MiFID ESG Requirements go Live, Compliance Caution Urged

The ESG reporting requirement under the amended Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) came into effect this week, with warnings from some market participants that the new regulation would add more costs and challenges to compliance teams. Financial infrastructure and data provider SIX, however, said the obligations needn’t overwhelm firms.

“Regulatory complacency is unwise for firms at this time, as the introduction of additional ESG requirements could add ongoing MiFID compliance issues. However, much of the sustainability data and criteria needed to comply with the suitability requirements under the MiFID II update is the same as that housed already for the EU SFDR and the Green Taxonomy,” said Janine Hofer-Wittwer, Senior Product Manager of Financial Information at SIX. “For market participants, the goal is to work with data providers able to source and distil the data and provide it in a way that is easy to implement, minimising the lift needed for the latest and future ESG regulatory requirements.”

Many Firms Are Not Data-Ready for SFDR Level 2

Many financial institutions have yet to grasp the data implications of the European Union’s ESG reporting regulations, while others are scrambling to put in place processes to comply with the developing set of disclosure rules. Read the full story on ESG Insight here.

Many Firms Are Not Data-Ready for SFDR Level 2

Many financial institutions have yet to grasp the data implications of the European Union’s ESG reporting regulations, while others are scrambling to put in place processes to comply with the developing set of disclosure rules. Read the full story on ESG Insight here.

RiskBusiness Acquires Gold Operational Loss Database

RiskBusiness Services has acquired the Global Operational Loss Database (Gold) from partner UK Finance, the former British Bankers Association (BBA). RiskBusiness, a UK-based provider of SaaS-based compliance solutions, plans to offer the Gold database to allow firms to benchmark and measure their exposures to operational risk.

Mike Finlay, CEO and Chief Product Architect, RiskBusiness, says: “As the regulatory community have recognised that theoretical capital calculation models do not, in of themselves, reduce a firm’s exposure to operational risk, so have firms recognized that there are other uses for external loss data than just for capital modelling purposes. If a firm wishes to manage operational or non-financial risk within its risk appetite, then it needs to be able to benchmark and measure itself against its peers in the industry. Gold by RiskBusiness provides exactly the necessary, high quality, external dataset to facilitate proactive risk management, benchmarking and informed decision making.”

Euroclear to Use Taskize for CSDR Penalty Appeals

Euroclear is expanding its use of Taskize’s collaboration tools as the preferred channel for its 2,000+ members to appeal penalties at both the International Central Securities Depository (ICSD) and its domestic CSDs, under the upcoming CSDR Settlement Discipline Regime. Using a Taskize Bubble that has been specifically built around a penalty appeal template, Euroclear members will have a single digital channel to manage the penalties and appeals process.

Trade Surveillance Hindered by Fragmented Systems, VoxSmart Study Finds

Almost 70% of financial institutions believe that fragmentation of their approach due to siloed surveillance systems increases the risk of market abuse, according to a VoxSmart survey of almost 80 investment banks, brokers, and investment managers. The findings come as the potential for market abuse continues to accelerate globally as financial institutions continue to adjust to the new hybrid working world, according to the company.

BNP Paribas Adds IHS Markit as Calculator for Uncleared Margin Rules

BNP Paribas Securities Services has added IHS Markit as an initial margin calculation source to its existing service for clients that are in-scope for Uncleared Margin Rules (UMR) in derivatives markets. The expanded collaboration complements the valuations services that IHS Markit has provided BNP Paribas Securities Services since 2012. BNP Paribas offers a full end-to-end solution for Regulatory Initial Margin (IM) with IM Calculation, Exposure Management and IM Segregation in Triparty.

BidFX Links to Osttra for FX Clearing Under UMR Phase 6

BidFX, a provider of cloud-based foreign exchange trading solutions, has integrated Osttra’s clearing connectivity service, allowing investment managers to submit trades directly to leading CCPs. The development, which gives BidFX clients wishing to clear trades access to an established community of more than 30 executing bank clearing counterparties, is aimed at helping investment managers who choose to clear more of their FX flow under Phase 6 of the Uncleared Margin Rules (UMR), which comes into force in September. Osttra is a joint venture between IHS Markit and CME Group and combines the MarkitServ, Traiana, TriOptima and Reset businesses.

SteelEye Gains SOC 2 Certification

Compliance and data analytics provider SteelEye has secured System and Organisation Controls (SOC) 2 certification. Defined by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), and covering the principles of Security, Availability, Confidentiality, Processing Integrity and Privacy, SOC 2 assesses firms’ safeguarding of customer data. The accreditation underpins SteelEye’s efforts to ensure robust data security.

Dow Jones Launches New ESG Data Service Covering 6,000 Companies

Dow Jones has begun offering sustainability scores on 6,000 companies in data sets that are aligned with Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards. The new service combines company-disclosed information and sentiment scores gathered from global news outlets. Companies assessed will be gauged across 26 sustainability categories and the data backtested an analysed using machine learning, the New York-based financial markets and information provider said.