Industry news

August 23, 2012: Exchanges hit again by trading error; Six Group on acquisition hunt; TSE’s Tender for Osaka Bourse Succeeds as Pledges Exceed Maximum

Nasdaq and other exchanges cancelled trades on Wednesday after bad orders caused prices to rise too far, too fast; perhaps adding a simple “CTRL+Z” to exchange trading platforms would be in order at this point.  Switzerland’s SIX Group has extra cash in its pocket and is looking at some kind of strategic acquisition.  The Tokyo-Osaka tieup continues forward, as the exchanges announce that TSE’s tender offer has succeeded.  In First Read today, John Lothian announces returning and renewing sponsors for MarketsWiki.

First Read

Renewal and Growth
I am pleased to announce that Trading Technologies has renewed their Premier Level sponsorship to MarketsWiki. Additionally, I am happy to report that Rosenthal Collins Group has returned as a Friend Level sponsor of MarketsWiki.

With MarketsWiki traffic growing in 2012 at nearly 200% of 2011’s page views, the site’s traffic continues to grow exponentially. We are appreciative of the support of all of our sponsors and pleased that we continue to deliver what we believe is greater value at every renewal period.

Last year we launched MarketsReformWiki, JLN Forex and MarketsWiki.tv. This year we expanded our video production when we moved into new offices and launched FuturesCrowd.com to help find ways to restore customer confidence in our markets after MF Global’s implosion. We have also just launched a new mobile site for MarketsWiki, as well as new WordPress-backed sites for several of our newsletters.

Concentrate on this Juice Box
Later today we will upload a video interview we did with Layne Carlson of the MGEX about their new Apple Juice Concentrate futures and options. You can find the video later today at MarketsWiki.com and MarketsWiki.tv.

Intern Order Flow
It is the end of the summer and our interns are leaving us in an orderly fashion. Evan Fabry is back to high school, Stephen Hurst leaves us tomorrow for University of the South and Erin Lahti has taken a contract job. RJ Roxas remains the lone intern, helping us with our video production and other new endeavors.

~John J. Lothian

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DTCC Appoints Donna Milrod as Chief Administrative Officer
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) today announced that Donna M. Milrod will join the firm as Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), effective mid-October. She will report to President and Chief Executive Officer Michael Bodson, and serve as a member of the company’s Management Committee. Ms. Milrod will have responsibility for the company’s finance, operations, regulatory relations, business continuity, vendor management and security functions.
http://jlne.ws/Rff09r

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LCH.Clearnet hiring continues with new CFO
Tim Cave – Financial News
LCH.Clearnet has appointed a former Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein banker as its new chief financial officer, in the latest of a string of senior hires that the Anglo-French clearing house is making as it gears up for new ownership under the London Stock Exchange.
http://jlne.ws/R3mpVf

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Cosy world of inter-dealer brokers faces shake-up
Reuters via Yahoo! News
Inter-dealer brokers, the fast-talking middlemen who match buyers and sellers of complex financial products, are under pressure to strike takeover deals as business shrinks and regulators shine a light on their murky trillion dollar markets.
http://jlne.ws/O4R0TN

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S.E.C. Calls Off Vote on Fund Regulation
New York Times
Attempts to make sweeping changes to money-market mutual funds, which played a destabilizing role in the 2008 financial crisis, have been derailed.
http://jlne.ws/O4QYLA

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Derivatives should just be banned
Alan Kohler | Business Spectator
Almost all financial derivatives trading adds nothing but risk to the world and should be banned. It won’t be, but that doesn’t mean the debate is academic.
http://jlne.ws/O4QZ1S

**** This author, besides being stupid, confuses risk management and betting.  In his mind risk is being created by derivatives rather than managed, transformed or transferred.

