Industry news
Date: Oct 1, 2013
October 1, 2013: EU urges US to delay swaps reform; Eurex Plans Penalties on Some High-Speed Practices; US asset managers face tighter scrutiny
The EU’s top regulator is trying desperately to get the CFTC’s attention with regard to swaps reform; possibly something about “the bridge is out, the bridge is out”. Whatever. Deutsche Boerse is planning to penalize certain kinds of high-speed trading practices on its Eurex platform. The US Treasury compiles a report on systematic vulnerability from asset managers, suggesting that funds management might be getting extra visits from regulators in the future.
First Read
Thomas Rollinger of Red Rock Capital Explains the Trouble with Trend Following and Why He Likes Sortino Ratios
MarketsWiki.tv
Thomas Rollinger has a unique perspective on the markets.
As the managing partner and chief investment officer of Red Rock Capital, Rollinger joined the managed futures firm in March after being a long-time customer of the firm. But Rollinger also has an interesting background, as a student and colleague of Edward O. Thorp, who is also known as the “godfather of quants.” Rollinger co-developed and co-managed the systematic futures strategy which Thorp called “System X,” which was featured in Scott Patterson’s “The Quants” and well as in Jack Schwager’s book “Hedge Fund Market Wizards.”
Rollinger now works alongside Red Rock’s founder Scott Hoffman and helps run the 10-year-old Chicago-based firm’s programs which include: the Systematic Global Macro and the Commodity Long/Short program, which was launched just a few months ago.
JLN Managed Futures newsletter editor Jim Kharouf spoke with Rollinger about his experience and lessons learned from Thorp, as well as what’s been hampering trend followers as well as why the Sharpe Ratio doesn’t isn’t better than the Sortino Ratio.
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Wall Street Is Losing the Best and Brightest
TERRY DUFFY – WSJ.com
Not long ago, Wall Street attracted many of the smartest people in America—brilliant economists and mathematicians, but also the nation’s most promising college graduates. Not anymore. Five years after the financial crisis, evidence suggests that students have lost their enthusiasm for beginning careers in finance.
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**JK – Terry Duffy hits the nail on the head here at the end – “Those of us in leadership positions in the industry will have to spend as much time in classrooms as we do in boardrooms to rebuild lost trust.” The question is who and how?
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Financial Watchdog With Bite to Depart His Agency
BEN PROTESS – NYTimes.com
David Meister is waging legal battles against some of the biggest names in finance. There’s JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s largest bank. The CME Group, one of the world’s largest futures exchanges. And Jon S. Corzine, the former governor of New Jersey. But now, Mr. Meister is poised to step down from his role as head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s enforcement unit, a move that may put the future of those cases in question.
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**JK – Buried deep in the story is the other real story, which is his next move where “he is expected to land in the private sector.” This has too often been code for, “I’m going to be a lobbyist.” Let’s see how this one goes.
***JM: To be fair, I’m not sure how many hiring managers in the public sector are answering the phone today anyway…
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Futures pioneer Richard Sandor praises EU emissions scheme
Philip Stafford – FT.com
One of the founding fathers of the modern futures industry has described Europe’s struggling emissions trading scheme as performing “brilliantly”, saying it has far exceeded its goal.
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**JK – Doc Sandor reminds us that the price of an instrument is not THE measure for the performance of a market.
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Stock Market Grows a Shade Darker in September
Jacob Bunge – MoneyBeat – WSJ
The U.S. stock market grew “darker” than ever this month, as a record level of shares traded on private, electronic markets instead of exchanges.
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**DA: And John’s beard grew a bit grayer over the same period.
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KPMG’s Constance Hunter Says the Fed is True to Its Word on QE
MarketsWiki.tv
When Constance Hunter looks at the Federal Reserve Bank and US economy, she sees some positive and negatives like all economists do. She also says the Fed didn’t fool markets when it didn’t change its quantitative easing in September. Actually, she argues that the Fed was doing just what they said they would do.
