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Thursday, May 2, 2024
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DTCC Identifies Key Systemic Threats for Risk Managers

By
Anna Lyudvig
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New fintech innovations like distributed ledger technology (DLT), and the growth of cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly interconnected with other parts of the financial ecosystem, according to the DTCC.

In its latest white paper, The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) has highlighted key risks that deserve close attention as firms navigate a global financial industry that is increasingly intertwined. 

The nature of risk continues to evolve and black swan events occur with greater frequency, the DTCC said.

The white paper, Interconnectedness Revisited, details a key set of significant recent developments that require heightened scrutiny among risk managers.

In addition to new fintech innovations, these developments include greater cross-border financial exposures that make countries that rely heavily on foreign capital more vulnerable to systemic shocks; the industry’s increased reliance on third-party vendors and the rise in the volume and sophistication of cyberattacks exacerbates operational risk challenges; and the growing importance of Non-Bank Financial Intermediation (NBFI) that represents yet another channel of risk transmission.

Michael Leibrock

Michael Leibrock, DTCC Managing Director and Chief Systemic Risk Officer, said that an interconnected ecosystem is both beneficial and challenging.

“While interconnections can provide firms operational efficiencies and other benefits, it’s important to recognize that they may also pose certain risks. Given the increasing complexity of the global financial system, it is more crucial than ever that firms continue to evolve their approach to managing risk, ensuring they’re taking a holistic, comprehensive view of all the relevant factors,” he said.

The paper also notes that Financial Market Infrastructures (FMIs) face their own set of unique risk management challenges, especially given that they are interconnected with the financial ecosystem in various ways. 

To reduce these risks, DTCC has taken initiatives including: implementing agreements between DTCC’s clearing agencies and other FMIs to reduce the risk associated with a common member’s insolvency; establishing a cross-functional initiative to address risks related to interconnected entities; and developing a comprehensive framework to identify, monitor and manage risks posed by links between clearing agencies, financial market utilities or trading venues.

“Staying on top of emerging threats requires constant vigilance,” commented Adrien Vanderlinden, DTCC Systemic Risk Executive. 

“Firms should adopt a multi-disciplinary approach that leverages insights from a diverse group of subject matter experts while ensuring close coordination between stakeholders. In support of this, we invite clients, market participants, and members of the industry to share comments and feedback with us to foster collaboration and information sharing, which are critical in a complex risk environment,” he added.

The new paper builds on DTCC’s 2015 whitepaper, Understanding Interconnectedness Risks. 

In that paper, DTCC identified the need for risk managers to view the global financial system as a complex network of interdependent factors, while noting that the failure of a single, large entity could cause worldwide financial instability.

Wellington Management Joins FINOS as a Platinum Member

By
Editorial Staff
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Wellington Management, one of the world’s largest independent investment management firms, has joined The Fintech Open Source Foundation (FINOS) as its newest Platinum member. 

In addition, Wellington’s Co-Head, Technology, Madeleine Dassule will join the FINOS board of directors. 

Gabriele Columbro

This membership highlights the value and long-term benefits that open source collaboration brings to buy-side firms, with FINOS being recognized as the neutral umbrella for all industry constituents of the financial services ecosystem to leverage and contribute to open source technology.

“On an industry-wide scale, we are seeing an increased diversity of organizations joining the open source movement and playing an instrumental role in driving innovation throughout the ecosystem,” said Gabriele Columbro, Executive Director of FINOS. 

“The engagement and open collaboration of buy-side firms and adoption of FINOS’ open standards drives fundamental technology principles, enhancing interoperability across the industry. The impact of transformation through open source continues to be measured by the global recognition of value among leading institutions.”

Among the Diversification of FINOS Members, Buy-Side Participation in Open Source Bolsters Value Across the Ecosystem

Year after year, FINOS continues to expand the diversity of its corporate members, now showcasing the recognition of value in open source among leading buy-side institutions, including large asset managers and hedge funds. The addition of Wellington as a Platinum member empowers the drive of technology standards in critical areas, such as interoperability with the sell side and industry-wide data. Leveraging the power of open source technology through projects contributed to FINOS, like FDC3 and Legend, buy-side institutions enable direct connectivity with their counterparts and reduce vendor lock-in.

