Industry news


Date: Oct 18, 2012

October 18, 2012: CBOE Will Consider Asian Hub If London Center Succeeds; Swaps trades on brink of tough new regime; Australian Stocks Watchdog Looks Into ANZ Trades Thursday

Chicago exchange CBOE has its eye on Asia as a new trading center, but it wants see its new London venture gain traction first. With new regulations coming in from the SEC and elsewhere, the swaps industry stands on the threshold of some kind of new world; whether brave or pernicious remains to be seen. Down under, regulators are investigating yet another occurrence of odd spikes in stock trades. In today’s First Read, be sure to check out the interview with Gary DeWaal of Newedge on his career, the future of the industry, and why “retirement” just isn’t applicable.

First Read

IMC Financial Markets Renews MarketsWiki and MarketsReformWiki Sponsorships
John Lothian News is pleased to announce IMC Financial Markets, an inaugural sponsor of MarketsReformWiki and a Friend level sponsor of MarketsWiki, has renewed its sponsorships of both sites.

IMC Chicago, (d/b/a IMC Financial Markets) is one of the world’s most active proprietary trading firms and a key market maker in various products listed on exchanges throughout the world.

We are pleased to have IMC continue its support of MarketsWiki and MarketsReformWiki.

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The Pace of Innovation at TT
Posted by Rick Lane, CTO
This post probably isn’t what you think it is. This is not a story about how innovative TT has been over recent years or a recollection of the countless examples of cutting-edge software we’ve been delivering. Yes, we’ve released some great apps over the last half decade, truly innovative ones at that. Since this past Spring alone, we’ve launched our low-latency TT API, staged order functionality, and ADL™, to name a few, and with products like MultiBroker ASP on the horizon, there’s more to come. And we shouldn’t underestimate the tremendous amount of effort and expertise that’s been put toward making our platform the industry’s most stable and reliable—work that is critical but not always obvious.
jlne.ws/Of7LQ5

**** This is a very critical and thought provoking analysis. It made me think about JLN and changes in the competitive environment and innovations that we need to bring as a result. We spent today in a various meetings hashing out our next moves, process improvements and products. More on this soon.

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Trading Innovation Event in Chicago
Intellectual Property Exchange International, Inc. and the CBOE invite you to attend their forthcoming Trading Innovation Event. The event is focused on introducing IXPI to liquidity providers and market makers in Chicago.

The event will take place on Wednesday, October 24 at 3:30 PM. There will be a brief presentation followed by cocktails, questions and follow up. The event starts at 3:30 PM with registration and 4 PM with the presentation. The event will be held at the CBOE.
If you are interested in attending, please RSVP by October 18 at info@ixpi.com.

**** If you are a marketing marking firm or liquidity provider, you should be represented at this event. This is a good story about a new market you will want to hear.

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The Patent Exchange: A New Approach to Licensing Intellectual Property
Sarah J. Duda and Benjamin Urban of McDonnell, Boehnen, Hulbert & Berghoff LLP
Underutilized patents are holding intellectual property owners ransom to the tune of $1 trillion dollars annually. The solution? Monetize valuable intellectual property (IP) assets on the open market, and see exactly how much your IP is worth. Such a strategy is now possible through a new Chicago-based exchange called the Intellectual Property Exchange International (IPXI), which allows IP rights to be bought and sold as unit license right (ULR) contracts on an open market
jlne.ws/RIP1YR

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Gary DeWaal

Gary DeWaal of Newedge on 30 Years of Futures, Retirement and What’s Next
MarketsWiki.tv

Gary DeWaal, group general counsel at Newedge, has been a stalwart of the futures industry for 30 years. He recently announced his “retirement” from Newedge, effective at yearend. DeWaal spoke with JLN Editor-in-Chief Jim Kharouf about how the futures industry has evolved and changed over the past three decades, where it goes from here, and why the word retirement should not really be used in the same sentence as Gary DeWaal.

