Industry news

July 18, 2012: CFTC Chief Admits Failure In Oversight Of Peregrine; U.S. To Launch Broad Review Of Futures Firms; Tradition Brokers First Trade On LNG East Asia Index

Gary Gensler, head of the CFTC, agrees that the agency fell short when it failed to detect fraud at Peregrine over a 20-year time frame.  With a second, fresh failure in the “customer fund safety” department, a number of companies and regulatory groups in the futures industry have agreed to undertake bold steps to actually verify that funds on deposit are fully and properly in place for remaining companies in the industry.  Broker Tradition has successfully completed the first-ever exchange-cleared (using CME Direct Screen) OTC trade for liquid natural gas.

First Read

Chicago Tonight: Business Ethics
John Lothian, Francine McKenna and Laura Hartman Discuss Financial Scandals and Business Ethics on Chicago Public Television Station’s Chicago Tonight Show
http://jlne.ws/Ph7ABz

**** I don’t normally do television, but when you have a great beard like I currently have you just have to show it to the world.  Plus, they put a whole lot of makeup on that shiny head of mine.

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Nightly Business Report Video: PFGBest Rattles Farmers
http://jlne.ws/MHLUdC

**** Story includes a short clip of an interview with the bearded John Lothian.

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Vote of No Confidence: A Call to Investigate the National Futures Association
Attain Capital Management
Consider this our formal vote of no confidence in the reliability, effectiveness, and integrity of the National Futures Association as a self-regulatory body for the U.S. futures markets. We hereby call for the CFTC and Congress to launch a thorough investigation into the practices, policies and people of the National Futures Association in order to determine the extent of their culpability in recent oversights and highlight the actions necessary to restore public faith in regulation of this sphere, including, if necessary, the revocation of their charter.
http://jlne.ws/NLNZ7L

**** Attain’s letter shows the level of outrage within the industry about the regulatory failures. They go a little too far in asking for the CME to make the PFGBest customer’s whole, but then CME is the deep-pocketed big dog on the block.  Of course, the CME Group was NOT the Designated Self Regulatory Organization for PFGBest.

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Futures Self-Regulators Push on Confirming Account Balances
Jacob Bunge – Dow Jones
A group of futures-industry self-regulators agreed to accelerate efforts to enable them to electronically confirm customers’ balances, an area of concern highlighted by the recent collapse of Peregrine Financial Group Inc.
http://jlne.ws/NLNZ7U

**** No year long timeline to consider proposals, take public comments and issue final rules.  It is amazing how fast regulators can work.

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Rosenthal Collins Group Initiates Daily Public Posting Describing Its Investment Of Customer Segregated Funds
Rosenthal Collins Group LLC (RCG), a leading independent futures clearing firm, today announced that, in an effort to further increase transparency for its customers and the public, the firm is providing a daily update on how RCG invests its customers’ funds. Effective immediately and available prominently at www.RCGdirect.com, the chart describes the allocation of customer segregated funds between the various instruments in which the firm invests.
http://jlne.ws/NLNZoa

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BATS Global Markets Names Paul Atkins Non-Executive Chairman – Former SEC Commissioner Augments Parent Board
BATS Global Markets, Inc. (“BATS”) announced today that its board of directors has elected Paul Atkins to the board in the role of non-executive chairman, effective immediately, further strengthening the company’s longstanding commitment to regulatory affairs.
http://jlne.ws/NLNZoq

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CME Seen Needing CBOE as Profit Woes Spur Speculation
Bloomberg
For CME Group Inc. to improve the exchange industry’s worst profit outlook, the owner of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange needs only to look across the street to CBOE Holdings Inc. , home of the biggest U.S. options market.
http://jlne.ws/NLNZEP

**** I need the CBOE too, to stay independent.

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European chief exits MarketAxess
Tim Cave – Financial News
MarketAxess, one of the world’s largest electronic bond trading platforms, has lost its most senior employee in Europe, Financial News has learned, at a time when the fixed income markets are navigating a critical phase in their migration towards electronic trading.
http://jlne.ws/NLNXwx

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Roll Call of Unscrupulous Bankers Is Unacceptably Long
Bloomberg
If the past few weeks are any indication, hubris, deception and amorality seem to permeate the financial services industry.
http://jlne.ws/NLNXwL