Hunter, who joined audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG as its chief economist, Alternative Investments in June, says that the markets misread Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s comments about tapering its quantitative easing program in September. In an interview with John Lothian News editor-in-chief Jim Kharouf, Hunter says the Fed has been quite direct with the bond market about its strategy, direction and potential moves over the past several months. That may strike some in the market as odd, because many in the bond market were surprised to see the Fed hold its line again in September on QE, and maintain the policy again. Here’s Hunter’s view on where the Fed is coming from on the issue of QE.
**JK – A great interview about really listening to the Fed.
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Chicago Board Options Exchange launches short-term volatility gauge
Philip Stafford in London and Neil Munshi in Chicago – FT.com
Chicago Board Options Exchange is to launch a new short-term volatility index covering just nine days as it puts developments of more risk gauges for investors at the heart of its expansion plans.
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***JM: Short-term fear measurements, just in time for Halloween!
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CBOE And CFE To Launch Futures And Options On The CBOE Russell 2000 Volatility Index
CBOE Holdings, Inc. announced today that Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated and CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC will launch trading on Russell 2000 Volatility Index options and futures.
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**JK – Volatile days at CBOE.
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ISE Gemini Rolls Out 200 Additional Products
The International Securities Exchange today announced that ISE Gemini has completed the rollout of 200 additional products. Following today’s expansion, ISE Gemini now lists all options classes included in the penny pilot and the most active non-penny pilot names.
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***JM: This from johnlothianastrology.com – “Gemini is the third sign of the zodiac, and those born under this sign tend to roll out hundreds of products at a time.”
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DGCX wins prestigious FOW awards
Cinnober-powered Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX) receives FOW awards for Best Technology Innovation by an Exchange and Emerging Exchange of the Year
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**JK – Does technology matter? Trading volumes YTD are up 80%.
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Marco Polo Securities integrates with Marco Polo New World trading platform
Automated Trader
Recently acquired Marco Polo Securities has announced that it has integrated with Marco Polo New World. Perseus Telecom has been selected to provide network and infrastructure to Marco Polo New World. Established in 2000, the original firm set out to overcome the barriers to investing and trading between developed and emerging markets.
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**JK – “Trading!”. . .”Infrastructure”. . .“Trading!”. . .”Infrastructure”
***DA: Never play Marco Polo with someone who pings in nanoseconds.
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WMBAA Announces CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler will Deliver Keynote Address at SEFCON IV
The Wholesale Markets Brokers’ Association, Americas announced today that Gary Gensler, Chairman of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, will deliver the keynote address at SEFCON IV, the Association’s fourth annual conference taking place on Monday, November 18, 2013 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City.
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Lead Stories
EU urges US to delay swaps reform
Alex Barker in Brussels and Tom Braithwaite, Gina Chon and Michael Mackenzie in New York – FT.com
Europe’s top financial regulator has demanded the US urgently amend its imminent reforms to the $633tn derivatives market, in an intervention aimed at preventing Washington from extending its reach overseas.
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Eurex Plans Penalties on Some High-Speed Practices
Nandini Sukumar – Bloomberg
Deutsche Boerse AG ’s Eurex derivatives market plans financial penalties for certain high-speed trading practices, a shift that comes amid German and European Union attempts to curb computerized transactions.
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US asset managers face tighter scrutiny
Gina Chon in Washington and Stephen Foley in Boston – FT.com
In a sign that asset managers could be the next group of financial institutions to face tighter government regulations, the US Treasury’s Office of Financial Research issued a report on Monday detailing the ways in which the industry could create vulnerabilities in the financial system.
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LME chief grapples with metals queue row
Martin Sandbu – FT.com
The British are renowned for their willingness to stand in line; the Americans less so. Perhaps that explains the row over queueing that has enveloped the London Metal Exchange.
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CBOE And CFE To Launch Futures And Options On The CBOE Russell 2000 Volatility Index
CBOE Holdings, Inc. announced today that Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated and CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC will launch trading on Russell 2000 Volatility Index options and futures.