Watch the video »

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ICE age may loom for Minneapolis wheat exchange
Reuters via Yahoo! News
CHICAGO – More than 130 years after it joined exchanges in Chicago and Kansas City as a marketplace for U.S. farmers to hedge their crops, the Minneapolis Grain Exchange now has a lonely distinction: the last best chance for acquisitive rival Intercontinental Exchange to get a foothold in the market. …
jlne.ws/RIOZQF

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CME drops plans to raise natural gas position limits
Reuters
The CME Group on Wednesday canceled a proposal to raise position limits that may have pressed U.S. government regulators on the subject soon after a judge shot down a government proposal that would have tightened limits.
jlne.ws/RIOZQI

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Post-AIG derivatives rules drafted by SEC
Market Watch
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday proposed draft rules that would require large financial institutions to hold capital and post collateral to back their trades, with firms that use their own internal risk models having to hold much more capital.
jlne.ws/RIP2fv

***JM: For a comprehensive overview of the rule, see the MarketsReformWiki page at jlne.ws/OKYtuf

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Futures And Options On Chicago Corn Can Be Traded At ROFEX
ROFEX launched today its new futures and options contract on Chicago Corn, whose characteristics and benefits suit the needs of the different investors of the market.
jlne.ws/RIOZQJ

**** Chicago Corn sounds like a name of an illegal drug.

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Equity Derivatives trading Volumes Move to Electronic Platforms — Study
Ivy Schmerken – Advanced Trading
The percentage of North American futures volume traded electronically soared to 48 percent in 2011-2012, up from 38 percent the prior year, according to Greenwich Assoc. equity derivatives study.
jlne.ws/RIP1YY

***** I feel like this study was taken like 10 years ago, not today. I am dumbfounded by these numbers. Are you sure they did not come from one of the Presidential campaigns?

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BlackRock Wages Reluctant Fee Fight
KIRSTEN GRIND – WSJ.com
On Monday, BlackRock Inc. Chairman and Chief Executive Laurence Fink said the firm would slash fees on some of its mutual funds. On Wednesday, Mr. Fink chided other firms for doing the same. In a call with analysts just after BlackRock reported a 7.9% profit jump for the third quarter, Mr. Fink railed against competitors that sell investment products to certain clients “at cost,” or without profit.
jlne.ws/RIOZQM

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Broadridge Says Growing Regulatory Pressure Among Key Factors Driving Financial Firms to Rethink Reconciliations
A new report released today by Broadridge Financial Solutions, a leading technology and operations solutions company for the global financial services industry, finds that industry-leading financial firms are outsourcing reconciliation functions (both technology and operations labor) to create standardized risk management processes, increase their ability to enter new markets and comply with more complex regulations, while significantly reducing costs and risks.
jlne.ws/RIOZQN

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‘Flash Crash’ Reforms Will Fail To Make Markets Safer, Study Claims – Finance Academics Call For
US ‘flash crash’ reforms will fail to avert another market meltdown unless they are coupled with new “liquidity-based circuit breakers”, researchers claim. Academics studying the May 2010 crash, which saw stock prices plummet and recover in the space of minutes, have called for the introduction of liquidity safety valves to go alongside standard price-based circuit breakers.
jlne.ws/RIOZQR

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Investment banker of the Week: Laurence Grafstein – UBS’s $600bn man
Shanny Basar – Financial News
Laurence Grafstein joined UBS as co-head of M&A in the Americas at the start of this month and has already made his mark with a role as lead banker on a $20bn-plus deal in the telecoms sector.
jlne.ws/RIP2fj

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A Leg To Stand On: 2012 Rocktoberfest Chicago
Thursday, 10/25/12, 7pm – 11pm

From A Leg To Stand On:
The annual Hedge Fund Rocktoberfest benefiting A Leg To Stand On (ALTSO) has been recognized as one of the most unique and highly anticipated fundraising events in both the charitable and financial sectors. ALTSO’s signature event unites more than 1,000 leaders from the hedge fund and related financial services communities for a night of rock ‘n roll and acoustic music performed by industry professionals – to help ALTSO treat more children.