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Outgunned: Why the SEC Can’t Effectively Police Wall Street
By Melanie Rodier – Wall Street & Technology
The Securities and Exchange Commission was severely criticized for failing to seize multiple opportunities to stop Bernie Madoff before he swindled investors out of $65 billion, and the commission’s reputation was further savaged by the financial crisis, when regulators were accused of being asleep at the switch. As accusations of ineptitude and failure to react to changing market forces continue to plague the SEC, it is fair to ask: Is the SEC relevant in today’s increasingly fast, electronic markets?
http://jlne.ws/Pd6eI2

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Fidessa debuts new Canadian trading platform
Fidessa group plc, provider of high-performance trading, investment management and information solutions for the world’s financial community, has today announced the latest version of its Canadian trading platform. Aimed at empowering businesses so they can operate in and take full advantage of the ever-evolving Canadian trading landscape, this version has already been deployed across 90 percent of Fidessa’s Canadian customers, which include eight of the top ten financial institutions in the country.
http://jlne.ws/NLNXNe

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Hendry – ‘Bad things are going to happen’
By Robert Cookson – Financial Times
Hugh Hendry is lying low. The Glaswegian founder of $800m hedge fund Eclectica stepped out of the limelight last year after a series of feisty television appearances made him Britain’s best-known hedge fund manager. In a debate on Newsnight in 2010 Mr Hendry told Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel laureate economist, “Um, hello? Can I tell you about the real world?” And, after a pugnacious appearance on the BBC’s Question Time, he briefly became the most-talked about person on Twitter.
http://jlne.ws/NLO0sd

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Four Reasons the Hedge Fund Industry is Structurally Dead
Minyanville via Yahoo! Finance
The superstars of the next 10 years, in addition to excelling at investment management, will have to come up with an entirely new firm structure that can get past the short-termism of the present.
http://jlne.ws/NLO0IL

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CORRECTED-COLUMN-Is someone ghost-writing for CFTC’s O’Malia?
John Kemp
(Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Commissioner Scott O’Malia was not given the opportunity to comment pre-publication. Following is a statement from Mr O’Malia)
http://jlne.ws/NLO0sm

***JM: We ran the original article back in early July; seems fair to re-run it now that Scott has added his explanation.

**** Oops.

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Numerix To Host Upcoming Webinar: “Deciphering FVA: Understanding, Modeling and Using Funding Value Adjustment”
Numerix, the leading provider of cross-asset analytics for derivatives valuations and risk management, will host a complimentary webinar on Tuesday, July 24 at 10:30 AM EDT where Dr. Alexander Sokol of CompatibL will lead a discussion examining FVA and its role in derivative valuations, trading, and liquidity management.
http://jlne.ws/NLO0IY

MarketsWiki.tv

Kevin Cook of Autumn Capital Partners Discusses Common Pitfalls for Emerging Managers
MarketsWiki.tv
Kevin Cook, partner at Autumn Capital Partners, a UK-based consulting firm for hedge funds and CTAs, discusses common pitfalls for emerging managers and the outlook for the managed futures space at the Emerging Manager Forum in London. Cook presented “The Top 10 Reasons Emerging Managers Fail” at the conference.  Interview by John Lothian News editor-in-chief Jim Kharouf.

**Special thanks to Bucky Isaacson and Frank Pusateri for their help and to the May Fair Hotel, for use of their facilities
http://jlne.ws/MAJXjc

JLN Forex

How Deep is the China Slowdown?
By Douglas Ashburn
Typically, when I write a headline like the one above, it is followed by a column that answers, or attempts to answer, the question being posed.

This time, I ask the question “how deep is the China slowdown?” because, quite frankly, I have absolutely no idea. What is known is that China’s “official” economic numbers paint a picture of a country whose growth is slowing to a normal pace. However, the alarming reaction and calls for stimulus makes one think that we are not getting the whole story. Plus, the “contained” slowdown seems to be at odds with information I have received in private intelligence reports. Finally, the official narrative runs counter to everything I have come to know about the global economy.

Last week, China reported that its GDP slowed in the second quarter to a 7.6 percent annualized rate. While this rate marks a three-year low, it still far surpasses growth rates in the developed world. And, given that its export-led economy is inextricably tied to Europe, which is mired in economic trouble, and the U.S., which is also seeing a slowing economy, 7.6 percent GDP in China would be none too shabby. If, that is, the number is an accurate reflection of China’s true economic picture. The Chinese government does have a history of tightly controlling the flow of information.

By the way, China says it still expects its growth rate to be back up to ten percent by year’s end.

Read the rest of the commentary (AND, sign up for the newsletter, AND, follow us on Twitter so you know when the daily news is ready) at the JLN Forex website: http://www.jlnforex.com/.