“As we come together to tackle common technology challenges our industry faces such as application interoperability, we empower our clients and counterparties to manage workflows and establish connectivity better and faster,” said Dov Katz, a Distinguished Engineer and Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and Member of the FINOS Governing Board. “With buy- side firms like Wellington joining FINOS, we are further strengthening the ecosystem and harnessing the benefits from frameworks such as FDC3 to achieve our vision of continuous innovation to drive open standards and effective collaboration.”

“Buy-side participation in the open source movement plays a pivotal role in establishing vendor-neutral collaboration with sell-side conglomerates,” said Kim Prado of The Bank of Montreal, and Vice Chair of the FINOS Governing Board. “Through projects like FDC3, Wellington and other firms support the development of unified industry congruence. The addition of Madeleine to the FINOS Governing Board aids in addressing key challenges facing financial services.”

Newest FINOS Platinum Board Member Reinforces the Value of Open Source to Investment Management

Wellington’s Madeleine Dassule, Co-Head, Technology, joins the FINOS board of directors. Dassule assumes her role with the goal of leveraging the power of FINOS’ open source projects. As Platinum representative on the FINOS Governing Board, Dassule represents the buy-side of the ecosystem influencing the direction of the foundation to deliver tangible business value to her respective industry and closely related counterparts.

“As our bank partners continue to innovate and introduce rich sets of data and analytics, we are eager to integrate these valuable insights into our portfolio construction and risk transfer processes,” said Dassule. “Advancement in desktop integration and interoperability will allow our investors and traders to leverage these tools in a manner that is frictionless and compatible with their existing workflows. We are excited to collaborate with the industry to further provide investment excellence to our clients.”

“The FINOS technology standards developed by the FDC3 community create opportunities for banks to collaborate with clients to improve their overall experience. Citi and Wellington recently completed a proof of concept that successfully integrated an analytics function in CitiVelocity alongside Wellington Management’s proprietary company and security level investor tools,” said Biswarup Chatterjee, Head of Innovation, Global Markets at Citi.

To learn more about joining FINOS as a member, visit the Membership Benefits page. Interested in learning about our buy-side initiatives? Email us about our next buy-side roundtable.

Source: FINOS

CME Group Reports April 2022 Monthly Market Statistics

By
Press Release
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CME Group, the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, has reported its April 2022 market statistics, showing average daily volume (ADV) increased 26% to 20.8 million contracts during the month. Market statistics are available in greater detail at https://cmegroupinc.gcs-web.com/monthly-volume.

April 2022 ADV across asset classes includes:

Additional April 2022 product highlights compared to April 2021 include:

  • Equity Index ADV increased 42%
    • Record E-mini Nasdaq-100 options ADV of 47,289 contracts
    • E-mini S&P 500 options ADV increased 106%
    • Micro E-mini Dow Jones futures ADV increased 73%
    • Micro E-mini S&P 500 futures ADV increased 51%
    • Micro E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures ADV increased 50%
    • E-mini Nasdaq-100 futures ADV increased 28%
    • E-mini Russell 2000 futures ADV increased 23%
  • Interest Rate ADV increased 36%
    • Record SOFR options ADV of 75,578 contracts, including a single-day trading volume record of 222,725 contracts on April 21 and record OI of 1,913,370 contracts on April 29
    • Record SOFR futures OI of 5,202,488 on April 29
    • SOFR futures daily volume surpassed Eurodollar futures for the first time ever on April 19, trading 1,371,506 contracts compared to 1,333,633 Eurodollar futures contracts
    • 30-Day Fed Fund futures ADV increased 227%
    • 2-Year U.S. Treasury Note futures ADV increased 139%
    • 5-Year U.S. Treasury Note futures ADV increased 54%
    • Ultra 10-Year U.S. Treasury Note futures ADV increased 34%
    • U.S. Treasury Bond options ADV increased 24%
  • Options ADV increased 24%
    • Equity Index options ADV increased 105%
    • Foreign Exchange options ADV increased 69%
    • Energy options ADV increased 35%
    • Metals options ADV increased 29%
    • Interest Rate options ADV increased 5%
  • Foreign Exchange ADV increased 21%
  • Energy ADV increased 5%
    • Natural Gas options ADV increased 94%
    • Natural Gas futures ADV increased 37%
    • E-mini Crude Oil futures ADV increased 28%
  • Ether futures ADV increased 74%
  • Micro Products ADV
    • Micro E-mini Equity Index futures and options ADV of 2.8 million contracts represented 41.8% of overall Equity Index ADV, Micro WTI Crude Oil futures accounted for 6.2% of overall Energy ADV, Micro Ether futures accounted for 0.3% of overall Equity Index ADV and Micro Bitcoin futures accounted for 0.2% of overall Equity Index ADV
  • ADV outside the United States increased 16% to 5.5 million contracts, including 54% growth in Latin America, 34% in APAC and 8% in EMEA
  • BrokerTec U.S. Treasury average daily notional value (ADNV) increased 41% to $143B, U.S. Repo ADNV increased 35% to $288B and European Repo ADNV increased 13% to €334B
  • EBS Spot FX ADNV increased 8% to $66B

