Industry news
Date: Dec 11, 2012
December 11, 2012: Nasdaq OMX targets European derivatives trades; HSBC to pay record $1.9 billion fine in money laundering case; US audit trail cost forecast criticised
Nasdaq OMX takes a 25 percent stake in European trading platform The Order Machine. HSBC bank agrees to pay a whopper of a fine for laundering money. Tom Kloet of Canada’s TMX exchange group reacts with disbelief at the US cost estimates for creating a real-time market surveillance system. In today’s First Read section, see the fourth installment of JLN’s Restoring Customer Confidence series, Horizon Cash Management’s Michael Markowitz explains the third-party custodian model, whereby customers set up and manage excess margin at a bank outside the brokerage firm. You’ll also find a new MarketsWiki.tv interview with James Sinclair of MarketFactory, which provides feed handlers to the FX industry; he talks with JLN’s Doug Ashburn about the present and future of the FX sector’s trading platforms.
First Read
Webinar: Trading Technologies Demonstrates Eris IRS Futures on X_TRADER
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 4:30 PM – 5:00 PM EST
Trading Technologies (TT) will introduce connectivity to Eris Exchange in early 2013, allowing access to new trading opportunities driven by product innovation and recent financial regulation. You are invited to attend a 30-minute webcast on December 12, 2012 at 3:30 pm CST/4:30 PM EST to learn more about trading Eris Exchange on TT’s X_TRADER platform.
The agenda will include an overview of Eris Exchange Interest Rate Swap Futures presented by Eris Exchange COO, Michael Riddle, followed by a demonstration of functionality by TT Senior Product Manager, Jeff Mezger, showing unique features involving Eris Exchange Interest Rate Swap Futures and other futures and cash market rates offerings on X_TRADER.
++++
Jr. Sighting
Russell Wasendorf JR. surfaced yesterday on LinkedIn. He updated his picture and title. He is now President at FX/Futures IT, Business and Social Media Markting Consultant in July 2012.
**** Personally, I would have looked for a new industry and double-checked my spelling.
++++
New Restoring Customer Confidence Video
The fourth video in our Restoring Customer Confidence series deals with third-party custodians. Each week we will post a new idea answering the question – how do you restore customer confidence and bring traders back?
 |
| Restoring Customer Confidence | More ideas» |
Third-Party Custodians: Here, Hold On To This Futures customers are still wondering just how their money can stay protected in the case of a default by their broker. While some solutions are still in the concept stage, others are available right now. Horizon Cash Management’s Michael Markowitz explains the third-party custodian model, whereby customers set up and manage excess margin at a bank outside the brokerage firm. Third-party custodial arrangements are available now and could be one way to restore customer confidence. In this video, a simple animation and interview with Markowitz help explain the third-party custodian model. This video is sponsored by: +++++ About the Restoring Customer Confidence video series The Restoring Customer Confidence video series answers that question by exploring potential solutions using expert interviews and simple animations. John Lothian News interviewed more than a dozen professionals in the industry to get their ideas and solutions. As these ideas become practice, or as new concepts are adopted by the industry, we will continue to add them to the site. Visit the video series page on MarketsWiki.tv over the next several weeks for new ideas and solutions. |
|
++++
Futures Industry Looks to Insurance After MF Global Collapse
Insurance Journal
Long-derided as unsuitable for sophisticated futures markets, insurance is getting a surge of attention heading into the new year as the industry works to patch itself up after the stunning collapse of brokerage MF Global in 2011.
jlne.ws/SNWS6h
++++
Why exchanges face uphill swaps battle
Tom Osborn – Financial News
The narrative of the post-crisis reform agenda has long characterised exchanges as the major winners. But research from Tabb Group, published last week, suggests that the incumbent interdealer brokers may in fact hold the upper hand in the new regulatory environment.
jlne.ws/SNWTHq
++++
Banks flinch as derivatives head back to the future
Douwe Miedema – Reuters
The latest challenge to investment banks’ iron grip on finance has its unlikely roots in agriculture. Since the mid-1980s, Wall Street has built a $650 trillion playground for speculators using financial instruments called swaps. These were originally designed to insure companies against financial risks.
jlne.ws/Z6Doiy
++++
Fund managers seek alternatives to automated trade-study
Reuters via Yahoo! Finance
Almost a third of fund managers believe automated trading has had its day and are considering a move to alternative trading methods, including a return to “human-led trading models”, a study released on Monday showed. But any mistrust of automated trading by fund managers contrasts sharply with the attitude of brokerages and investment banks, where 67 percent of firms are looking to increase the use of automated trading.