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CFTC scrambling to protect whistle-blower’s identity
Gregory Meyer in New York – FT.com
The US commodities regulator has accidentally shared details about a crucial informant in its only market manipulation case to address the massive oil price spike of 2008, court documents reveal.
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SEC to stay open in the event of broader government shutdown
Reuters via Yahoo! News
WASHINGTON – The Securities and Exchange Commission will remain open for business even if Congress fails to strike a budget deal to keep the government operating, SEC spokesman John Nester said Monday.
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Revolving door of investors boosts Europe fundraising
Simon Meads – Financial News
After nearly five years in the doldrums, private equity fundraising is on the move, buoyed by recovering financial markets and a steady stream of distributions from company sales and refinancings that are making their way back to investors.
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Regulatory
CFTC Announces Gretchen L. Lowe as Acting Director of Division of Enforcement
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Gary Gensler today announced Gretchen L. Lowe as Acting Director of the Division of Enforcement. Ms. Lowe, currently the Division’s Chief Counsel, has served the Commission in the Enforcement Division.
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Options platforms will miss Sef application deadline
FX Week
Electronic options platforms Digital Vega and SurfacExchange will not register their swap execution facility (Sef) applications with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in time for the October 2 deadline, officials at the firms say.
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[Canada] On-line ads – AMF Cautions About Offers to Invest in Precious Metals
The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) is warning Québec investors about certain on-line ads encouraging them to become financial partners in a foreign mining project promising significant guaranteed returns.
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CFTC Staff Responds to Frequently Asked Questions on Commodity Options
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CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight Issues an Amendment to Previously Issued Time-Limited No-Action Relief for Temporarily Registered Swap Execution Facilities from Certain Swap Data Reporting Requirements of Parts 43 and 45 of the Commission’s Regulation
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CFTC’s Division of Clearing and Risk and Division of Market Oversight Provide Time-Limited No-Action Relief for (1) Futures Commission Merchants from Requirement to Comply with Commission Regulations 1.73(a)(2)(i) and (a)(2)(ii); and (2) Temporarily Regis
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CFTC’s Division of Swap Dealer and Intermediary Oversight Issues Time-Limited No-Action Relief Regarding the Treatment of Swap Transactions by Persons Engaging in Floor Trader Activities, for Purposes of Making Calculations Under the Swap Dealer Definitio
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CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight Provides Time-Limited No-Action Relief for Swap Execution Facilities and Designated Contract Markets from the One Business Day Product Review Period Requirement of Commission Regulation 40.2(a)(2) for Newly-Listed Swap
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CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight Issues Time-Limited No-Action Relief for Temporarily Registered Swap Execution Facilities from Commission Regulation 37.6(b) for Non-Cleared Swaps
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CFTC’s Division of Market Oversight Provides Time-Limited No-Action Relief to Australian-Based Trading Platform Yieldbroker Pty Limited
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CFTC Announces Departure of Enforcement Director David Meister
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SEC: Public Feedback On OFR Study On Asset Management Issues
Today, a webpage was opened on the SEC’s website for the public to provide feedback on a study entitled “Asset Management and Financial Stability” published by the Office of Financial Research of the Treasury Department.
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SEC: Slide Presentation (PDF): Update From The Division Of Corporation Finance And The Office Of The Chief Accountant, 2013 AICPA National Conference On Banks & Savings Institutions
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ESMA Clarifies Reporting Requirements For Alternative Fund Managers
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ESMA Chair, Steven Maijoor, Gives Statement To ECON Committee Today
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Exchanges & Trading Facilities
NYSE Euronext lists MiniFutures on the Portuguese Stock Exchange
Today, in Lisbon , NYSE Euronext listed new products issued by Commerzbank: MiniFutures. MiniFutures are traded on the cash market and belong to a category of products that combine the characteristics of futures contracts with those of warrants, allowing investors to benefit from the marked variations in the prices of the respective underlying assets, particularly at times of considerable volatility.
