Industry news
Date: Sep 27, 2013
September 27, 2013: CFTC Poised to Keep Oct. 2 Deadline for Shift to Swaps Markets; Nasdaq OMX Starting Currency Futures Meant for Small Investors; NYSE-ICE merger nears close
With the CFTC under fire from just about everyone on the planet over impending swap trading rules, the agency looks set to ignore just about everyone on the planet and forge ahead with its October 2 deadline. Nasdaq OMX sets its sights on currency futures products to lure smaller investors into trading. It’s been in the news for ages, but the NYSE Euronext-IntercontinentalExchange merger is nearing the finish line.
First Read
US rules ‘endanger’ derivatives reforms
Tom Braithwaite, Michael Mackenzie, Alex Barker, Philip Stafford, Gina Chon – FT.com
Landmark reforms of the derivatives market are being threatened by a battle over the extent of US oversight, according to bankers, investors and officials.
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***** Are you ready to rumble? The time has come to be counted. It is time to fight or to perish.
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CFTC Should Delay Oct. 2 Swap-Trading Deadline, O’Malia Says
Silla Brush – Bloomberg
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission should delay an Oct. 2 registration deadline and give swap-trading platforms more time to meet Dodd-Frank Act regulations, Commissioner Scott O’Malia said.
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***** Scott O’Malia gets it and is responsible enough to publicly say it. BTW, where are the press releases from the SEFs saying they are operationally ready for Oct. 2 and their customers are all ready as well?
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U.S. CFTC lacks successor to chief as new duties loom
Reuters
A leadership vacuum at the top U.S. derivatives regulator could weigh down the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s efforts to police financial markets using vast new powers Congress gave it after the financial crisis, lobbyists and people inside the regulator said.
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***** I recommend President Obama nominate Scott O’Malia as the next CFTC Chairman. I will make my case in Monday’s JLN.
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BATS Prepares to Take On Big Bell Ringers
JACOB BUNGE – WSJ.com
One of the signature events of American capitalism, the opening-bell ceremony at the U.S.’s biggest stock exchanges, has long been held on Wall Street—or, more recently, in the glittering canyons of Times Square.
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***** The throwing out of the first pitch comes to IPOs.
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Study Finds European Demand For U.S. Options Remains Strong
The Options Industry Council (OIC) today presented the results of the study, “European Interest in U.S. Options: Factors Driving Renewed Demand,” conducted by Tabb Group and commissioned by OIC. The study findings show a sustained interest in the use of U.S. options by European investors driven by factors including the depth of liquidity, strength and accessibility of U.S. options markets in the current regulatory climate.
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****** The OIC loves their studies.
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ISDA’s Robert Pickel Discusses the State of Cross-Border Regulation of Swaps (Part 1)
MarketsWiki.tv
Robert Pickel is the CEO of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA). Since joining ISDA in 1997, Pickel has worked to promote and advocate for OTC market participants and work with international regulatory bodies to harmonize regulation across jurisdictions. Pickel spoke with John Lothian News editor-at-large Doug Ashburn about the cross-border issues that are still “works in progress,” an international standard for initial margin currently under development at ISDA, and the status of trade repositories around the world.
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CME Group Named ‘International Exchange of the Year for Asia’ by Futures & Options World
CME Group, the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced the company was named ‘International Exchange of the Year for Asia’ by Futures & Options World (FOW) at the 2nd FOW Awards for Asia 2013. The awards ceremony held today in Singapore recognized CME Group’s excellence in the launch of products and services for the Asian market in the past year.
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***** FOW loves their awards.
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Fidessa Wins Accolade In Asian F&O Space – Takes Trading System Of The Year Spot At 2013 FOW Awards For Asia
Fidessa group plc has been selected as Best Sell-side Trading System of the Year at the 2013 FOW Awards for Asia. Now in their second year, the FOW (Futures and Options World) Awards recognise the best in the Asian derivatives industry. The winners were announced at a gala dinner in Singapore last night.
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***** FOW loves their awards.