ALTSO provides free prosthetic limbs, corrective surgery, orthotic devices and rehabilitative care to children who have lost limbs in traumatic accidents or suffer from congenital limb disabilities. They work in countries where there is a staggering need for orthopedic treatment due to landmines, violence, and most simply – poverty.
jlne.ws/P1Zb1H

Event Tickets:
jlne.ws/cFtVwS

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MarketsWiki.tv

Evgeni Mitkov

SURFACExchange CEO Evgeni Mitkov Discusses the Potential for FX Options
MarketsWiki.tv

Evgeni Mitkov, CEO of SURFACExchange, launched the FX options ECN in August 2011. Just over a year later, they’ve attracted almost 50 firms by offering the ECN to currency options traders through a no-install browser-based platform. Mitkov spoke with JLN Editor-in-Chief Jim Kharouf during the Profit & Loss Forex Network Chicago, about how the FX market is holding up, how the participation base is shifting away from banks, and where the FX options space is moving.

Watch the video »

JLN Options

Lows in forex volatility prompt hedge funds to retreat from options
Miriam Siers, FX Week (via Hedge Funds Review)
Volatility in the forex market is plunging to record lows in Q4, leading to changes in the composition of the options market, but tighter bid-offer spreads have increased flow in some segments.
jlne.ws/RBdvQs

One-year-old ETF beats hedge funds, stock market in first year
Katya Wachtel, Reuters
A one-year-old actively managed exchange-traded stock fund has beaten a number of market benchmarks in its first year, including most hedge funds, the ETF sponsor AdvisorShares said on Tuesday.
jlne.ws/T0tF9j

Options market sees less risk long term for Citi after CEO exit
Doris Frankel, Reuters
The surprise departure of Citigroup Inc’s Chief Executive Vikram Pandit could be a sign of near-term uncertainty for the stock, but the options-market shows many investors are bullish on the shares in the longer term.
jlne.ws/T0tLxV

MarketsWiki

MarketsWiki Page of the Day
Kansas City Board of Trade
jlne.ws/ji8Xlm

People

Andreas Preuss; Gary Katz; Edward Provost; Jeromee Johnson; Lisa J. Fall; John P. Havens; Colin Lambert; Gary DeWaal; Byron Baldwin

Companies, Organizations and Groups

Kansas City Board of Trade; CME Group, Inc.; Newedge

Products

Profit & Loss Forex Network Chicago; CQG Spreader

Miscellaneous

Statistics

29,654,811 pages viewed, 7,162 articles, 148,848 edits
MarketsWiki Statistics

Lead Stories

CBOE Will Consider Asian Hub If London Center Succeeds
Bloomberg
CBOE Holdings Inc., the biggest operator of U.S. options markets by volume, may consider an Asian hub to tap growing demand in the region after it gauges the success of the one it will start in London next year.
jlne.ws/RBcgkm

Swaps trades on brink of tough new regime
Stephen Foley and Michael Mackenzie in New York – FT.com
On any long journey, some steps are more important than others. The new Wall Street envisioned by the Dodd-Frank reforms in the US no longer has financial institutions swapping hundreds of billions of dollars of interest rate, commodity and credit exposure among themselves, in opaque trades that threaten to pull everyone down together in a crisis.
jlne.ws/RIP2fr

Australian Stocks Watchdog Looks Into ANZ Trades Thursday
Dow Jones
The Australian Securities & Investment Commission, or ASIC, said Thursday it is looking into trades that caused shares in Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. to spike sharply higher in early trading.
jlne.ws/RIP0nR

Asian Scion’s Trades Draw Scrutiny
ALAN CULLISON AND DEVLIN BARRETT – WSJ.com
A federal probe into an alleged multimillion-dollar insider trading scheme is focusing on the son of a deposed Central Asian autocrat once courted by the U.S. as a key ally in the war on terror, according to people involved in the investigation.
jlne.ws/RIP0nM

BOE Tucker: “Uncontainable Backlash” if More Bailouts Needed in Our Lifetime
Dow Jones
One of the front runners to be the next Bank of England governor Wednesday underscored his support for tighter regulation of banks, saying it would be difficult to dampen social unrest if banks needed government bailouts again in our lifetime.
jlne.ws/RIP2vU