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CBOE Futures Exchange Announces Launch Dates For VIX Futures Extended Trading Hours
CBOE Futures Exchange, LLC today announced that the first phase of its extended trading hours initiative for CBOE Volatility Index futures will begin on Monday, October 21, with the second phase to follow on Monday, October 28.
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TSE : Trading Overview in September 2013
Japan Exchange Group released Trading Overview in September 2013. Total trading value of TSE 1st Section stocks (excluding preferred stock) in the first half of FY2013 was JPY 351.5131 trillion. This figure ranks third behind those for the first half of FY2007 and the second half of FY2005. Total derivatives trading volume on JPX in the first half of FY2013 (Apr-Sep) was 200,438,009 contracts, surpassing 200 million contracts for the first time ever.
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Tokyo Financial Exchange Trading Volume in September 2013
Combined trading volume for all TFX products was 3,587,677 ( 9.2% MoM / 2.2% YoY) and its average daily trading volume was 172,430 .
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Two New Eurex Executive Board Members Appointed
In its meetings on 26 September 2013, the Board of Directors of Eurex Zürich AG and the Supervisory Board of Eurex Frankfurt AG appointed Mehtap Dinc (46) and Brendan Bradley (49) as new members of the Executive Board of Eurex. Dinc will take over responsibility for product research and development from Peter Reitz, who will remain on the Executive Board and continue to be in charge of European Energy Exchange (EEX) and Eurex Repo. Bradley will be responsible for innovation management.
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The NASDAQ Stock Market Leads U.S. Exchanges In IPOs For Q3 2013
Strong September Brings NASDAQ’s Quarterly IPO Total To 38 – 91 IPOs YTD At End Of Third Quarter 2013 – Remains The Leading U.S. Exchange For Technology, Biotechnology And Venture Capital-Backed Listings
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Deutsche Börse AG Introduces New Cloud-Based Service To Deliver Historical Market Data
Deutsche Börse today announced the introduction of a new cloud-based service for the delivery of historical market data. The new service, “Data on Demand,” grants clients direct access via internet to a high performance database of historical trade data from trading venues Xetra and Eurex, as well as Deutsche Börse index data.
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Ned Goodman vows to build better stock exchange at CNSX
Peter Kennedy, Stockhouse
Goodman’s company Dundee Corp. said Monday it has joined investment firm Urbana Corp. in taking roughly a one third interest in CNSX, an alternative for companies seeking to gain a stock exchange listing in Canada.
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Montréal Exchange Expands Derivatives Education Initiative In Canada – Options Trading Simulation Now Features Enhanced Tools In 3rd Edition
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Irish Stock Exchange Launches Pre-LEI (Legal Entity Identifier) Service
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Vienna Stock Exchange Acquires First German Data Vending Client From The Automotive Industry
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The Vienna Stock Exchange Launches Premium Segment For Corporate Bonds
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Direct Edge Trading Notice #13-43: Additional Direct Edge Fee Schedule Changes For October
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Hedge Funds & Managed Futures
Doubts Raised on Value of Investment Consultants to Pensions
ANDREW ROSS SORKIN – NYTimes.com
Here’s a brainteaser: Would you invest $10,000 in a mutual fund without knowing its past performance? Probably not. Yet, if you were in charge of $13 trillion of pension money, would you accept the recommendation of an investment consultant without knowing its performance record? The answer is yes. It happens every day.
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Small Asset Management Firms In Danger
Zarna Patel – Wall Street & Technology
The cost that comes with increasing staff or technology to handle regulatory pressure is a major concern to small asset management firms, according the “Boutique Business Model under Attack: Bruised by Regulation – Crippled by Cost?” commissioned by SunGard Financial Systems,, a software and IT provider.
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The Appeal of US Options to European Investors
Andy Nybo – TabbFORUM
Anemic liquidity in domestic markets and easy access to the US market increasingly are driving European institutional investors to hedge their portfolios with US options. But the growth in US options has not come without its complexity.