As the world’s leading derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) enables clients to trade futures, options, cash and OTC markets, optimize portfolios, and analyze data – empowering market participants worldwide to efficiently manage risk and capture opportunities. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals.  The company offers futures and options on futures trading through the CME Globex® platform, fixed income trading via BrokerTec and foreign exchange trading on the EBS platform. In addition, it operates one of the world’s leading central counterparty clearing providers, CME Clearing.

CME Group, the Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Globex, and, E-mini are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  CBOT and Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc.  NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc.  COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc. BrokerTec and EBS are trademarks of BrokerTec Europe LTD and EBS Group LTD, respectively. Dow Jones, Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and S&P are service and/or trademarks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC, Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC and S&P/Dow Jones Indices LLC, as the case may be, and have been licensed for use by Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 

SOURCE: CME Group

OCC April 2022 Total Volume Becomes Highest April on Record

By
Press Release
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CHICAGO (May 3, 2022) — OCC, the world’s largest equity derivatives clearing organization, announced today that year-to-date average daily volume through April 2022 was 41.8 million contracts, up 4.2 percent compared to year-to-date average daily volume through April 2021. Total volume was 782.8 million contracts, up 9.4% compared to April 2021.

Highlights

  • Total cleared contract volume (782.8 million) highest on record for month of April
  • ETF options cleared contract volume up 55.4% year-over-year
  • Stock Loan transaction volume up 33.9% year-over-year
Source: OCC

Additional Data

About OCC

The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC), named Risk Magazine’s 2022 Clearing House of the Year, is the world’s largest equity derivatives clearing organization. Founded in 1973, OCC is dedicated to promoting stability and market integrity by delivering clearing and settlement services for options, futures and securities lending transactions. As a Systemically Important Financial Market Utility (SIFMU), OCC operates under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. OCC has more than 100 clearing members and provides central counterparty (CCP) clearing and settlement services to 19 exchanges and trading platforms. More information about OCC is available at www.theocc.com.

Source: OCC

OMWI Reports Highlight Progress in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

By
Press Release
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As part of its continuing efforts to educate regulated entities on the benefits and importance of sharing self-assessments of their diversity policies and practices, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a Diversity Assessment Report today that analyzes information received from regulated entities in response to OMWI’s 2020 invitation to conduct and submit voluntary self-assessments of their diversity policies and practices.

Although there has been an incremental increase in participation of voluntary self-assessments by SEC-regulated entities since the SEC began collecting voluntary self-assessments in 2018, the SEC continues to focus on encouraging SEC-regulated entities to conduct and share self-assessments of their diversity policies and practices with the SEC.

“The Diversity Assessment Report provides a starting point for regulated entities to set, track and meet diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. It also provides a framework for self-reflection, and allows us to engage regulated entities in a deeper analysis and understanding of the leading practices and policies for advancing workforce and supplier diversity,” said Pamela Gibbs, the SEC’s Director of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI).

