A-Team Insight Author: Jeri-Anne McKeon
SEC Proposes New Transfer Agent Rules to Allow DLTs to Host Official Ownership Records
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has continued its push to accommodate digital assets and DLT platforms within the legal framework for securities trading with a proposal that formally allows for DLT platforms to be used by transfer agents as a primary record keeper. The proposal represents a plan for the first major overhaul...
Archax Launches US Digital Broker-Dealer; Taps tZERO for Custody, Clearing and Secondary Trading
Archax Group, which already operates a regulated digital asset platform in the UK and EU, has received approval from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), completing its registration as a US digital broker-dealer with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It has also arranged for tZERO Group units to give Archax clients access to a...
Rush to Build AI into Risk Models Creating Dangerous Capability ‘Gaps’
Asset managers may be exposing themselves to operational vulnerabilities as they rapidly integrate artificial intelligence and agents into their risk management systems, often without first ensuring trust in the data that will feed the models. A survey found that three-quarters of 178 senior investment leaders questioned said they expect the pace of AI and agents...
Data Quality Meaning and Importance Transformed by AI: DMS NYC Preview
The data management space has been transformed by artificial intelligence into one that not only seeks to prise maximum value from institutions’ data but also spends almost as much resource ensuring the quality of that information. Without optimised data, the AI and agentic tools to which it is deployed will churn out sub-optimal results. It’s...
Thanks to LayerZero, Tether Extends Reach with Stellar. Stellar Benefits Now; More Chains to Follow?
Via an integration developed by LayerZero Labs, Tether – the world’s most popular stablecoin – is now available on the Stellar blockchain. While adding Stellar represents an immediate significant addition to Tether’s USDT reach, by leveraging LayerZero’s Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) standard, in the future, extending Tether to other blockchains theoretically requires little effort. Before...
The New Demands on Fixed Income Pricing Infrastructure
Fixed income pricing has always involved making sense of imperfect information. Liquidity is fragmented, many instruments trade infrequently and establishing fair value can require considerably more judgement than in more transparent markets. But the demands being placed on pricing and valuation infrastructure are changing. Firms increasingly need valuations that are not only accurate, but timely,...
How QuantumStreet AI Tackles the Journey From Signal to Portfolio
AI is becoming increasingly sophisticated at identifying patterns and generating investment signals from disparate sources of financial and market data. But for systematic investors, those signals still have to be converted into something much more concrete: a portfolio that determines which assets to hold, in what proportions, and with what degree of conviction. Doing that...
FCA Misconduct Rules Put Surveillance Evidence and HR–Compliance Workflows to the Test
The Financial Conduct Authority’s expanded non-financial misconduct rules took effect on 1 September, bringing around 37,000 non-bank firms within a broader conduct regime. Firms now need to show how complaints, communications evidence and employment investigations inform regulatory decisions. New rule COCON 1.1.7FR covers serious work-related bullying, harassment and violence towards colleagues. It brings non-bank firms...
SEC Crypto Proposal Opens a New Funding Route and a New Compliance Cycle
The SEC is proposing new fundraising rules for crypto projects that sell tokens while building a blockchain network or application. Regulation Crypto Assets would allow qualifying developers to raise capital from a broad investor base and support secondary trading through tailored exemptions from Securities Act registration. However, these new freedoms come with additional regulatory burdens....
Moving Up the Value Chain: 3AI on AI, Alternative Data and Investment Intelligence
Traditional financial and market information now sits alongside news, sentiment, analyst estimates and a growing universe of alternative datasets, creating an increasingly rich information environment for investment firms. But access to more data doesn’t necessarily translate into better investment decisions. Firms still have to establish which information has genuine predictive value, turn disparate datasets into...