Industry news

September 14, 2012: ICE Traders Held Talks With CME; ECB’s Nowotny Calls For High-Frequency Trade Ban; Spanish Regulators Clear LSE-LCH Deal

Soft commodity traders of ICE Futures U.S. contracts are said to have discussed the possibility of shifting their trades to rival exchange CME Group, if the CME were to offer similar products. In Europe, central banker Ewald Nowotny says it’s time to outlaw high-frequency trading; no word on whether less-frequent trading algorithms would be allowed, or how one is supposed to establish a threshold for discerning between the two.  In London, LSE’s goal of taking a controlling stake in clearinghouse LCH.Clearnet takes one step forward as antitrust regulators in Spain give a thumbs-up.

First Read

Pay for this Newsletter
I am pleased to report that my son Tim has been accepted to the University of Missouri.  He is a senior at York High School in Elmhurst, IL and plans on studying…..journalism at Mizzou’s famed Columbia School of Journalism.  

If you are looking for a reason to pay for your newsletter subscription, here is one near and dear to my heart.

BTW, Tim recently earned the rank of Life in Boy Scouts and is continuing to finish up his final requirements on the road to Eagle Scout.  We have our fingers crossed he will make it by July when he turns 18.

He is working the school newspaper and broadcast program at York.  He posted news of his acceptance to Mizzou on Facebook last night and had 17 likes in the first 35 minutes.  

~John J. Lothian

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NYSE Euronext Named Top Financial Company and Only Exchange Operator in Carbon Disclosure Project’s S&P 500 Leadership Index
NYSE Euronext today announced that it has been named to the Carbon Disclosure Project’s S&P 500 Leadership Index for the third consecutive year, and is again the only global exchange operator and trading-technology provider in the index.
jlne.ws/OnvwzG

**** Disclosure is a good thing.

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NYSE EURONEXT announces TENDER OFFERS FOR ANY AND ALL OF ITS US$750,000,000 4.80% NOTES DUE 2013 and UP TO €250,000,000 of its 5.375% NOTES DUE 2015
New York, September 14, 2012 – NYSE Euronext (NYX) (the “Company”) today announced cash tender offers (the “Offers”) to purchase any and all of its outstanding US$750,000,000 4.80% Notes due 2013 (the “US Tender Offer”) and up to €250,000,000 (subject to increase or decrease, the “Euro Tender Cap”) of its outstanding €1,000,000,000 5.375% Notes due 2015 (the “Euro Tender Offer”).  The US Tender Offer is being made in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in an Offer to Purchase dated September 14, 2012 (the “Offer to Purchase”) and related Letter of Transmittal (collectively, the “US Offer Documents”).  The Euro Tender Offer is being made in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in a Tender Offer Memorandum dated September 14, 2012 (the “Tender Offer Memorandum” and, together with the US Offer Documents, the “Offer Documents”).
http://jlne.ws/QXZyQU

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A Warning on Bank Complexity, From Someone Who Would Know
WILLIAM ALDEN – NYTimes.com
It’s still the talk of Wall Street: Are big banks too complex? And if so, what should be done? On Thursday, one former Wall Street executive put the issue in vivid terms as she raised concerns about the complexity of financial behemoths.
jlne.ws/OnvwzH

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SEC says bolstering market technology standards a priority
Reuters
With high-profile technical glitches costing U.S. exchanges and trading firms hundreds of millions of dollars in recent months, U.S. regulators are taking a deeper look at creating enforceable technology review standards for exchanges and market participants.
jlne.ws/OnvwzM

**** ISO9000 here we come!

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For Those Who Think Speculation Increases Prices
Tim Worstall – Forbes
It’s a common complaint from the left side of the political aisle today. That increased speculation in markets just pushes up prices in those markets. This idea has become especially prominent when talking about food prices and agricultural commodities.
jlne.ws/OnvuHS

**** From the listed side of the equation, industry consultant John Needham points out in a recent blog post that CFTC reported customer funds held by FCMs are down $10 billion dollars from about a year ago.

