FCA commits to wholesale data improvements

A new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) report has found that competition in some parts of the wholesale data market is not working as well as it should.

Among the findings, the report found:

• Some trading markets are concentrated among a few firms so there is little choice for users not to buy this important data and switching supplier is not an easy option.
• The way data is sold can be complex, making it harder for data users to make informed choices.
• Complexity and limited choice result in additional costs to data users. These are likely to be passed on to UK retail investors and savers.
• Despite rules in place requiring delayed data to be distributed for free, many users end up with little choice but to pay for data.

As a result of the findings, the FCA has launched a market study amid concerns that competition in other types of wholesale data markets may not be as effective as they should be and will investigate whether the markets for benchmarks, credit ratings data and market data vendor services are working well.

OCC issues latest CRA performance stats

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has released its latest list of Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance evaluations that became public between period of February 1, 2023, through February 28, 2023. The list contains only national banks, federal savings associations, and insured federal branches of foreign banks that have received ratings. The possible ratings are outstanding, satisfactory, needs to improve, and substantial noncompliance.

Of the 22 evaluations made public this month, 17 are rated satisfactory, and five are rated outstanding.

PRA: regulatory foundations of international competitiveness and growth

In her speech ‘The Regulatory Foundations of International Competitiveness and Growth’, Vicky Saporta, Executive Director of the PRA talks about what a new secondary competitiveness and growth objective will mean for how the PRA makes rules.

The Financial Services and Markets Bill, currently being debated, will redefine the PRA’s powers and responsibilities. The Bill would give the PRA a new secondary objective which would require them to act when we can to facilitate the UK economy’s international competitiveness and its growth over the medium to long term, subject to alignment with international standards.  Saporta stresses the importance of good regulation from trusted public institutions and outlines three areas for the PRA to focus on:

• The PRA will make rules that harness the UK’s strengths as a global financial centre
• The PRA will act to maintain trust
• The PRA will tailor our rules to the UK

SEC charges Ontrak chairman Terren Peizer with insider trading

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Terren S. Peizer, Executive Chairman of the Santa Monica, California-based healthcare treatment company Ontrak Inc, with insider trading for selling more than $20 million of Ontrak stock between May and August 2021 while in possession of material nonpublic negative information related to the company’s largest customer.

According to the SEC’s complaint, prior to May 2021, when Peizer established a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan in the name of Acuitas Group Holdings, LLC, his investment vehicle, to sell Ontrak stock, he had learned that Ontrak’s relationship with its then-largest customer—representing more than half its revenue—was tenuous. Nevertheless, Peizer attested at the time that he was unaware of any material nonpublic information concerning the company, executed the 10b5-1 plan, and sold nearly 600,000 of Ontrak shares worth more than $19.2 million. In August 2021, the complaint alleges, Peizer learned the same relationship was on the verge of being terminated, which prompted him to adopt a second Rule 10b5-1 trading plan and sell 45,000 more shares of stock worth more than $1.9 million.