The next meeting for the FIF Rule 605 Working Group will be held on April 1 at 10 am. The Working Group will continue to discuss FIF member recommendations for modernizing the current Rule 605. The Working Group also will continue discussion of potential expansion of Rule 605 reporting to include options, OTC equities, broker-level disclosure and trade-level disclosure. If you are not a member of the Rule 605 Working Group and would like to join, update your working group subscriptions in your profile here: https://fif.com/index.php/profile. If you're having trouble, or forgot...

On March 23, the FIF CAIS Working Group Co-Chairs will participate on a call with FINRA CAT to get clarification on an industry survey from the CAT Plan Participants relating to authorized traders. On March 25, members of the FIF CAIS Working Group will participate on a call with FINRA CAT to discuss the CAIS feedback process.

At the request of FIF members, FIF has scheduled a call for March 26 to discuss industry best practices on trade confirmation language for repos executed at a spread to the SOFR rate (Secured Overnight Financing Rate). If you are interested in participating on the call, please send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

FIF CAT Tech Specs Working Group. The CAT Tech Specs Working Group reviewed draft comments and questions for FINRA CAT relating to partial cancels, the OFF handlingInstruction, intra-day symbol files, and an error scenario where the introducing broker is not subject to OATS reporting. FIF submitted these comments and questions to FINRA CAT.  The Working Group discussed issues and questions raised by FIF members relating to AWS connectivity, Phase 2f items and the YP representativeInd value. The Working Group commenced and completed a review of the FINRA CAT March 5 updates to the...

Morgan Stanley is set to become the first major American bank to offer its wealth management clients access to bitcoin funds, CNBC reported. This will allow certain clients ownership of the cryptocurrency. The investment bank told its financial advisors in an internal memo about its plan to launch three funds. Two will be run by Galaxy Digital, the crypto firm founded by Mike Novogratz, while one will be jointly managed by FS Investments, an asset manager, and NYDIG, a bitcoin company. Morgan Stanley is the first among the six biggest US banks to offer their clients access to...

PureStream Trading Technologies Inc announced it has selected Nasdaq to power its new PureStream alternative trading system (ATS) via the Nasdaq Execution Platform. PureStream, is on target for a Q2 2021 launch, subject to U.S. regulatory approvals. As part of the agreement, Nasdaq will fully host the PureStream ATS on its Nasdaq Execution Platform, including managing system operations, as well as portions of risk controls, venue surveillance, trade reporting and clearing facilitation. The technology enables flexibility and provides PureStream the ability to integrate...

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. is investing in a cryptocurrency startup, the latest move by a traditional Wall Street player to embrace digital assets. The startup, Fireblocks, builds tools for the secure storage and transfer of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. BNY Mellon plans to use Fireblocks’s technology to underpin a new business that the bank unveiled last month, in which it plans to serve as a custodian for digital assets on behalf of institutional investors. Fireblocks has developed what is effectively a safe-deposit box for cryptocurrencies, along with a...

MATCHNow, the Canadian equities alternative trading system, will migrate to Cboe Global Markets’ technology in February 2022 following its acquisition by the US exchange group last year. Cboe completed its purchase of Toronto-based MATCHNow in August 2020, who it said accounted for nearly 65% of market share in total Canadian dark trading. Bryan Blake, vice president and head of Canadian equities at Cboe, said in a Markets Media news story that since the acquisition closed, time has been spent integrating teams and core functions such as legal, compliance, human resources and marketing....

BXS announced a company rebranding complete with launches of a revamped website and product platform. Both the website and platform feature a sleek, modern design that illustrates the power of the firm’s solutions, providing clients with a more visually appealing and intuitive experience while supporting the robust functionalities they rely on. BXS (formerly Best Execution Solutions) offers a diverse suite of products that broker-dealers, buy-side firms and market centers leverage to meet a range of compliance obligations and realize an array of business benefits. Products...