Traders Magazine Honors Wall Street Women
Marketwire via Yahoo! Finance
Traders Magazine, the leading information resource for the institutional trading community, has announced the winners of its second annual Wall Street Women awards.
jlne.ws/RIP0Ec

IMF calls Lisbon’s austerity ‘imperative’
Peter Wise in Lisbon – FT.com
The International Monetary Fund has intervened in the heated debate in Portugal over the balance between austerity and economic growth, saying that fiscal adjustment is “imperative and needs to continue”.
jlne.ws/RIP0Ee

Regulatory

SEC Proposes Rules for Security-Based Swap Dealers and Major Security-Based Swap Participants
The Securities and Exchange Commission today voted unanimously to propose capital, margin, and segregation requirements for security-based swap dealers and major security-based swap participants.
jlne.ws/RIP0Ek

Swaps Collateral Costs May Increase Under SEC Proposal
Silla Brush – Bloomberg
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS) and other trading firms would face higher capital and collateral costs under swaps-market rules proposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
jlne.ws/WAxweu

Brokers urged to speed up US share trades
Stephen Foley in New York – FT.com
Investors and brokers are being urged to cut the time it takes to settle US equity trades, a modernising move that could have its biggest impact on sleepy regional stockbrokers and on investors who prefer paper stock certificates.
jlne.ws/RIP2Mp

DealBook: Testifying in Britain, Volcker Questions Bank Innovation
New York Times
A parliamentary commission investigating recent banking scandals in Britain heard testimony from Paul A. Volcker, who pushed for tighter banking rules.
jlne.ws/RIP0En

Opening Statement At The SEC Open Meeting By SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro
jlne.ws/RIP2Mq

Opening Statement At The SEC Open Meeting By Commissioner Daniel M. Gallagher
jlne.ws/RIP2Mv

Protecting Our Economy Demands Adequate Capital And Margin Requirements For Security-Based Swaps By SEC Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar
jlne.ws/RIP0Eq

SEC: Andrew Calamari Named Director Of New York Regional Office
jlne.ws/RIP0Er

The Expanded Role of Economists In SEC Rulemaking By Craig M. Lewis, Chief Economist And Director, Division Of Risk, Strategy, And Financial Innovation, U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, SIFMA Compliance & Legal Society Luncheon
jlne.ws/RIP0UE

UK Parliamentary Commission On Banking Standards Questions Paul Volcker
jlne.ws/RIP0UI

NFA announces availability of the Chicago CPO workshop audio CD
jlne.ws/sNKzEr

[Canada] AMF Index – AMF Index Encourages Financial Awareness Among Quebeckers
jlne.ws/RIP32M

[Japan] Publication of the English version of the Basic Policy and Plan for Financial Inspections in Program Year 2012
jlne.ws/RIP32O

Exchanges & Trading Facilities

Minneapolis Exchange Seat Price Jumps After CME Deal for KCBT
By Jacob Bunge – Dow Jones
The value of a membership at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange jumped 17% Wednesday after futures exchange operator CME Group Inc. (CME) agreed to acquire a rival wheat market. A seat on the MGEX sold for $95,000 Wednesday, 17% above the prior sale price of $81,000 in late August. The offering price for seats climbed to $150,000. The sale reversed a four-month slide in the value of memberships at the MGEX, which mainly trades futures on hard red spring wheat, and came as some in the market speculated about the MGEX’s future.

CME Group to Buy Kansas City Board of Trade for $126 Million
Matthew Leising and Tony C. Dreibus – Bloomberg
CME Group Inc. (CME), the world’s largest futures exchange, will buy the Kansas City Board of Trade for $126 million in cash to add a wheat contract to its products.
jlne.ws/RIP0UR

Kansas City Exchange Says it Spoke to Other Suitors Before CME Deal
Dow Jones
The Kansas City Board of Trade has been working on a sale since the early spring, executives said after announcing CME Group Inc. (CME) plans to buy the exchange for $126 million.
jlne.ws/RIP32W

LME WEEK: LME Sale Process Smooth So Far -LME Board Member
Dow Jones
The transition of ownership of the London Metal Exchange from its member shareholders to Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd. is so far going smoothly, an LME board member said.
jlne.ws/RIP333