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Demand for commodity-linked structured products ‘almost dead’
Justin Lee – Risk.net
The demand for commodity-linked structured products from private banking clients is “almost dead”, according to Angel Wu, regional head of products and solutions Asia for ABN Amro Private Banking. Wu was speaking in a panel discussion at the Structured Products Asia 2012 conference held in Hong Kong today, and she said the approach of private banking investors was at odds with the current state of the commodity markets.
jlne.ws/OnvwQ3

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Deutsche Bank urges rivals to share IT
Tracy Alloway in New York – FT.com
Deutsche Bank is seeking to convince rival investment banks to share markets and trading software in an effort collectively to lower costs for the financial industry.
jlne.ws/OnvwQ6

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Goldman Scales Back Analyst Program for Entry-Level Bankers
LIZ RAPPAPORT And JULIE STEINBERG – WSJ.com
The career path for aspiring Gordon Gekkos is getting rockier. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is doing away with two-year contracts for most analysts hired out of college, according to communications reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and confirmed by a Goldman spokesman. Analysts also won’t get bonuses for completing the program, which has been around for a quarter of a century and has been viewed as a meal ticket to a lucrative Wall Street career.
jlne.ws/OnvuI0

**** Sorry Stephen Hurst, your nightmare is coming true.

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When It Comes to the DoJ and Wall Street, Don’t Call It “Justice”
Richard (RJ) Eskow – Huffington Post
If a recent report is true the Justice Department will need a new name — and some of us will have to step up and admit we were wrong. It was clear that the foreclosure fraud settlement which the Administration and most states reached with major US banks was a great deal for the big banks — and a lousy deal for the public. But some of us found reason to hope against hope that the settlement would be accompanied by real investigation of crooked bankers, after years of flim-flammery and disgraceful inaction by the Justice Department.
jlne.ws/OnvwQ7

***** A democratic society includes freedom of speech, which would include commentaries like this.

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British Ponzi Victim Payouts Lost on Fish, Ferraris
Bloomberg
Police searched Kevin Foster’s home in 2004, looking for signs of a criminal lifestyle — fast cars or piles of cash. What they found, at the end of a narrow country lane in rural England, was a private zoo complete with miniature railway.
jlne.ws/OnvuI5

**** We all have our dream worlds.

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Fantasy Football Is Stressful Work for Former Ameritrade Broker
Ira Boudway – Bloomberg
Chad Schroeder is on the clock. The former Ameritrade stockbroker is one of a dozen men seated in a conference room at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas on the first Friday of September. No one speaks. Not the chief psychiatrist at a hospital in Memphis; not the securities analyst from San Diego; not the Canadian political pundit; and not the movie producer behind Cruel Intentions and Donnie Darko, who is calling in from his home in Long Island, where he’s recovering from surgery.
jlne.ws/OnvuYq

**** My fantasy football season is over as the Chicago Bears were crushed by the Green Bay Packers, 23 to 10 last night in Green Bay.  Luckily for me, Packer fan in residence, Jim Kharou,f is too much of a gentleman to rub it in (too much).

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Economist David McWilliams in New York City
September 19, 5:30 – 6:45 PM
Andaz Wall Street, 75 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005
Join Eurex Exchange and ABN AMRO Clearing on Wednesday, September 19 for this exclusive event where economist David McWilliams will discuss his viewpoint of the crisis in the Eurozone. David McWilliams, a Dublin based economist is one of Ireland’s leading economic commentators and author. For more details, visit
jlne.ws/OnvuYx

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Explore opportunities in the energy markets
Wednesday, October 3 at 10 am CT/ 4 pm GMT/ 11 pm HKT
Join Orc, Advantage Futures and Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) as they dive into one of the most liquid and exciting markets. Listen, interact and learn from energy expert, Mike Davis, Director of Market Development at ICE Futures Europe, talk about ICE’s energy offering. Understand how to take advantage of these opportunities with a product demo from Orc’s Engineer Paul Bolton and finally, gain Ambaj Sharma’s perspective, Senior Vice President of Technology at Advantage Futures, as he shares his experience supporting ICE trading.

For details and to RSVP, see jlne.ws/Onvx6I

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OTC Derivatives Summit – last chance to attend
With only two weeks to go until the OTC Derivatives Summit, now is your last chance to secure a place to network with over 40 buyside representatives. The programme for the conference has been designed to appeal to the buy and sellside as well as market infrastructure representatives. We have confirmed a number of senior industry heavyweights who will give their vision for the future of the market.