The 2020 Diversity Assessment Report noted accomplishments with regard to diversity efforts among the entities that submitted responses to the voluntary self-assessment. Notable highlights include:

  • 87% have a diversity and inclusion policy;
  • 70% take proactive steps to promote a diverse pool of candidates when selecting members of their board of directors or other governing body;
  • 88% publish information about their diversity and inclusion efforts on their website;
  • 62% include the progress they have made toward achieving diversity and inclusion in their workforce; and
  • 55% maintain a list of qualified minority-owned and women-owned businesses that may compete for upcoming contracting opportunities.

But the report also noted that the vast majority of regulated entities did not submit self-assessments of their diversity policies and practices. More participation is necessary to collect the greater depth of knowledge and information for a more comprehensive understanding of practices and policies for workforce and supplier diversity in the financial securities industry.

Gibbs said, “Increasing workplace diversity and inclusion benefits all employees, and self-assessments provide a starting point for how to set and track financial industry goals. By providing this framework for self-reflection, we engage regulated entities in a deeper analysis and understanding of the leading practices and policies for advancing workforce and supplier diversity. But to effectively help them achieve their diversity and inclusion objectives, we need greater participation in this self-assessment process.”

More information about the SEC’s actions and progress concerning the diversity policies and practices of SEC-regulated entities can also be found in OMWI’s recently submitted annual report to Congress. The annual report to Congress summarizes the agency’s actions and progress in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion internally and externally, as well as the goals under its Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan.

“I believe that a diverse SEC workforce helps promote fairness and inclusion in the financial services industry,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler in the annual report. “OMWI continues to lead our efforts to develop an inclusive and equitable workplace that reflects the diversity of the public we serve, uses minority- and women-owned businesses in our business operations, and engages our regulated entities.”

Among the annual report’s highlights for FY2021:

  • 26.8% of SEC supervisors and managers identify as minorities. The percentages of SEC supervisors and managers who are Black, Hispanic or Latino, and Asian have each increased over the past three years;
  • 45.8% of Senior Officers at the SEC are women (Senior Officers are equivalent to Senior Executive Service  at other federal agencies)
  • 45.4% of new hires identified as minorities;
  • 18 diversity college and graduate student interns participated in a new paid internship program along with five high school scholars interns from the SEC’s partnership with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency internship program; and
  • 38.8% of total SEC contract awards were to Minority Women Owned Businesses (MWOBs).

OMWI provides leadership and guidance for the SEC’s efforts to leverage diversity and inclusion throughout the agency, and works to build and maintain a diverse workforce, cultivate an inclusive work environment, and foster diversity in the agency’s business activities. OMWI works in close collaboration with all SEC divisions and offices.

Source: SEC

DFS Urges Crypto Firms to Use Blockchain Analytics

By
Anna Lyudvig
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Adrienne A. Harris

Blockchain analytics tools provide companies with an efficient, data-driven way to conduct customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, and sanctions screening, according to New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) Superintendent Adrienne A. Harris.

She said these are all critical elements of the virtual currency regulation.

Harris has issued new guidance to New York State-regulated virtual currency entities establishing the use of blockchain analytics tools as a best practice to prevent and manage financial risks and suspicious activities.  

“We expect regulated entities to utilize best practices to uphold the safety and soundness of the virtual currency market and to protect consumers,” she commented. 

Virtual currency activities can involve, among other things, different sources, destinations, and types of funds flows than are found in more traditional, fiat-currency contexts. 

These unique characteristics of virtual currencies present compliance challenges, but they also present new possibilities for new technology-driven control measures.  

Through this guidance, DFS sets expectations for New York State-regulated virtual currency companies to:  

  • Establish control measures that may leverage blockchain analytics: virtual currency entities must have clearly documented policies, processes, and procedures with regard to how blockchain analytics tools are integrated into their control framework, consistent with their risk profile; 
  • Augment due diligence controls: As part of their customer due diligence responsibilities, virtual currency entities must obtain and maintain information regarding their customers and potential customers, using this information to understand and effectively address risk.  
  • Conduct transaction monitoring of on-chain activity: Institute appropriate control measures to monitor and identify unusual activity tailored to the virtual currency entities risk profile; and  
  • Conduct sanctions screening of on-chain activity: Establish and maintain policies, processes, and procedures to identify transaction activity involving virtual currency addresses or other identifying information associated with sanctioned individuals and entities listed on the SDN List or located in sanctioned jurisdictions. 