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http://jlne.ws/LwDM3t

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Lead Stories

CFTC chief admits failure in oversight of Peregrine
Reuters
The U.S. futures regulator acknowledged on Tuesday the regulatory system had failed to protect the customers of Peregrine Financial Group, which collapsed last week as its founder admitted to a $100 million fraud spanning two decades.
http://jlne.ws/NLO3nV

U.S. to Launch Broad Review of Futures Firms
BY SCOTT PATTERSON – WSJ
Regulators will conduct a sweeping review of futures firms across the country, seeking to ensure that the firms’ bank accounts contain the cash they say they do, according to people familiar with the planned scrutiny.
http://jlne.ws/Nf1Ysk

Tradition Brokers First Trade On LNG East Asia Index
Trade Represents A First In OTC-Brokered Exchange-Cleared LNG Trading
Tradition, one of the world’s leading interdealer brokers, today announced that it had successfully brokered the first LNG trade on ICIS Heren’s East Asia Index (LNG EAX). The landmark transaction, traded via Tradition through the CME Direct Screen, marks the first ever OTC brokered exchange-cleared LNG trade.
http://jlne.ws/NLO1fK

Email Exchange Shows Relationship Between BOE’s Tucker and Diamond
Dow Jones
The relationship between former Barclays PLC chief executive Robert Diamond and the Bank of England’s Paul Tucker was laid bare Tuesday when the central bank published an email exchange between the two men following Mr. Tucker’s promotion to Deputy Governor in December 2008.
http://jlne.ws/NLO3Ew

BOE King: Barclays Has to Create a New Bank With a New Culture
Dow Jones
U.K.-based lender Barclays PLC needs a new culture in the wake of a rate-fixing scandal that saw it pay roughly $450 million to regulators in the U.K. and U.S., Bank of England governor Mervyn King said Tuesday.
http://jlne.ws/NLO1fX

Bank of England Chief Denies New York Fed Gave Warning on Rate-Rigging
New York Times
Mervyn A. King, governor of the Bank of England, told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday that there was “no suggestion of fraudulent behavior” in an e-mail in 2008 from Timothy F. Geithner, then chief of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
http://jlne.ws/NLO3UX

Bernanke says Fed’s hands were tied on Libor
Reuters via Yahoo! News
WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the U.S. central bank on Tuesday from accusations it did not move aggressively enough to address problems with the setting of the global lending benchmark rate Libor, saying it was in the hands of a private banking group.
http://jlne.ws/NLO3V2

DealBook: After Barclays Scandal, Regulators Say Rates Remain Flawed
International Herald Tribune
In Congressional testimony, the chairman of the Federal Reserve and the head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission expressed concern that big banks manipulated certain interest rates for their own gain.
http://jlne.ws/NLO3V7

Bank Of Spain Failed To Supervise, New Governor Says
Dow Jones
Bank of Spain Governor Luis M. Linde said the central bank’s failure to fulfil its supervisory role was partly to blame for the loss of investor confidence in the country’s banking industry.
http://jlne.ws/NLO4bv

Peregrine CEO Used Client Funds for Firm’s Capital, Headquarters, Fines
By Michael Rothfeld and Jacob Bunge – Dow Jones
Peregrine Financial Services Inc.’s founder said he spent most of the money allegedly embezzled from customers to cushion his futures brokerage’s capital, fund a new corporate headquarters–and even to pay regulatory fines and fees, according to previously undisclosed parts of a suicide note and signed statement.
http://jlne.ws/NLO4bI

Wasendorf Has Restaurant, Romanian Properties, Receiver Says
By Andrew Harris – Bloomberg
Russell Wasendorf Sr., the Peregrine Financial Group Inc. executive charged with lying to federal regulators, counted Romanian properties, a restaurant and an online bookstore among the entities he controlled, a court- appointed receiver told a U.S. judge.
http://jlne.ws/NLO23n

Peregrine’s Wasendorf, Charged With Lying, Seeks Bail
Bloomberg
Russell R. Wasendorf Sr., the Peregrine Financial Group Inc. founder charged with lying to regulators about how much client money his commodities brokerage had on deposit, is set to ask a judge to release him on bail.
http://jlne.ws/NLO23s

Wasendorf living a life of contradictions
By Arash Massoudi in New York – Financial Times
A week before the collapse of MF Global last October, Russell Wasendorf Sr stood before a gathering of 350 senior financial industry figures in Naples, Florida to introduce George W. Bush.
http://jlne.ws/NLO4s8