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From Facebook Fiasco To Flash Crash, Small Investors Get Hosed By Wall Street
Forbes
That Facebook IPO, the attempted BATS IPO, Knight Capital’s close call with obliteration: these and other recent incidents have brought a good deal of deserved and overdue attention to problems with the mechanics of trading, especially in the United States.
http://jlne.ws/O4R1ad

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The battle of the bourses
Pramit Bhattacharya & Vyas Mohan – livemint.com
Seventeen years after the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE) broke the dominance of the 137-year-old BSE Ltd and became the largest stock exchange in India, two new stock exchanges are aiming at repeating history.
http://jlne.ws/OMSKyR

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India seeks ruling on algorithmic trading
Neil Munshi in Mumbai – FT.com
An Indian court on Tuesday directed India’s markets regulator to respond to a petition filed by an investor association that seeks to ban automated trading on the grounds that it discriminates against retail investors.
http://jlne.ws/O4QZ23

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Glass-Steagall and Sandy Weill
Clarke Camper – Inside the Beltway
After former Citigroup Chairman & CEO Sandy Weill called for the breakup of big banks in a recent CNBC interview, financial commentators seized on Weill’s words as a clarion call for renewed public debate on the Glass-Steagall Act. In a new piece for Project Syndicate, Harvard Law Professor Mark Roe, an expert on securities law and financial markets, finds that Glass-Steagall’s repeal did not significantly contribute to the recent global financial crisis
http://jlne.ws/O4QZ24

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The Awesome, Mind-Boggling Tale of Sam Israel and the Shadow Markets
Zero Hedge
I just finished reading Octopus by Guy Lawson, and it’s one of those rare books that fit the ” I Couldn’t Put It Down ” category, much like Den of Thieves , published in 1992. It is the tale of Sam Israel, whom you may remember in 2006 was on the lam from his failed hedge fund/Ponzi scheme.
http://jlne.ws/O4R1qC

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Global Experts Poll: Economic Confidence Plummets To Lowest Level In Five Quarters
Confidence in the state of the world economy is at its lowest ebb since the World Economic Forum started its Global Confidence Index five quarters ago. The relative optimism of the previous quarter evaporated against a backdrop of slowing growth in the US and China as well as a lingering eurozone crisis, with 72% of respondents to the poll reporting that they were not confident about the state of the global economy over the next 12 months, up from 37%.
http://jlne.ws/O4QZ2b

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Holly Duran Real Estate Partners Negotiates Second Tampa Lease for StreetLinks
http://jlne.ws/O4QZiw

JLN Forex

Geronimo!!!
by Douglas Ashburn
Unless you have been hiding under a rock (or you live in an area of the world that is on holiday for the entire month of August), you are sick and tired of hearing the phrase “fiscal cliff.” Please, however, indulge me this one last time.

Barring an act of Congress, come next January, the U.S. economy is doomed to another extended bout of recession. If the Bush-era tax cuts are allowed to expire, and an absence of a deficit-cutting plan triggers a slew of automatic budget cuts, it will be 2008 all over again. Or so we are told. We would not want to upset this fabulous-but-fragile recovery now, would we? Who in their right mind would advocate jumping off this fiscal cliff?

I say, “Geronimo!!!”

“Madness,” you say. “The fiscal cliff is causing so much uncertainty. Firms are refusing to spend money; they are delaying investment in durable goods. GDP growth fell in the second quarter to a 1.5 percent annualized rate. We must therefore extend the tax cuts and delay spending cuts in order to resolve all this uncertainty and restore faith in the recovery.”

Visit JLN Forex at http://jlne.ws/PtZs0Z for the rest of the commentary; visit the main blog site at http://www.jlnforex.com/ for daily news and comments about currencies and the global economy.

JLN Options

Fiscal Cliff: Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself
Goldman note warns investors to dump stocks, but why?
Jim Woods, InvestorPlace
There’s a new panic phrase on Wall Street, as well as on the presidential campaign trail, and that phrase is the “fiscal cliff.” By now, you’ve no doubt heard this term being bandied about by analysts, money managers, congressmen, senators and even the principles in the fight for the White House.
http://jlne.ws/PxFN02

Faith in Stock Market Waning, Tabb Says
Tom Steinert-Threlkeld, Traders Magazine
…In a survey of market participants between August 6 and 13, the industry consultant found that only 2 percent of broker-dealers, asset managers, hedge funds, execution venues and their arms suppliers rate their confidence in markets as very high.
http://jlne.ws/PxGd6S

