As part of its tougher stance towards the market and in a follow up to a related “Dear CEO” letter sent out in January (see our coverage 
This week, the UK Financial Services Authority published another “Dear CEO” letter, this time aimed at compelling insurance brokers and investment firms to improve the way they protect client assets, including record keeping considerations. The letter, sent by the FSA’s managing director of risk, Sally Dewar, warns that firms must take heed of the regulator’s client money and custody requirements (CASS) or face further action.
New faces may be appearing at the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) enforcement division, as it swells its ranks to crack down on the financial markets, but familiar faces are also exiting the building. One such exit this month is associate director of the division, Fredric Firestone, who was heavily involved in the Enron case and the prosecutions following the collapse of the auction rate securities (ARS) market.
This week the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has yet again proved that it wants the industry to be afraid, be very afraid. Last year witnessed the appointment of Robert Khuzami as head of its new and improved enforcement division and the regulator has now added yet more members to the cause with the appointment of the leaders of five new specialised units. The agency has also added a new “cooperation initiative” aimed at making it easier for witnesses to give evidence in insider trading cases.
Following the establishment of its new enforcement division earlier this year, this week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has indicated it will be broadening the remit of its insider trading investigations to cover markets beyond equities. The division, which is headed by director Robert Khuzami, will be focusing its investigations on complex instruments such as derivatives as part of the regulatory community’s crackdown on hedge funds.
A-Team Insight Exchange is a new event series for 2010, which will combine A-Team’s expertise in financial markets IT with thought leadership from world-class technology innovators and practical experience from financial market practitioners.
As if it was a warning shot to those dragging their heels in meeting the UK Financial Services Authority’s (FSA) recent call for firms to provide more data about their management of client assets (see our coverage here), the regulator has this week fined JPMorgan Securities Limited £33.32 million for breaches of its client money rules. It is the largest fine ever levied by the FSA and it indicates that the regulator is taking the management of client assets seriously in light of the collapse of financial institutions such as Lehman Brothers and the resulting liquidity issues.
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