Industry news

September 10, 2012: Lawmakers Push to Increase White House Oversight Of Regulators; HKEx Defends Timing Of LME Acquisition; FSA Ramps Up Technology To Spot Market Abuse

U.S. legislators have introduced a bill granting, among other things, power to the executive branch of government to micromanage details of the SEC’s activity. Hong Kong Exchange says “pish” to the notion that a downturn in commodity prices overall will cause trouble for its new acquisition, the London Metal Exchange. The UK’s FSA reaches out to Nasdaq for new software to help monitor and regulate high-frequency trading.

First Read

Scrap-Steel Futures Debut on CME as Global Demand Increases
By Joe Richter – Bloomberg
CME Group Inc. (CME), the owner of the world’s biggest futures exchange, is betting that a surge in demand for recycled steel and price swings will drive trading in its scrap futures that start today.
jlne.ws/P7s92t

**** Mr. Richter, the world’s biggest futures exchange does not bet.

++++

ISE Introduces $0.50 Strike Price Intervals in Weekly Options
The International Securities Exchange (ISE) today announced that it has received SEC approval to introduce $0.50 strike price intervals in weekly options. The exchange began listing weekly options in the more granular $0.50 strikes yesterday, offering an expanded range of strike prices and potentially a lower cost of entry to investors who are using weekly options to effect their trading and hedging strategies. This new program extends to weekly options classes that currently trade in one dollar increments, and all other contract terms remain unchanged.
jlne.ws/P7s9iI

++++

MarketAxess Announces Ninth Annual Charity Trading Day
Trading Revenues to Benefit Emerging Markets Charities
MarketAxess Holdings Inc., the operator of a leading electronic trading platform for U.S. and European highgrade corporate bonds, emerging markets bonds and other fixed income securities, today announced that its ninth annual Charity Trading Day will be held on Wednesday, September 12, 2012. MarketAxess, in partnership with EMTA, will donate all emerging markets transaction revenues from the trading day to emerging markets charities.
jlne.ws/P7sbaD

++++

High-Frequency Trading of Stocks Is Two Critics’ Target
International Herald Tribune
From their small brokerage firm, two men have led the fight against the surge of computer-driven, high-frequency trading on Wall Street.
jlne.ws/P7swtK

**** If one man can make a difference, what can two men do?

++++

Top Indian Bourse Fights Rivals With Retail, Volatility
Bloomberg
National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. will offer products to lure individual investors and trade volatility futures to prevent MCX Stock Exchange Ltd. from ending its dominance of Asia’s fifth-biggest equity market.
jlne.ws/P7s9iU

++++

Why Some CEOs Survive Wall Street Scandals
Bloomberg
Why do some Wall Street executives get to keep their jobs as scandals shake their firms, while others get the ax?
jlne.ws/P7sbqY

++++

5 Weird Investment Products
U.S.News & World Report LP via Yahoo! News
The S&P 500 traded flat last year. Uncertainty in the markets and the rise of high-frequency trading has made it especially difficult for retail investors to make a decent return. In times like these, people often turn to stranger alternative investments to seek above-market returns. Here are a few strange investments you might not be aware of.
jlne.ws/P7sbr0

++++

MF Global Holdings Amends Agreement to Use JPMorgan Cash
Tiffany Kary – Bloomberg
MF Global Holdings Inc. agreed on new terms to use cash collateral of its largest lender, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and seeks court permission to extend its use of the money until March 31.
jlne.ws/NR2G0g

++++

Wasendorf Sr. asks to be let out of jail
WCF Courier
Jailed Peregrine Financial Group founder Russell Wasendorf Sr. wants to get out from behind bars.
http://jlne.ws/QCbhPc

++++

Peregrine Financial Trustee Says Liabilities Outstrip Assets
Doug Cameron, Jacob Bunge and Tatyana Shumsky
The trustee overseeing Peregrine Financial Group Inc. said liabilities faced by the brokerage are almost twice the level of its assets, underscoring the uphill task faced by former clients to recoup much of their funds following its collapse in July.
jlne.ws/P7s9zj