** Which makes the following story all the more relevant. -JB

Exchanges hit again by trading error
Arash Massoudi, Financial Times
The Nasdaq Stock Market and other exchanges cancelled trades in a security on Wednesday after erroneous orders triggered a steep rise in its share price in a matter of seconds. The cancellation highlights what is becoming a frequent feature of trading on stock exchanges as the rise of automated and high-frequency trading has increased the likelihood that mistaken orders take place.
http://jlne.ws/MNdJWz

MarketsWiki

MarketsWiki Page of the Day
The Fiscal Cliff
http://jlne.ws/NlfwOb

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MarketsWiki Recent Updates

People

Walter Thomas (Tom) Price, III; Allen Goodman; Bob Swarup

Companies, Organizations and Groups

Price Holdings, Inc.; The Price Futures Group, Inc.; R.J. O’Brien & Associates; Cantor Fitzgerald

Products

MGEX Apple Juice Concentrate Contract

Miscellaneous

Credit Valuation Adjustment; Fiscal cliff

Statistics

27,538,985 pages viewed, 7,075 articles, 146,680 edits
MarketsWiki Statistics

Lead Stories

Exchanges hit again by trading error
Arash Massoudi in New York – FT.com
The Nasdaq Stock Market and other exchanges cancelled trades in a security on Wednesday after erroneous orders triggered a steep rise in its share price in a matter of seconds. The cancellation highlights what is becoming a frequent feature of trading on stock exchanges as the rise of automated and high-frequency trading has increased the likelihood that mistaken orders take place.
http://jlne.ws/O4QZiF

Six Group on acquisition hunt
Tim Cave – Financial News
The operator of Switzerland’s national stock exchange is eyeing “strategic investments” with the proceeds from its sale of a stake in derivatives market Eurex, in a bid to execute on its well-publicised strategy of “internationalisation”.
http://jlne.ws/O4R1H2

TSE’s Tender for Osaka Bourse Succeeds as Pledges Exceed Maximum
Bloomberg
Tokyo Stock Exchange Group Inc.’s tender offer for its Osaka rival succeeded, with the number of shares committed exceeding the maximum sought.
http://jlne.ws/O4R1H6

Citigroup Urges SEC to Block Nasdaq Facebook Compensation
Bloomberg
Citigroup Inc. , whose market-making unit suffered millions of dollars of losses trading Facebook Inc. in its public debut, urged U.S. regulators to reject Nasdaq OMX Group Inc.’s proposal to pay $62 million in compensation.
http://jlne.ws/O4R1H9

Swaps profits threatened by Dodd-Frank
Michael Mackenzie and Tracy Alloway in New York – FT.com
Wall Street is preparing for a dramatic overhaul of how derivatives are traded in a move that could hit profits at the big banks. In anticipation, the banks that act as big swap dealers are tackling their cost base, investing in more technology and adjusting to the prospect of using less leverage, taking less risk and by extension harvesting smaller bonuses.
http://jlne.ws/O4R1Hi

Fiscal Cliff Watch: Markets Ignore CBO’s Recession Warning
Steven Russolillo – WSJ
Investor complacency surrounding the fiscal cliff is bubbling up. But analysts, economists and now a government agency are warning about the grave dangers should Congress fail to act.
http://jlne.ws/O4R1Hl

The Fiscal Cliff: Right Now, Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself
Jim Woods, Stocks & Markets Contributor
There’s a new panic phrase on Wall Street, as well as on the presidential campaign trail, and that phrase is the “fiscal cliff.” This week, we heard another warning on the topic — this time from Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs, which said that investors should dump stocks before the fiscal cliff hits.
http://jlne.ws/PxFN02

UK Finance Looks Like Wild West of Graft, Incompetence In UK Govt Report
International Business Times
The announcement Wednesday that the notoriously fangless British Financial Services Authority is going after the most blatant fraudsters in U.K. finance opened a window on some of the sleaziest financial hucksterism in Great Britain.
http://jlne.ws/O4R2Lg

Peregrine Financial trustee, clients parry over return of funds
Reuters via Yahoo! News
Six weeks after the collapse of Peregrine Financial Group, tensions are rising between customers clamoring for the release of frozen funds and a bankruptcy trustee skeptical of records at a brokerage whose CEO confessed to forging financial data.
http://jlne.ws/O4R2e4