Tricky lessons for the players in Liborgate
By John Plender – Financial Times
What can shareholders and regulators reasonably expect of boards and non-executive directors of large, complex financial institutions? The question is being asked once again in the light of the rigging of Libor, the benchmark that gives a daily indication of 150 different interest rates at which leading banks obtain – or not as the case may be – unsecured funding in the London interbank market.
http://jlne.ws/NLO4se

Regulatory

[NFA] Futures industry SRO committee announces additional initiatives to strengthen safeguards for customer segregated funds
Press Release
http://jlne.ws/NyU6iM

Byman to Lead Jenner & Block’s NFA Review of Peregrine
Bloomberg
Robert Byman, the Jenner & Block LLP partner who represented Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s bankruptcy adviser Anton Valukas, is conducting the National Futures Association’s internal review of its auditing procedures and its oversight of bankrupt Peregrine Financial Group Inc.
http://jlne.ws/NLO4IG

Peregrine ex-customer calls for vote of no confidence in NFA
Reuters
A former customer of Peregrine Financial called Monday for a U.S. congressional investigation into the National Futures Association (NFA), after the industry-funded regulator failed to spot 20-year fraud at the bankrupt Iowa brokerage. Attain Capital Management, a Chicago-based introducing broker that had accounts at Peregrine Financial, or PFGBest as it is commonly known in the futures industry, said there needs to be an immediate overall of how futures brokers are regulated.
http://jlne.ws/NLO2k7

Swap dealers have eyes on Dodd-Frank dates
By Mike Kentz – Reuters
Swap dealer compliance teams are expecting the finalization of 11 separate Dodd-Frank rules in the month of October alone and are beginning to wonder how missed compliance dates will be treated by US regulators.
http://jlne.ws/NtGVAS

CFTC Announces Public Meeting of the Technology Advisory Committee
Full Committee to Focus on Possible Technological Solutions to Improve Direct Access to Customer Segregated Accounts
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announces that on Thursday, July 26, 2012, the CFTC’s Technology Advisory Committee (the “TAC” or “Committee”) will hold a public meeting at the Commission’s headquarters in Washington, DC from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
http://jlne.ws/NLO2Ay

NFA Arbitrator Update, July 2012 Issue
Arbitrator Profile: Lanny Leff
Let’s Put Some Order in That Order
Costs and Fees Please
Show Me the Money
Glad You Asked
We Haven’t Forgotten You
http://jlne.ws/NLO2QU

Mexico bank regulator defends role in HSBC scandal
Reuters via Yahoo! News
Mexico’s banking regulator on Tuesday defended its role in a money laundering scandal engulfing HSBC Holdings Plc, saying it had repeatedly told the bank to improve lax controls over suspect funds passing through its accounts.
http://jlne.ws/NLO37p

Testimony Before The US Senate Committee On Agriculture Of CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler
http://jlne.ws/NLO37A

Opening Statement, Thirteenth Open Meeting To Consider Final Rules Pursuant To The Dodd-Frank Act, CFTC Commissioner Jill Sommers
http://jlne.ws/NLO637

Global Investment Management Industry Continues To Face A Regulatory Avalanche Of Disparate Rules: KPMG Report Progress Is Slow, But Moving toward More Consistent Rules Across Every Region
http://jlne.ws/NLO5Mz

First NZ Capital Chooses Thomson Reuters For Anti-Money Laundering Compliance
Thomson Reuters TransWatch Serves Firms Seeking To Comply With New Regulatory Framework In New Zealand
http://jlne.ws/NLO6jI

Exchanges & Trading Facilities

CME Group to offer clearing for London OTC silver
Reuters
CME Group Inc will offer clearing services for over-the-counter (OTC) London silver forward contracts, it said in a note to members on Tuesday, as the U.S. exchange aims to bolster its precious metals operations.
http://jlne.ws/NLO8Ih

London stock exchange says income up 10%
AFP via Yahoo! News
London Stock Exchange Group on Wednesday said its income grew 10 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier to £209.5 million on recent acquisitions.
http://jlne.ws/NLO6QB

London Stock Exchange Group Plc Interim Management Statement For The Period To 17 July 2012, Including Revenues And KPIs For The Three Months Ended 30 June 2012 (Q1)
http://jlne.ws/NLO8YQ

[CBOE] Operational Systems Settings on Volatility Index Product Settlement Days
http://jlne.ws/NLO9ff

Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange Host First Annual Charity Golf Classic
http://jlne.ws/NLO9fv

TMX Group Inc. to Announce Financial Results for Q2 2012 on Friday, July 27, 2012
http://jlne.ws/NLO9vS

Reminder – Direct Edge Trading Notice #12-23: Midpoint Discretionary Order Launches Tomorrow, July 18th
http://jlne.ws/NLO7E8

Hedge Funds & Managed Futures

Traxis liquidating $300 mln fund managed by Biggs
Market Watch
Traxis Partners LP is liquidating a $300 million fund solely managed by its deceased founder Barton Biggs and giving investors the option to transfer their assets to the hedge fund’s flagship fund, according to a letter sent to investors Tuesday.
http://jlne.ws/NLO7Ej

Alternative asset managers hit by market decline
Market Watch
TAKING THE PULSE: Alternative asset managers are feeling the heat as global economic headwinds from the ongoing European sovereign debt crisis and concerns over slowing growth in emerging economies like China have caused a pullback in the global equities market. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index declined 3.3% in the second quarter.
http://jlne.ws/NLOa2M

Investors straying to other currencies
The uncertainty generated among investors by the unresolved debt crisis has also affected sentiment in bond trading at Boerse Stuttgart. Turnover in foreign currency bonds has risen sharply in recent months. Right at the top of the list are bonds denominated in Norwegian crowns (NOK).
http://jlne.ws/NLOa2T

‘King of Tokyo’ dethroned by insider trading probe
Reuters via Yahoo! Finance
Edward Brogan was Japan’s highest-profile hedge fund manager until he suddenly dropped out of view this month. Dubbed the “King of Tokyo” by traders, the 53-year-old American seemed to have it all: wealth, professional acclaim and status as a patron of contemporary art.
http://jlne.ws/NLOa33

[Video] Why Emerging Hedge Funds Top Old Standards
TheStreet.com
Jason Ader, Chairman of Ader Investment Management, says emerging hedge fund managers are outperforming their large established counterparts.
http://jlne.ws/NLOajp

Funds may have won and lost in Libor scandal
Reuters via Yahoo! News
The investment chief of Calpers, the largest U.S. public pension fund, threatened a lawsuit if the fund was harmed by banks’ manipulations of the London InterBank Offered Rate, or Libor. But he left himself some wiggle room. “Sometimes we were advantaged and sometimes disadvantaged,” Joe Dear, who oversees Calpers $233 billion in assets, said on Monday.
http://jlne.ws/NLO8rN

Goldman Sachs commodities risk lowest in 8 years
Reuters via Yahoo! News
Goldman Sachs’ commodities trading risk fell to its lowest level in 8 years during the second quarter, company results showed on Tuesday, as tough trading conditions sidelined many investors in oil, metals and agriculture.
http://jlne.ws/NLObnn

CalPERS Welcomes Bill Slaton To The CalPERS Board
http://jlne.ws/NLObnu

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke Semiannual Monetary Policy Report To The U.S. Congress – Before The Committee On Banking, Housing, And Urban Affairs, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C., July 17, 2012
http://jlne.ws/NLOaQk

Banks & Brokers

DealBook: HSBC Official Will Give Up Post
New York Times
The top compliance executive made the announcement during a Senate hearing examining the bank’s repeated failure to stop illegal foreign transactions.
http://jlne.ws/NLObnB

National Australia Bank UK Units Face FSA Review
FOX Business
National Australia Bank on Wednesday confirmed reports that its struggling U.K. units have been drawn into a review by regulators into alleged misselling of interest-rate-swap products.
http://jlne.ws/NLOb6T

Goldman Sachs Cuts Pay as Revenue Drops to Lowest Since 2005
Bloomberg
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) cut jobs and money to pay employees and will seek $500 million in additional cost reductions this year after first-half revenue fell to the lowest since 2005.
http://jlne.ws/NLOb70

Credit Suisse Raises Capital Reserves as Profit Increases
By MARK SCOTT – NY Times
Credit Suisse said on Wednesday that its net profit rose 2.6 percent in the second quarter, as the bank announced a number of measures to increase its capital reserves in response to concerns from Switzerland’s central bank.
http://jlne.ws/NLObE1

Interactive Brokers Group Announces 2Q2012 Results
Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. an automated global electronic broker and market maker, today reported diluted earnings per share on a comprehensive basis of $0.09 for the quarter ended June 30, 2012, compared to diluted earnings per share on a comprehensive basis of $0.31 for the same period in 2011.
http://jlne.ws/NLObUt

