Goldman Sachs said it will buy Dutch insurer NN Group's asset management arm for around 1.7 billion euros ($1.98 billion) in the biggest acquisition by the U.S. company since David Solomon became chief executive in 2018. According to a story in Reuters news, the deal is part of Solomon’s strategy to make the bank’s revenue stream less reliant on earnings from trading and advising on deals. The Wall Street firm wants to bulk up in areas like wealth management and expand its presence in regions outside the United States. NNIP, or NN Investment Partners, has $335 billion in assets under...

Galaxy Digital has teamed up with Bloomberg to launch a new crypto index tied to decentralized finance or DeFi. The new index will track nine DeFi tokens to start, and will also serve as the basis for a new passively-managed fund by Galaxy. In 2018, Bloomberg and Galaxy launched the Bloomberg Crypto Index, comprised of the market's most liquid tokens including bitcoin and ether. Both indexes are owned and administered by Bloomberg, which determines the product's constituent assets.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) will provide trade reporting services to in-scope Singapore firms under the final phase of the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s (MAS) derivatives trade reporting requirements, scheduled to take effect on October 1, 2021. The post-trade market infrastructure said that its Global Trade Repository (GTR) service, working through DTCC Data Repository Singapore (DDRS), is the only service of its kind approved by MAS to operate in Singapore. The final phase of MAS’ Reporting Regulations for OTC derivatives contracts — Phase 4 — marks the last...

Baton Systems, the market solution transforming asset movements and settlements, announced that it has completed connecting to Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), a leading global provider of data, technology, and market infrastructure, making ICE Clear Europe the 5th major global CCP available on the Baton network. All FCMs using Baton will now be able to automate and optimise collateral holdings and expedite the movement of cash and securities with the CCPs of greatest strategic importance to their business. These firms include the world’s largest financial institutions, responsible for...

Exegy Inc. announced the appointment of Craig Schachter as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). In this newly created leadership role, Schachter will be responsible for setting and leading the organization’s global go-to-market strategy and execution, with a focus on superior business outcomes for the customer base. Schachter comes to Exegy with over 25 years of experience as a sales leader in global software, data, and service companies. Prior to joining Exegy, Schachter was responsible for relationship management across SS&C Technologies’ Financial Services Group. He also held senior...

Please join us for part six of our webinar series on the implementation considerations of the SEC Market Data Infrastructure Rule. The sixth webinar of the series will take place on Wednesday, August 18 at 4pm ET. The newest installment of the series will focus on the 311-page order issued by the SEC on August 6, 2021 approving the NMS Governance Plan Regarding Consolidated Equity Market Data, as modified. Invited to speak on this panel are Chris Nielsen of Charles Schwab, Kerry Baker Relf of Refinitiv, John Ramsay of IEX and Tom Jordan, FIF Advisory Chair. After registering, you will be...

Back Office Committee. On August 17th at 11 am ET, a team from DTCC will come on our monthly committee call to present on their Securities Financing Transaction (SFT) Clearing Service. The SFT service provides central clearing for equity lending and borrowing transactions. Data and Technology Committee. On August 18th at 10 am ET, John Ramsay from IEX will come on to discuss changes to IEX’s retail program, which were approved recently by the SEC. IEX will be publishing a retail liquidity indicator on their prop feed and on the tape showing where there is trading interest for at least...

The next meeting of the Rule 606 Working Group is scheduled for Tuesday, August 17, 2021 at 2 pm ET. The Working Group will continue its discussion of look-through for Rule 606 reporting of options routing, including potential meetings with Securities and Exchange Commission personnel to discuss this issue further.

On August 10, 2021, FIF sent a survey to FIF members on Rule 605 for options. This is an opportunity for FIF members to provide input to the SEC before the SEC issues a rule proposal in this area. FIF requests that members provide their survey responses by September 13, 2021. Earlier responses also are welcome. All responses are anonymized.