Knight’s $440 Million Loss Spurs Questions on Trade Cancel Rules
By Nina Mehta – Bloomberg
Knight Capital Group Inc. (KCG)’s $440 million loss from a computer malfunction this month highlights the dangers of limiting human input in decisions about canceling trades, according to two industry executives.
http://jlne.ws/O4R2Lo

Hollande and Merkel Meet Amid Dismal Euro Zone Survey Data
JACK EWING and DAVID JOLLY – NYTimes.com
The leaders of France and Germany were to meet Thursday to discuss the euro crisis, as reports underlined how the crisis is increasingly dragging on the German economy, the locomotive of Europe.
http://jlne.ws/O4R2ee

Regulatory

SEC Adopts Rule For Disclosing Use Of Conflict Minerals
The Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted a rule mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act to require companies to publicly disclose their use of conflict minerals that originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or an adjoining country.
http://jlne.ws/O4R2ei

Statement At SEC Open Meeting: Proposed Rule To Implement Section 1502 Of The Dodd-Frank Act — The “Conflict Minerals” Provision By Commissioner Daniel M. Gallagher
http://jlne.ws/O4R31R

Requiring Disclosure to Increase Transparency Regarding the Sourcing of Conflict Minerals By SEC Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar
http://jlne.ws/O4R2en

Facilitating Transparency Of Resource Revenue Payments To Protect Investors By SEC Commissioner Luis A. Aguilar
http://jlne.ws/O4R3i8

Statement At Open Meeting to Adopt A Final Rule Regarding Conflict Minerals Pursuant to Section 1502 Of The Dodd-Frank Act By SEC Commissioner Troy A. Paredes
http://jlne.ws/O4R2uE

Statement At SEC Open Meeting: Proposed Rules To Implement Section 1504 Of The Dodd-Frank Act (“Disclosure Of Payments By Resource Extraction Issuers”) By Commissioner Daniel M. Gallagher
http://jlne.ws/O4R2uJ

Opening Statement At The SEC Open Meeting By Chairman Mary L. Schapiro
http://jlne.ws/O4R2uK

Statement of SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro on Money Market Fund Reform
Three Commissioners, constituting a majority of the Commission, have informed me that they will not support a staff proposal to reform the structure of money market funds.
http://jlne.ws/SXu3C5

IOSCO Consults On The Technological Challenges To Market Surveillance
The International Organization of Securities Commissions has published today a Consultation Report on the Technological Challenges to Effective Market Surveillance: Issues and Regulatory Tools, which seeks public comments on a series of proposed high-level recommendations aimed at helping Market Authorities improve market surveillance.
http://jlne.ws/O4R2uP

Publication Of The Translations Of ESMA Guidelines On Certain Aspects Of The MiFID Suitability Requirements
http://jlne.ws/O4R5qg

ESMA Submits A Comment Letter To The IFRS Interpretations Committee Regarding IAS 39
http://jlne.ws/O4R5qo

Exchanges & Trading Facilities

FX play bodes well for CME’s European derivatives gambit
thetradenews.com
The planned launch of a derivatives exchange in Europe next year by US market operator CME Group could be more successful than other new entrants, observers say, due to its initial focus on FX.
http://jlne.ws/O4R5qv

NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Goes Carbon Neutral
http://jlne.ws/O4R5GR

Moscow Exchange Optimizes HFT On Its Markets For The Benefit Of All Categories Of Trading Participants
http://jlne.ws/O4R3Pn

FIF Capacity Statistics For July 2012
http://jlne.ws/O4R5GY

Hedge Funds & Managed Futures

Moody’s downgrades Man Group to near junk status, RBC is bullish
Valuewalk.com
The world’s biggest publicly-traded hedge fund, Man Group Plc, has been downgraded from Baa2 to Baa3 by Moody’s Corporation Investors Service. The hedge fund’s total asset under management is down to $52.7 billion in June this year, a drop from $71 billion a year earlier. Man Group Plc has been hit badly by the European debt crisis and withdrawal of funds by skeptical clients.
http://jlne.ws/O4R5H3