++++

Registration Information for Swap FCMs, IBs, CPOs and CTAs
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently published its final rule definitions for “swap,” “security-based swaps” and “security-based swap agreements.” As a result, firms that are not currently registered with the CFTC, but are acting as an FCM, IB or CTA with respect to swaps subject to the jurisdiction of the CFTC, will be required to register. Firms acting as CPOs also are required to register, unless the firm properly claims an exclusion or exemption from registration via NFA’s Electronic Exemption System. To help these new swap FCMs, IBs, CPOs and CTAs understand the registration process, NFA will present a webinar on Thursday, September 20 at 11:00 a.m. EST.
jlne.ws/MWabg9

++++

When Money Goes Missing
Webinar – Sept. 12, 2012
FactRight, LLC, a provider of independent research, due diligence and risk management services for the alternative investments industry, invites you to participate in our upcoming webinar.You will learn how perpetrators of recent high-profile securities industry frauds stole money and how to identify ‘red flags.’
http://jlne.ws/RGkJkN

MarketsWiki

MarketsWiki Page of the Day
Craig Delany
jlne.ws/P7s9zo

++++

MarketsWiki Recent Updates

People

Richard D. Parsons; Jim Gabriele; Craig Delany

Companies, Organizations and Groups

PFGBest; Citigroup Inc.; NYSE Liffe; Chicago Mercantile Exchange; NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.

Products

JLN Metals

Miscellaneous

Education Calendar; Conferences Calendar; Precious metals; Job Postings

Statistics

28,195,999 pages viewed, 7,100 articles, 147,270 edits
MarketsWiki Statistics

Lead Stories

DealBook: Lawmakers Push to Increase White House Oversight of Financial Regulators
New York Times
Under a bill that could curb the influence of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the White House would receive explicit authority to influence the rule-making process at independent agencies.
jlne.ws/P7sv96

HKEx defends timing of LME acquisition
Jeremy Grant in Singapore – FT.com
The Hong Kong exchange has dismissed investor concerns over the timing of its £1.4bn acquisition of the London Metal Exchange, indicating that the end of the commodity “supercycle” will have little impact on future returns from the deal.
jlne.ws/P7sbHn

FSA ramps up technology to spot market abuse
Philip Stafford – FT.com
The UK financial regulator is to upgrade the technology it uses to monitor trading on its markets as it looks to crackdown on market abuse conducted by computer algorithms. The Financial Services Authority is planning to introduce software from Nasdaq OMX, the transatlantic bourse operator, that will review trades in equities, options, foreign exchange, over-the-counter products and options from early next year.
jlne.ws/P7sbHt

RBS Said to Be in Talks With U.K. Regulators Over Libor
Lindsay Fortado and Greg Farrell – Bloomberg
Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc is in talks with the U.K.’s Financial Services Authority to settle accusations that some of its employees conspired to manipulate Libor interest rates, a person familiar with the matter said.
jlne.ws/P7s9zt

UK’s RBS faces Libor fine of up to $480 million: FT
Reuters via Yahoo! News
Royal Bank of Scotland is facing a fine of between 200 million pounds and 300 million pounds for its role in a global interest rate rigging scandal, the Financial Times reported on Saturday without citing sources.
jlne.ws/P7sbHz

King to Lead Central Bankers Seeking Solution to Libor Damage
Bloomberg
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King will lead a meeting of global central bankers today as they grapple with the collapse in confidence in Libor, the benchmark rate for more than $500 trillion of securities.
jlne.ws/P7sbHA

EU banks face ring-fence on trading assets: FT
Reuters via Yahoo! News
Europe’s big banks could be forced to protect trading assets as the consensus recommendation of an European Union-wide review is due to be completed next month, the Financial Times reported on Monday. The Liikanen review was set up in November by Michel Barnier, the EU commissioner in charge of regulation, to review of the structure of Europe’s banks.
jlne.ws/P7sbHD

Odd Lots Considered for Official Count of U.S. Trading Volume
Bloomberg
Hundreds of millions of shares traded each day in companies such as Apple Inc. and International Business Machines Corp. may be added for the first time to the official tally of U.S. equity volume.
jlne.ws/P7sbHE

