News Centre

New Zealand's Financial Markets Authority: Helping KiwiSaver Members Weather Investment Storms

Date 29/08/2018

Markets go down as well as up and good times don’t last forever.

In preparation for Sorted Money Week 2018 the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) is launching an online quiz to help younger KiwiSaver members understand how to react when investments rise and fall in stormy markets.

PIMFA & FCI Launch The PIMFA-AECIS Intelligence Sharing Platform To Help Identify & Prevent Financial Crime

Date 29/08/2018

• In the UK, £193bn lost to Financial Crime in 2017 with over 630,000 reports to the National Crime Agency over 18 months to December 2017
• Equates to an average of £3,900 per adult with losses occurring at £6,000 per second
• The PIMFA-AECIS intelligence sharing platform launched to provide effective way for firms to prevent financial crime

FINRA Announces Governor Elections

Date 29/08/2018

FINRA announced today the election of three Governors to its Board of Governors:

• Timothy C. Scheve, President and Chief Executive Officer of Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, was elected by large firms as a Large Firm Governor, one of three representatives of large firms on the Board. Scheve joined the FINRA Board of Governors in April, when he was appointed to fill an unexpired term.
• FINRA mid-size firms re-elected Brian J. Kovack, Co-Founder & President of Kovack Securities, Inc., as the Mid-Size Firm Governor. Kovack was first elected to the Board in 2015, and serves as its sole mid-size firm representative.
• FINRA small firms elected Paige W. Pierce, Senior Vice President of Larimer Capital Corp., as one of three small firm representatives on the Board of Governors. Pierce is a former chair of the FINRA Small Firm Advisory Committee (SFAC).

SIFMA Statement On Confirmation Of Richard Clarida

Date 29/08/2018

SIFMA today released the following statement from Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., SIFMA president and CEO, on the Senate confirmation of Richard Clarida as Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve board.

Office Of The Comptroller Of The Currency Bulletin: Credit Risk: Informal Or Implied Support From Foreign Governments (Implied Sovereign Support)

Date 28/08/2018

Summary

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is issuing guidance to national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies (collectively, banks) regarding the role of informal or implied expressions of support from foreign governments (implied sovereign support) in determining a borrower’s obligor and facility credit risk ratings. Because implied sovereign support is not a legally binding guarantee, this guidance reminds banks that such expressions of informal or implied support should be viewed as no more than a mitigating factor when evaluating a borrower’s credit risk.

IronFX And EmurgoHK Create Joint Venture With Launch Of New Crypto Exchange

Date 28/08/2018

IronFX and EmurgoHK intend to launch their regulated exchange as a seamless bridge between crypto and traditional online trading. The new destination, called IronX, will operate as a regulated, service-focused exchange, creating a highly efficient trading ecosystem that facilitates funding via both FIAT and Crypto. Against the successful ongoing private IRX Token sale, IronX is aiming to launch as early as Q4 2018.

U.S. Justice Department Announces Deferred Prosecution Agreement With Basler Kantonalbank - Bank Admits To Helping U.S. Taxpayers Conceal Income And Assets From The United States; Agrees To Pay $60.4 Million

Date 28/08/2018

Basler Kantonalbank (BKB), a bank headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) that was approved today by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, announced Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Richard E. Zuckerman of the Department of Justice’s Tax Division, United States Attorney Benjamin G. Greenberg, and Chief Don Fort for Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation.  As part of the agreement, Basler Kantonalbank will pay $60.4 million in total penalties.  

Thomson Reuters Announces Substantial Issuer Bid/Tender Offer For Up To US$9 Billion Of Its Common Shares

Date 28/08/2018

• Up to US$9 billion to be returned to shareholders via substantial issuer bid/tender offer (SIB) to commence today
• Price range for the SIB of US$42.00 to US$47.00 per share represents a (0.4)% to 11.5% premium over the company’s volume weighted average price on the NYSE over the last 20 trading days
• Woodbridge to participate in the SIB on a basis proportionate with its 64% ownership in Thomson Reuters
• SIB expected to be completed on October 2, 2018 and is subject to closing of the previously announced Financial & Risk/Blackstone transaction and is being launched now to coordinate with that closing

CFTC: DSIO Issues Time-Limited, Conditional No-Action Relief For Excluding Certain Loan-Related Swaps From Counting Toward The Swap Dealer Registration De Minimis Threshold

Date 28/08/2018

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight (DSIO) announced today that it has issued conditional, time-limited no-action relief to a banking entity for not counting certain loan-related swaps towards its swap dealer de minimis threshold (under paragraph (4) of the “swap dealer” definition in Regulation 1.3).

Thomson Reuters And Blackstone Agree To Close Financial & Risk Transaction On October 1, 2018

Date 28/08/2018

Thomson Reuters (TSX/NYSE: TRI) today announced that it and private equity funds managed by Blackstone have agreed to close the sale of a 55% interest in the company's Financial & Risk business on October 1, 2018, subject to satisfaction or waiver of customary closing conditions. The closing of the transaction is not subject to any financing condition. An affiliate of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and an affiliate of GIC will invest alongside Blackstone. After the closing, the Financial & Risk business will be known as Refinitiv.