Plus Markets offers investors acquisition strategy
Tom Osborn – Financial News
Plus Markets Group, which operated the UK’s junior stock market until its sale earlier this year, has presented its shareholders with a new investment proposal that could offer them a chance to recoup some of their cash.
jlne.ws/RIP3Qm

NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions Clients Awarded Gold and Silver in ‘Best Online Newsroom’ at the Digital Impact Awards
Two NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions (Nasdaq:NDAQ) clients have been awarded Gold and Silver in the ‘Best Online Newsroom’ category at Europe’s prestigious Digital Impact Awards. After being named finalists in September, Honda (UK) was awarded Gold and Heathrow Airport was awarded Silver for demonstrating best practice examples of digital stakeholder communications.
jlne.ws/RIP3ji

Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange Continue 2012 Canadian Financing Series in Calgary
Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange will continue their 2012 Canadian Financing Series, “A Growth Platform for Canadian Entrepreneurs,” in Calgary on Thursday, October 18, 2012.
jlne.ws/RIP3jl

Montréal Exchange to Host Options Education Days for Retail Investors in Calgary and Edmonton
Montréal Exchange Inc. (MX), a wholly-owned subsidiary of TMX Group Ltd. and Canada’s derivatives exchange, today announced that it is bringing its popular Options Education Day workshops to Calgary and Edmonton on October 20 and October 21, 2012 respectively.
jlne.ws/RIP3Qu

FIF Capacity Statistics For September 2012
Four New Record Peaks: NASDAQ UQDF, BATS Options MCASTPITCH AGG, NYSE ArcaBook Options and Direct Edge EDGX
jlne.ws/RIP3Qy

APG And EPEX SPOT Launch Austrian Intraday Market – Important Milestone For Implementing The Pan-European Intraday Target Model Achieved
The Austrian Transmission System Operator, Austrian Power Grid AG (APG), and the European Power Exchange EPEX SPOT SE have jointly launched an Intraday market in Austria on 16 October 2012 and connected it, via an open interface provided by APG, to the Franco-German Intraday markets. Physical and financial settlement of the new Austrian power contracts are provided by Europe’s central clearing house for energy, European Commodity Clearing AG (ECC).
jlne.ws/RIP3Qz

Accion, NYSE Euronext And Yelp Bring Online Marketing Insight And Financing Program To Bay Area Entrepreneurs On November 5 – The Big StartUp National Tour Heads To San Francisco
jlne.ws/RIP3QC

Shutterstock Celebrates IPO on the New York Stock Exchange
jlne.ws/RIP3ju

NYSE EURONEXT announces EXPIRATION AND FINAL RESULTS OF TENDER OFFER FOR UP TO E250,000,000 of its 5.375% NOTES DUE 2015
jlne.ws/RIP46R

[SIX] Investigation of Banque Profil de Gestion S.A.
jlne.ws/WmrqQm

Hedge Funds & Managed Futures

CalPERS Announces Selection Of Chief Financial Officer
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has named Cheryl Eason as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO), a newly created position to oversee the financial and risk management operations of the $243 billion Pension Fund.
jlne.ws/RIP473

Another Hedge Fund Veteran Throws in Towel
CNBC
Greg Coffey, an aggressive trader once seen as the eventual heir of the $15 billion hedge-fund Moore Capital Management, is instead the latest money manager to throw in the towel and retire.
jlne.ws/RIP3zQ

FRM acquisition masks Man Group outflows
Harriet Agnew – Financial News
Man Group’s acquisition of FRM, the fund of funds firm, masked outflows at the world’s largest listed hedge manager in the third quarter, as assets under management rose by 14% during the period.
jlne.ws/RIP4no

For Some Investors, a Glass-Half-Empty Wager
KAITLYN KIERNAN – WSJ.com
The options market may be flashing a warning sign for stocks. Investors are snapping up options that pay off if there is a rise in the “fear gauge,” the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, or VIX. A record 6.2 million contracts were outstanding as of Monday, a rise of 12% over the past month.
jlne.ws/RIP3zY