Ercil raises $940 mln in biggest Asia hedge fund launch of 2012
Reuters via Yahoo! Finance
Alp Ercil, the former Asia head of New York-based Perry Capital, closed his own Asia-Pacific fund to fresh money this week after raising $940 million in the biggest hedge fund launch in the region for 2012, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.
http://jlne.ws/O4R45J

Ainslie Up 20% as Stock Hedge Funds Defy Four-Year Slump
Bloomberg
Lee Ainslie’s Maverick Capital Management LP, Steve Mandel’s Lone Pine Capital LLC and Ricky Sandler’s Eminence Capital LLC are beating global markets in 2012 as most stock hedge funds underperform for a fourth straight year.
http://jlne.ws/O4R5Xr

Mutual Fund Master Is Still in the Vanguard of Success
The Lakeland Ledger
Vanguard, the penny-pinching mutual fund company founded by John C. Bogle, has become a colossus. Its index funds — once derided for not even trying to beat the market — are now the industry standard.
http://jlne.ws/O4R5Xs

NexGen Financial Announces Second Quarter 2012 Results
NexGen reported a net loss of $0.27 million ( $0.06 per share) for the three months ended June 30, 2012 , compared with a net loss of $0.31 million ( $0.07 per share) for the same period in the prior year. Revenues increased 3.8% to $3.24 million for the three months ended June 30, 2012 , from $3.13 million for the three months ended June 30, 2011 .
http://jlne.ws/O4R5Xz

Drought Gets Its Close-Up
IAN BERRY and OWEN FLETCHER – WSJ.com
A group of visiting crop scouts marched through a drought-stricken cornfield here on Monday, battered stalks and baked leaves crunching underfoot. The farm, about 120 miles northwest of Omaha, was a stop on a four-day tour through America’s farm fields. The annual event, attended by dozens of commodities analysts and investors, as well as some farmers, is a moment to size up the state of the latest crop. This year, there isn’t much to see.
http://jlne.ws/O4R4mt

Buzz Kill: Europeans Cut Back on Coffee
LESLIE JOSEPHS And NEENA RAI – WSJ.com
Deepening economic troubles have reached the soul of Southern Europe: the local café. Across the region, consumers are forsaking daily visits to local coffee bars—considered by many to be the cornerstone of social life—as unemployment, wage cuts and higher taxes slash household budgets.
http://jlne.ws/O4R6um

Minutes Of The Federal Open Market Committee, July 31-August 1, 2012
http://jlne.ws/O4R6uw

Banks & Brokers

FDIC Sues Goldman, JPMorgan Over Mortgage-Backed Securities
Bloomberg
Goldman Sachs & Co. and units of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Ally Financial Inc. overstated the quality of loans underlying mortgage-backed securities they sold to the failed Guaranty Bank in Austin, Texas, according to lawsuits brought by the FDIC as its receiver.
http://jlne.ws/O4R4D1

Ex-JPMorgan Employee Says He Gave Bid Details to Ghavami
Bloomberg
A former JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) employee told jurors that he exchanged details about municipal finance deal bids with Peter Ghavami, the former co-head of UBS AG (UBSN)’s municipal derivatives group, ahead of deadlines for the companies to submit competing proposals.
http://jlne.ws/O4R4Tk

The New Citigroup Isn’t Your Father’s Citicorp
PETER EAVIS – NYTimes.com
Vikram S. Pandit, Citigroup‘s chief executive, has entered the debate over splitting up big banks. But did he overstate one of his key points?
http://jlne.ws/O4R4Tl

Bank of America ends practice involving ‘zombie accounts’
Orlando Sentinel
Bank of America Corp.has decided to let “zombie accounts” rest in peace.
http://jlne.ws/O4R6L0

Ex-RBS Trader Claims Bank Omitted Key Records on Rate-Setting Practices -Court Filing
Sam Holmes – Dow Jones
An ex-Royal Bank of Scotland PLC (RBS) trader in Singapore fired last year for allegedly attempting to influence the setting of key benchmark interest rates claims his former employer omitted key information about its rate- setting practices in records pertaining to his disciplinary hearings.
http://jlne.ws/O4R4Tv