DFS engaged with external stakeholders to inform this new guidance and continues to conduct significant outreach to state, federal and international regulators; industry; and other experts in the field to ensure New York maintains a robust regulatory regime and remains a destination for virtual currency companies to operate. 

Drawbridge Rebrands

By
Press Release
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Drawbridge, a premier provider of cybersecurity software and solutions to the alternative investment industry, has unveiled its new corporate brand identity reflecting the company’s evolution into a modern technology partner for more than 800 alternative investment funds and their portfolio companies.

The rebrand caps a period of continued hyper growth and technology advancements that have enabled Drawbridge to deliver the industry’s leading all-in-one cybersecurity platform to help its global clients navigate the dynamic cybersecurity landscape.

Built and led by fintech industry pioneers and cybersecurity experts, Drawbridge enables alternative investment firms to bolster their cybersecurity posture to minimize risk, meet evolving regulatory requirements and confidently transact with clients and counterparties.

Its award-winning all-in-one cybersecurity platform enables users to easily perform nonstop due diligence, assess risk, monitor for security breaches and test their protection with unprecedented independence and insight. Drawbridge clients are empowered to continuously detect and remediate cybersecurity vulnerabilities, enabling them to leverage Drawbridge’s extensive solution portfolio with as much or as little guidance from Drawbridge’s expert professional services team as possible.

Jason Elmer

“Drawbridge was founded with a steadfast commitment to client success and technology innovation. While that philosophy has never changed, our business itself has evolved, and we realized our brand needed to evolve with it,” said Jason Elmer, Founder and CEO, Drawbridge. “The significant investments we have made over the past four years in our people, products and services have enabled us to evolve into a true modern technology company, and we’re proud that our new brand supports this mission and vision while positioning us for future success.”

The rebrand follows a milestone year for Drawbridge marked by product innovation, continued global expansion and a 166% annual increase in its client base. In 2021 Drawbridge secured a growth equity investment from Long Ridge Equity Partners and heavily invested in key industry talent with strategic senior and board appointments and multiple new product offerings. The company’s stellar growth is a result of expanded business with existing clients and significant new client acquisitions.

Elmer continued, “The unprecedented geo-political risks and cyber threats we’ve witnessed over the past several years have demonstrated that the need for robust cybersecurity programs has never been greater, especially in the financial services sector. We’re proud that our state-of-the-art platform has made Drawbridge the partner of choice for more than 800 financial services firms that have selected Drawbridge to provide them everything they need to manage their comprehensive cybersecurity programs, molded to each client’s specific needs. We are excited to continue evolving in tandem with the dynamic cybersecurity landscape to ensure we have the right talent and technology to help protect our clients against the most daunting cyber threats.”

Source: Drawbridge

TECH TUESDAY: Generational Differences in ETP Investing

By
Shanny Basar
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TECH TUESDAY is a weekly content series that covers all aspects of capital markets technology. TECH TUESDAY is produced in collaboration with Nasdaq.

Retail participation in exchange-traded products has increased but there are generational differences in how investors carry out research, find advice and how they trade.

A Nasdaq report, ETPs are empowering the next generation of investors: The shifting profile of retail investors, found that issuers, financial advisors and investment firms must innovate and adapt to effectively target different generations of investors. Nasdaq, in partnership with Morning Consult, conducted an online poll of 2,000 retail investors between October 12 and October 22 2021. 

Giang Bui, Nasdaq

Giang Bui, SME and Head of US ETP Product at Nasdaq, told Markets Media: “The key takeaway from the survey is that one size does not fit all.”

Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012, is hitting their mid-20s and entering the workforce. They use diversified information sources including financial advisors, traditional news, podcasts and social media with online discussion boards as their most popular platform for advice. In contrast at the opposite end of the spectrum, Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, need to manage their retirement without outliving their savings. Baby Boomers have the strongest dependence on financial advisors and are unlikely to use social media and digital platforms for their investment decisions.

In between there are two generations – Gen X, born between 1965-1980, who will start thinking about retiring in the next decade while Gen Y, born between 1981-1996, is about to turn 40.

Giang said: “Although there are changes across generations, one mainstay is that the financial advisor is still very important among all age groups.”

Financial advisors were trusted more than any other resource according to the survey. Even the majority, 68%, of investors who use social media said financial experts generate the most useful content. 

Giang highlighted that financial advisors are also the highest users of ETPs in the US. She said: “Financial advisors both recommend and incorporate ETPs into their clients’ portfolios.  We encourage our listing clients to understand the importance of the channel in their sales and marketing strategies.”

The majority of retail investors in the sample, 57%, currently invest in ETPs or did so in the past, while 29% have never invested in ETPs but would consider them in the future. Younger generations are more familiar with ETPs, although older investors have allocated more funds due to higher income and their accumulation of wealth.

“It is an opportunity for issuers to target an under-served market and raise awareness amongst the older generations of the benefits of ETFs and how they could fit their investment objectives,” Giang added.

Nasdaq supports ETP issuers with marketing and distribution to reach their specific target audience as the sector is very competitive.

“For younger investors we consider online discussion platforms to be a better fit while a print publication may be more appropriate for the older generation,” she added. “We have also partnered with websites or podcasts to target advisors.”

Education 

Younger generations spend more time on research before they invest but the report found that they can benefit from additional education to help them make informed decisions. Gen Z and Gen Y investors are also more likely to look at their investment portfolios several times a day and trade more often than older generations.

Giang said Nasdaq aims to support issuers in reaching this audience by working with financial advisors and retail brokers to develop more educational content.

“Education is very important to fill the knowledge gap, for example, around due diligence and best trading practices,” she added. “There are many channels and formats to create educational content, and support clients with everything from videos to whitepapers and articles to animations.”

Growth 

Cryptocurrency products are gaining popularity with nearly half of respondents in the survey investing in the asset class. 

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved a spot bitcoin ETF so the only crypto ETFs on regulated US exchanges are funds that track bitcoin futures or that track equities exposed to the crypto ecosystem. Giang added that a Bitcoin futures ETF was one of the fastest to hit $1bn in assets and Nasdaq expects many flavors and varieties of crypto ETPs into the future.

”There have also been a large number of ESG product launches related to sustainability and climate change, which have attracted all generations of investors,” Giang said.  “The Nasdaq brand is very much aligned with ESG, and we are excited with the continued appetite for these products in the market.”

The ETF market had record inflows and record new launches in the last two years and Giang expects growth to continue. In the first two months of 2022 US ETFs had the second highest net inflows on record of $99bn according to ETFGI, an independent research and consultancy firm.

“We are on track to have a similar number of listings as last year, or maybe even more,” Giang added. “It has been a strong start to the year and it really indicates how versatile ETFs are as an investment vehicle and that they can be used in different market conditions.”

In the current markets investors are also using ETFs to provide protection against rising inflation, generate income or access a broad-based exposure with downside protection.

“The SEC adopted new regulations to modernize the ETF framework in 2019 and it really opened the door for more innovation and for products to come to market more quickly,” added Giang. “So the ETF market is going to continue to be interesting for investors.”

Read the full report: https://www.nasdaq.com/docs/etps-empowering-next-generation-of-investors

Fidelity Launches Metaverse Experience

By
Anna Lyudvig
-

Fidelity Investments, one of the largest mutual fund companies in the U.S., has launched The Fidelity Stack, its first immersive metaverse experience aimed at offering a new way to learn investing basics.

Built in Decentraland, The Fidelity Stack features a multi-level design complete with a lobby, dance floor, and rooftop sky garden for users to explore on foot – or even through teleport.

In the Invest Quest at The Fidelity Stack, users are challenged to traverse the building learning the basics of ETF investing while gathering “orbs” along the way.