For program details, speaker list and to register, visit jlne.ws/OnvuYB

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WMBAA Announces CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton Will be the Keynote Speaker at SEFCON III November 13th in New York City
The Wholesale Markets Brokers Association, Americas announced today CFTC Commissioner Bart Chilton will be the keynote speaker at SEFCON III which will now be held on November 13, 2012 in New York City. The conference was originally scheduled to be held on October 1st. The conference, which is hosted annually by the WMBAA, brings together almost 400 swaps markets participants, including interdealer brokers, regulators, dealers, buy-side traders and corporate end-users to discuss the critical issues facing the markets.
jlne.ws/Pg4sWO

**** Note, SEFCON III has been moved from October 1 to November 13.

JLN Interest Rates

**CN: See the JLN Interest Rates Blog for entries filed throughout the day Thursday on the FOMC’s decision to launch QE3. Also see the @JLNIR Twitter stream for headlines posted from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments.

Estimating the Costs of Financial Regulation
IMF Staff Discussion Note
This study shows that financial reform will likely result in a modest increase in bank lending rates in the United States, Europe, and Japan in the long term. Higher safety margins in terms of capital and liquidity will lead to an increase in lenders’ operating costs, affecting bank customers, employees, and investors. Yet banks appear to have the ability to adapt to the regulatory changes without actions that would harm the wider economy.
See the full report here:
jlne.ws/Onvxn4

MSRB BEGINS PROVIDING DATA ON NEW ISSUES OF MUNICIPAL SECURITIES
Alexandria, VA – The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) today announced that it has enhanced the market statistics available on its Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) website to include monthly data on new issuance of municipal securities as reported to the MSRB. On average, $450 billion worth of municipal securities are issued each year and the new data on EMMA provides the marketplace with a new and free source of issuance information.
jlne.ws/Pbn9t7

Investors Expect Libor to be Replaced Within Five Years
Bloomberg Businessweek
A key interest rate for more than $500 trillion of securities worldwide will be replaced by a benchmark subject to greater government control, according to a plurality of global investors.
jlne.ws/RsVsu2

MarketsWiki

MarketsWiki Page of the Day
Ang Swee Tian
jlne.ws/Ol4oBb

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MarketsWiki Recent Updates

People

Mary McDonnell; Ang Swee Tian; Young-Jin Chang

Products

CBOT Mini-Sized Agriculture Futures

Miscellaneous

QE3; Barings collapse; Fred Arditti Innovation Award

Statistics

28,355,229 pages viewed, 7,104 articles, 147,526 edits
MarketsWiki Statistics

Lead Stories

ICE Traders Held Talks With CME
LESLIE JOSEPHS – WSJ.com
Some two dozen traders who trade on IntercontinentalExchange Inc.’s ICE Futures U.S. met with executives from rival exchange CME Group Inc. last month to discuss the possibility of launching similar contracts there for so-called soft commodities, traders said.
jlne.ws/Onvvf0

ECB’s Nowotny calls for high-frequency trade ban
Reuters via Yahoo! News
European Central Bank policymaker Ewald Nowotny called on Thursday for a regulatory ban on high-frequency trading, saying the technique of using computer algorithms to generate multiple high-speed trades had no practical value.
jlne.ws/Onvxne

Spanish regulators clear LSE-LCH deal
Philip Stafford – FT.com
The London Stock Exchange’s offer to take a controlling stake in LCH.Clearnet, the clearing house, has cleared the first of three regulatory hurdles after Spanish antitrust authorities approved the UK bourse’s bid.
jlne.ws/Onvxnh

Fed to launch QE3 by buying mortgage securities
Greg Robb, MarketWatch
The Federal Reserve, worried that improvement in the unemployment rate has stalled, announced a third round of bond purchases on Thursday in an effort to bring down long-term interest rates and spur economic growth.
jlne.ws/OnvxDz