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In This Battle Arena, Warriors Are Armed With Algorithms
ALEXANDRA STEVENSON – NYTimes.com
Michael Chang, 30 years old, is the sort of guy that BattleFin, a recruitment firm searching for hedge fund talent, wants to attract. Six years ago, at a Foxconn plant in Guangdong, China, Mr. Chang used data analysis to figure out that the unusually cold weather outside had led to a high failure rate of the computer chips on the factory floor. The finding saved the company from significant revenue losses.
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***** Algos are to traders as spells are to Harry Potter.
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Is Nasdaq and NYSE Neglect Breaking the Humble Stock Ticker?
Dave Michaels, Sam Mamudi, and Matthew Philips – Bloomberg
Over the past decade, exchanges in the U.S. have evolved from physical places where trading is conducted by humans into vast electronic networks where computers buy and sell stocks in milliseconds. Despite—or because of—this complexity, one glitch can crash the entire system.
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***** “The SIP is not fair.”
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Commodity Trading Advisors, puzzled by Fed, head for third year of losses
Reuters
Long-term trend-following hedge funds are heading for a third straight year of losses unless the commodity and financial markets they trade in settle into a more predictable pattern, which does not seem likely given the Federal Reserve‘s mixed signals on the U.S. economic stimulus.
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***** It is not easy out there.
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IPXI Hosts First Annual Members Meeting Featuring David Kappos as Keynote Speaker
Intellectual Property Exchange International, Inc., the world’s first financial exchange for licensing and trading intellectual property rights, announced that it kicked off its inaugural Annual Members Meeting in Chicago last night with a keynote address from David Kappos, former Under Secretary of Commerce to the United States and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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***** Just wait until you see the video.
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Florida Panthers: Vincent Viola set to acquire Panthers, arena rights for $250M
Craig Davis – Sun Sentinel
New York businessman Vincent Viola will attempt to transfer his winning touch on Wall Street to the NHL after he takes the reins as owner of the Florida Panthers on Friday.
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****** Former NYMEX Chairman and Virtu Chairman and CEO sports a new enterprise.
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Lead Stories
CFTC Poised to Keep Oct. 2 Deadline for Shift to Swaps Markets
Matthew Leising – Bloomberg
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is poised to deny requests from Wall Street firms for a broad delay of rules requiring they move their swaps transactions onto government-mandated systems by Oct. 2.
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Nasdaq OMX Starting Currency Futures Meant for Small Investors
Sam Mamudi and Matthew Leising – Bloomberg
Nasdaq OMX Group Inc., the exchange operator whose biggest U.S. competitor is getting purchased by a derivatives market, is trying to draw individual investors into currency futures with a series of new offerings.
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NYSE-ICE merger nears close
CNBC
NYSE and ICE: getting close to closing the deal. NYSE Euronext and IntercontinentalExchange may finally complete their merger in October, if the last of a long series of approvals finally comes through.
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Imminent Swaps Regulations Worry Industry
KATY BURNE AND GEOFFREY T. SMITH – WSJ.com
Banks, brokers and investors are warning of potential turmoil in a major part of the derivatives market on Oct. 2, when new U.S. rules kick in governing how instruments known as swaps are traded.
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Officials blindsided by CFTC’s Sef footnote 88, says Ferber
Tom Osborn – Risk.net
Regulators on both sides of the Atlantic did not realise that a footnote in US rules on swap execution facilities (Sefs) would drag other trading platforms into the scope of the new regime, according to Markus Ferber, member of the European Parliament (MEP) and rapporteur for Europe’s version of the Sef rules.
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New Trading Venues Line Up to Compete for Derivatives Business
Jamila Trindle – MoneyBeat – WSJ
Trading platforms competing for business in newly-regulated derivatives markets could get off to a rocky start next week. As they jockey for position at the starting line, the new platforms face a raft of challenges in addition to competition amongst themselves, including regulatory hurdles and gripes from customers getting used to a new system.
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Questions on the derivatives debacle
Tom Braithwaite and Michael Mackenzie in New York – FT.com
Bankers, investors and some government officials are warning that derivatives reforms supposed to make the financial system safer are being implemented in a chaotic fashion and US regulators are engaged in a power grab.