jlne.ws/SNWS6m
++++
MarketFactory CEO James Sinclair Explores Trends in Foreign Exchange Market Structure
MarketsWiki.tv
James Sinclair is CEO and co-founder of MarketFactory, a financial technology company that provides feed handlers to the forex market. The company’s FX Aggregator product is a single API that connects to all sources of liquidity in the foreign exchange market, including ECNs, banks, brokers and futures exchanges. Sinclair has been a foreign exchange market expert for over 25 years, having spent several years as head of research and strategy at EBS, both before and after its 2006 acquisition by ICAP. He also spent 12 years as a vice president of Asia/Pacific at Citibank. Sinclair spoke with John Lothian News Editor at Large Doug Ashburn about several FX market structure trends, including volume as measured by CLS, the relation between volume and volatility, the rise of the electronic options platform, and what sets foreign exchange apart from other asset classes. He closes with an optimistic look at some of the new platforms, suggesting there is a lot more there than meets the eye.
++++
Eurex To Extend Its Index Derivatives Segment
The international derivatives market Eurex Exchange announced today that it has signed a licensing agreement with the index provider MSCI. In the course of 2013, Eurex aims to launch derivatives on around ten regional and 20 country indices.
jlne.ws/SNWTHu
**** MSCI has a Liffe of its own.
++++
FOA appoints manager – regulation
Automated Trader
The Futures and Options Association has announced the appointment of Natasha Stromberg as Manager, Regulation with effect from 10 December.
jlne.ws/SNWTHv
**** Was FOA previously unregulated?
++++
Jack Bogle wants to stop those naughty speculators
Sober Look
Jack Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, made some comments on CNBC today that warrant a discussion. He pointed out that the amount of new capital raised in the equity markets these days is about three quarters of a percent of the amount traded in the market during the same period.
jlne.ws/SNWS6t
**** I am not naughty. If I was, Santa would not give me presents like rising oil prices.
++++
Microwave vies with fiber for fast finance transport
IDG
In the world of high-frequency trading, where being ahead of the competition by a few milliseconds can mean profits worth millions of dollars, finance firms are increasingly looking to decades-old microwave technologies for a competitive edge.
jlne.ws/SNWTHB
***** You can trade and heat up your coffee.
++++
For Next SEC Chief, Why Not an Investor?
FRANCESCO GUERRERA – WSJ.com
Take a Securities and Exchange Commission in search of an identity, a bunch of so-so candidates to lead it, and a White House distracted by the bigger problem of the fiscal cliff. Add a calendar chock-full of deadlines for rules that will define the financial industry for decades to come, and an army of small investors who have been traumatized and confused by market mishaps. Toss it all together and you might end up with a top watchdog ill-equipped to police markets or spot the next crisis.
jlne.ws/SNWTHE
**** If FDR could do it, President Obama should do it.
++++
Four Years Later, Madoff Scandal Still Haunts Victims
DAN STRUMPF – WSJ.com
Four years ago, Suzanne Webel was looking forward to retirement. The Longmont, Colo., farmer had saved enough money to cover herself when she stopped working and help pay for her two children’s college education. She had never heard the name Bernard L. Madoff. Now, the 62-year-old Ms. Webel can’t afford fertilizer for her 80-acre farm, a necessity in the arid Colorado soil. The money she set aside for her kids is gone. And the name Madoff has become all too familiar.
jlne.ws/SNWV1W
++++
Who’s been naughty in the fund industry?
Chuck Jaffe, MarketWatch
In the best of years — and 2012 will go down as a pretty good one for the mutual fund industry — most investors are willing to overlook misbehavior and overt bumbling so long as it doesn’t directly show up in their account statement. They shouldn’t be so nice to the naughty.
jlne.ws/SNWV1X
++++
America’s Milk Business Is In a ‘Crisis’
IAN BERRY And KELSEY GEE – WSJ.com
In an age of vitamin waters and energy drinks, the decades long decline in U.S. milk consumption has accelerated, worrying dairy farmers, milk processors and grocery chains. The industry “is coming to recognize this as a crisis,” says Tom Gallagher, CEO of Dairy Management Inc., a farmer-funded trade group that promotes milk products. “We cannot simply assume that we will always have a market.”
jlne.ws/SNWV23
++++
MarketsWiki
MarketsWiki Page of the Day
Urs Widmer
jlne.ws/SRP84x
MarketsWiki Recent Updates
People
Companies, Organizations and Groups
MarketFactory; Atrium Trading Inc.