Kathryn Condon

“Fidelity is constantly innovating as we re-imagine what it looks like to engage with customers as a trusted financial services company in the future,” said Kathryn Condon, head of marketing channels and emerging platforms at Fidelity.

“As Web 3.0 takes shape, Fidelity is excited to bring our expertise in financial education to this new virtual space.”

In addition to providing a primer on different types of investment products, including ETFs, the experience celebrates the launch of Fidelity Metaverse ETF (FMET), a new thematic ETF that provides access to companies that develop, manufacture, distribute, or sell products or services related to establishing and enabling the metaverse.

This ETF, along with others announced last week, is a self-indexed ETF using Fidelity’s proprietary indices, constructed by Fidelity’s quantitative investing team, to identify equity securities that offer exposure to these rapidly growing industries.

“The way we engage with each other and with our money is rapidly changing, whether that’s through the rise of blockchain technology or development of a new digital universe,” added Condon. “Our foray into the metaverse is designed with this in mind.”

The experience joins the Fidelity Reddit page and Fidelity’s TikTok account as some of the many resources for younger investors to improve their financial knowledge through informative content and actionable insights.

“We’re part of a dynamic shift as young people take control of their finances in new ways,” said David Dintenfass, chief marketing officer and head of emerging customers at Fidelity.

“The next generation seeks out financial education in all the places they spend time, whether physical or virtual. We’re committed to serve customers in these decentralized communities as they transform and grow.”

ON THE MOVE: Roman Regelman Takes Additional Role at BNY Mellon; TP ICAP Adds Mark Govoni

By
Anna Lyudvig
-
Roman Regelman

Roman Regelman, Chief Executive Officer of Asset Servicing, will assume leadership of the Issuer Services business at the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (BNY Mellon). Regelman, a member of the Executive Committee, will continue to lead Digital for BNY Mellon. Current Issuer Services CEO Francis (Frank) J. La Salla will join The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) in June and become the President and CEO later this year. 

Mark Govoni

TP ICAP has appointed Mark Govoni as Chief Executive Officer of its Agency Execution division. Govoni replaces John Ruskin, who has decided to step away from the business having successfully led the integration of Liquidnet into the TP ICAP Group. Ruskin will stay with the Group until the end of June to ensure an orderly transition. Govoni joins TP ICAP from Instinet, a firm he joined in 2012 and where he served most recently as President of U.S. Brokerage, having previously held the role of Head of U.S. Sales Trading.  

Tushar Amin

Hazeltree has appointed technology industry leader Tushar Amin as the company’s President, Chief Executive Officer and Board Director. Amin joins Hazeltree with more than 25 years of software and IT services industry experience. Most recently he was a member of the senior leadership team and Business Model Innovation Leader at Kyndryl, the IT services company spun off from IBM in 2021.

Nasdaq has elected the following directors to the boards of the U.S. exchanges operated by the company, which include The Nasdaq Stock Market, Nasdaq PHLX, Nasdaq BX, Nasdaq ISE, Nasdaq MRX, and Nasdaq GEMX: Kathlyn Card Beckles, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary, Verisk Analytics; Anne Marie Darling, Partner, Global Markets Division, Goldman Sachs; Elizabeth Wideman, SVP and Senior Deputy General Counsel, Comcast Corporation. 

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced that Inspector General Carl W. Hoecker will retire from the agency as of May 7, 2022. He has led the Office of Inspector General (OIG) since February, 11, 2013. Rebecca Sharek, Deputy Inspector General for Audits, Evaluations, and Special Projects, will serve as Acting Inspector General.  

Aviva Investors has appointed Rakesh Girdharlal to the newly created role of Head of Liability-Driven Investment (LDI) and Liquidity. Girdharlal will report to Caroline Hedges, Head of Credit. Formally Head of LDI at Aviva Investors, Girdharlal will be assuming additional responsibility for the firm’s liquidity business following Caroline Hedges’ promotion to Head of Credit in September 2021. He will retain his responsibilities for LDI portfolios, where he manages pension fund and insurance LDI mandates in excess of £20bn.

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