FIF Back Office Committee - Please find the August Back Office Committee Agenda here. FIF Cybersecurity Working Group - The group discussed a SEC Ransomware Alert, NSA notices on configuring and securing your VPNs, and Zoom cybersecurity concerns. FIF CAT Tech Spec Requirements Working Group - FIF's first Tech Spec call of the week focused on summarizing the FINRA CAT IMTS Working Group meeting, CAIS Reporting, schema limitation, and the natural person customer record count field. The second meeting of the week focused on summarizing the FINRA CAT Industry Member...

Press Release Howard Meyerson to Lead FIF

As a reminder, any CAT Reporting Brokers who have not entered their firms information into the CAT Counterparty Contact Utility should do so as soon as possible. Currently, we have about 200 brokers entered into the system but we have a long way to go until it's a complete list. FIF encourages you to utilize this free tool as it is open to both FIF Member and non-FIF Member alike. Please follow the instructions on this page to enter your firm's information into the Utility. If your firm already entered their information and you would like viewing access of the Utility or if you're unsure if...

FIF SEC Rule 606 Working Group - FIF introduces the new 606 Working Group chairs of Mark Davies (S3) and John Jannes (IHS Markit). The group then moved to review of RB/EB scenarios and issues as well as Q2 606(a) feedback from industry members. Additional topics discussed include IOC orders and Special Handling Conditions. FIF Tax Information Working Group - The group discussed Negative Interest Rates, 1042-S Reporting: Quasi-Intermediaries, and Quick IRS Publication & Guidance Updates. FIF CAT Committee - FIF discussed industry member feedback related to CAT...

Intercontinental Exchange Inc. said in a statement it would acquire mortgage-software firm Ellie Mae. The deal is valued at about $11 billion, including $9.25 billion in newly issued debt and $1.75 billion in stock. It is expected to close in the third or fourth quarter of 2020, pending regulatory approval. Ellie Mae’s technology has been used to help automate the closing of millions of home loans. Based in Pleasanton, Calif., the firm handles the technology that underpins the entire home-loan origination process, and its services are used in particular by loan officers who work at...

Nasdaq and Trumid are collaborating on workflow solutions for Corporate Bond Investors—coupling Trumid’s trading platform with Nasdaq Fixed Income’s technology and real-time execution. According to a story in MarketsMedia news, both companies look to simplify U.S. Treasury hedging for Corporate Bonds by providing a single point of access for credit and rates on Trumid. Nasdaq Fixed Income currently offers a liquidity platform for transacting U.S. Treasuries, operating on the Nasdaq Financial Framework (NFF). Comprised of a matching engine, business functionality and protocol technologies,...

Cboe Global Markets announced it has completed its acquisition of MATCHNow, the largest equities alternative trading system (ATS) in Canada. Toronto-based MATCHNow is a Canadian marketplace that offers execution for institutional, proprietary, and retail orders by combining frequent call matches and continuous execution opportunities in a fully confidential trading book. Founded in 2007, MATCHNow has grown to account for nearly 65 percent of market share in total Canadian dark trading, or approximately 7 percent in total Canadian equities volume. With this acquisition, Cboe gains a foothold...

Liquidnet announced its entry into the debt primary market technology space with an electronic solution focused on the new issue workflow: Liquidnet Debt Capital Markets (DCM). The new offering is scheduled to launch later this year and will be embedded in Liquidnet’s Fixed Income trading platform, bringing together the primary and secondary markets to Liquidnet’s Members. It follows a 2-year validation and workflow design process in close partnership with leading asset managers and syndicate banks across Europe. At launch, Liquidnet DCM will cover new European corporate investment-grade,...

Virtu Financial, Inc. announced the expansion of its global TCA offering with the launch of a new analytics product dedicated to FX algorithmic execution. The new addition to Virtu’s FX TCA offering merges data from three distinct sources: Virtu’s market-making business, Virtu’s global, broker-neutral market impact model: FX Agency Cost Estimator (ACE) and direct connections to bank algo providers on behalf of clients that subscribe to the offering. This combination enables Virtu’s FX TCA for Algo clients to enhance their understanding of algo performance and compare FX algo providers and...