Europe Plan Faces Threat in Germany
JACK EWING and MELISSA EDDY – NYTimes.com
With a few choice words last week, the European Central Bank and its president, Mario Draghi, managed to tame bond markets and inspire a market rally. But the coming week may reveal whether the rescue plan for Spain and Italy was a turning point in the euro zone crisis or just a short-lived spell of relief.
jlne.ws/P7sbXT

Hollande Outlines Austerity Plan
GABRIELE PARUSSINI and GÉRALDINE AMIEL – WSJ.com
French President François Hollande on Sunday sought to brace the nation for its toughest budgetary effort of the past six decades, as he outlined a raft of austerity measures—including a controversial tax on the rich—to shore up public finances.
jlne.ws/P7sbXU

JPMorgan’s Frenkel: US Must Cut Entitlements
CNBC
Jakob Frenkel, chairman of JPMorgan Chase International, told CNBC, “Let’s be serious. The arithmetic says that unless you are willing to cut entitlements you will not bring your fiscal house in order that is a reality of economics.”
jlne.ws/P7svpD

‘Lead or leave euro’, Soros tells Germany
Quentin Peel in Berlin – FT.com
George Soros has issued a passionate plea to the German government to lead the eurozone out of recession by boosting growth, creating a joint fiscal authority and guaranteeing common bonds, or itself leave the currency union to save the future of Europe.
jlne.ws/P7s9PY

Regulatory

Swap Traders Voice Opposition Over CFTC’s Call for Audio Records
Bloomberg
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, facing resistance from agricultural and energy firms, is struggling to reach consensus on when traders must keep audio records that could be used in enforcement cases.
jlne.ws/P7sbY0

Sheila Bair Visits Occupy Wall Street
Naked Capitalism
Sheila Bair, the former FDIC chairman who heads the Systemic Risk Council , and Ricardo Delfina, a fellow Systemic Risk Council member, met on Sunday with members of several Occupy Wall Street working groups: Occupy Bank, Alternative Banking, and Occupy the SEC. I’ve watched presentations by Bair twice previously: once when she was at the FDIC, another not long after she had left government …
jlne.ws/P7sbY3

ASIC reviews risk management in the funds management sector
jlne.ws/P7sa6i

[AMF France] Memorandum of Understanding on the co-operation framework for the oversight / supervision of Euroclear sa/nv
jlne.ws/P7sbY8

Tibra Selects Redkite Surveillance To Support Regulatory Compliance – Redkite Financial Markets’s Compliance Monitoring Solution To Help Principal Trading Firm Meet ESMA Regulatory Compliance Guidelines
jlne.ws/P7sbYa

Exchanges & Trading Facilities

CME Group Announces First Trades and Clearing of Hot-Rolled Coil Steel Options
CME Group, the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced the first trades of its U.S. Midwest Domestic Hot-Rolled Coil (HRC) Steel Index options equivalent to 20,000 short tons (1,000 contracts), which were cleared through CME ClearPort. The contract is listed by and subject to the rules of NYMEX.
jlne.ws/P7swKo

NYSE Euronext Announces Trading Volumes for August 2012
NYSE Euronext today announced trading volumes for its global derivatives and cash equities exchanges for August 20121. Trading volumes in August 2012 declined year-over-year and month-over-month due to a decrease in volatility compared to August 2011 and the seasonally slower summer period. In August 2011, trading volumes benefited from extreme market volatility in the U.S. and Europe.
jlne.ws/P7sces

August 2012 On The Warsaw Stock Exchange
jlne.ws/P7scez

Borsa Italiana Monthly Update – August 2012
jlne.ws/P7sceC

Athens Exchange Derivatives Market Monthly Statistical Bulletin August 2012
jlne.ws/P7sceD

Direct Edge Market Data Notice #12-39: Introducing The Edge Routed Liquidity Report
Direct Edge is pleased to introduce the Edge Routed Liquidity Report, a new, innovative data product that provides unique insight into trading opportunities on our exchanges. The new product is anticipated to launch by the end of September 2012 as per the Exchanges’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
jlne.ws/P7sa6s

Program Trading Averaged 34.7 Percent of NYSE Volume during Aug. 27-31
jlne.ws/P7sa6t