Miscellaneous
Statistics
32,094,510 pages viewed, 7,278 articles, 150,981 edits
MarketsWiki Statistics
Lead Stories
Nasdaq OMX targets European derivatives trades
Philip Stafford in London – FT.com
Nasdaq OMX is to build a pan-European equity derivatives business to compete with rivals NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse after buying a stake in a Dutch equity derivatives broker. The transatlantic exchanges operator will buy a 25 per cent stake in The Order Machine, a start-up backed by banks and brokers, which has carved out a 15 per cent market share in the Netherlands, Europe’s second-largest options market.
jlne.ws/SNWTXW
HSBC to pay record $1.9 billion fine in money laundering case
Reuters
HSBC Holdings Plc has agreed to pay $1.92 billion to settle a multi-year U.S. criminal probe into money-laundering lapses at the British lender, the largest penalty ever paid by a bank. HSBC admitted to a breakdown of controls and apologized in a statement announcing it had reached a deferred-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, as was first reported by Reuters last week.
jlne.ws/SNWTXY
US audit trail cost forecast criticised
Arash Massoudi in New York – FT.com
The head of Canada’s largest stock exchange has criticised the US securities industry for exaggerating the costs of creating a real-time market surveillance system, highlighting the differences between the countries’ regulatory efforts since the “flash crash”. Tom Kloet, chief executive of TMX, said that estimates by regulators of up to $4bn to implement and $2bn annually to operate a so-called consolidated audit trail in the US to oversee trading activity in real-time were “simply incomprehensible”.
jlne.ws/SNWV28
Insider-Trading Probe Widens
SUSAN PULLIAM, JEAN EAGLESHAM AND ROB BARRY – WSJ.com
Federal prosecutors and securities regulators are taking a deeper look into how executives use prearranged trading plans to buy and sell shares of their company stock. The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office has launched a broad criminal investigation into whether seven corporate executives cited in a recent Wall Street Journal article traded improperly in shares of their own company’s stock, according to a person familiar with the matter.
jlne.ws/SNWTY5
EU Readies to Put Reins on Regulators
MATTHEW DALTON, DAVID ENRICH and STEPHEN FIDLER – WSJ.com
European Union authorities are considering launching a legal crackdown on some national regulators for restricting European banks from freely moving funds across national borders, according to officials familiar with the matter, a sign of rising concern about the Continent’s financial fragmentation.
jlne.ws/SNWVit
Three arrested by SFO in Libor probe
Caroline Binham, Legal Correspondent – FT.com
Three men have been arrested in the UK in connection with the Serious Fraud Office’s criminal investigation into potential manipulation of the Libor interest rate benchmark.
jlne.ws/SNWViw
Regulatory
CFTC Accepting Public Comment on an Amended Request from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. to Adopt New Chapter 10 (“Regulatory Reporting of Swap Data”) and New Rule 1001 (“Regulatory Reporting of Swap Data”) of CME’s Rulebook
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (Commission) is accepting public comment on an amended request from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (CME) for approval of a rule (Rule 1001) submitted pursuant to section 40.5 of the Commission’s regulations.
jlne.ws/SNWViy
CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight Issues Time-Limited No-Action Relief for Part 20 Reporting Entities Regarding Identifying Information and for Part 45 & Part 46 Reporting Counterparties Regarding Legal Entity Identifiers & Other Identifying Information
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) Division of Market Oversight (Division) issued a letter providing reporting parties under Parts 20, 45 and 46 of the Commission’s regulations with time-limited no-action relief from requirements to report certain identifying information regarding their non-reporting counterparties.
jlne.ws/SNWUex
ESMA Announces A Vacancy For A Senior Officer For Corporate Finance
jlne.ws/SNWViC
Response From The International Swaps And Derivatives Association Inc. (“ISDA”) To The BBA Consultation Paper On The Proposal To Implement Recommendation Number 6 Of “The Wheatley Review Of LIBOR”.