Peregrine CEO set to leave jail after guilty plea
Reuters via Yahoo! News
Peregrine Financial Group Chief Executive Russell Wasendorf Sr., who has confessed to stealing more than $100 million from his futures brokerage’s clients, will be released from jail after he pleads guilty on Monday to mail fraud, lying to regulators and embezzling customer money, according to a judge’s order.
jlne.ws/Onvvfc

Peregrine Founder Can’t Profit From Crime
JOSH DAWSEY AND TATYANA SHUMSKY – WSJ.com
Russell Wasendorf Sr., the jailed executive of collapsed brokerage Peregrine Financial Group Inc., won’t be able to pocket money from any book or movie deal about his scheme to defraud clients, according to details in a plea agreement.
jlne.ws/OnvxDL

Federal Reserve Board And Federal Open Market Committee Release Economic Projections From The September 12-13 FOMC Meeting
jlne.ws/OnvxU4

Regulatory

CFTC May Delay Setting Jurisdiction of U.S. Swaps Rules
JAMILA TRINDLE – WSJ.com
U.S. regulators will likely give foreign firms a short-term exemption from new derivatives rules while they finalize guidance on which foreign firms will be swept up in the new rules for complex derivatives called “swaps,” Commodity Futures Trading Commission member Mark Wetjen said Thursday.
jlne.ws/OnvyaD

DealBook: 4 Years After Lehman’s Demise, Regulators Debate Overhaul
New York Times
Mark Wetjen, a Democratic member of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, told an industry group that the agency was debating how to crack down on foreign derivatives trading.
jlne.ws/OnvxU9

Basel Rifts, Overseas Swaps, Tax-Shelter Guilty Plea: Compliance
Bloomberg
Global banking regulators need further talks to overhaul a liquidity rule for lenders after failing to overcome divisions on the standard during three days of meetings in Istanbul, according to two people familiar with the discussions.
jlne.ws/OnvxUc

Hedge Fund Association Asks SEC for Clear Rules on Verifying Investor Accreditation
The Hedge Fund Association, (the HFA), an international not-for-profit organization representing investors, hedge funds and service providers, today asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a comment letter to specifically tell private fund managers what they will need to do to safely verify whether investors are accredited, should they want to advertise after the rules in the Jump Start Our Business Start-ups Act (JOBS Act) are finalized.
jlne.ws/OnvyaR

Law firms queue up for FSA banks panel
Caroline Binham, Legal Correspondent – FT.com
City law and accountancy firms are jostling for the opportunity to earn bumper fees by winning a coveted place on the UK financial regulator’s first panel of external experts called upon to undertake investigations at banks.
jlne.ws/OnvxUh

World Bank Report: Less Complex Regulation Is Best for Developing Nations
Wall Street Journal Blogs
Less may be more when it comes to financial regulation, especially in developing counties, according to a new report on from the World Bank, released to coincide with the anniversary of the September 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers.
jlne.ws/Onvyr6

Consolidated Audit Trail Industry Call
The national securities exchanges and FINRA (collectively the “SROs”) together invite interested industry participants to join a conference call and WebEx presentation on Wednesday, September 19, 2012 at 4:15 p.m. ET regarding SEC Rule 613 requiring the creation of a Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT).
jlne.ws/OnvxUk

Northern Rock exposed regulatory failings
Brooke Masters, Chief Regulation Correspondent – FT.com
It was the first run on a British bank for more than 140 years but five years on from the collapse of Northern Rock, could it happen again? The short answer is maybe – but global and UK officials have responded with regulatory fixes, including some that could have made a difference.
jlne.ws/OnvAPK

ISDA Evolves Organizational Structure as Rules Take Shape
Katy Burne – Dow Jones
A trade group for the $650 trillion privately traded derivatives market has changed its structure to better help members comply with a pending regulatory overhaul, its leader said Thursday. Stephen O’Connor, chairman of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, said at a conference in New York that the trade body has added four new groups to its organizational structure in light of rules now being finalized.

