FIF has scheduled a call for Wednesday March 29 at 1 pm ET for FIF members to provide final comments on the draft FIF comment letter on the SEC rule proposal on Disclosure of Order Execution Information. FIF has invited members of the Rule 605 and Rule 606 Working Groups to participate on this call. 

FIF has scheduled a call for Thursday March 30 at 10 am ET for FIF members to provide final comments on the draft FIF comment letter on the SEC’s Order Competition Rule proposal. FIF has invited members of the SEC Equity Market Proposals Working Group to participate on this call.

FIF has scheduled the next call for the Rule 606 Working Group for Tuesday April 4, 2023 at 3 pm ET. The Working Group will discuss the expected response by FINRA to the SEC order seeking further comment on the FINRA rule proposal on disclosure of order routing information for OTC equity securities and NMS securities. The Working Group also will discuss questions from FIF members relating to Rule 606 reporting.

FIF SEC Equity Market Proposals Working Group (Reg NMS). The Working Group discussed a revised draft of the FIF comment letter on the SEC rule proposal on Regulation NMS: Minimum Pricing Increments, Access Fees and Transparency of Better Priced Orders, including the potential increase in message traffic resulting from the proposed MPI changes, implementation process and timing, market resiliency issues, and the recommendation for a phased implementation of the proposed MPI changes.  FIF Rule 605 Working Group. The Rule 605 Working Group discussed a revised draft of the FIF comment...

MEMX announced the successful completion of a strategic equity round of funding led by Optiver to support the launch of MEMX Options in August according to a story in MarketsMedia news. Optiver assumes a MEMX board seat as part of the transaction. Additional firms participating in the round include new investors Belvedere Strategic Capital, LP, Chicago Trading Company, and IMC, as well as existing investors Citadel Securities and Virtu Financial. The creation of MEMX Options was driven by marketplace interest to extend MEMX’s market model to the options community. MEMX will create an...

J.P. Morgan announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Aumni, a leading provider of investment analytics software to the venture capital industry. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed and closing is expected in the first half of 2023 according to a story in MarketsMedia news. Founded in 2018, Aumni’s proprietary data analytics engine structures, tracks and analyzes essential legal and economic terms underpinning growth-stage private market transactions, placing critical portfolio investment terms within users’ easy reach. With a diverse client base...

Nomura’s digital assets subsidiary, Laser Digital, announced a strategic investment in ClearToken, a startup that will introduce a clearing house to the digital asset marketplace, enabling the scale and structure required for mass institutional engagement with digital assets. As part of Laser’s strategic investment, its CEO, Dr. Jez Mohideen, joins the board of ClearToken as a non- executive director. Laser Digital was launched by Nomura to spearhead its digital asset ambitions and is chaired by Steven Ashley, who previously led Nomura’s wholesale division. Headquartered in...

State Street has confirmed it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire outsourced trading firm, CF Global according to a story in The Trade news. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of 2023, subject to closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed. Once completed, the deal will give State Street access to CF Global’s extensive relationships in the space as a segregated outsourced trading entity. State Street currently offers outsourced trading in the Americas, APAC and Middle East and CF Global will extend this remit to the UK and Europe. The deal will also...

The Back Office Committee will have its next call on Tuesday March 21 at 10 am ET to review applicable FICC, DTC, NSCC, SEC, MSRB, OCC, IRS and FINRA updates during the past month.