Senior staff exit FCStone’s London office
Tom Osborn – Financial News
US futures broker INTL FCStone, one of the London Metal Exchange’s tier-one floor dealers, has seen the departure of several senior employees from its London office, following the exit of its general manager last week.
http://jlne.ws/NLOej5

Bank of America Settles Suit for $375 Million
By REUTERS
Bank of America has agreed to pay $375 million to settle a lawsuit brought by Syncora Guarantee, a bond insurer, over toxic mortgage-backed securities at the center of the 2008 financial crisis.
http://jlne.ws/NLOcaZ

State Street Second-Quarter Profit Falls 4.5% Amid Charges
Dow Jones
State Street Corp.’s second-quarter earnings fell 4.5% on lower foreign-exchange trading revenue and lower fees from investment management and servicing.
http://jlne.ws/NLOezJ

State Street to Acquire Goldman Sachs Administration Services
Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance
State Street Corporation , one of the world’s leading providers of financial services to institutional investors, announced today that it has agreed to acquire Goldman Sachs Administration Services , a leading hedge fund administrator, from The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
http://jlne.ws/NLOcry

Dead Wrong, JPMorgan’s Dimon Should Make Voluntary Clawback
Forbes
JPMorgan Chase Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon apparently thinks the buck stops below him when it comes to wrongdoing at his firm. He reaps the rewards of underlings when they pump up profits through questionable means and supervisors look the other way – a situation that occurred in JPMorgan’s [...]
http://jlne.ws/NLOf6A

JPMorgan Can’t Justify Withholding E-Mails, FERC Says
Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co. can’t justify withholding 25 e-mails sought in an investigation of possible energy-market manipulation, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission told a U.S. court. JPMorgan has said the e-mails contain privileged communications with attorneys.
http://jlne.ws/NLOcI5

HSBC Determined to Fix Compliance Issues
Dow Jones
HSBC Holdings PLC Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver told staff Tuesday the bank is determined to fix past mistakes, prevent them happening again and remains committed to executing a business strategy laid out last year, according to an internal video seen by Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.
http://jlne.ws/NLOcYy

UBS Agrees Special Bonus Deal For Australian Team-Reuters
Dow Jones
UBS AG has agreed to ring fence the bonus pool awarded to its top investment bankers in Australia, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing two people with knowledge of the arrangement.
http://jlne.ws/NLOcYJ

TD Ameritrade’s Strong Asset Gathering Momentum Continues
Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance
TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (AMTD) has released results for the third quarter of fiscal 2012. Year-to-date, the company has gathered net new client assets of $30.7 billion, or an annualized growth rate of 11 percent, and is on track for a fourth consecutive year of double-digit organic client asset growth.
http://jlne.ws/NLOdf2

Polish Central Bank Blames Mastercard for Interchange Deal Failure
Dow Jones
Poland’s central bank Tuesday blamed MasterCard Inc. for what it said was the failure of round table talks aimed at having market participants voluntarily lower the interchange rates they charge in the country.
http://jlne.ws/NLOfDC

MarketAxess to Host Conference Call Announcing 2012 Second Quarter Results
MarketAxess Holdings Inc. , the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for U.S. and European high-grade corporate bonds, emerging markets bonds and other types of fixed-income securities, will announce its 2012 second quarter results on Wednesday, July 25, 2012.
http://jlne.ws/NLOfDL

Deutsche Bank Launches New Currencies Trading System
By Katie Martin and Eva Szalay – Dow Jones
The arms race for a new generation of currency-trading technology stepped up a gear Wednesday as Deutsche Bank AG (DB)–the biggest bank in the market–launched a new version of its Autobahn trading system.
http://jlne.ws/NLOfU9

Goldman Sachs Announces Successful Remarketing of Notes Held by Goldman Sachs Capital III
http://jlne.ws/NLOfUo

Fidessa debuts new Canadian trading platform
Toronto – Fidessa Group has announced the latest version of its Canadian trading platform. This version has already been deployed across 90 percent of Fidessa’s Canadian customers.
http://jlne.ws/Ly4SXZ

Clearing & Settlement

Clearstream facilitates market evolution in the Middle East
Clearstream continues to facilitate the creation of a Middle Eastern financial market infrastructure: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank has joined Clearstream’s triparty repo service as a new cash provider. The first trade was executed in Q2/2012 with Commerzbank Dubai and will contribute to the further evolution of a Middle Eastern triparty repo market.
http://jlne.ws/NLOdMg