Canadian securities regulators seek further comment on proposed rule for venture issuers
The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) today published for a second comment period proposed National Instrument 51-103 Ongoing Governance and Disclosure Requirements for Venture Issuers (NI 51-103), which was originally published for comment July 2011.
jlne.ws/Onvyrk

ESMA Publishes A Q&A On Short-Selling Regulation
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published a
jlne.ws/OnvAPQ

Vienna 2 Initiative Holds Workshop On Cross-Border Bank Supervision And Resolution In Emerging Europe
jlne.ws/OnvAPV

AMF-France Appointments
Julie Ansidei appointed Deputy Head of the Analysis, Strategy and Risk Division.
jlne.ws/OnvyHG

2012 Annual North American Conference Of The International Swaps And Derivatives Association
jlne.ws/OnvAPW

FSA publishes English translation of Main Points of Annual Supervisory Policies for Program Year 2012
http://jlne.ws/Sko4WX

Exchanges & Trading Facilities

CME Group and Shanghai Futures Exchange Renew Memorandum of Understanding
CME Group, the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, and the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), the preeminent futures commodities market in the People’s Republic of China, announced today that they have renewed their existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which was first initiated in March 2003 to create a forum for information sharing between the two organizations regarding the potential development of derivatives products in China.
jlne.ws/OnvAQ1

CME Group Selects Bank of China, New York Branch as New Settlement Bank and Collateral Custodian
CME Group, the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, and Bank of China Limited (BOC), the world’s ninth largest bank with the highest degree of internationalization and diversification, announced Bank of China, New York Branch will become a CME Clearing settlement bank and collateral custodian, subject to regulatory approval.
jlne.ws/OnvB6g

BM&FBOVESPA Registers New Trades Record For Stock Market
BM&FBOVESPA reached a record number of stock market trades yesterday (September 12). The BOVESPA segment (equities) totaled 1,202,421 trades. The previous record was 1,110,540, on July 27, 2012.
jlne.ws/OnvyHU

Program Trading Averaged 32.2 Percent of NYSE Volume during Sept. 4-7
jlne.ws/OnvB6h

TMX Group Inc. Obtains Court Approval for Arrangement
jlne.ws/OnvB6n

Direct Edge Trading Notice #12-39: Attribution Functionality Production Testing Saturday, September 22, 2012
jlne.ws/OnvB6s

FEAS August Newsletter
jlne.ws/OnvyYl

Hedge Funds & Managed Futures

Trades After 2008 Meeting With Paulson Probed
JULIET CHUNG and JEAN EAGLESHAM – WSJ.com
U.S. securities regulators are investigating possible insider trading by Wall Street executives who attended a private meeting with then Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson in 2008, according to people familiar with the probe. The Securities and Exchange Commission recently sent subpoenas to hedge funds and other firms that were represented at the July 2008 meeting, the people said.
jlne.ws/OnvB6z

Abrams Capital Management raises $2.9 billion for new fund
Boston Globe
Abrams Capital Management, one of Boston’s largest hedge fund firms, has raised $2.9 billion for its new fund, according to a filing with federal securities regulators. There are 457 investors in the fund, Abrams Capital Partners II, which posts a minimum investment of $5 million.
jlne.ws/OnvzeG

Ludgate Targets Recycling, Water in $300 Million Resources Fund
Bloomberg
Ludgate Investments Ltd., a London- based private equity investor, is seeking to raise as much as $300 million to finance waste-recycling and water-treatment businesses through a second resource-efficiency fund.
jlne.ws/OnvBmY

Hedge Fund Legend Cliff Asness Shares His Required Reading For Wall Streeters
Business Insider
Cliff Asness spoke at The Bloomberg Markets 50 conference this morning, and he had everyone paying on the edge of their seats with his self-described “geeky wit.”
jlne.ws/OnvzeJ

The World’s Most Powerful Hedge Fund Manager Tells Investors How They Should Set Up Their Portfolios
Business Insider
During the hour-long discussion, Bartiromo asked Dalio about portfolio allocation in terms of gold versus equity versus real estate and other asset classes.
jlne.ws/OnvBDn

Equinix Board Approves Plan to Pursue REIT Conversion
Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance
Equinix, Inc. , the global interconnection and data center company, today announced that its Board of Directors has approved a plan for Equinix to pursue conversion to a real estate investment trust .
jlne.ws/OnvBDo

ISDA Warns Of ‘Trade War’ Over Cross-Border Swaps Rules
By Katy Burne – Dow Jones
The head of a financial trade group cautioned Thursday that proposals from U.S. regulators allowing them to reach across their borders and police privately negotiated derivatives abroad risks a “trade war” with foreign regulators. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission has so far received 288 comment letters on its proposed cross-border rules, which aim to prevent derivatives transacted between U.S. and foreign entities, among other trades, from harming investors or businesses in the U.S. The definition of a U.S. person is yet to be written, one of the key sticking points of the debate.