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Exchange Glitches Pile Up as BATS Halts Trading
Matthew Philips – Businessweek
Another day, another market mess-up. The Kansas-based stock exchange BATS Global Markets this morning announced that trading had halted on one of its two electronic trading platforms, the BATS BYX Exchange, which accounts for about 2 percent of all stock trading in the U.S.
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LSE, lobbyists and fund managers unite in last-ditch Mifid II plea
Tim Cave – Financial News
The London Stock Exchange Group, nine trade bodies and four of the world’s largest asset managers have united in an unusual last-ditch attempt to influence key rule changes to Europe’s securities markets, including a new approach to the oversight of controversial dark pools.
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I see your millisecond study, and raise you my millisecond study
Arash Massoudi | FT Alphaville
The world of milliseconds is getting unusual attention this week. A report by Chicago-based market research firm Nanex argued that trade data showed that asset prices in New York and Chicago moved at exactly 2pm last Wednesday, when the Federal Reserve released its decision on monetary policy.
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How I learned to stop worrying and love the bubble
Izabella Kaminska | FT Alphaville
Paul Krugman had an insightful post this week on secular stagnation. It alluded to the fact that bubbles may increasingly be coming to our rescue by inadvertently propping up our economy in a way that usually boosts employment.
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Rabobank to settle over Libor
Caroline Binham, Daniel Schäfer and Philip Stafford in London – FT.com
Rabobank, the Dutch lender, is on track to settle as early as next month allegations that it helped to manipulate key benchmark interbank rates.
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Osborne has now been proved wrong on austerity
Martin Wolf – FT.com
The UK economy is recovering. The government is vindicated. Its critics should crawl into a hole. This, in essence, is what George Osborne, the chancellor of the exchequer, claimed in a rousing speech delivered earlier this month. In particular, he argues, Plan A has worked. Those who have been advocating a Plan B – slower fiscal tightening – have proved to be wrong. Here, then, is my response.
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Regulatory
Broker-dealers urge CFTC to delay reforms
Philip Stafford – FT.com
The main US derivatives regulator is facing growing pressure to delay the introduction of key market reforms, amid concerns from market participants and overseas regulators that its overhaul could damage global swaps trading.
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Futures reporting delay “will not take place” says EC’s Pearson
Lukas Becker – Risk.net
The European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) is said by a senior official at the European Commission (EC) to have retreated from an August 6 recommendation that new reporting rules for exchange-traded derivatives should be pushed back a year, to January 2015. In what would be a radical rethink, Esma is now said to be planning to scrap its existing rule – which lumbers both sides to a trade with the obligation to report to a trade repository – and instead hand the responsibility to a single entity.
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SEC chair says big fines key to attacking wrongdoing
Sarah N. Lynch and Aruna Viswanatha | Reuters
The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission warned that her agency will aggressively use its powers to fine wrongdoers and is seeking other creative ways to hold companies and individuals accountable for their misdeeds.
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SEFs: FX Systems Urge Clients To Get Ready. Fast.
Clare Connaghan – MoneyBeat – WSJ
There’s a new round of derivatives regulations coming in the U.S., and fears are growing that they will create turmoil as soon as next week in the parts of the market that are affected.
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Effective Date of Amendments to NFA Compliance Rule 2-45 and its Related Interpretive Notice
NFA Compliance Rule 2-45 and its related Interpretive Notice entitled Prohibition of Loans by Commodity Pools to CPOs and Affiliated Entities prohibit a Member CPO from permitting a commodity pool to use any means to make a direct or indirect loan or advance of pool assets to the CPO or any other affiliated person or entity. Effective September 13, 2013, NFA amended Compliance Rule 2-45 and the related Interpretive Notice to provide that certain specified transactions are not prohibited by Compliance Rule 2-45.