Santa Cruz County treasurer severs ties to scandal-plagued Barclays
Santa Cruz Sentinel
SANTA CRUZ – Barclays is getting the boot. County Treasurer-Tax Collector Fred Keeley announced this week that the British banking giant, implicated in a scandal that potentially affects hundreds of trillions of dollars in financial transactions, is no longer allowed to handle county investments.
http://jlne.ws/O4R59K

Olivetree Appoints Charlotte Wall As Managing Director And Head Of Product Sales
Olivetree Financial Group Limited, an equity brokerage and technology firm, today announces that it has appointed Charlotte Wall to managing director and glob al head of product sales in London and New York.
http://jlne.ws/O4R71p

RBS, Commerzbank Drawn Into US Iran Probe
CNBC
U.S. authorities are investigating Royal Bank of Scotland, and Commerzbank, over possible breaches of sanctions on Iran, in a widening crackdown which has already cost Standard Chartered a hefty fine.
http://jlne.ws/O4R71s

Clearing & Settlement

Cantor Fitzgerald to expand clearing services
Dow Jones Newswires
Cantor Fitzgerald yesterday announced plans to expand its clearing operations by targeting clients including institutional and online brokers.
http://jlne.ws/O4R71v

CME Group Clearing Advisory
IMPORTANT: CME Clearing’s LSOC Implementation Plan
http://jlne.ws/O4R5a0

Indexes & Products

S&P Dow Jones Indices Announces Changes To The S&P/TSX Canadian Indices – A Special Cash Distribution In The S&P/TSX Venture Indices
http://jlne.ws/O4R85s

Technology

GROUPIRA, INC. Implements SunGard’s Relius Connect to Launch Online Account Opening
GROUPIRA, INC. has gone live with SunGard’s Relius Connect web services solution as an integral part of GROUPIRA’s individual retirement account (IRA) services.
http://jlne.ws/O4R7hT

Y Combinator Alum BigCalc Makes Hadoop Easier for High Frequency Trading Firms
TechCrunch
Wall Street has been dealing with big data since before it was a thing. But the rise of algorithmic and high frequency trading is making big data even bigger and has led many firms to adopt the same free open source tools that tech startups and scientific researchers are using, according to Dharmesh Malam, CEO and co-founder of the Y Combinator alum BigCalc.
http://jlne.ws/O4R85x

Global Capacity Achieves Market Price Transparency Through One Marketplace Access Exchange
Global Capacity, the leading telecommunications information and logistics company, announces that it is experiencing unprecedented market transparency in terms of its buy/sell quote volume, which has increased by 189% since this time last year.
http://jlne.ws/O4R85A

Hedgebook Launches Innovative Online Currency and Interest Rate Derivate Management Software
PRWeb via Yahoo! News
Hedgebook recently announced the launch of their smart and simple derivative valuation, management and reporting software. This cloud-based solution provides a powerful and cost effective tool for businesses needing to manage their foreign exchange and interest rate risks.
http://jlne.ws/O4R7i4

Enforcement

SEC Charges New York-Based Firm and Owner in Penny Stock Scheme
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a New York-based firm and its owner with conducting a penny stock scheme in which they bought billions of stock shares from small companies and illegally resold those shares in the public market.
http://jlne.ws/O4R7ib

FINRA Fines Rodman & Renshaw $315,000 For Supervisory And Information Barrier Violations – Former Chief Compliance Officer And Two Research Analysts
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that it has fined Rodman & Renshaw LLC $315,000 for supervisory and other violations related to the interaction between the firm’s research and investment banking functions.
http://jlne.ws/O4R7yo

Hong Kong’s Securities And Futures Commission Reprimands And Fines Merrill Lynch HK$3.5 Million For Regulatory Breaches
http://jlne.ws/O4R8Cu

[ASIC] Loan brokers discontinue Federal Court appeal on unconscionable conduct: additional credit licence condition imposed
http://jlne.ws/O4R8Cv

BCSC Executive Director’s Bulletin – Securities regulator issues notice of hearing against mining company and three B.C. men alleging illegal distribution
The executive director of the British Columbia Securities Commission has issued a notice of hearing alleging that a non-reporting B.C. issuer and three B.C. residents engaged in illegal distributions, and that one of them made prohibited statements.
http://jlne.ws/O4R7yA

