 and lifting 0.14%for the week.

In commodities markets, Crude oil retreated from recent high at 63.73, boosted by OPEC’s ongoing supply cuts, geopolitical uncertainty and the US additional sanctions on Iran. The near-term upside target for black gold is at the 65.00 figure, but I expect some profit taking, which can drive the price down to $61. Brent oil is also giving up some cents down to $71,54 per barrel. Gold’s bearish momentum is still intact hitting yesterday the $1271 figure, the lowest levels since April 1st just to start a mild rebound during the Asian session to $1274. XAUUSD‘s technical picture is negative and now strong support stands at the 200-day moving average down to $1250, which if broken can accelerate the downward move to 1200 as sellers are in full control. Strong resistance stands at the $1300 round figure and then at the 50-day moving average around $1305.

XAUUSD Daily Chart

European session started in bearish mood following an uninspiring session in Asian markets. DAX30 is 0.20 percent lower to 12,133, CAC40 is 0.40 percent lower at 5,541 while FTSE100 in London is 0.31 percent lower at 7,448, and the FTSE MIB in Milan is trading 0.78 percent lower at 21,839.

In cryptocurrencies market, Bitcoin (BTCUSD) continues its up and down around the key 200-day moving average at $5,153, currently trading at $5,259 making the daily low at 5,195 and daily high at 5,292. BTCUSD found strong support at the $5,000 level and started the rebound from that figure. Bitcoin immediate support stands at the 50-day moving average at 4,089. Ethereum (ETHUSD) also trades higher to 170, and it is placed nicely above the 100-day moving average, facing strong resistance at 193, the 200-day moving average, while Litecoin (LTCUSD) also follows higher at 80.87. The cryptocurrencies market cap holds above $160.0B.

On the Lookout: Fitch Ratings published its credit review report on the Australian economy, confirming the sovereign rating at AAA with a Stable outlook. Here are the key points: “Momentum in the Australian economy has decelerated in the near term, but still compares well with AAA peers. The slowdown of the Australian economy is due in part to spillovers from the weakening housing market on dwelling investment and household consumption. It expects ongoing housing market correction in Australia to remain orderly. Fitch forecasts Australia’s debt to GDP to begin a downward trajectory in light of the improvement in fiscal performance. Australia’s banking system is well positioned to manage a housing market shock. Australia’s monetary policy is likely to remain accommodative to support economic growth and employment.”

The Japan Nikkei Manufacturing PMI came up to 49.5 in April from the previous 49.2. Yesterday, according to the Department of Commerce, the US trade deficit on goods and services shrank in March at a pace of 3.4% month-on-month to reach $49.4bn (consensus: -$53.6bn), amid a pickup in sales of civilian aircraft.

Fitch Ratings in its latest review on the New Zealand economy, reports that Capital proposals are unlikely to affect New Zealand’s major bank franchises. High household debt in New Zealand is broadly stable but is a key risk. Expect modest deterioration in asset quality in New Zealand over the next year, in part because impaired loan levels are around historical lows. The banks’ strong domestic franchises allow for a stable business model that helps offset continued high macroeconomic risks in New Zealand.

In the macro calendar from Americas today, we have the US retail sales, weekly jobless claims, Philly Fed manufacturing index slated for release at 12:30GMT alongside the releases of the Canadian retail sales and ADP jobs, which will keep the NA traders busy from the onset. At 13:45GMT, the US manufacturing and services PMIs will be published by Markit, followed by the US business inventories data at 14:00GMT. Meanwhile, the speech by the FOMC member Bostic will wrap up a data-heavy Good Friday week.

Trading Perspective: In Forex markets, US dollar is trapped between 96.40 and 96.65, while AUDUSD continues higher for the second day adding 0.084 percent to 0.7189 as Fitch Ratings confirmed the sovereign rating at AAA with a stable outlook. The pair needs to break convincingly above the 200-day moving average at 0.7195 to establish a long term positive momentum. Kiwi underperforms for one more day and trades 10 pips lower at 0.6722.

