On March 29, FIF held a webinar on the Market Data Infrastructure Rule. Tom Jordan, FIF Advisory Chair, moderated a panel of industry experts that included Adrian Griffiths of MEMX, Manisha Kimmel of MayStreet and Chris Nielsen of Charles Schwab. The webinar included discussions on the February 24 SEC response to the participant’s November 5 filing, additional comment letters submitted to the SEC, and thoughts on the way forward. The panel also discussed the Plan Governance and lawsuits status. If you were not able to attend this webinar and would like to watch the recording, you may...

The CAT Monthly Update Working Group will meet on Thursday April 7 at 2pm ET to review guidance and updates from the SROs and FINRA CAT on CAT transaction reporting and CAT CAIS reporting during the prior month. The Working Group also will review the current areas of focus for FIF members and the current open issues for CAT transaction reporting and CAT CAIS reporting.

FIF Data and Technology Committee. The FIF Data and Technology Committee reviewed capacity, latency and volume data for the prior month for the equity, options, currency, crypto and futures markets. The spotlight presenter for the meeting was Lain Garrett, who discussed Cboe’s fixed income initiatives. Please find the meeting materials here and the full capacity statistics report here. FIF Tax Information Reporting Working Group. The FIX Tax Information Reporting Working Group met this past week. The spotlight presenters for the meeting were Stevie Conlon, Kristofer Thompson, Anna Vayser...

Intercontinental Exchange announced that it plans to launch its first mortgage futures contracts on June 13, 2022, subject to regulatory approval. The two futures contracts will be cash-settled and based on the ICE U.S. Conforming 30-year Fixed Mortgage Rate Lock Index and the ICE U.S. Jumbo 30-year Fixed Mortgage Rate Lock Index. The indices are published daily and track U.S. residential mortgage loan applications where borrowers and lenders have committed to lock-in the interest rate prior to closing. By being underpinned by primary market rates, the futures contracts offer investors a...

UBS, Envestnet, and iCapital1 announced that the Alternatives Exchange is now live, providing private market investment opportunities to Envestnet’s client base with more than 35 funds available from managers across geographies and strategies. According to a story in Markets Media news, users of Envestnet’s Alternatives Exchange will now also have access to the AltsEdge™ Certificate Program, the educational initiative jointly created by iCapital and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) Association to help advisors build their knowledge of the alternative investment...

Abel Noser Solutions announced that Abel Noser has teamed up with Neovest to create specialized analytics reporting offering for clients and clients’ affiliates. The service provides traders, portfolio managers and brokers comprehensive summaries, enhanced analytics reports to aid best execution review and analysis, fill-level review including broker/venue analysis, and commission comparisons along with execution consulting. Neovest, a global, multi-asset order and execution management system, will now offer its clients access to Abel Noser’s integrated analytics suite of...

Goldman Sachs has agreed to acquire NextCapital, a Chicago-based fintech firm that provides automated advice to corporate retirement plan participants. The bank said in a release that the deal, the terms of which were not disclosed, will be completed in the second half of this year. The acquisition ranks among the top five asset management deals Goldman has done, according to the Financial Times. Goldman and rivals are jockeying to deepen relationships with key cohorts like corporate employees and diversify revenue by bulking up in money management, which is typically a steadier revenue...

Part 8 of the FIF webinar series on the Market Data Infrastructure Rule will take place on March 29 at 4pm ET. Tom Jordan, FIF Advisory Chair, will moderate a panel of industry experts that includes Adrian Griffiths of MEMX, Manisha Kimmel of MayStreet and Chris Nielsen of Charles Schwab. The agenda will include discussions on the February 24 SEC response to the participant’s November 5 filing, additional comment letters submitted to the SEC, and thoughts on the way forward from here. The panel will also discuss the Plan Governance and lawsuits status. Please follow the link here to...

The FIF Short Sales/Reg SHO/Short Interest Reporting Working Group will meet on Tuesday March 29 at 3pm ET to review and provide feedback on a first draft of a comment letter on the SEC’s recent proposal to mandate a new buy to cover order marker. The Working Group also will discuss other issues raised by the SEC’s recent rule proposal on Short Position and Short Activity Reporting by Institutional Investment Managers. The Working Group also will discuss questions raised by FIF members relating to Reg SHO.