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Regulatory Harmonization, Not Imperialism: A Workable Cross-Border Framework
Keynote Address By Commissioner Scott D. O’Malia, The Global Forum for Derivatives Markets (34th Annual Burgenstock Conference), Geneva, Switzerland
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Statement Of CFTC Commissioner Scott D. O’Malia
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Deploying The Full Enforcement Arsenal, SEC Chair Mary Jo White, Council Of Institutional Investors Fall Conference In Chicago, IL
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Regulators Gone Wild
Dan Collins Report
Attorney Jeff Kopiwoda of Funkhouser, Vegosen, Liebman & Dunn and the rest of the panelists at Niba’s legal update panel last week had a tough job in explaining the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Rule 1.35(a). The problem is having to explain and provide guidance for a rule that is not well thought out, unenforceable, conflicts with state laws and is generally goofy.
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The 2013 guide to Liquidity Management: RBS – Beyond compliance: Strategies for a post-Basel III landscape
Steve Everett – Euromoney magazine
Basel III reforms imposing stricter capital and liquidity requirements on banks may significantly reduce their ability to lend to clients. As a result, lending rates are expected to rise and a significant amount of liquidity may be removed from the market.
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New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority AFA Update: Issue # 15 – Release Of Exposure Draft Of Code Delayed
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Exchanges & Trading Facilities
CME readies for Europe, Sefs and the rest of the world
Future and Options Intelligence
CME CEO Phupinder Gill has highlighted the exchange’s focus on expanding its global presence, as the group prepares for the launch of its European platform this week. CME Europe is set to go live on September 29 with a suite of FX products as the derivatives giant looks to take its business into Europe’s exchange-traded capital.
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LCH omens bode well for LSE revenues
Anish Puaar – Financial News
Strong volume growth at international clearing house LCH.Clearnet is expected to buoy first-half revenues at the London Stock Exchange.
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SGX wins industry endorsement as 2013 “Clearing House of the Year” and for “Most Innovative New Contract Launch”
Singapore Exchange is pleased to receive industry recognition as the “Clearing House of the Year” and “Most Innovative New Contract Launch” at the Futures and Options World (FOW) Awards for Asia 2013 on 27 September 2013.
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Hong Kong Exchange Sticks to Rulebook on Alibaba IPO
Eleni Himaras – Bloomberg
Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing Ltd. (388), the world’s second-largest bourse operator by market value, is making a stand for transparency in the competition for Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s initial public offering.
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Alibaba Questions Hong Kong Exchange’s Stance
MATT JARZEMSKY AND JURO OSAWA – WSJ
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. took its feud with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange public, questioning why the exchange wouldn’t bend its rules to allow the Chinese e-commerce company to list its shares there.
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WSE to merge with CEESEG within months
Warsaw Business Journal
Talks between the Warsaw Stock Exchange and the CEE Stock Exchange Group are in progress and may be finalized within months, the WSE’s chief executive Adam Maciejewski told Reuters.
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NYSE Euronext Lisbon And ATP Work In Partnership To Attract More Companies To The Stock Exchange
Today, NYSE Euronext Lisbon (Portuguese Stock Exchange) and the Associação Têxtil e Vestuário de Portugal (ATP, the Portuguese Association of Textiles and Clothing) are signing a cooperation agreement with the aim of encouraging and supporting the listing of new companies on the Stock Exchange.
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Warsaw Stock Exchange Shortlisted For FOW International Awards 2013
WSE has been shortlisted for the FOW International Awards 2013 in the Best Technology Innovation by an Exchange in Europe category for the implementation of the new trading system: the Universal Trading Platform
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Moscow Exchange To Launch New Futures
Moscow Exchange’s Derivatives Market is to launch futures on five new foreign stocks on 3 October.
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NZX Interim Report 2013
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NZX Employee Share Plan – Disclosure Document
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Program Trading Averaged 40.9 Percent Of NYSE Volume During Sept. 16-20
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Hedge Funds & Managed Futures
Bond markets: It’s time for open order book
Euromoney magazine
Talk to big dealers and investors in the secondary corporate and government bond markets and it is clear that radical changes are coming. An exchange-like model with a central order book for bonds has been talked about for years. The time for action is at hand. The old over-the-counter market-making system is withering.
