Front Office Committee. On February 23, Mark Schaedel of Vondelpark Capital will discuss recent efforts to introduce a consolidated tape in Europe. Tax Information Reporting Working Group. On February 23, Andrew Bernknopf, Partner at the De Castro West law firm, will discuss Taxation of Partnership Equity Compensation and Carried Interests. Data and Technology Working Group. On February 24, Sean Spector of IEX will review an analysis of the performance impact of using minimum quantity on the IEX exchange.

On February 19, 2021, FIF submitted a comment letter to FINRA in response to FINRA’s request for comment on Enhancements to TRACE Reporting for U.S. Treasury Securities. The content of the comment letter is based on feedback from participants of the FIF TRACE Working Group. FIF would like to thank the members of the TRACE Working Group for participating in the Working Group discussions and providing their input on the comment letter. During March, the TRACE Working Group will continue to focus on a rule proposal by the Federal Reserve to expand TRACE reporting for Treasuries and agencies...

During October 2018, FIF Members presented recommendations to the SEC staff for the modernization of Rule 605. These recommendations, which were developed through the FIF Rule 605 Working Group, were focused on updating Rule 605 to reflect market changes since the adoption of Rule 605 in 2000.  More recently, various FIF members have requested that FIF reconvene the Rule 605 Working Group to review and update these recommendations to re-present to the SEC staff during 2021. FIF has scheduled an initial call for this Working Group for February 25 at 11 am ET. If you are not a member of...

At the request of FIF Members, FIF is creating a Working Group to focus on short sale interpretive and operational questions and potential enhancements to Regulation SHO. In order to join this group, update your subscriptions on your profile here: https://fif.com/index.php/profile  If you're having trouble, or forgot your password, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for assistance. 

On February 19, FIF members participated on a call with FINRA CAT and the Plan Participants to discuss CAIS reporting for non-US persons.

Cboe Global Markets announced plans to enable its electronic auction mechanism to further serve market participants trading S&P 500 Index options (SPX) and S&P 500 Index Weeklys options (SPXW) on Cboe Options Exchange, beginning Monday, February 22. Striving to meet the growing demand from sophisticated retail investors seeking to trade smaller-sized orders, Cboe plans to activate its electronic crossing auction functionality, AIM (Automated Improvement Mechanism), for SPX and SPXW options during regular trading hours for trades up to a maximum size of 10 contracts....

Refinitiv announced the launch of MarketPsych ESG Analytics, a new analytics tool to provide numerical ESG insights on companies and countries based on news and social media monitoring. To monitor perceptions of sustainability and ESG risk, Refinitiv and MarketPsych have partnered to create a multidimensional ESG analytics offering.  Refinitiv MarketPsych ESG Analytics complements Refinitiv’s existing ESG data by offering an external “outside-in” perspective on a company or country’s sustainability by processing millions of global articles and social media posts in near real-time. The...

Goldman Sachs unveiled Marcus Invest, a low-cost digital platform that allocates and automatically rebalances individuals’ wealth across portfolios of stocks and bonds based on the models developed by the firm’s investment-strategy committee. Marcus Invest will be tucked into Goldman’s existing Marcus consumer-banking app and website. The offering will help round out a set of Goldman banking products, which include savings accounts, unsecured personal loans and budgeting software that carry the Marcus brand and a credit card with AppleInc. that doesn’t. With Marcus Invest and...

Diginex Limited, a digital assets financial services company, and Itiviti, a technology and service provider to financial institutions worldwide, announced the launch of ‘Access’, a front-to-back trading, portfolio, and risk management solution that enables the trading of cryptocurrencies and crypto derivatives across several platforms.  Access is powered by Itiviti’s Tbricks, a trade automation technology and infrastructure. Access provides investors with an aggregated order book across exchanges, and the ability to ensure best execution across their previously disparate...