jlne.ws/SNWViD
RW Smith President Paige W. Pierce Elected to Small Firm Seat on FINRA’s National Adjudicatory Council
Business Wire
With over 60% of the vote against a three-term incumbent, Paige W. Pierce has been elected to serve as the Small Firm representative on the National Adjudicatory Council of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, according to a FINRA spokesperson
jlne.ws/SNWUeA
ASIC focuses on advertising disclosure requirements for super trustees
jlne.ws/SNWViG
[ASIC] Statement on October share trading spike
jlne.ws/SNWViJ
[Japan] FSA publishes Weekly Review No.24
jlne.ws/SNWUeG
Speech By IOSCO Secretary General David Wright On The Future Of Global Financial Regulation, Delivered In Washington DC At The Atlantic Council
jlne.ws/SNWUuY
New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority Update – 11 December 2012
jlne.ws/SNWVyZ
New Zealand’s Financial Markets Conduct Regulations Discussion Document Released
jlne.ws/SNWVz0
Third Meeting Of The Financial Stability Board Regional Consultative Group For The Americas
jlne.ws/SNWUv5
Exchanges & Trading Facilities
NASDAQ OMX Acquires 25% of Dutch Derivatives Trading Venue TOM
Press Release
NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced the acquisition of 25 percent of the Dutch cash equity and equity derivatives trading venue TOM, The Order Machine. The agreement also includes an option for NASDAQ OMX to acquire an additional 25.1 percent of the remaining shares and secure a majority stake in TOM.
jlne.ws/SNWVz3
TOM MTF London Migration
Yesterday TOM welcomed Nasdaq OMX as a new shareholder. The announcement also mentioned a new standalone setup in London to offer clients optimal low latency connectivity and an infrastructure with a higher capacity to process more orders and transactions. Click here to download a document describing the highlights of this migration of TOM MTF from Stockholm to London and the consequences for all connected parties.
jlne.ws/SNWVz7
Authorization of the Merger of Tokyo Stock Exchange Group Inc. and Osaka Securities Exchange Co., Ltd. etc. (December 11, 2012)
Today (December 11, 2012), the Financial Services Agency (FSA) authorized Osaka Securities Exchange Co., Ltd. (OSE) to merge with Tokyo Stock Exchange Group, Inc. (TSEG) and be the surviving company on January 1, 2013, under the provisions of Article 135-1 of the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA) (OSE is going to change its trade name to “Japan Exchange Group, Inc.”(JPXG)).
jlne.ws/SNWULs
Goldman cuts CME Group to ‘sell,’ cites volume struggle
Reuters
CME Group Inc. will struggle to rebound from low trading volumes next year, Goldman Sachs said, as it downgraded its rating to “sell” for the biggest U.S. exchange operator. Goldman Sachs, in a note issued on Sunday, also lowered its 12-month share price target to $48 from $53. It had previously rated CME at “neutral.”
jlne.ws/SNWULy
Burgundy: 51 % Of Trading In Swedish Equities On Alternative Marketplaces
About 51 percent of the total Swedish equity trading was executed on alternative marketplaces in November 2012. Burgundy reached a market share in Swedish equities of about 2.59 (2.68) percent in November 2012.
jlne.ws/SNWVPu
Burgundy Monthly Report – November 2012
jlne.ws/SNWULF
Hellenic Republic Announces Extension Of Invitation Period In Relation To The Exchange Offer Transaction
jlne.ws/SNWVPz
Hedge Funds & Managed Futures
Top-performing ABS manager exits CQS
Harriet Agnew – Financial News
The chief investment officer of asset-backed securities at Michael Hintze’s hedge fund firm CQS has left after more than six years, Financial News has learned.
jlne.ws/SNWVPA
Profile: ‘Manny’ Roman – Man Group’s CEO-elect
Richard Partington – Financial News
Regarded as one of the most powerful figures in the asset management industry, Emmanuel Roman had been considered the driving force at Man Group ever since the company bought GLG Partners, where Roman was chief executive, in May 2010.
jlne.ws/SNWVPD
The Darwinian Evolution Of The World’s Biggest Publicly Traded Hedge Fund Firm
Forbes
In 2008, Emmanuel “Manny” Roman, the co-chief executive of hedge fund firm GLG Partners, showed up to a conference of hedge fund managers and predicted that at least 25% of the world’s hedge funds would disappear “in a Darwinian process.”