BlackRock Reports Third Quarter Diluted EPS of $3.65, or $3.47 as adjusted
Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance
BlackRock, Inc. today reported third quarter 2012 diluted EPS of $3.65, up 19% from second quarter 2012 and 13% from third quarter 2011. Revenue grew 4% from third quarter 2011 reflecting positive market factors, positive net new business, and strength in performance fees and BlackRock Solutions.
jlne.ws/RIP3zZ

High Frequency Trading Hits the Brakes
Minyanville via Yahoo! Finance
Profits from the controversial computer-driven trading method are down 35% this year, according to Rosenblatt.
jlne.ws/RIP4nx

Private equity firms turn to dividend recaps for exits
The Wall Street Journal Online Private Equity Beat blog
Jittery public markets and reticent buyers are forcing private equity investors to turn once again to debt funded dividend recapitalisations as they look for returns, according to a report by Moody’s Investor Service.
jlne.ws/RIP3A5

Flamand’s Hedge Fund Said to Suffer Partner Exits as Assets Fall
Bloomberg
Two partners at former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trader Pierre-Henri Flamand’s hedge fund will leave the firm after it lost money and assets shrank, two people with knowledge of the decision said.
jlne.ws/RIP3A7

Exclusive: Och-Ziff hedge fund looks to exit landlord business
Reuters via Yahoo! News
One of the first big hedge funds to try to profit from a rebound in the U.S. housing market by investing in foreclosed homes is looking to cash out, even as other institutional investors are still getting in.
jlne.ws/RIP6vC

PE backer pulls the plug on Eladian Partners
Tim Cave and Kiel Porter – Financial News
A fledgling high frequency trading firm, started by two former Citigroup executives, was forced to wind down operations this week after its funding from a major private equity backer was withdrawn, Financial News has learned. Eladian Partners, a multi asset electronic trading firm launched by Steve Swanson and Peter Kent – former directors in Citi’s US equities business – said yesterday it had decided to close “due to market conditions.”
jlne.ws/RIP4nF

The label financial advisers love
Charles Passy – MarketWatch
A growing number of Wall Street pros market themselves as “tactical” investors. But just what does that mean? Since the 2008 crash, more financial advisers have been reassuring their clients by embracing “tactical investing”—basically, shifting money among different asset classes to dodge market crises.
jlne.ws/RIP6vD

EDHEC-Risk Alternative Indexes: Hedge Funds Continue To Progress In September
In September, stocks maintained their uptrend (S&P 500: 2.58%), with implied volatility near historical lows (VIX: 15.7%). High-grade bonds fell slightly (Lehman Global: -0.31%, Lehman US: -0.18%), while riskier fixed-income instruments strengthened significantly (Convertibles: 1.81%, Credit-Spread Index: 1.00%). Commodities retreated after two strongly positive months (-1.38%), and the dollar downtrend persisted (-1.17%).
jlne.ws/RIP4E4

Man Group: Interim Management Statement for the quarter ended 30 September 2012
Funds under Management (FUM) at 30 September 2012 of $60.0 billion, up 14% since 30 June 2012 ($52.7 billion) with the FRM acquisition closing on 17 July, adding $8.3 billion to FUM. Net outflows in the quarter of $2.2 billion with the increase compared to Q2 ($1.4 billion) concentrated in lower margin product lines (Institutional FoF and GLG long only)
jlne.ws/RIP6M0

SAF-Holland S.A. to issue bond in Prime Standard for corporate bonds
jlne.ws/RIP4Ur

Banks & Brokers

Knight Capital Swings to Loss on August Glitch
JACOB BUNGE – Dow Jones
The top executive of Knight Capital Group Inc. said the firm is open to exploring “any and all alternatives” to rebuild shareholder value, as the firm tries to recover from a near-crippling trading glitch in August that led to a big quarterly loss.
jlne.ws/RIP6M8

Newedge hires Schulz as chief risk officer for UK office
Newedge has appointed Michael Schulz as chief risk officer for Newedge UK Financial. Schulz will report to Mathieu Giovachini, group chief risk officer at Newedge, and Richard Wilson, CEO of Newedge UK Financial.
jlne.ws/RIP4UA