Environmental & Energy

China May Spend $373 Billion for Energy Savings, Emissions Curbs
Bloomberg
China, the world’s biggest generator of greenhouse gases, estimated it may spend 2.37 trillion yuan ($373 billion) on projects for conserving energy and reducing emissions in the five years through 2015, spurring a surge in shares of environmental protection companies.
http://jlne.ws/NGaXnm

**RKB – Story of numbers. Here’s another one to ponder: The nation plans by 2015 to reduce the amount of energy it uses to produce every unit of gross domestic product by 16 percent from 2010 levels, the State Council said in a statement this week.

China Pollution Tax Plan Submitted to Cabinet, Daily Reports
Bloomberg
China’s tax department has proposed a pollution levy to the cabinet, a move that may increase raw- material prices, the Economic Information Daily reported, citing an unidentified government official.
http:// jlne.ws/Spy8my

Shanghai is the Most Vulnerable Major City in the World To Serious Flooding
Timon Singh – Inhabitat
A joint report from University of Leed’s School of Civil Engineering and Dutch authorities reveals that in a new study of nine coastal cities around the world, Shanghai is the most vulnerable to serious flooding. In fact, according to a new method to calculate the flood vulnerability of cities, those in Europe top the leader board for their resilience.
http://jlne.ws/RfdNz4

Asia-Pacific

Osaka Stock Exchange: Comment For The Effect Of The Tender Offer By TSE Group
Prior to a business combination, the tender offer for shares of Osaka Securities Exchange Co., Ltd. commenced by Tokyo Stock Exchange Group, Inc. on July 11, 2012 and completed on August 22, 2012 has been effected. Creation of a combined holding company, “Japan Exchange Group, Inc. (tentative name)”, on January 1st next year following a closing of the merger, whereby OSE will be the surviving company, is now in prospect. (It is subject to approvals at Extraordinary Shareholder Meetings of both companies.) Thus, Michio Yoneda, President and CEO of OSE made a comment as follows.
http://jlne.ws/O4R8CH

Tokyo Stock Exchange Announcement Concerning Results Of The Tender Offer For Shares Of Osaka Securities Exchange Co., Ltd.
Tokyo Stock Exchange, Inc. began a tender offer for shares of Osaka Securities Exchange Co., Ltd. on July 11, 2012. As of yesterday, this tender offer was concluded successfully, with subscriptions in excess of the maximum planned number of shares to purchase.
http://jlne.ws/O4R7OU

China Q2 bank earnings to signal end of easy profits
Reuters via Yahoo! News
China’s big banks are set to report possibly their last set of bumper profits in coming weeks as weak economic expansion, shrinking deposits and a more competitive interest rate market point to more modest earnings growth in the future.
http://jlne.ws/O4R8T2

SGX StockWhiz an easy way for investors start investing journey
http://jlne.ws/O4R7OZ

TFX: Rollover of Leading Contract Month
http://jlne.ws/O4R8Td

Frontier Markets

Will Burma Become Asia’s Next Economic Tiger?
Time Magazine
On paper at least, Burma has all of the elements required to create another Asian economic miracle. With a population of 48 million, the country has a large pool of low-cost workers custom-made to attract the labor-intensive manufacturing that jump-started income growth from South Korea to Malaysia.
http://jlne.ws/O4R8Th

Egypt seeks $4.8 billion IMF loan for stricken economy
Reuters via Yahoo! News
Egypt has requested a $4.8 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund and hopes for a deal by the end of year, officials said during a visit on Wednesday by IMF chief Christine Lagarde to discuss helping the ailing economy.
http://jlne.ws/O4R99y

Morgan Stanley Frontier Emerging Markets Fund, Inc. Announces Approval of Reorganization
Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance
Morgan Stanley Frontier Emerging Markets Fund, Inc. announced today that, at a Special Meeting of Stockholders of the Fund, its stockholders approved the reorganization of the Fund into the Frontier Emerging Markets Portfolio .
http://jlne.ws/O4R99B