jlne.ws/SNWXH9
Man Group CEO Clarke makes way for Roman
Reuters via Yahoo! News
LONDON – Peter Clarke, the chief executive officer of embattled hedge fund firm Man Group, bowed to growing shareholder anger over the slow progress of the company’s revival plan and will hand over the reins to Emmanuel “Manny” Roman.
jlne.ws/SNWVPM
Eladian Partners UK staff resurface
Tim Cave – Financial News
Former staff from the UK arm of defunct high-frequency trading firm Eladian Partners have begun to resurface at rival organisations, including JP Morgan, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Tower Research Capital, Financial News has learned.
jlne.ws/SNWXHc
High-grade debt sales snatch annual record
Dow Jones Newswires
A bond deal served up by the maker of Jack Daniel’s whiskey pushed high-grade corporate debt issuance yesterday to an annual record of $1.025 trillion.
jlne.ws/SNWXHe
Analysts Get Gloomy, Right on Schedule
SPENCER JAKAB – WSJ.com
Investors shouldn’t allow themselves to be seduced by Wall Street’s expectations game—or overly spooked by it either. The fourth quarter certainly is starting to look dire. So far, 92 members of the S&P 500, including Hewlett-Packard Co., Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Darden Restaurants Inc., have lowered earnings guidance for the period.
jlne.ws/SNWW61
Private Equity and Venture Capital Investments in Both Developed and Emerging Markets Outside the U.S. Produced Negative Returns in the Second Quarter, According to Cambridge Associates Indices
Following solid gains in the first quarter, returns on private equity and venture capital funds that primarily invest in companies located in markets outside the U.S. slid into negative territory during the quarter ending June 30, 2012, according Cambridge Associates LLC (C|A). A relatively weaker Euro, as compared to the first quarter, contributed to the results, which were measured in U.S. dollar terms.
jlne.ws/SNWXHm
A Frontier Market Hedge Fund Is Killing It, And It’s All Thanks To Nigerian Banks
Business Insider
In a year when hedge funds are getting crushed, emerging and frontier market-focused firm Caravel Management is up 30%. Business Insider heard Caglar Somek, a partner and portfolio manager at Caravel, talk about the firm’s strategy at Bloomberg’s Hedge Fund Summit last week.
jlne.ws/SNWW67
For Many Financial Advisers, Stocks Become a Hard Sell
JONATHAN CHENG – WSJ.com
Financial adviser Jeffrey Smith recently watched a once-confident client scrawl his fears across a legal pad during a discussion of stock investments: “Congressional stalemate,” “unemployment,” “European crisis,” “corruption.” The client, retiree Nicholas Zerebny, later recalled how his thoughts strayed to Edvard Munch’s “Scream” paintings. In the middle of the page, Mr. Zerebny drew a crude version of the iconic screaming face.
jlne.ws/SNWXXF
Banks & Brokers
Standard Chartered Agrees to Settle Iran Money Transfer Claims
JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG – NYTimes.com
The British bank Standard Chartered reached a deal with federal and state prosecutors on Monday over accusations that it had illegally funneled money for Iranian banks and corporations.
jlne.ws/SNWXXJ
Bank Association Taps Former Treasury Official as Next Head
IAN TALLEY – WSJ.com
Former senior U.S. Treasury official Tim Adams will succeed Charles Dallara as head of the Institute of International Finance, an influential association of the world’s largest financial companies, the group said Monday.
jlne.ws/SNWW6a
Hedging their bets: JPM eyes Dodd-Frank customer $$
New York Post
Jamie Dimon is betting his bank can profit from catering to hedge funds and asset management firms bracing for a wave of new financial regulations. The JPMorgan boss placed 26-year veteran Carlos Hernandez in charge of a new investor-services group, part of so-called prime brokerage services, which focuses on hedge…
jlne.ws/SNWW6b
Deutsche Bank Not Planning Any New Investigation in Financial Reporting Affair -Source
Dow Jones
The supervisory board of Deutsche Bank AG, under the leadership of Paul Achleitner, isn’t planning to launch a new investigation into allegations that the bank hid billions of dollars of paper losses during the financial crisis, a person close to the matter told Wall Street Journal Deutschland.
jlne.ws/SNWW6e
Cantor grows but ratings firms sound caution
Dow Jones Newswires
Cantor Fitzgerald’s ongoing expansion efforts contrast with the actions of competitors, many of which have shut down, sold or retreated in a prolonged difficult trading environment, and ratings agencies have noticed.