Banks & Brokers

JPMorgan Erases Stock Drop Fueled by London Trading Loss
Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), the lender that plunged as much as 24 percent in the month after disclosing a multibillion-dollar trading loss, has erased that decline.
jlne.ws/OnvzeW

Virtu Buys Dutch Market Maker
JENNY STRASBURG – WSJ.com
Virtu Financial LLC said it bought a Dutch market-making business, bolstering the U.S. trading firm’s presence in a European exchange-traded-funds market that has emerged as a profitable battleground for high-speed traders.
jlne.ws/OnvBDv

Krawcheck Urges Pay Curb as Complex Banks Make Eyes Bleed
Bloomberg
Sallie L. Krawcheck, who ran wealth-management divisions at Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc. , said risks at complex financial firms could be better managed by giving executives part of their pay in bonds.
jlne.ws/Onvzvb

BNY Mellon Earns Top Spot in FImetrix Survey of Bank-to-Bank Service Providers in Asia-Pacific for US Dollar
BNY Mellon, the global leader in investment management and investment services, today announced that its Treasury Services group has received number one rankings for USD Treasury Clearing, USD Commercial Payments, and Letters of Credit services in the “Bank-to-Bank Services to Asia & the Pacific Rim,” a key bi-annual industry survey published by the global market research firm FImetrix.
jlne.ws/OnvBTU

Nomura to move international HQ to Tokyo
Michiyo Nakamoto in Tokyo – FT.com
Nomura is moving its international operations headquarters from London to Tokyo, in another sign that the Japanese investment bank is retreating to its home market. Koji Nagai, Nomura’s new chief executive, told the Financial Times that Tokyo would be the hub of the bank’s international operations “for the time being”.
jlne.ws/OnvBTW

Citigroup Puts the Fun Back in Taking Huge Losses
Bloomberg
A few months ago, the Bank for International Settlements, which acts as a bank for the world’s central banks, warned in its annual report that “the financial sector needs to recognize losses” and “adjust balance sheets to accurately reflect the value of assets.” We are starting to get a taste of what that means, and it’s not all bad.
jlne.ws/OnvBU3

UBS’s Paul Williams Leaves as Co-Head of European Credit Sales
Bloomberg
Paul Williams said he left UBS AG as co-head of European credit sales after about two years at Switzerland’s biggest bank. Williams joined UBS as head of Europe leveraged finance sales in 2010, before being promoted this June to his final post, which he held along with Michel Granchi.
jlne.ws/OnvCar

HSBC says UK boss stepping down after two years
Reuters via Yahoo! News
HSBC’s Head of UK Bank Joe Garner will step down from the role at the end of October, after less than two years in the job, and be succeeded by the British lender’s European retail banking and wealth management chief Antonio Simoes.
jlne.ws/OnvCat

Britain’s RBS to press ahead with Direct Line flotation
Reuters via Yahoo! News
State-backed Royal Bank of Scotland confirmed it plans to push ahead with a flotation of its Direct Line insurance division in what could be the biggest listing on the London Stock Exchange for more than a year.
jlne.ws/OnvCaw

Barclays unit sells $1.4 billion student housing stake to PGGM
Reuters via Yahoo! News
A Barclays unit has sold a 60 percent stake in Britain’s largest student housing landlord, University Partnerships Programme, to Dutch pension fund manager PGGM in a deal estimated to be worth 840 million pounds.
jlne.ws/OnvzLQ

JPMorgan Chase CEO discusses collaborative leadership
The Cavalier Daily
Students, faculty and Charlottesville residents met Thursday afternoon to hear Jeffrey Walker, the former CEO of JPM organ Chase and current chairman of the University’s Council of Foundations, discuss collaborative leadership and reflect on the leadership lessons learned from the June ouster and reinstatement of University President Teresa Sullivan.
jlne.ws/OnvCqS