GBPUSD: The pair slips lower today as the volatility remains at monthly low, losing the short term momentum and trading at 1.3040 below the 200-hour moving average. On the downside, major support will be found at 1.2975 at the 200-day moving average while solid protection can be found at the 100-day moving average around 1.2942. On the flipside, immediate resistance stands at 1.3195, the high from previous week session, and from there, a major resistance can be found at 1.3232, while 1.3382, the yearly high, will be met with strong supply.

GBPUSD Daily Chart

EURUSD trades up and down around the 1.13 level. The pair made the Asian high at 1.1304 and the low at 1.1289. Euro holds above the 50-day moving average and on the upside is targeting the 100 DMA at 1.1345. Immediate support can be found at the 50-hour moving average around 1.1290, and further bids will emerge at 1.1281 and the 200-hour moving average.

European equities remain in negative mood following recent poor figures in Eurozone. In fact, recent disappointing readings in the region somehow confirm that the slowdown in the bloc and the ‘patient-for-longer’ stance from the ECB could be among us for longer than expected.

USDJPY is trading just below the 112 zone, having hit the low at 111.83 and the high at 112.06. Major support for the pair stands at 111.51, the 200-day moving average, and then at the 111 round figure if the pair manages to break below the 100-day simple moving average at 111.10. Immediate resistance for the pair stands at 112.10, the March 2019 high.

USDCAD made the opposite move from yesterday, as it rebounds from yesterdays low at 1.3318 to 1.3352 as oil prices retreat from recent highs. The pair will find immediate support at the 100-day moving average around 1.3315 while extra support stands at 1.3196, and the 200-day moving average which if breached will drive prices down to 1.31 key support. On the upside, immediate resistance stands at 1.34 a break of which can escalate the rebound towards 1.3430.

FlexTrade Systems Partners with OpenFin to Deliver Desktop Interoperability to Improve Workflow Management of Buy-Side Clients

April 10, 2019 by Karthik Subramanian Leave a Comment Filed Under: Industry News Tagged: Andy Mahoney, brokerage, Capital Markets, financial institutions, FlexNOW, FlexTrade, FlexTrade Launches EMS, Flextrader, HTML5, investment, Openfin, risk management, trading platform

FlexTrade

FlexTrade Systems, the global leader in broker-neutral, execution and order management system provider, has partnered with OpenFin, the leading provider of HTML5 runtime technology for the financial industry.

As per the statement issued, the partnership will provide interoperability meaning ability to use each other computer systems or software to exchange and make use of information. The partnership also aims to provide improved workflow management for buy-side traders using the technology FlexTRADER and its cloud EMS FlexNOW.

The clients of FlexTrade will able to integrate third-party vendor applications which have already been deployed on the OpenFin OS into their workflows. This allows the company’s customer to select the best application for their daily workflows, as well as better navigate complex markets. The partnership will also see FlexTrade rolling out the new desktop application to its clients faster.

Commenting on the partnership, Andy Mahoney, Head of Sales at FlexTrade UK said:

“FlexTRADER has operated an open architecture model for many years, ensuring traders have the data and workflows they need right at their fingertips.”

“OpenFin is the next natural step for this architecture to evolve by providing an interoperability layer connecting FlexTRADER to complementary third-party applications and data, with minimal technology overhead and seamless upgrades.”

CEO of OpenFin Europe, Adam Toms commented:

“Inefficient trader workflows hamper productivity and introduce an unnecessary level of operational risk. FlexTrade is pioneering change on the buy-side trader’s desktop, and we are delighted to partner with them on this journey to build the next generation of financial desktops.”

“Jointly, we empower traders to interact with the market in the way they prefer, with unprecedented levels of functionality and performance, accessing applications they need quickly, easily and securely, and without additional deployment costs.”

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