jlne.ws/SNWW6f
BNY Mellon confirms CSD status ‘under review’
Sophie Baker – Financial News
BNY Mellon has admitted for the first time that obtaining Central Securities Depository status, so it can play in the future global collateral business, is “on the table and under review”.
jlne.ws/SNWWmy
Citigroup To Buyback Nearly $1.2 Billion of Debt
Dow Jones
Citigroup Inc. boosted the size of its debt buyback offer to nearly $1.2 billion as the banking giant also extended the early tender deadline for a second time.
jlne.ws/SNWYe8
UK wealth chief steps aside at UBS
Mike Foster – Financial News
UBS has named a new head of its wealth management business in the UK and Jersey, following the decision of Andre Cronje to look for a new challenge at the Swiss bank.
jlne.ws/SNWYed
HSBC Names Head of Financial Crime Compliance
JULIA WERDIGIER – NYTimes.com
The British bank HSBC on Monday appointed Robert W. Werner, a former United States Treasury official, to direct financial crime compliance, a newly established role.
jlne.ws/SNWWmA
JPMorgan names new regional banking heads: memo
Reuters via Yahoo! News
U.S. bank JPMorgan has appointed Viswas Raghavan as head of banking in Europe, Middle East and Africa, according to a memo seen by Reuters. The appointment comes as JPMorgan recasts responsibilities for some of its top investment and corporate banking executives after a move in July to combine two key business segments.
jlne.ws/SNWYeh
UBS Will Charge All Banks Fees For Franc Cash Accounts
Dow Jones
UBS AG Tuesday said it will charge fees to bank clients holding Swiss franc cash clearing accounts from Dec. 21, and has urged customers to keep franc balances as low as possible.
jlne.ws/SNWWmF
Greg Reiter Joins Wells Fargo Securities as Head of Residential Mortgage Research
Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance
Wells Fargo Securities, the capital markets and investment banking business of Wells Fargo & Company , today announced that Greg Reiter has joined the firm as managing director and head of Residential Mortgage Research.
jlne.ws/SNWWmI
Clearing & Settlement
DTCC Unveils Strategic Blueprint To Strengthen Intraday Settlement Finality In U.S. Markets
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) today announced plans to strengthen intraday settlement finality in the United States financial markets by proposing the implementation of major structural changes in the settlement of equities, corporate debt and municipal debt securities over the next five years.
jlne.ws/SNWWmK
CME Group Clearing Advisory: NYMEX Options Expiration Operational Procedures for the Trading Floor and Clearing Members (OS, WCO) Effective Tuesday, December 11, 2012
jlne.ws/SNWYen
CME Group Clearing Advisory: FECPlus FIXML 5.0 Production Deployment Schedule
jlne.ws/SNWWmP
Indexes & Products
When execution becomes the standout factor
Peter Davy – Financial News
Exchange-traded funds may be seen as a low-cost investment option but the huge choice of how to trade these products can have expensive consequences for institutional investors.
jlne.ws/SNWWD3
S&P Dow Jones Indices Announces Changes To The S&P/TSX Canadian Indices – A Deletion From The S&P/TSX Composite Index
jlne.ws/SNWWD7
Composition Of Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Equity Indices As Of December 16th, 2012
jlne.ws/SNWYuF
Technology
Over 50 Customers Connect to Thomson Reuters FX Matching via Elektron-Hosted Proximity Access
Thomson Reuters today announced that over 50 customers are now live on the Elektron-hosted service that provides proximity access to Thomson Reuters Matching, the Company’s anonymous electronic FX matching platform. This milestone comes after Elektron, Thomson Reuters flagship infrastructure for connecting and enabling financial markets, was extended to provide proximity hosting for Thomson Reuters Matching in August 2011.
jlne.ws/SNWWDc
Numerix Takes First Place in 2012 Risk Technology Rankings for CVA, FVA & DVA for a Second Consecutive Year
Numerix won first place in the Risk Magazine Technology Awards 2012 for the individual categories of “Enterprise Risk Management” – Credit Valuation Adjustment (CVA), Debt Valuation Adjustment (DVA) and Funding Valuation Adjustment (FVA) calculations and “Pricing Analytics” – Structured Products and Cross-Asset. Numerix moved up in nearly every asset class and entered two new categories that include System Support and System Implementation Efficiency.
