SRP in brief: regulatory scrutiny

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) has fined First Trust Portfolios US$10m for providing excessive non-cash compensation in connection with the distribution of the company’s securities and related misconduct.

The penalty came after the wholesaler was taken to court for its alleged misrepresentation of structured notes in the US, which led to loss of US$89m for a group of retirees in Arizona. 

Ark Invest is jumping on the bandwagon in the autocallable exchange-traded funds (ETFs) space through a synthetic strategy plus potential memory feature. The fund is expected to allocate to its flagship ARKK ETF and utilising swaps or options to access a basket of synthetic equity-linked notes (ELNs).

Two-time Nascar Cup Series champion Kyle Busch and his wife Samantha have demanded a jury trial against Pacific Life Insurance Co, one of the largest IUL providers in the US, for its alleged deceptive practices.

Citi finished the third quarter with a robust September in the US but was still 36.3% shy of its sales record set for 2024. The US bank saw its sales of registered structured notes rebound in the quarter after turning the second largest issuer in September – the busiest month of the year for the market.  

Among the highlight for the US this year is the adoption of its first high volatility index strategy - the S&P Edge Volatility Index Series, which has gathered US$328m in sales from structured notes since May 2024.

Meanwhile, one of the indices has been traded with US$10.2m in notional in the registered index-linked annuity (Rila) market through Midland National Life Insurance Co.

New York-based iCapital has made a strategic investment in Lynk Markets, a fintech platform focused on private market distribution in Latin America. 

In an interview, Stéphane Mattatia, global head of thematic indexes and derivatives licensing at MSCI, discussed how the company is responding to evolving market dynamics, shifting investor behaviour and emerging opportunities in structured products.

Germany’s Boerse Stuttgart has recorded October turnover of around €12.4 billion (US$14.3 billion), which was 39% higher year-on-year.  Structured securities made up the largest share of the turnover lodging trading volume of around €5.6 billion, an increase of almost 60% from the prior-year period.

Amundi reported record assets under management as of 30 September and logged €4.4 billion in structured product outflows.

London Stock Exchange continues to welcome more exchange-traded products (ETPs) on digital assets for British retail investors with the latest being Fidelity Physical Bitcoin ETP.

Following the release of new consumer research conducted by YouGov, SRP spoke with Zak de Mariveles, chairman of the UK Structured Products Association (UKSPA), about the study’s key findings and how structured products are adapting to meet shifting investor priorities.

An estimated €1.2 billion (US$1.4 billion) was collected from 27 publicly offered structured products in Belgium in the third quarter of 2025. Sales increased by 22% compared to the previous quarter; year-on-year (YoY) volumes were down by around eight percent (Q3 2024: €1.3 billion), according to Belgium Market Review, Q3 2025.

Nordea became the number one issuer in a quarter that saw more than 75% of all volumes invested in capital-at-risk products. Morgan Stanley entered top three issuer ranking, our weekly Spotlight shows.

In South Korea, the sales of equity-linked securities (ELS) surged 36% in the third quarter of the year year-on-year.

Total outstanding balance of the ELS and equity-linked bonds (ELBs) reached the highest level in a year and a half, hovering around KRW54.2 trillion (US$37.7 billion) by the end of the third quarter of 2025, according to the latest figures released by the Korea Securities Depository (KSD).

Sales of structured products in South Korea jumped nine percent to around KRW6.2 trillion (US$4.3 billion) in October year-on-year, although it was down nine percent on a monthly basis, South Korea Market Review, October 2025 shows.

Australia’s Macquarie Bank has hired Marc Perrigault from Bank of America to its quantitative investment strategies (QIS) desk as managing director.  Perrigault spent the past seven years at the US bank, starting in London in 2018 before relocating to Singapore three years later.  

Singapore-headquartered Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC) has brought structured deposits to its digital platforms, making it the first local bank in Singapore to offer such products online in a bid to attract retail and accredited investors.

_{Image: Andrii Yalanskyi/Adobe Stock}

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