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Thomson Reuters Launches CDO Pricing Service – New Offering Builds On Growing Coverage Of Asset Classes For Evaluated Pricing
Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, today announced the launch of a new service for the pricing of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs). This new pricing capability covers all three major CDO types – Asset-Backed Security CDOs, Commercial Real Estate CDOs, and Trust Preferred Security CDOs, providing end-of-day valuations based on asset-level analysis.
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Thomson Reuters Announces The Winners Of The Independent Research In Responsible Investment Awards 2013
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Banks & Brokers
JPMorgan’s Dimon meets with U.S. Attorney General Holder
Reuters via Yahoo! Finance
JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon met with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday, seeking to make sure a possible $11 billion settlement will end the bank’s pain from mortgage-securities probes, a source said.
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JPMorgan Urged to Pay More in Mortgage Deal
BEN PROTESS and JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG – NYTimes.com
The Justice Department is moving closer to striking a multibillion-dollar settlement with JPMorgan Chase over questionable mortgage practices, after authorities urged the bank to raise its offer and the bank’s chief executive took the rare step of meeting with Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in Washington to discuss the deal.
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JPMorgan Hires Alberici as Equity Derivatives Structuring Head
Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co. hired Mark Alberici, who left Bank of America Corp. last month, as head of equity derivatives structuring in New York. Alberici, who works on structured notes that the bank creates for sale to retail investors, started at JPMorgan this month, said Justin Perras , a company spokesman.
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Millennium Trust Company’s Custody Solution Selected by ClearVest
Millennium Trust Company and ClearVest announced today that Millennium will be a recommended custodian for the ClearVest platform. Investors on the platform will now be able to select Millennium Trust as their custodian of choice during the ClearVest account setup process.
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Bungler, Skinny, Mutson…Even More New Names Emerge from Libor Probe
Anna Irrera – MoneyBeat – WSJ
The Libor scandal has revealed some interesting names so far: Clumpy, Rain Man, Lord Libor … but now a whole new set of strange and interesting characters has emerged, including Bungler (who cannot read), Skinny (a long-suffering butler), Haarsa (who drinks Old Stinker) and Mutson (who steals food).
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Clearing & Settlement
Hedgebay Looks to Revolutionize Secondary Market With Launch of Electronic Settlement Service
Anna McCaul – TabbFORUM – Where Capital Markets Speak
Hedgebay Trading Corporation, a pioneer of the secondary hedge fund market, has launched a first of its kind electronic settlement service for the hedge fund secondary market. The new electronic functionality will be available on Hedgebay’s website and will assist in the settlement process, significantly enhancing the transaction experience for users.
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Indexes & Products
STOXX Updates Fast Entry Rules
STOXX Limited, the market-moving provider of innovative, tradable and global index concepts, today announced changes to its fast entry rules in order to better respond to extraordinary market events in a timely and appropriate manner.
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Euroclear Finland And Euroclear Sweden Premier With Nordea Actively-Managed ETFs
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Technology
Bloomberg Vault Plays Role in Social Media Compliance
Becca Lipman – Wall Street & Technology
Bloomberg Vault, Bloomberg’s cloud-based enterprise information management service, released a case study on financial services firm Hilliard Lyons’ attempt to improve social media archiving and compliance by leveraging Vault’s hosted solution.
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Sungard Wins FOW Award For Asia For Best New Trading And Execution Product
SunGard has been named “Best New Product for Trading and Execution” in the 2013 FOW Awards for Asia, for the recent expansion of its Fox River Execution Solutions (“Fox River”) algorithms to support trading in the Japanese equities market.
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FIX Trading Community Publishes Guidelines To Facilitate Efficient Communication Of Client Information To Emerging SEFs
FIX Trading Community, the non-profit, industry-driven standards body at the heart of global financial trading, today published recommended guidelines for the efficient electronic communication of client entitlement information between broker-dealers and the emerging Swap Execution Facilities (SEFs) set to launch shortly.
