News Centre

Commentary On HSBC Blacklisting MicroStrategy's Stock For Investing In Bitcoin By Paolo Ardoino, CTO, Bitfinex

Date 09/04/2021

Commenting on HSBC's decision to blacklist MicroStrategy's stock for investing in bitcoin, Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Bitfinex, said:

"HSBC’s decision to blacklist Microstrategy’s stock for investing in bitcoin is a regressive step that seems to try to turn back the clock on technological innovation. Instead of refusing to participate in products relating to virtual currencies, HSBC should instead focus on delivering optimal services to its customers, many of whom pay high fees and interest rate charges on the bank's loans and credit card products. In fact, it is blockchain technology’s capacity -- by virtue of removing intermediaries -- that can enhance levels of inclusion, accessibility and transparency in financial products."

Nadex Refrains From Listing Certain Contracts

Date 09/04/2021

Due to activity in the underlying markets upon which the Nadex contracts are based and pursuant to the authority granted in Nadex Rule 12.1(i), Nadex took the following actions: 

• No GBP/JPY or GBP/USD 5-Minute contracts were listed for the 6:05pm - 6:10pm ET expiration times on trade date April 5, 2021; additionally, no EUR/JPY 5-Minute contracts were listed for the 6:05pm ET expiration time on that day;

• No GBP/JPY or USD/CAD 5-Minute contracts were listed for the 6:05pm ET expiration time on trade date April 6, 2021;

• No EUR/JPY 5-Minute contracts were listed for the 6:05pm ET expiration time on trade date April 7, 2021;

• No GBP/JPY or GBP/USD 5-Minute contracts were listed for the 6:05pm ET expiration time on trade date April 8, 2021.

Federal Court Orders The Alista Group, LLC And Florida Man To Pay More Than $2.6 Million In Precious Metals Fraud

Date 09/04/2021

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission announced today that the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida entered an order granting the CFTC’s motion for entry of default judgment against defendants The Alista Group, LLC of Orlando, Florida and other locations, and Luis M. Pineda Palacios, a/k/a Luis Pineda of Orlando, Florida. The order finds that the defendants failed to answer the CFTC’s complaint which alleged that Alista and Pineda had engaged in precious metals fraud and illegal, off-exchange precious metals sales to retail customers.

US Federal Agencies Issue Statement And Request For Information On Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Compliance

Date 09/04/2021

The federal banking agencies, in consultation with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the National Credit Union Administration, today issued a joint statement addressing how risk management principles described in the "Supervisory Guidance on Model Risk Management" relate to systems or models used by banks to assist in complying with the requirements of Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) laws and regulations. The statement further notes that it does not alter existing BSA/anti-money laundering (AML) legal or regulatory requirements or establish new supervisory expectations, and that no specific model risk management framework is required.

Nigerian Stock Exchange Weekly Market Report For April 9th 2021

Date 09/04/2021

It was another four-day trading week as the Federal Government of Nigeria declared Monday 5th April 2021 (Easter Monday) as Public Holiday in commemoration of the Easter Monday.

SEC Awards Approximately $2.5 Million To Whistleblower

Date 09/04/2021

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an award of approximately $2.5 million to a whistleblower whose information and ongoing assistance to the staff significantly contributed to the success of an SEC enforcement action.

Statement By US Treasury Secretary Yellen On The President’s FY22 Discretionary Funding Request - President Outlines Proposals To Support Fairness And Equity In Our Tax System, Invest In Communities And Small Businesses, And Safeguard The U.S. Financial System From Illicit Actors

Date 09/04/2021

The Biden-Harris Administration today submitted to Congress the President’s priorities for fiscal year 2022 discretionary spending. The funding request invests in the core foundations of our country’s strength and advances key Treasury Department priorities, including ensuring that all Americans are treated fairly by our tax system, expanding programs that offer loans to start-ups and small businesses to promote affordable housing and community revitalization projects, and closing loopholes that allow illicit actors to evade scrutiny, mask their dealings, and shield illegal activity.

BIS: Redefining Insurance Supervision For The New Normal

Date 09/04/2021

Highlights

• Lessons learnt from the Covid-19 crisis will be critical to future-proof insurance supervision. Streamlined and agile supervisory processes backed by resilient digital infrastructure and closer engagement with insurers and other regulatory agencies will be critical to help insurance supervisors cope with future unexpected disruptions.
• Insurance supervision in the new normal will redefine the demarcation between on-site and off-site supervision, with elements of remote supervision becoming a mainstay to enable more efficient and effective supervisory oversight in the future. However, remote supervision cannot entirely replace on-site supervision, especially in assessing behavioural aspects of insurers.
• Proper support structures to ensure the ongoing health and wellbeing of supervisory teams will be critical to maintaining effective supervisory oversight in prolonged remote working environments.
• The pandemic accelerated the digitalisation of both insurance supervisory processes and the insurance business value chain. As the pace and scale of digital transformation continues to increase, so will cyber security and policyholder protection risks, which must be appropriately managed.
• Supervisors will need to apply a more holistic approach to technology investments in the future. Adoption of new supervisory technologies will need to be complemented with capacity building programmes that equip supervisors with new digital skill sets required to adapt to supervision in the new normal.

ESMA Publishes Interim Templates For STS Synthetic Securitisation Notifications

Date 09/04/2021

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the EU’s securities and markets regulator, has published the interim simple, transparent and standardised (STS) notification templates for synthetic securitisations following amendments to the Securitisation Regulation (SECR).

Athens Stock Exchange: Main Market Stock Liquidity Class Assessment Results, Effective As Of April 12, 2021

Date 09/04/2021