[CBOE] CBSX Trader News Update CBSX Announces Changes to Pricing
jlne.ws/P7svGm

[CBOE] Trader E-News
jlne.ws/P7syBL

CBOE Blood Drive
jlne.ws/P7syBN

TMX Group Equity Financing Statistics – August 2012 – Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange
jlne.ws/P7scvb

Karlsberg Brauerei GmbH plans bond in Entry Standard
jlne.ws/P7sx0O

TOM MTF Statistics Week 36
jlne.ws/P7scLq

Hedge Funds & Managed Futures

Hedge Fund Association Expands Leadership Team
Press Release
The Hedge Fund Association, an international organization that represents investors, hedge funds and service providers, today announced that it has appointed Don Steinbrugge, chairman of Agecroft Partners, to its board of directors.
http://jlne.ws/UEocUV

Michael Sincere’s Long-Term Trader: Day trading is done, but it’s not dead
Market Watch
During the great, glory years of day trading in the late 1990s, making hundreds or thousands of dollars a day was easy. Nice work if you could get it. — and it still is, writes Michael Sincere.
jlne.ws/P7sx0W

Central Bankers Spur Interest in Inflation Protection
KATY BURNE – WSJ.com
Traditional gauges in the gold or government-bond market show investors aren’t panicking about inflation hitting their portfolios anytime soon. But in recent weeks, a sleepy corner of the options market has sprung to life as a handful of traders has started betting that inflation expectations will creep higher over the longer term.
jlne.ws/P7scLt

Paulson Said to Pare Losses in August as Markets Rebound
Bloomberg
John Paulson, the billionaire hedge- fund manager coming off record losses in 2011, reported increases in most of his funds in August as rising stock markets lifted the value of holdings, according to two people briefed on the returns.
jlne.ws/P7scLu

Hedge Funds Lift Bets to 16-Month High Before Rally: Commodities
Bloomberg
Hedge funds raised bullish commodity bets to the highest in 16 months before speculation that policy makers in the U.S., China and Europe will revive global growth pushed prices higher for a sixth week.
jlne.ws/P7san3

EIM’s Prestandrea Is Said to Join Hedge Fund Element Capital
Bloomberg
Adam Prestandrea has stepped down as co-head of investments at Arpad Busson’s EIM SA to join hedge fund Element Capital Management LLC, according to two people familiar with the matter.
jlne.ws/P7san4

Former Pimco Executive Joins Man Group
New York Times
Sudi Mariappa, the former global head of portfolio management at Pimco, has joined the London-based hedge fund Man Group.
jlne.ws/P7sdis

Few hedgies kickin’ butt
New York Post
The brilliant hedge-fund manager may be an endangered species. After a lousy 2011 for most hedge funds, this year isn’t turning out much better.
jlne.ws/P7syC2

Securitization Shouldn’t Be the Government’s Business
Bloomberg
As we should have learned from the 2008 financial crisis, the mass production of securitized credit enables reckless borrowing, shortchanges productive businesses and destabilizes banks. It has been nourished by regulation, not its inherent economic advantages. Yet officials in Washington continue to favor this top-down misdirection of credit.
jlne.ws/P7scLB

Jim Rogers: I’m Getting Tired of This
CNBC
Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings, says the ECB bond-buying program is not a game changer and will only raise the level of debt and make the situation worse. “These guys have been saying the same old garbage for a long time”, he tells CNBC.
jlne.ws/P7sySj

Platts Launches Full Suite Of Price References For Italy’s Power Sector – Includes Forward Curves Pricing For Baseload, Spark And Clean Spark Spreads
Platts, a leading global energy, petrochemicals and metals information provider, today announces the launch of 12 new price assessments aimed at bringing greater transparency to pricing in Italy’s electric power sector, where over-the-counter (OTC) electricity markets have become more liquid.
jlne.ws/P7scLG

CFTC.Gov Commitments Of Traders Reports Update
jlne.ws/P7scLH

Banks & Brokers

MSSB rolls out trading platform upgrade
Tracy Alloway in New York – FT.com
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney has launched the first significant upgrade of its new trading platform in an attempt to address some of the problems identified by frustrated financial advisers.
jlne.ws/P7sd1Y