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Enforcement
CFTC Charges New York-Based The Yorkshire Group Inc. and Its Owner, Scott Platto with Engaging in Illegal, Off-Exchange Precious Metals Transactions
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that it filed a civil injunctive enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against Defendants The Yorkshire Group Inc. (Yorkshire) of Staten Island, New York, and its sole owner, Scott Platto, also of Staten Island.
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CFTC Files Enforcement Action Charging Missouri Resident Daniel K. Steele and His Foreign Currency Firm with Violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and Forex Regulations
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced the filing of a civil Complaint against Defendants Daniel K. Steele of Rolla, Missouri, and his firm Champion Management International, LLC (Champion Management).
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CFTC Obtains Default Judgment and Permanent Injunction against iFinix Futures, Inc. and Its Senior Executive Officer, Connecticut Resident Benhope Marlon Munroe, for Making False Statements to the NFA and Failing to Meet Minimum Financial Requirements
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that Judge Leonard D. Wexler of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York entered an Order of default judgment and permanent injunction against CFTC-registered independent Introducing Broker (IB) iFinix Futures, Inc. (iFinix) of Plainview, N.Y., and its senior executive officer, Benhope Marlon Munroe of New Milford, Conn. iFinix has also done business under the name Pro-Active Futures.
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SEC Charges Accountant for Madoff Clients for Role in Creating False Books and Records
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the longtime accountant for many of Bernard Madoff’s oldest and wealthiest clients for his role in the creation of false books and records used in the massive Ponzi scheme.
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SEC Charges Operators of Boiler Room Scheme Targeting Seniors to Invest in Football-Related Scam
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the operators of a South Florida-based boiler room scheme with defrauding seniors and other investors they pressured into purchasing stock in a company that purportedly developed ground-breaking technology for the National Football League to use in the Super Bowl.
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SEC Charges China-Based Executives With Fraud and Insider Trading
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the former CEO of an education services provider based in China with stealing tens of millions of dollars from investors in a U.S. public offering, and charged another executive with illegally dumping his stock in the company after he helped steal valuable company assets.
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SEC Freezes Assets in Ponzi Scheme Targeting Investors in Japan
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an emergency action to freeze the assets of a Las Vegas-based firm and its sole owner charged with perpetrating a Ponzi scheme against thousands of investors living primarily in Japan.
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Accountant Who Worked With Madoff for Years Is Indicted in Pyramid Scheme
PETER LATTMAN – NYTimes.com
Federal authorities, broadening their investigation of Bernard L. Madoff’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme five years after the fraud was uncovered, unveiled criminal charges on Thursday against Paul J. Konigsberg, a longtime accountant in Mr. Madoff’s inner circle.
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Environmental & Energy
U.S. Carbon Emissions Set to Fall 17%, Meeting Obama’s Goal
Bloomberg
The U.S. can reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases 17 percent by 2020 if it enacts proposed rules to cut pollution from power plants and curbs methane leaks, the U.S. State Department said in a report today.
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Carbon Markets Need Global Regulator to Spur Climate Funding
Bloomberg
United Nations envoys meeting in November should appoint a regulator to link carbon markets emerging from China to California and stimulate investment in emission-reduction projects, according to a carbon lobby group.
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European nations pledge limited support to ailing UN carbon scheme
Reuters Point Carbon
A handful of European governments have thrown the U.N.’s main market to cut greenhouse gas emissions a lifeline by pledging to finance emission reduction projects that are viewed by the private sector as unprofitable.
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Asia-Pacific
Citic’s Goldstone to Wind Down After CEO Departure
Sonja Cheung – MoneyBeat – WSJ
Goldstone Investment Ltd ., an investment arm of Chinese state-owned Citic Securities , is winding down its operations in the wake of Chief Executive Wu Yibing’s planned departure for Singaporean state investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte., according to people familiar with the situation.
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Asia Exchange of the Year: Dubai Mercantile Exchange
Risk.net
There’s no secret ingredient that explains the steadily growing volumes and membership at the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) – it’s down to hard work and a bit of serendipity, according to Chris Fix, the exchange’s chief executive.