jlne.ws/SNWWDg
Enforcement
SEC Charges Eight Mutual Fund Directors for Failure to Properly Oversee Asset Valuation
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against eight former members of the boards of directors overseeing five Memphis, Tenn.-based mutual funds for violating their asset pricing responsibilities under the federal securities laws.
jlne.ws/SNWWDi
Lawyer says Goldman failed speech software “geniuses”
Reuters via Yahoo! News
Goldman Sachs bankers failed to raise red flags about Lernout & Hauspie’s accounting irregularities more than a decade ago, costing speech recognition software pioneers at Dragon Systems nearly all of their life’s work and about $600 million, a lawyer told a jury on Monday in federal court.
jlne.ws/SNWYuP
Quick Defense in Insider Trading Trial of 2 Hedge Fund Managers
PETER LATTMAN – NYTimes.com
Defense lawyers for two former hedge fund managers called one witness before resting their case, a surprise decision that will send the insider trading trial to the jury as soon as Tuesday.
jlne.ws/SNWYuU
Treasury Department Reaches $132 Million Settlement With Standard Chartered Bank, Treasury Settlement Part Of Combined $327 Million Settlement For Bank’s Apparent Violations Of Sanctions Programs
jlne.ws/SNWWTz
FSA fines Cheshire Mortgage Corporation Limited and two directors for mortgage sales and arrears failings and requires over 2,000 customers to be compensated
jlne.ws/SNWWTC
Euroz Securities Limited pays $20,000 infringement notice penalty
jlne.ws/SNWYuX
Environmental & Energy
Despair after climate conference, but U.N. still offers hope
Reuters
At the end of another lavishly-funded U.N. conference that yielded no progress on curbing greenhouse emissions, many of those most concerned about climate change are close to despair.
jlne.ws/12i1gP4
**RKB — Overly dramatic lead but it does capture the two sides. The positive spin: the thin agreement is a framework and never promised to be much more. The other side: the conference accomplished just enough to provide a cover for the big emitters.
Climate Treaty Hinges on Obama Making Case, Ex-Aides Say
Bloomberg
One of the biggest things President Barack Obama can do to fight global warming is to talk about it.
jlne.ws/SMjsw9
Doha: Kyoto extension unlikely to rescue carbon price
Business Green
The extension of international emissions reduction agreements finalised at the Doha Climate Summit is unlikely to bolster the world’s flagging carbon markets, analysts have said.
jlne.ws/TMOrXL
**RKB: From Point Carbon: “The decisions in Doha will not lead to higher prices in the global carbon markets. The low price we currently see in the offset market is caused by the lack of demand for reductions through crediting mechanisms. Without deeper reduction targets, investment in the CDM is likely to dry up and it will be very difficult to get any of the new market mechanisms discussed at UN level off the drawing board.”
EEX Exchange Council Gives Green Light On Trading In Guarantees Of Origin And Welcomes Proposed Gas Co-operation With Powernext – Romanian Power Futures To Be Launched For OTC Clearing On 17 December
jlne.ws/SNWYLb
Asia-Pacific
Freight Swaps Trade in Yuan as Brokers See Reversal of Slump
Bloomberg
The first yuan-denominated freight swaps traded today, helping brokers of the derivatives as they seek to reverse a 94 percent slump in the value of transactions since the market peaked four years ago.
jlne.ws/SNWYLi
HKEx’s Mainland Market Data Unit Commences Operations
Ganghui Financial Information Services (Shanghai) Limited, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) Group, has officially commenced operations in Shanghai. To mark this important milestone, an unveiling ceremony for the company nameplate and a market data conference were held on Friday, 7 December 2012.
jlne.ws/SNWYLl
SGX Welcomes Kori Holdings To Catalist
jlne.ws/SNWWTK
Frontier Markets
Two Weeks After the UN Status Upgrade to Non Member State: The Palestine Exchange (PEX) Ready for the Launch of its 6th Annual Palestinian Capital Market Forum on 11/12/2012
The PEX 6th Annual Palestinian Capital Market Forum (http://www.facebook.com/PEXForum6 ) will be held in Ramallah, Palestine on 11 December 2012 with the presence of Palestinian Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad, at a time when the country is bracing for new economic horizons after Palestine was elevated to a non member state at the United Nations last November.
jlne.ws/SNWYLq
Rasmala’s Palestinian Stock Market Report 2012:
jlne.ws/SNWZ1K
Press Communique Of The 16th African Securities Exchanges Association Annual General Meeting
jlne.ws/SNWZ1L