Deutsche Bank Debt-Trading Managing Director Pappas Departs Firm
Lisa Abramowicz – Businessweek
Deutsche Bank AG (DBK)’s Nicholas Pappas, who helped run credit-trading in New York, departed the firm as Germany’s biggest lender cuts jobs and bonuses and after risk- curbing regulations changed the way banks broker debt.
jlne.ws/P7sdz7

Deutsche Bank CEOs Tackle Ackermann Legacy in Strategy Overhaul
Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank AG co-Chief Executive Officers Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen, less than four months after taking over from Josef Ackermann , may be preparing the largest revamp at Europe’s biggest bank in eight years.
jlne.ws/P7sd25

Deutsche Bank to detail job cuts, strategy
Reuters
Deutsche Bank’s new leadership will present plans for building capital and cutting costs on September 11 in an attempt to address analyst doubts over the lender’s ability to generate profits in weak financial markets.
jlne.ws/P7sd26

JPMorgan Weighs Dimon Bonus Cut, Wall Street Journal Says
Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co. , the biggest U.S. bank by assets, is considering cutting 2012 bonuses for senior managers including Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon , according to the Wall Street Journal.
jlne.ws/P7sd27

Goldman Sachs Sued by DZ Bank in New York Over Mortgage Bonds
Bloomberg
Bloomberg moderates all comments. Comments that are abusive or off-topic will not be posted to the site. Excessively long comments may be moderated as well. Bloomberg cannot facilitate requests to remove comments or explain individual moderation decisions.
jlne.ws/P7sdPu

BNP looks beyond Europe for growth
Scheherazade Daneshkhu and Patrick Jenkins – FT.com
BNP Paribas is to expand its businesses in Asia and the US under its new chief executive with a growth plan that is likely to reduce its dependence on the eurozone as it turns towards a new development phase after trimming its balance sheet.
jlne.ws/P7sdPz

ECB Collateral Moves Reopen ‘Soup Kitchen’ for Struggling Banks
Bloomberg
The European Central Bank’s decision to relax bank funding rules to mirror conditions last seen after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s collapse signals hard times for lenders.
jlne.ws/P7sdPE

Investment bank Dahlman Rose reorganizes, CEO Fennebresque exits
Reuters via Yahoo! News
NEW YORK – Dahlman Rose & Co, an investment bank focusing on natural resource-linked companies, replaced its chief executive and fired more than 10 percent of its staff this week amid a broader Wall Street slowdown, its new CEO said. Kim Fennebresque, a veteran investment banker who has been chief executive since June 2011, retired on Monday and was replaced by the firm’s equity sales …
jlne.ws/P7sdPJ

Raj Mahajan Appointed CEO of Allston Trading
Press Release
Allston Trading, LLC announced today that its Board of Managers has appointed industry veteran Raj Mahajan, 39, as Chief Executive Officer.  Carlton Jones, 37, who has served as President and CEO since 2010, has assumed the role of Chairman and remains President. The changes are effective today.
http://jlne.ws/P4B6cr

Clearing & Settlement

CME Group Clearing Advisory
NYMEX Options Expiration Operational Procedures for the Trading Floor and Clearing Members (GX) Effective Monday, September 10, 2012
jlne.ws/P7se60

CME Clearing – Performance Bonds / Margins
Performance Bond Requirements – Nymex New Products – Effective Friday, September 7, 2012
jlne.ws/P7se65

Indexes & Products

Tokyo Stock Exchange To Begin Calculating And Publishing Currency Hedged Indices With Daily Hedging
The Tokyo Stock Exchange has been calculating and publishing the TOPIX Total Return Euro Hedged Index since January 2011 to satisfy market demand for TOPIX index values hedged in Euros, and will now begin calculating and publishing a version of the same index with daily currency hedging.
jlne.ws/P7se6b

STOXX Announces New Composition Of Sustainability, ESG And Style Indices – Results of the Review to be Effective on September 24, 2012
jlne.ws/P7sfXL

NYSE: The Expert Indices Committee, meeting today, took the following decisions
jlne.ws/Q8VJUq

KRX Listed 7 New ETFs On August 29, 2012
jlne.ws/P7sfXS

Technology

FFastFill establishes presence in Hong Kong
FFastFill plc, the leading provider of Software as a Service to the global derivatives community, is pleased to announce the opening of a local presence in Hong Kong. This is the third FFastFill location to be opened in the Asia Pacific region, alongside its well-established operations in Singapore and Sydney.
jlne.ws/P7sge9