Clearing & Settlement

CME Group Clearing Advisory
NYMEX Options Expiration Operational Procedures for the Trading Floor and Clearing Members (OR) Effective Friday, September 14, 2012
jlne.ws/OnvCr4

CME Group Clearing Advisory
5:1 Offset CBOT Mini-sized Agriculture futures effective Monday, September 17, 2012
jlne.ws/RMZoLK

CME Group Clearing Advisory
5:1 Offset CBOT Mini-sized Agriculture futures effective Monday, September 17, 2012
jlne.ws/RMZoLK

Indexes & Products

Lyxor gets physical in ETF U-turn
Mike Foster – Financial News
Lyxor, a long-term champion of synthetic exchange-traded funds whose chairman has previously criticised providers of physical ETFs, will for the first time offer products that track indices through the ownership of listed securities.
jlne.ws/OnvCHq

TABB Examines Adoption Of New Structures And Technologies Moving Equity-Style ETF Trading Into Corporate Bond Liquidity
In spite of the boom in the US primary markets this month, the corporate bond industry faces a level of demand among asset managers far greater than issuance, leading to the adoption of new structures and technologies driving a rise in equity-style, fixed-income exchange-traded fund (ETF) use. In new research published today, TABB Group estimates trading in US corporate bond ETFs accelerated during the first half of 2012, accounting for average daily bond volumes of $262 million, specifically $146 million in par value in the investment grade and $116 million in par value in the high-yield markets.
jlne.ws/OnvA2g

STOXX LIMITED VOTED “MOST INNOVATIVE INDEX PROVIDER” BY STRUCTUREDRETAILPRODUCTS.COM
STOXX Limited, the market-moving provider of innovative, tradable and global index concepts, today announced that the company has been named “Most Innovative Index Provider” in the second www.StructuredRetailProducts.com European Awards. Award winners were chosen based on votes cast by nearly 1.000 members of Europe’s structured products community.
jlne.ws/OnvCHv

Change In The Composition Of The FTSE/ATHEX Index Series
jlne.ws/OnvA2t

iShares Introduces Frontier Markets ETF
Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance
BlackRock, Inc. announced today that its iShares Exchange Traded Funds business, the world’s largest manager of ETFs, launched the iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Index Fund .
jlne.ws/OnvCHA

Barclays Announces Changes to Its US High Yield Very Liquid Index
jlne.ws/OnvAiL

Enforcement

Trial to Begin for Former UBS Trader Accused of Hiding Huge Loss
MARK SCOTT – NYTimes.com
UBS will face the harsh glare of the spotlight again on Friday, as opening arguments begin in the trial of a former trader accused of hiding a multibillion-dollar loss at the investment bank.
jlne.ws/OnvAiP

SEC Charges Connecticut-Based Broker With Stealing Investor Funds To Pay Mortgage And Shopping Bills
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a broker and his company based in Danbury, Conn., with stealing at least $600,000 from customers who he persuaded to withdraw money from their brokerage accounts he managed at other firms and instead invest with him directly.
jlne.ws/OnvCXU

CFTC Charges Florida Resident William Jeffery Chandler with Forex Fraud and Misappropriation
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that on September 11, 2012, Judge James D. Whittemore of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida entered an emergency order freezing the assets of defendant William Jeffery Chandler of Ft Myers, Fla.
jlne.ws/OnvCXX

SEC widens fraud inquiry into Twin Cities money manager
Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune
Federal regulators are widening their investigation into the activities of controversial Twin Cities money manager David Blaine Welliver, court documents filed in St. Paul this week indicate.
jlne.ws/OnvCY4

SEC ends probe of Avon disclosures
Barney Jopson in New York – FT.com
Avon said it will not face charges from US regulators following an investigation into whether it violated rules prohibiting the selective disclosure of information to Wall Street analysts.
jlne.ws/OnvAzm

ASIC and CBA reach Storm Financial settlement
jlne.ws/OnvAzo

NFA Enforcement and Registration Actions
Option Investments Inc. (Jacob J. Gullick)
jlne.ws/HaNuCl

