March 28, 2013: LSE stake in LCH gains approval; Warsaw Bourse to Cut Trade Hours After Brokerages Protest; Australia Scraps Interbank Lending Panel in Wake of Libor

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

At long last, London Stock Exchange’s increased stake in LCH.Clearnet appears clear to complete, as shareholders in both companies approve the amended deal. The Warsaw Stock Exchange, after two years of complaints from brokerages that extended hours have simply increased costs while diluting activity, will cut back its trading hours beginning next month. Australia tosses [...]

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March 27, 2013: Commodities trading rule calls rejected; European Regulators to Charge Big Banks; ICE And Gasunie Announce Launch Of ICE Endex

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

March 27, 2013: Commodities trading rule calls rejected; European Regulators to Charge Big Banks; ICE And Gasunie Announce Launch Of ICE Endex Switzerland considers strict regulation of commodity trading in the country, and passes it by in favor of consulting on voluntary compliance. European antitrust regulators ready their fingers of accusation (and possibly a stack [...]

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March 26, 2013: ICE to study cutting soft commodities trading hours; SEC Approves Nasdaq’s USD 62 Million Facebook IPO Payment Plan; Eurex Clearing Supervisory Board appoints new members

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

IntercontinentalExchange considers creating shorter trading hours for its soft products, hoping to increase liquidity by packing trades tighter together. The SEC gives a thumbs-up to Nasdaq’s offer to pay sixty mil to parties injured by its Facebook IPO problems; other folks (such as bank UBS) find the plan less than satisfactory and continue to advocate [...]

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March 25, 2013: Aquis to shake up equity trading model; LCH.Clearnet in ‘major’ year-end IT outage; Cracks appear in early FTT talks

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

New trading venue Aquis Exchange plans an unusual fee structure as part of its strategy to compete in Europe. An outage at clearing house LCH.Clearnet late last year turned out to be a lot more than that, as the Bank of England reveals significant risk to UK payment systems. The contentious European financial transaction tax [...]

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March 22, 2013: ICE Pitches NYSE Deal for EC Review; Milan Bourse Launches New Bond Trading Platform; US regulators warn banks on leveraged lending

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

ICE and NYSE Euronext want the EU to bless their anticipated merger, in the hope of avoiding regulatory quicksand in a variety of other nations. The Italian Stock Exchange announces the creation of a bond trading platform to accommodate new regulations. In the USA, regulators are concerned that banks are returning to high-risk behaviors that [...]

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March 21, 2013: Shanghai Bourse Mulls After-Hours Trade in Gold, Silver; Getco gets green light for India; ECB warns on trade settlement harmony

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

The Shanghai Futures Exchange considers extending its trading hours in order to better keep up with international developments. Trading company Getco shuts down Hong Kong operations, at the same time receiving regulatory approval to start up in India. The European Central Bank tells eurozone lawmakers to hurry up and harmonize settlement systems, or risk losing [...]

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March 20, 2013: CFTC faces data problems on swaps; ICE, NYSE Euronext tweak merger structure; Hong Kong’s LME Purchase Helps in Bargaining With China

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

The CFTC’s Scott O’Malia says that the agency is receiving so much computer-crashing data with regard to market trades, that it is not effective in tracking swaps activity. ICE adjusts the collar and tie on its bid for NYSE Euronext, in order to make it more attractive for regulatory reviewers. The head of Hong Kong [...]

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March 19, 2013: Ice blames SEC as it drops single-name CDS clearing plans; Mini Options See ‘Respectable’ Start; CME launches interest rate swap clearing in London

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

ICE Clear Credit tosses plans to start single-name credit-default swap clearing after an SEC policy change caused heartburn on the buyside. Yesterday’s mini-option debut produced “respectable” volume across multiple venues. CME Group turns on the lights for its London interest rate swaps clearing service. First Read Let the games begin Steve Grob, Fidessa Sitting at [...]

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March 18, 2013: U.S. regulators probing high-speed traders for wash trades; Cyprus tries to rework divisive bank tax; First Derivatives to register in US as SEF

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

The CFTC plans to look over high-frequency trading activity for the presence of wash trades, where transactions take place without actually establishing a market position. Ministers in Cyprus float the idea that they should unceremoniously tax the savings of everyone in the country, and discover that the whole world doesn’t like the idea much. Trading [...]

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March 15, 2013: Electronic Trading Curbs Have Helped Canadian Market; Swell In Buyside Clearing, Surge Seen In June; Energy Derivatives Overhaul Spurs Nasdaq’s Germany Expansion

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

TMX Group’s chief says that their controls on electronic trading have created benefits for the market, and he thinks the rest of the world should pay attention. Swaps traders have routed half a trillion dollars worth of swaps through clearinghouses since Monday’s start of the new regulatory regime. An upcoming overhaul of energy trading rules [...]