Corvil Launches Trading Technology Risk Management Solution
Corvil, a provider of monitoring and risk mitigation solutions for electronic trading firms today announced a new solution to help firms manage technology risk in their trading infrastructure. The CorvilNet Solution strengthens this kind of operational risk management by providing additional, independent barriers and check-points against technology-related hazards.
jlne.ws/P7semx

Rapid Addition And Tauri Software Systems Team Up To Launch Orb FIX Messaging Network
Rapid Addition, the leading provider of trading technology to buy- and sell-side financial institutions, has partnered with Tauri Software Systems, an investment company focused on creating systems and software, to launch an alternative network for routing financial trading information in South Africa and across the globe using the FIX industry protocol.
jlne.ws/P7sgeh

Enforcement

CFTC Charges Nikolai S. Battoo and Four Companies He Controls with Fraud In Connection With Commodity Pools that Accepted Over $140 Million from U.S. Investors
On September 6, 2012, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed an emergency action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to freeze assets under the control of defendants Nikolai S. Battoo (Battoo), BC Capital Group S.A., BC Capital Group International Limited, BC Capital Management LLP, and BC Capital Group Holdings S.A. (the BC Common Enterprise).
jlne.ws/P7sgek

SEC Charges Asset Manager Lied to Investors, Hid Major Losses While Boasting Remarkable Performance During Financial Crisis
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an emergency enforcement action against an asset manager who has boasted remarkable investment success throughout the global financial crisis while allegedly exaggerating the value of the assets he manages and concealing major losses from investors.
jlne.ws/P7semF

SEC, CFTC charge manager who boasted success amid Madoff loss
Reuters
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it has won an emergency asset freeze against a money manager who claimed to invest $1.5 billion, and fraudulently lured clients with false boasts of his investment prowess despite major losses in Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.
jlne.ws/P7sgen

N.Y.-Based Investment Advisory Firm and Founder Settle SEC Charges for Fraudulent Management of CDOS
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that New York-based investment advisory firm ICP Asset Management and its founder and president Thomas C. Priore have agreed to settle the agency’s charges that they defrauded several collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) they managed.
jlne.ws/P7sgeo

Money Manager to Pay $23 Million to Settle SEC Suit
CHAD BRAY – WSJ.com
Money manager Thomas Priore and his investment company have agreed to pay $23 million to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit in which they were accused of favoring some clients over others during the financial crisis.
jlne.ws/P7sgep

SEC Shuts Down San Diego-Based Real Estate Investment Fraud
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an asset freeze against a San Diego-based firm and its owner accused of running a real estate investment fraud that raised approximately $50 million from hundreds of investors nationwide.
jlne.ws/P7semM

Deutsche Bank Faces Fine for U.S. Power-Market Manipulation
Bloomberg
Deutsche Bank AG ’s energy trading unit faces a $1.5 million fine and must give up $123,198 in profit for allegedly manipulating U.S. power markets, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said.
jlne.ws/P7sguE

BCSC panel revokes temporary order and maintains freeze order against two Burnaby residents and Burnaby company
jlne.ws/P7sguL

New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority Welcomes High Court Ruling On Perpetual
jlne.ws/P7sguR

Environmental & Energy

EEX Is Awarded Contract For The Transitional Common Auction Platform For Emission Allowances
The European Energy Exchange (EEX) is pleased to announce that it has been chosen by the European Commission and the 24 participating Member States to operate as the transitional common auction platform for Emission Allowances for the third emissions trading period. As a result, EEX has now been commissioned to auction off a total quantity of at least 250 million Emission Allowances until a permanent common platform will be established.
jlne.ws/P7seD7

Big banks weigh risks, rewards of California’s new CO2 market
Reuters
Major banks are weighing whether to wade into the California carbon market, which experts believe could grow into a $40 billion a year market by 2020, but one that is also loaded with risk and uncertainty.
jlne.ws/TEXbBd

**RKB — Canada-based Scotiabank is the most active bank in the market at this point.

New government may raise Quebec’s carbon target
Reuters
Quebec’s new government would not change the province’s plans to launch a carbon market that would link to California’s next year, but its new leadership may try to raise its target to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.
jlne.ws/RMhwEg

**RKB – Key quote, perhaps: “It’s quite certain they (PQ) will raise it (the target) to -25 percent. It’s in their electoral platform and they are well committed to do it,” said Patrick Bonin, climate and energy director for the Quebec Association for the Fight Against Air Pollution.