NFA Enforcement and Registration Actions
Global Leverage Inc. and Toney B. Eggleston
jlne.ws/OnvDey

Environmental & Energy

Gas glut threatens climate battle-IEA
Reuters
A new “golden age of gas” could derail global efforts to fight climate change as indebted governments mull a switch to the cheaper fuel, the International Energy Agency’s chief economist said on Thursday.
jlne.ws/SJZS6M

Kyoto carbon credit glut is far larger than expected, warn analysts
Business Green
The giant surplus of carbon credits currently swamping the global carbon market may never recede, removing any hope of reducing global emissions without a significant increase in national emission reduction targets, campaigners will warn today.
jlne.ws/RVYtHL

UN approves $3mn for CDM loan scheme
Argus
A UN loan scheme designed to increase the number of clean development mechanism (CDM) projects in developing countries has authorised more than $3mn towards 23 CDM projects.
jlne.ws/ROqC4O

Asia-Pacific

China grants eight foreign investment licences in August
Reuters via Yahoo! Finance
China’s securities regulator granted investment licences to eight overseas institutional investors in August, allowing them to buy Chinese stocks and bonds.
jlne.ws/OnvGa4

HKMEx: Harnessing the seismic shift of commodities trade to Asia
William Barkshire, Co-President, Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange – Sungard
The global commodities market is undergoing a gradual but undeniable shift from the West to the East. Standing at the intersection of trade flows between Greater China and the world, the HKMEx is working with SunGard to ensure that the exchange can provide high quality risk management solutions, meet industry demand and develop highly innovative products and services for members.
jlne.ws/OnvDva

Thai Bourse’s Market Report For August
The Stock Exchange of Thailand’s (SET) securities trading volume in August rose 5.06 percent from the previous month, but down 21.48 percent from a year earlier. The global stock market in August was supported by economic stimulus measures in the Euro zone; however, mounting worries of China’s economy slowing undermined the sentiment. Meanwhile, the Thai capital market was boosted by economic expansion and good performances of Thai listed companies.
jlne.ws/OnvDLv

S&P Upgrades South Korea Rating to A-Plus
KWANWOO JUN – WSJ.com
Standard & Poor’s raised South Korea’s sovereign credit rating by one notch to A-plus from A on Friday, joining the other two global credit rating firms in upgrading Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
jlne.ws/OnvDLz

Heard on the Street: South Korea’s Unwelcome Upgrade
ALASTAIR GALE – WSJ.com
Is there a bad time for a vote of confidence in your country’s economy? That’s what South Korea got on Friday with a credit rating upgrade from Standard & Poor’s—the first in seven years.
jlne.ws/OnvGan

Tokyo Commodity Exchange: Mini Contracts Design Modifications
jlne.ws/OnvGqG

Frontier Markets

BlackRock launches “frontier market” fund with global reach
Reuters via Yahoo! News
NEW YORK – BlackRock Inc has introduced an exchange-traded fund that invests in “frontier markets,” or small countries that do not qualify yet as emerging markets. Similar funds already exist but BlackRock’s iShares MSCI Frontier 100 Index Fund may be the first to offer a truly global portfolio, according to one analyst.
jlne.ws/OnvGqP

RBS, others sue Dubai Group over $10 billion debt
Reuters via Yahoo! News
DUBAI – Royal Bank of Scotland and two other banks have begun legal proceedings against an investment vehicle owned by Dubai’s ruler, an unprecedented move to secure repayment after two years of unsuccessful debt talks.
jlne.ws/OnvGqQ

Miscellaneous

As Journalism ‘Dies,’ Young French and American Writers Take Matters Into Our Own Hands
Melanie Bavaria – Huffington Post
It is a scary prospect, actively choosing an industry that everyone claims is crumbling. There is no clear path to be a journalist or a writer. It is not like becoming a doctor, where you get into college, join the pre-med program, take the MCAT, go to medical school, and become a doctor. The journalism world cannot even come to a consensus on whether or not graduate school for journalism is a worthy investment. It is an equally scary prospect to go into an industry whose veterans each have different and contradictory answers to the question, “How do you succeed in this business?”
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