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Schwarzman Says Selling BlackRock Was ‘Heroic’ Mistake
Devin Banerjee – Bloomberg
Blackstone Group LP’s Steve Schwarzman said his decision 19 years ago to sell what would become the world’s largest money manager was a “heroic” mistake.
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Striking The Right Balance at Fidelity
Ivy Schmerken – Wall Street & Technology
Fidelity Enterprise CTO Stephen Neff coordinates with other CIOs on technology standards and strikes a balance between individual business unit needs and the overall organization’s IT goals.
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Wall Street banks likely stung again by bad bond-trading quarter
Reuters
Wall Street banks have had another rough quarter in bond trading thanks to the U.S. Federal Reserve, and it might get worse before it gets better.
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Hedge funds move out of shorts with eyes on bull run in markets
Sam Jones in London and Arash Massoudi in New York – FT.com
Hedge funds’ bets on falling share prices have dropped to their lowest level in years as traders predict an extended bull run for equities over the coming months.
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Bumper Crop Stalks Corn
TONY C. DREIBUS – WSJ.com
Corn prices have tumbled 37% this year, making the grain one of the worst-performing U.S. commodities. Many investors are wagering that prices could fall even further as farmers harvest what looks to be a record crop.
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UK Funds Under Management Up 6.5% To Record £5.4 Trillion
New Report From TheCityUK Shows 4th Successive Year Of Sector Growth
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SAC Energy Manager Nick Tiller Is Retiring After 12 Years
Bloomberg
Tiller, who worked at SAC for almost 12 years and was one of only a few portfolio managers to oversee $1 billion or more, plans to focus on Sustainable America , a charity he founded, according to an e-mail sent today to colleagues. He also said he plans to spend more time with his family.
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Banks & Brokers
JPMorgan insider helps Justice Department in probe: WSJ
Reuters
An insider at JPMorgan Chase & Co has supplied a large amount of information related to the sale of mortgage securities to the U.S. Justice Department, which is using the documents to pursue possible criminal charges against the bank, the Wall Street Journal reported citing people familiar with the matter.
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Despite Cries of Unfair Treatment, JPMorgan Is No Victim
PETER EAVIS – NYTimes.com
Commenting last year on lawsuits relating to Bear Stearns, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s chief executive, said, “Yes, I’d put it in the unfair category.” He added, “I think the government should think twice before they punish businesses every single time something goes wrong.” But JPMorgan may not be the martyr some think it is.
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An Ex-Trader, Now a Sociologist, Looks at the Changes in Goldman
PETER LATTMAN – NYTimes.com
There once was a time, before JPMorgan Chase’s woes dominated headlines, when Goldman Sachs was the symbol for Wall Street’s dark side. Amid the vitriol, Goldman has had plenty of defenders. They argue that the bank performed far better than its peers during the crisis and continues to be a profit-making machine. It still lands the biggest, most prestigious banking assignments, has unparalleled risk management and remains the bank of choice for top recruits. So which is it?
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BGC Partners Updates Its Outlook for the Third Quarter of 2013
BGC Partners, Inc., a leading global brokerage company primarily servicing the wholesale financial and real estate markets, today announced that it has updated its outlook for the quarter ending September 30, 2013.
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Exclusive: Vatican Bank likely to close embassy accounts after Iran, Iraq red flags
Reuters
The Vatican bank is likely to close all accounts held by foreign embassies, following concerns about large cash deposits and withdrawals by the missions of Iran, Iraq and Indonesia, according to people with knowledge of the situation.
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Buffett to Be Goldman Sachs’s Sixth-Largest Shareholder
DAVID BENOIT – WSJ.com
Warren Buffett once proclaimed his investment in Wall Street firm Salomon Brothers as “far from fun.” He is likely finding a more recent foray there more enjoyable.
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Wells Fargo to pay $869m in Freddie deal
Camilla Hall and Tom Braithwaite in New York – FT.com
Wells Fargo has agreed to pay $869m to Freddie Mac, the US government-backed mortgage company, to resolve claims that the country’s largest mortgage lender had sold loans that breached quality guarantees.