Asia-Pacific

TSE to Begin Calculating and Publishing Currency Hedged Indices with Daily Hedging
The Tokyo Stock Exchange has been calculating and publishing the TOPIX Total Return Euro Hedged Index since January 2011 to satisfy market demand for TOPIX index values hedged in Euros, and will now begin calculating and publishing a version of the same index with daily currency hedging.
jlne.ws/P7sgLc

Launch of New Data Service for FX Margin Contracts
Tokyo Financial Exchange Inc. (TFX) will launch a new data service for Exchange FX Margin Contracts Open Interest Information (the data) to accommodate needs from investors. The data will be available to FX Margin Trading Members and institutional investors via TFX’s selected quote vendors, planning to start distribution from October 1st, 2012.
jlne.ws/P7seDe

KRX And SET Signed The Contract For Development Of Clearing And Settlement System
The Korea Exchange (KRX), jointly with the KOSCOM, has entered into an agreement with the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) for the development of integrated clearing and settlement system, involving 2 phases.
jlne.ws/P7seTy

Successful Debut Of SGX OTC Iron Ore And FFA Options
Singapore Exchange (“SGX”) today successfully launched its new OTC Options suite for SGX Iron Ore and SGX Forward Freight Agreements (FFA).
jlne.ws/P7sgLk

TOCOM Gold Open Interest Recovers Pre-Lehman Level Of 150,000 Contracts
Tokyo Commodity Exchange, Inc, announced today that open interest for the Gold standard futures contract was 152,524 contracts at the closing of September 6, exceeding the 150,000 level for the first time since August 5, 2008.
jlne.ws/P7seTH

Fidelity $2.4 bln fund vaults past JPMorgan in race for SE Asia cash
Reuters via Yahoo! Finance
Money manager Fidelity saw a surge of cash into a Southeast Asian equities mutual fund this summer, helping it leap past $2 billion in size and overtake a long-time leading rival product from J.P. Morgan.
jlne.ws/P7seTI

Asia debt fees overtake equity as banking model flips
Reuters via Yahoo! Finance
Investment banks in Asia are making more money from debt deals than underwriting stock offerings for the first time, a milestone in how evolving regional markets are challenging a business model that has relied upon high-paying equity deals.
jlne.ws/P7seTN

Letter To ST Forum – Singapore Market Offers Easy Diversification For Singapore Investors
jlne.ws/P7seTP

Tokyo Commodity Exchange: Good Delivery Material Price Differential For September 2012 Rubber Contract
jlne.ws/P7sh1M

Frontier Markets

Myanmar parliament passes foreign investment law
Associated Press via Yahoo! News
Myanmar’s parliament on Friday adopted a much anticipated foreign direct investment law that is crucial to the government’s ambitious plans for economic expansion in one of Asia’s poorest countries.
jlne.ws/P7sfaa

Forex Broker Tadawul FX Awarded Best Forex Broker Middle East by International Business Times
PRWeb
Tadawul FX, the leading European licensed forex broker, is proud to announce its latest award, for Best Forex Broker Middle East, awarded by the International Business Times in recognition of its outstanding performance and success in this key region.
jlne.ws/P7sh1P

Saudi Arabia pushes private firms to raise pay for its nationals
Reuters via Yahoo! News
RIYADH – Saudi Arabia will push private companies to pay Saudi workers as much as their state-employed counterparts with the goal of encouraging more citizens to seek work in the private sector.
jlne.ws/P7sh1W

Dubai International Financial Centre Grows 6% In First Half 2012
jlne.ws/P7sfak

Tehran Stock Exchange Monthly Bulletin – August 2012
jlne.ws/P7sfan

Malawi Stock Exchange Weekly Trading Report
jlne.ws/P7sfqG