HSBC and Wells Fargo have begun using a blockchain platform to settle bilateral foreign currency (FX) trades in the latest sign of how technology which underpins crypto assets is spreading to more mainstream activities. According to a story in Reuters news, the world’s first interbank Payment vs Payment (PvP) settlement outside of CLS has been completed by HSBC and Wells Fargo using Baton Systems’ Core-FX solution, built on Baton’s distributed ledger technology (DLT). Baton’s PvP solution gives market participants direct control of their settlement cycles and streamline workflows for...

FIF has set up a new Securities Lending Transparency Working Group. This Working Group will discuss and prepare a comment letter on the SEC’s November 18 rule proposal to create a new reporting system for securities lending. The reporting system, as proposed by the SEC, will apply to equities and bonds, including corporates, Treasuries, Agencies, asset and mortgage-backed securities, and municipal bonds. The next meeting for this Working Group is scheduled for Thursday December 16 at 11am ET. To subscribe to this group, please either update your profile or email us at This email address is...

Professor Jim Angel of the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business has graciously invited  the members of the FIF Securities Lending Transparency Working Group to a webinar hosted by the Georgetown University Center for Financial Markets and Policy on the SEC’s proposal for securities lending. The webinar will take place on Friday December 17 from 12-1 pm ET. To subscribe to the FIF Securities Lending Transparency Working Group, please either update your profile or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view...

The FIF Front Office Committee will meet on Tuesday, December 14 at 11 am et to review applicable updates and notices from the SEC, FINRA, FINRA CAT and the equity and option exchanges.

On Wednesday December 15 at 10am ET, Alaina R. Clark, Assistant Director for Stakeholder Engagement at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), will present to a joint call of the FIF Cybersecurity and Compliance Working Groups. CISA is an agency of the Department of Homeland Security. Ms. Clark will discuss the role and functions of CISA, CISA’s current areas of focus, recommendations for industry members on cybersecurity processes and management and reporting of cybersecurity incidents, and opportunities for enhanced cooperation between the industry and federal...

On November 23, 2021, FINRA filed SR-FINRA-2021-029 with the SEC, “Proposed Rule Change to Amend FINRA Rule 6732 (Exemption from Trade Reporting Obligation for Certain Transactions on an Alternative Trading System)”. On December 1, 2021, FINRA filed SR-FINRA-2021-030 with the SEC, “Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change to Amend FINRA Rule 6730 to Require Members to Append Modifiers to Delayed Treasury Spot and Portfolio Trades When Reporting to TRACE.” FIF has scheduled the next call for the TRACE Working Group for Tuesday December 14 at 2pm ET to continue the Working Group discussion of...

On December 7, 2021, FIF submitted to FINRA additional requests from FIF members for interpretive guidance relating to the Supplemental Liquidity Schedule (SLS) recently adopted by FINRA (see FINRA Regulatory Notice 21-31). The SLS takes effect on March 1, 2022. If you are interested in participating in discussions with other FIF members on this topic, please send a note to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Last week FIF held it's annual Year-End CAT Webinar. FIF Advisory Chair, Tom Jordan, moderated a strong panel where we took a look back to the retirement of OATS, important accomplishments in CAT for 2021 and we looked ahead to the major CAT initiatives of 2022 and beyond. Panelists included Shelly Bohlin of FINRA CAT, Jon Kroeper of FINRA, Will Leahey of Refinitiv and Mitvin Shah of Societe Generale. If you are a FIF Member and you missed the webinar, you may request a recording at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Back Office Committee. The FIF Back Office Committee met on December 7 to review applicable FICC, DTC, NSCC, SEC, MSRB, OCC, IRS and FINRA updates during the past month. Please find this months agenda here. FIF CAT Tech Specs Working Group. The CAT Tech Specs Working Group reviewed updated FAQs from FINRA CAT relating to modification and cancel requests and linkage of representative and customer orders. The Working Group discussed issues and questions from FIF members relating to Multi-Leg option order scenarios and the timestamp for route, route modification and route cancel supplement...