Merrill Lynch’s brokerage defections continue
Reuters via Yahoo! News
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management’s main brokerage force shrank by 75 financial advisers in the third quarter, a sign the company continues to struggle in its industry’s war for talent.
jlne.ws/RIP4UC

BofA’s Profit Falls on Merrill Charge
Wall Street Journal Blogs
Bank of America’s earnings tumbled 95% and revenue fell short of expectations as huge charges tied to litigation over its acquisition of Merrill Lynch, U.K. taxes and accounting adjustments hit its bottom line.
jlne.ws/RIP6Mi

HEARD ON THE STREET: New Citi Chief Left Holding On to Past
DAVID REILLY – WSJ.com
To move Citigroup forward, new chief Michael Corbat may have to keep looking back. From 2009 until the beginning of this year, Mr. Corbat ran what is known as Citi Holdings, a collection of assets the bank decided during the crisis that it would shed. He managed to pare this junk heap by about $600 billion. But at the end of the third quarter, it still stood at $171 billion.
jlne.ws/RIP4UE

BNY Mellon Profit Increases as Rising Stocks Boost Assets
Bloomberg
Bank of New York Mellon Corp., the world’s largest custody bank, said third-quarter earnings climbed 11 percent as rising stock prices helped expand customer assets.
jlne.ws/RIP72y

Leveraged-Finance Syndication Chief Leaves Standard Chartered
Wall Street Journal Blogs
Standard Chartered PLC’s head of leveraged-finance syndication has left the bank, a spokeswoman said Wednesday. Peter Kay joined Standard Chartered in December 2009 in the newly created position.
jlne.ws/RIP4UF

British Bankers’ Association Appoints Sir Nigel Wicks As Chairman
jlne.ws/RIP4UH

With Flat Profit, Greenhill Misses Earnings Estimates
MICHAEL J. DE LA MERCED – NYTimes.com
The continued doldrums in the world of mergers and acquisitions weighed on Greenhill & Company‘s third quarter, as the investment bank’s profit missed analysts’ earnings estimates.
jlne.ws/RIP72H

Clearing & Settlement

New Clearing Rules to Benefit CME
Zacks via Yahoo! Finance
CME Group received the regulatory approval for reducing portfolio margins within the clearing and cross-selling of interest rate futures and over-the-counter derivatives.
jlne.ws/RIP72K

EasyWay – Euroclear’s New Web-Based Access To Their Services
Euroclear Bank clients will be the first to take advantage of Euroclear’s new, innovative, browser-based application – EasyWay. Designed and built in collaboration with clients, EasyWay’s purpose is simple: perform operational tasks efficiently and quickly, while managing operational risk even better in real time.
jlne.ws/RIP7j3

Indexes & Products

FTSE indices face revamp of businesses – FT.com
Philip Stafford
The London Stock Exchange is reshaping its information business as it faces an increasingly fierce battle to provide the indices investors use for trading. The bourse on Wednesday said Mark Makepeace would become group director of information services and incorporate it with his role as chief executive of FTSE, the subsidiary which compiles global indices.
jlne.ws/RIP7j8

UBS Debuts Extremely High Yield Leveraged ETF – ETF News And Commentary
Zacks
jlne.ws/RIP5b2

Market Vectors Global Mortgage REITS Index Licensed to UBS
Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance
Market Vectors Index Solutions GmbH today announced the licensing of the Market Vectors Global Mortgage REITS Index to UBS AG.
jlne.ws/RIP7ji

Technology

NYSE Technologies, Bolsa Mexicana And ATG To Offer Unprecedented Access And Trading Tools For Mexican Markets
NYSE Technologies, the commercial technology division of NYSE Euronext today announced that in collaboration with Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BMV) and Americas Trading Group (ATG) it has built and deployed a state-of-the-art trading infrastructure complete with global connectivity, risk management functionality and direct market data distribution for customers trading in Mexican markets.
jlne.ws/RIP7jk