DTCC Testifies on Readiness to Meet Dodd-Frank Reporting Deadline
Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance
The Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation today testified before a Senate Committee that the company is fully prepared to meet the September deadline for compliance with
http://jlne.ws/NLOgaX

GLG Sign Up For Calastone’s Automated Settlement Service
http://jlne.ws/NLOgrh

Indexes & Products

New ETF Option For Income Investors
Forbes
According to ETF Channel, today Global X Funds launched the Global X SuperIncome Preferred ETF on NYSE Arca. SPFF is designed to track fifty of the highest yielding preferred securities in North America.
http://jlne.ws/NLOgYd

Vanguard Finds Investors Not Trading ETFs Excessively
Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance
Do exchange-traded funds turn long-term investors into speculative day traders, as some critics claim? Not according to a new Vanguard research paper, ETFs: For the better or bettor?, which found that most Vanguard investors exhibit buy-and-hold behavior whether investing in a traditional index fund or ETF.
http://jlne.ws/NLOgYk

Contrasting Fortunes For Hedge Fund Strategies In June – June Performance Update Of The EDHEC-Risk Alternative Indexes
http://jlne.ws/NLOgYt

SIX Swiss Exchange’s ETF Quarterly Statistics: 2nd Quarter 2012
http://jlne.ws/NLOjn0

Technology

Indonesian Investment Bank Mandiri Sekuritas Offers Direct Market Access with SunGard’s Valdi and Global Network
Mandiri Sekuritas, a leading investment bank in Indonesia and a subsidiary of one of the biggest Indonesian banks, Bank Mandiri, has gone live with SunGard’s Valdi and SunGard Global Network (SGN) solutions to offer direct market access (DMA) to the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX).
http://jlne.ws/NLOjDr

Broadway Technology Moves New York Headquarters to 140 Broadway in the Financial District
GlobeNewswire via Yahoo! Finance
Broadway Technology, LLC, a leader in high-performance trading solutions for top-tier global banks and hedge funds, announced today that it has moved its New York headquarters to the 43rd floor of 140 Broadway in the Financial District, occupying 13,000 square-feet.
http://jlne.ws/NLOhvp

Cheyne Capital Extends Use of Imagine to Manage Risk for Long / Short Credit UCITS Fund
Imagine Software, a leading provider of real-time portfolio and risk management solutions worldwide, today announced that Cheyne Capital (“Cheyne”) has extended its use of Imagine’s cloud-based, P&L and risk management service to support its recently launched UCITS-compliant Cheyne Global Credit Fund.
http://jlne.ws/NLOhvw

Leading Commodity Trading Advisor Selects Panopticon for Mobile Data Analysis Deployment of OneTick
Panopticon Software, the leading provider of visual data analysis software for real-time, CEP and historical time series data, today announced that Campbell & Company, one of the top 100 commodity trading advisors (CTAs) in the world, has selected Panopticon to visually display the analytical results of OneTick.
http://jlne.ws/NLOhM1

Brady announces record licence deals and 30% revenue growth in first half 2012
Brady plc, the leading global supplier of trading, risk management and settlement solutions to the energy, metals and soft commodities sectors, is pleased to provide a trading update for the half year to 30 June 2012.
http://jlne.ws/NLOkay

Norway’s Folketrygdfondet Live on Hosted Charles River IMS Version 9 for All Asset Classes Across Its Front Office
Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance
Charles River, a front- and middle-office investment solutions provider today announced that Folketrygdfondet, which manages assets for the Norwegian Ministry of Finance, is live on the Charles River Investment Management System Version 9 .
http://jlne.ws/NLOkr3

Kinetic Partners And Riskdata Launch An Integrated Risk Reporting Service
http://jlne.ws/NLOizi

SWIFT AND REGIS-TR COOPERATE ON TRADE REPOSITORY PROJECT
The European trade repository REGIS-TR announced today that it hasteamed up with global provider of secure financial messaging servicesSWIFT to support their customers in preparing for future derivativesregulation in Europe. In the framework of the joint initiative, REGIS-TRcustomers will be able to access the derivatives trade repository andreport directly to it using SWIFT. This connectivity enhancement willoffer important efficiency and security benefits to customers in additionto facilitating compliance with the upcoming European MarketsInfrastructure Regulation (EMIR).
http://jlne.ws/PhjWJQ

