Capital Markets Advisors

Dramatic changes in the markets for financial instruments and for services related to those instruments – such as market-making, clearing and settlement, and asset management – are part of an evolutionary process. Adaptability is as much a key to survival on Wall Street as it is in the natural world. But which adaptations have the best chance of success? CMA’s George Bollenbacher explores the lessons we can learn from scientific… Read More »

The new Market Abuse Regulation in Europe includes enhancements that strengthen rules against insider trading and market manipulation, and add provisions to prevent and detect them. While most firms should be well on their way to having systems ready for compliance, firms need to take note of these six major changes in the regulation. We are almost under starter’s orders for compliance with the new Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), which… Read More »

May 8th,2016

Thursday, May 5th, 2016 by GEORGE BOLLENBACHER When the Volcker Rule went into effect in July 2015, it was a significant revolution in the trading practices of US banks. Millions were spent preparing for compliance, and lots more on the new business as usual. Despite all of the effort, however, there are still some aspects that aren’t running smoothly. George Bollenbacher looks at some of those lingering problems and asks… Read More »

Thursday, April 28th, 2016 by GEORGE BOLLENBACHER In the never-ending stream of market regulations coming from the EU, the one that has been overlooked, like a bear in hibernation, is the Securities Financing Transaction Regulation. Its implementation may be a little further off than MiFID II or MAR, but soon enough it will wake up and rear its ugly head. And you don’t want this hungry bear staring at you.… Read More »

Monday, April 18th, 2016 by GEORGE BOLLENBACHER That is the premise of how regulators typically work when it comes to deciding whether to fine a firm for wrongdoing. However, when it comes to new European regulations prohibiting insider trading and market manipulation, that will soon no longer be the case. The new European Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), effective in July, makes the intent to commit insider trading and market manipulation… Read More »

Soft dollars have been a significant contributor to the bottom lines of many investment managers. With the most recent delegated directive under MiFID II, however, European regulators have mandated major changes to the use of soft dollars. While this has been the No. 1 topic of conversation among IMs in Europe, it also has a significant impact on IMs in the US (or anywhere else that allows soft dollars). When… Read More »

Thursday, March 3rd, 2016 by GEORGE BOLLENBACHER   In an earlier article I took a look at an unintended, but very real, conflict between two components of the EU market rule catharsis known as MiFID II/MiFIR – best execution vs pre-trade transparency. Now it’s time to look into another conflict, between best ex and the trading obligation. Let’s start with the rules themselves. Article 27 of MiFID II requires firms… Read More »

Friday, February 26th, 2016 by GEORGE BOLLENBACHER   Regulators have cast a rather harsh spotlight on the practice of ‘last look’ in the FX. So what does the future hold for last look. If it survives at all, you can be sure it will look and act very differently than it has in the past, says Capital Markets Advisors’ George Bollenbacher. Several developments on the legal front over the past… Read More »

Although a lot of ink has been spilled, and a lot of money spent, on getting ready for MiFID II, there is another regulation out there that is actually more dangerous, the EU’s Market Abuse Regulation, or MAR. Along with its sibling, the Market Abuse Directive, or MAD, they pose a double threat to market participants worldwide. The first threat has to do with timing. Although MiFID II is currently… Read More »