Bloomberg Vault Deploys Local Cloud Service For Global Data Privacy – Bloomberg Local Vault Removes Geographic Barriers To Cloud Adoption By Meeting Diverse Data Privacy Requirements
Global firms facing stringent cross-border data privacy laws can now deploy a cloud-based data archiving and compliance solution locally by leveraging Bloomberg’s global infrastructure.
jlne.ws/RIP5b9

Enforcement

SEC Sues Yorkville Advisors, Founder
JEAN EAGLESHAM – WSJ.com
Revving up its crackdown on questionable pricing of hard-to-value assets, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused a hedge-fund firm of “grossly” exaggerating investments in order to boost fees and attract business during the financial crisis.
jlne.ws/RIP7zD

Prosecutors Seek as Much as Decade in Prison for Gupta
CHAD BRAY And MICHAEL ROTHFELD – WSJ.com
A former U.S. corporate leader and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. director should spend up to 10 years in prison for “shocking” crimes that led to his insider-trading conviction, prosecutors said.
jlne.ws/RIP5rq

SEC Charges Hedge Fund Adviser and Two Executives With Fraud in Continuing Probe of Suspicious Fund Performance
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a former $1 billion hedge fund advisory firm and two executives with scheming to overvalue assets under management and exaggerate the reported returns of hedge funds they managed in order to hide losses and increase the fees collected from investors.
jlne.ws/RIP7zI

FSA fines Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (UK) Limited £600,000 for with-profits governance failings
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (UK) Limited (SLOC UK) £600,000 for failings in the governance of its with-profits business. The design and operation of SLOC UK’s governance arrangements were unclear and inadequate, resulting in a high risk that policyholders’ interests would not be protected properly.
jlne.ws/RIP5rv

BCSC panel permanently bans B.C. man for attempted fraud
jlne.ws/RIP5rw

Securities regulator alleges B.C. man defrauded widow and her friend
jlne.ws/RIP5ry

Environmental & Energy

EU Carbon Link Presents Political, Price Risks for Australians
Bloomberg
Australia handed control of its carbon price to a partner with more ambitious climate targets when it agreed to link with the European Union market, according to a partner at Baker & McKenzie LLP.
jlne.ws/WqKa1h

Australia’s EU carbon link faces risks, lawyer says
The Sydney Morning Herald
Higher carbon prices in Europe would challenge Australia’s willingness to link its new greenhouse-gas market with the world’s largest as rising compliance costs hurt emitters, according to a lawyer.
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Enviros argue emissions trading is working in Europe
The Hill’s E2 Wire
A European Union requirement that companies trade credits for carbon emissions they emit is already working, an environmental group argued Wednesday.
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Asia-Pacific

Osaka Securities Exchange Notice On Revision Of Earnings Forecast
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China market seeking foreign institutional investors
Emerging Money
China’s top securities regulators are speeding up the approval process for qualifying foreign institutional investors, clearing the way to invest in what is now the locally restricted China market.
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NASDAQ Explores Taiwan – Analyst Blog
Zacks
Expanding its presence in Taiwan, NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. recently announced a Memorandum of Understanding with Taipei’s Dalian Commodity Exchange. The MoU follows the establishment of the collaboration in order to look for enhanced business opportunities in the region.
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HKEx Announces Temporary Holiday Risk Management Arrangements
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) has announced the following holiday risk management arrangements.
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Frontier Markets

Qatar Exchange Wins Prestigious “Exchange Of The Year” Award
Qatar Exchange today won the very prestigious “Exchange of the Year” Award for the Middle East from Global Investor.
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Credit Suisse’s top Mideast banker Yammine resigns
Reuters via Yahoo! News
Bassam Yammine, Credit Suisse’s top Middle East investment banker and the co-chief executive for the bank’s operations in the region, has resigned to pursue personal business interests, the Swiss lender said on Wednesday.
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Tel Aviv Stock Exchange: New Industry Classifications: Tech Industries Recategorized
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Miscellaneous

Arrest in Plot to Bomb New York Fed
TAMER EL-GHOBASHY AND DEVLIN BARRETT – WSJ.com
A Bangladeshi man was arrested Wednesday and charged with trying to detonate a 1,000-pound car bomb outside the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a target he chose in a bid to disrupt the U.S. economy, authorities said.
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