Source: John Lothian Newsletter
The German government takes its first steps toward creating a regulatory framework for high frequency trading. The CFTC gives IntercontinentalExchange a regulatory nod to create the first Dodd-Frank-required swaps database. And rounding out the regulatory-related headlines, the SEC considers getting into the information technology business as it mulls requiring Nasdaq to upgrade its trading platform [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
Barclays is fined most of its petty cash and actually has to admit wrongdoing in the LIBOR rate-fixing scandal; more fallout may occur both within Barclays and in other accused institutions. As national regulators struggle to oversee a global financial industry, tempers rise as various agencies are viewed as playing in their neighbors’ yards without [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
As exchanges seek volume to stay growing and profitable, both NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq are seeking to compete in the dark pool arena. In response to the regulatory push for more control over derivatives, many swaps participants are reviewing their business models with an eye to shifting to less onerous solutions like futures transactions. HKEx [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
Hong Kong Exchange, not content to sit around while waiting for the LME to arrive, announces plans to create a stock listing denominated both in HK dollars and the yuan. ESMA, the EU’s financial regulatory agency, delivers its draft regulations to control derivatives transactions. Despite allegations of rampant corruption and conflicts of interest in setting [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
Indonesia says that foreigners can purchase up to a 40% stake in its commodity exchanges, hoping to spur growth and interest there. HKEx bids for the London Metal Exchange, hoping to grow its business, but in the process its stock has lost a huge chunk of its value. Regulators are investigating high-frequency trading companies to [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
Nasdaq OMX announces a plan to open a derivatives trading facility in London. Online and discount brokers look at sharply increasing collateral requirements and wonder how they are supposed to stay in business. Liquidnet discloses that the SEC is investigating them for improperly talking about their customers as they sought to increase business. In First [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
Some exchanges and brokers have suggested that setting more broad pricing for lower-liquidity stocks may improve trading conditions; no word on whether quarter- and eighth-dollar quotes would be included in that model. A UK Treasury official warns that upcoming trading regulations would create other, undesirable kinds of trade barriers between eurozone countries. Denmark serves as [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
An exec at Credit Suisse says that stock exchanges shouldn’t be able to ruin transactions for others and then be exempted from responsibility. Gary Gensler of the CFTC says that London traders cause trouble for U.S. companies, and that better cross-border protection is a good idea. Hedge fund managers at a Monaco conference sing a [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
Nasdaq asks FINRA to look over the broken pieces of the Facebook IPO; FINRA says it’s normal, but some see a conflict of interest. The CFTC and others are ready to go on swaps rules, but the SEC is having trouble keeping up, delaying the approval of the new regulatory structure. The G20 gets out [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
High frequency and high speed traders are looking for new playgrounds, as volume in their existing markets shrinks and competition intensifies. The increasingly bitter war over the sale vs. destruction of failed exchange Plus may come to a head on Monday as shareholders meet to decide the company’s ultimate fate. As part of its post-purchase [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
After carefully reviewing the photo of the finish line, the board of the London Metal Exchange declares HKEx to be the winner of the exchange purchase derby, though these races are known to continue even past the finish line. Former FDIC head Sheila Bair points out that while JPMorgan’s whale of a trading loss is [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
CBOE announces the release next week of its first volatility index based on interest rates. Amsterdam-based high-frequency firm Flow Traders, a big market maker for ETFs, has hired Lazard to explore strategic options, including its sale. The EU appears ready to force banks to limit bonuses paid to its employees, and banks are admitting privately [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
June 13, 2012: U.S. Buy-Side Firms Threaten to Stop Trading Swaps Unless Fees are Reduced; New Blood at LSE Makes Further Growth Likely; Clamour for change on Europe’s banksTABB Group reports that many buy-side firms, reacting to high dealer fees and collateral requirements, say they’d rather just stop trading swaps altogether if that’s how it [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
London Stock Exchange Group announces a handful of senior management changes. ED&F Man looks over the wreckage of its onetime parent company, and adds several dozen employees to its roster for upcoming projects. As the buyside looks at requirements to clear transactions in the future, sellside firms who are supposed to administer those transactions complain [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
The LME bids are out, with ICE taking the early lead at an even USD 2 million, a whisker more than HKEx’s figure. CME Group, responding to controversy over the opening times for grains, adds another 45 minutes to the pit session’s time. Europe announces a bailout package for Spain’s straining banks, and the markets [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
The merger between exchanges in Tokyo and Osaka gets a near thumbs-up from a legal analyst. Trading platform Equiduct wants to grow, and is looking for more investors. TOCOM, another Tokyo exchange, is set to launch an agricultural trading effort early next year, and will be taking over contracts currently traded at the Tokyo Grain [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
Australia’s soon-to-launch Asia Pacific Exchange hopes to build its business by bringing in Asian listings, rather than competing head-to-head from the start with the ASX. The US Comptroller of the Currency says that missing JPMorgan’s wide-open risk throttle was, in hindsight, on the lax side of the regulatory fence. NYSE, Knight and others react to [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
Members of the derivatives industry in the U.S. are digging in against new regulations over exchange volume requirements, saying the new rules would force the closure of low-volume contracts, and ruin new product innovations and offerings. Nasdaq, after its less-than-impressive hosting of Facebook’s stock debut, has requested permission to begin apologizing financially to brokers who [...]
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Source: John Lothian Newsletter
FINRA wants to extend conflict-of-interest rules to cover analysts and bankers who work with debt offerings. NYSE Euronext opens up its data centers to other technology vendors, betting that any advantage it might lose to competitors will be offset by a broader acceptance of its technology. The MF Global trustee releases a big report containing [...]
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