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March 14, 2013: CME may list some partners’ contracts on London exchange; China to Free Yuan in 5 Years, Says HKEx’s Li; Tax blow to Italian stock trading

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

CME Group is considering listing trading products of alliance partners alongside its own in its new London trading venue. The head of Hong Kong Exchanges expects China to have open markets and a floating currency within five years. Following the implementation of a financial transaction tax, Italy notes a significant decline in trading volume. First [...]

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March 13, 2013: Swap Traders Seeking Help in Exiting Positions Under Dodd-Frank; Bloomberg LP Weighs CFTC Lawsuit Over Swap Collateral Rules; Singapore Exchange tightens grip on Asian derivatives market

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

Investors faced with Dodd-Frank clearinghouse rules are finding it increasingly complicated to get out of some derivatives trades. Bloomberg LP says that if the CFTC doesn’t reverse course on setting higher collateral for swaps than futures, they’re taking the regulator to court. Singapore Exchange announces a series of alliances and product offerings, as it hopes [...]

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March 12, 2013: Japan approves first data warehouse; Pension funds struggle with asset allocation; SHFE Calls for Opening Commodities Futures to Overseas Traders

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

Regulators in Japan give DTCC a license to create a clearing data warehouse for OTC derivatives. Pension funds are struggling to find asset classes that seem likely to produce much of a return. Shanghai Futures Exchange’s chairman wants China to hurry up with opening its markets to more foreign participation. First Read Jill Sommers Reflects [...]

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March 11, 2013: ICE to Launch Index CDS Futures in May; Russell Strikes Exclusive Options Deal With CBOE and NYSE; US and Europe launch derivatives reform

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

IntercontinentalExchange targets May as it’s planned release date for credit-default swap futures. Russell Investments teams up with CBOE and NYSE to create stock index option investment products. New derivative reform rules are slated to take effect this week in both Europe and the USA. First Read ICE Offers Pledges on Soft Commodity Markets JACOB BUNGE [...]

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March 8, 2013: SEC proposes tighter oversight of computer trading; Global Derivatives Trading Fell 15pct In 2012; Warsaw bourse open to consolidation

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

The SEC takes a step towards standardizing and improving computerized trading. According to the WFE, derivatives trading around the world took a double-digit hit last year. The new head of the Warsaw Exchange says that actually, it might be ok after all to merge with other exchanges. In today’s First Read, take a look at [...]

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March 7, 2013: CME Swap-Data Routing Plan Backed by CFTC Over Rivals’ Objection; Exchanges, Tech Companies Jockey to Build ‘Audit Trail’; LSE and LCH agree terms of revised $426 million offer

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

CME Group gets an extra piece of swap-data regulatory cake from the CFTC. Exchanges and tech companies are in stiff competition to win the right to build a national stock market monitoring system. The London Stock Exchange and LCH.Clearnet have agreed (again) to new terms for the partial takeover of the clearinghouse. First Read ISE [...]

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March 6, 2013: White House Asked Gensler to Stay at CFTC; Nasdaq Sees Deal Possibilities in Forex, Bonds; ISDA Plans Biggest Overhaul to Credit Derivatives Since 2003

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

Gary Gensler is asked for a second dance as head of the CFTC by the US administration; no word yet on whether he’ll accept. Nasdaq thinks they’re more likely to acquire interest in additional markets such as currencies and bonds, as a way to expand, rather than hooking up with another major exchange player. The [...]

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March 5, 2013: CME Group Cuts Grain, Soy Futures Trading Hours; Goldman eyes Volcker workaround for buyouts; FSA says it was slow to react over Libor

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

CME Group forges forward to the past, as it unwinds most of a controversial extension in grain trading hours. Goldman Sachs appears to have found a way to handily circumvent the Volcker rule for doing buyouts. Over in London, the FSA releases a report on its behavior with regard to the LIBOR scandal, and concludes [...]

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March 4, 2013: Nasdaq executing trades at a loss; US regulators become the world’s money sheriffs; System Error Halts Nikkei 225 Derivatives Traded in Osaka

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

Nasdaq OMX wants more customers, even if it has to lose money to get them. European banks find themselves answering to the law in the USA over global transactions and business practices that run afoul of regulations. Nikkei index trading in Osaka is suspended for technical problems, the first time since the trading platform came [...]

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March 1, 2013: Mexican Exchange to buy stake in Lima Exchange; US watchdog set to weaken derivatives rules; Cleartrade puts majority stake up for sale

Source: John Lothian Newsletter

The Mexican Stock Exchange forms a strategic agreement with the exchange in Peru, and takes a stake in the shares of that exchange. The CFTC prepares to “pull a Maker’s Mark” and water down its upcoming rules for swap execution facilities; but unlike the whisky manufacturer, the CFTC’s customers may not all fly into a [...]

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