Enforcement

Former Major League Baseball Player Lenny Dykstra Pleads Guilty in Federal Court to Bankruptcy Fraud and Money Laundering
Lenny Kyle Dykstra, an All-Star outfielder who played for the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, pleaded guilty today to bankruptcy fraud and other federal charges for selling items pilfered from his mansions in Ventura County.
http://jlne.ws/NLOizu

ThinkStrategy’s Kapur Indicted for Securities Fraud
Bloomberg
ThinkStrategy Capital Management LLC’s Chetan Kapur was accused by the U.S. of deceiving investors into buying shares in his hedge funds in a scheme that lasted from 2002 to 2010.
http://jlne.ws/NLOizB

Short Selling Brothers Agree To Pay $14.5 Million To Settle SEC Charges
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that two options traders who the agency charged earlier this year with short selling violations have agreed to pay more than $14.5 million to settle the case against them.
http://jlne.ws/NLOkHI

Environmental & Energy

For the first time, America produces as much electricity from natural gas as from coal
Grist
For the first time in U.S. history, natural gas electricity generation equaled coal generation, according to preliminary April figures from the Energy Information Administration.
http://bit.ly/O8T1NL

China, U.S. Agree World Climate Efforts Not Enough to Meet Goals
Bloomberg
China and the U.S. agreed that greater climate-protection efforts are needed before a binding global treaty comes into force in 2020, joining nations at a meeting in Germany to acknowledge current pledges fall short.
http://jlne.ws/Q4nAIt

Germany May Scrap Energy-Source Goal as Overhaul Stumbles
Bloomberg
Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government said it may have to scrap some of its targets for shifting the source of its electricity supply, a move that would water down a commitment to bolster renewable energy in Europe’s biggest economy.
http://jlne.ws/NvHYAp

Asia-Pacific

S Korea’s Antitrust Agency Visiting Banks for CD Rate Collusion Probe -Banks
Dow Jones
South Korea’s anti-trust agency is visiting the headquarters of the four biggest banks in the country as part of an investigation into possible collusion on certificate of deposit rates by brokerages or banks, several banks said Wednesday.
http://jlne.ws/NLOleu

Singapore Investigates Rate-Setting on Sibor
BY MARTIN VAUGHAN – WSJ
The Monetary Authority of Singapore is looking into how local and foreign banks set the local interest-rate benchmark, as regulators world-wide try to determine how widespread attempts to manipulate such rates have been.
http://jlne.ws/NLOj6y

Société Générale Reprimanded By Hong Kong’s Securities And Futures Commission And To Repay Customers USD 11 Million
http://jlne.ws/NLOleF

SGX: Stapled Securities Are Subject To Same High Listing Standards And Disclosure
http://jlne.ws/NLOlv1

HKEx Stock Exchange Participants’ Market Share Report
Stock Exchange Participants’ Market Share Report
http://jlne.ws/NLOlvd

Osaka Securities Exchange: SPAN Parameter Updated – July 23, 2012 – July 27, 2012
http://jlne.ws/NLOmiD

Monetary Authority Of Singapore Reprimands OANDA Asia Pacific Pte Ltd For Contravention Of Section 28A(2) Of The Monetary Authority Of Singapore Act
http://jlne.ws/NLOlLI

China Proposes to Launch Interbank Trading for Precious Metals -Source
China has proposed to expand trading of precious metals from designated exchanges to the country’s vast interbank market soon, a move that is set to increase liquidity and help Beijing gain stronger global pricing power for key commodities like gold, a person familiar with the situation told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday.
http://jlne.ws/OG5p5X

Frontier Markets

Egyptian Exchange Launches Its FIX HUB Network And Connects With FIDESSA Trading Network Covering 175 Financial Markets
http://jlne.ws/NLOmz5

Pakistan Mercantile Exchange Initiates Trading In 10 Ounce Silver Contract
Pakistan Mercantile Exchange Limited launched the 10 ounce silver contract this week for its small investors. Trading started in the contract right after approval was received last week from Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan. PMEX has currently opened two contracts for the months of August and September.
http://jlne.ws/NLOmze

Bursa Malaysia Posts 3% Increase In Half Year Patami
http://jlne.ws/NLOoXM

Bursa Malaysia Registers Patami Of MYR40.8 Million In First Quarter
http://jlne.ws/NLOmPH

Dubai Financial Market Official Working Hours During Ramadan
http://jlne.ws/NLOn64

Palestine Exchange: Received Disclosed Interim Financial Statements Of Palestine Securities Exchange Co. For The First Half Of 2012
http://jlne.ws/NLOn6b