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Asia Commodity Research House of the Year: SG CIB
Risk.net
Accurate forecasting and insightful analysis prove a winning formula for SG CIB
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Asia ETRM Software House of the Year: Aspect Enterprise Solutions
Risk.net
Aspect delivers its software in a way that significantly speeds up implementation and processing time
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Rattled by Alibaba loss, Hong Kong bankers seek market reforms
Reuters
Lauded by many for its principled stance in rejecting Alibaba Group’s plans to list shares, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has left the city’s financial community fuming at a lost opportunity, and re-ignited calls for market reforms.
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China to allow banks to sell $49 billion of asset-backed securities: sources
Reuters
China will allow selected banks to issue asset-back securities (ABS) worth 300 billion yuan ($49 billion) by the end of June next year, expanding a pilot program to support the economy, three industry sources said.
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China to open up services, test freer yuan in Shanghai trade zone
Reuters
China will open up its largely sheltered services sector to foreign competition in a free-trade zone in Shanghai, and test bold financial reforms including a convertible yuan, the government said on Friday.
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Man Group goes long on Asian analyst recommendations
Sam Jones, Hedge Fund Correspondent – FT.com
Emerging markets may be out of favour, but Asian analysts trounce their peers in Europe and the US on the success of their recommendations, according to the world’s second-biggest hedge fund.
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JCCH: Japan Commodity Clearing House SPAN Parameter update effective Oct. 1
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The 23rd Session Of Follow-Up Training Course For Board Of Secretaries Of Main Board Held By Shenzhen Stock Exchange
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Tokyo Financial Exchange: Revitalization Of Back Delivery Months In Three-month Euroyen Futures
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Tokyo Stock Exchange And Mizuho Securities: Notice Regarding Incidental Final Appeal And Petition For Acceptance Of Incidental Final Appeal
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Japan’s Financial Services Agency: Publication Of Main Points Of The Financial Monitoring Policy In The Program Year 2013
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Hong Kong’s Securities And Futures Commission Reprimands And Fines Law Kwan Ming
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Frontier Markets
MCA widens NSEL probe; seeks details of related entities
Business Standard
Widening its probe into the NSEL matter, the Corporate Affairs Ministry has sought financial reports and other details from the spot exchange’s parent firm FT Group and other related entities.
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NSEL fiasco: Exchange-broker-client nexus under scanner
Business Standard
A possible collusion between the exchange officials, brokers and clients, including HNIs and politically connected entities, has come to the fore in the NSEL matter being probed by multiple agencies and regulators.
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ISE makes fresh attempt to sell-off subsidiary
Business Standard
The Inter-connected Stock Exchange of India (ISE) has begun efforts anew for the sale of its broking subsidiary, a regulatory pre-condition to starting operations.
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Egypt’s finance minister faces huge challenges to boost economy
Heba Saleh and Borzou Daragahi in Cairo – FT.com
Egypt’s new finance minister is on a mission that is seemingly impossible: he has pledged to reduce the budget deficit while at the same time spending more to get the economy moving, create jobs and buy some social peace.
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Philippines central bank in broad Islamic finance push
Reuters via Yahoo! Finance
In what could be one of the most ambitious efforts to facilitate Islamic finance in a non-Muslim country, the Philippines’ central bank is pushing several initiatives to develop the sector and encourage financial inclusion of the Muslim minority.
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The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) And The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (SEHK) Publish Revised Joint Policy Statement Regarding Listing Of Overseas Companies
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Malawi Stock Exchange Weekly Trading Report- 27th September, 2013
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Miscellaneous
Wharton Applications Drop 12% Over Four Years
MELISSA KORN – WSJ.com
Something at Wharton doesn’t add up. Applications to the University of Pennsylvania’s business school have declined 12% in the past four years, with the M.B.A. program receiving just 6,036 submissions for the class that started this fall. That was fewer than Stanford Graduate School of Business, with a class half Wharton’s size.
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Bloomberg News expected to announce major management changes: WSJ
Reuters
Bloomberg LP could soon announce major changes in its news division that would reduce the number of editors reporting directly to Bloomberg News Editor in Chief Matt Winkler, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
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