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Citigroup next target for government after JPMorgan?
Seeking Alpha
After the government is done relieving JPMorgan shareholders of something in the area of $11B, Citigroup could be the next target , suggests Charles Peabody. U.S. Attorney General Holder has already said to expect announcements aimed at banks other than the House of Dimon, and Citigroup makes for a plump target.
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Clearing & Settlement
Clearing lobby names Rafael Plata as first secretary general
Tim Cave – Financial News
Europe’s clearing industry lobby group has named a 2013 Financial News Rising Star as its first secretary-general.
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DTCC To Partner With Global Banks To Develop Comprehensive Client Reference Data Service
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) announced today that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a group of large global banks that includes Barclays, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase and others to jointly develop a comprehensive service to collect and manage client entity reference data necessary to meet regulatory requirements and other normal course of business activities.
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Indexes & Products
Lessons Learned in the Exchange-Traded Fund Graveyard
Bloomberg
There are now 337 exchange-traded funds pushing up the daisies. More than 40 percent of those deaths by Darwin took place in the last 18 months, when ETF inflows have broken records.
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CBOE Introduces Short-Term Volatility Index
Press Release
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Technology
Cinnober appoints new management for Umeå office
Cinnober, a leading supplier to exchanges and clearinghouses, continues to expand in Northern Sweden. Today, Jonas Engman, 35, becomes the new CEO of Cinnober North in Umeå. This change in management forms part of the company’s long-term strategy and means that Nils-Robert Persson, who has held the principal responsibility for establishing operations in Umeå, can now focus on his regular role as Chairman of the Board.
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6fusion, CME Group Sign Letter of Intent to Explore Development of IaaS Exchange
6fusion, the company standardizing economic measurement of IT infrastructure and enabling a global marketplace for buyers and sellers, has signed a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) with CME Group, the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, to explore the development of an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) Exchange.
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Enforcement
CFTC Charges Lions Wealth Holdings, Inc., Lions Wealth Services, Inc., 20/20 Precious Metals, Inc. and Bharat Adatia in Multi-Million Dollar Fraudulent Precious Metals Scheme
CFTC alleges that Defendants, who took in more than $2.4 million during the past two years, defrauded customers in connection with precious metals transactions and engaged in illegal off-exchange commodity transactions
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CFTC Orders ADM Investor Services, Inc. to Pay a $425,000 Penalty for Unlawfully Commingling Customer Funds with Funds in Non-Customer Accounts
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission today issued an Order filing and simultaneously settling charges against ADM Investor Services, Inc., a CFTC-registered Futures Commission Merchant, for unlawfully commingling customer funds with funds held in its non-customer accounts.
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FXDirectDealer, LLC Ordered to Pay $275,000 Penalty to Settle CFTC Charges of Violating Minimum Financial Requirement Rules
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission today issued an Order filing and simultaneously settling charges that, between November 2010 and December 2012, FXDirectDealer, LLC, a CFTC-registered Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer and Futures Commission Merchant headquartered in New York, New York, failed to comply with minimum financial requirements for RFEDs and FCMs.
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CFTC Charges TOTE Fund LLC, MJS Capital Management LLC and their Principal, Michael J. Siegel with Commodity Pool Fraud
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission today announced that it filed a civil enforcement action in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, charging two California firms, TOTE Fund LLC and MJS Capital Management LLC, and their principal, Michael J. Siegel of Northfield, New Jersey, with misappropriating funds in connection with two commodity pools.
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CFTC Charges Registered COMEX Floor Broker Dominick Anthony Cognata with Failing to Produce Required Documents in Response to a CFTC Subpoena and Seeks to Revoke His Registration
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SEC Charges Three Auditors in Continuing Crackdown on Violations or Failures By Gatekeepers
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced charges against three auditors for violating federal securities laws or failing to comply with U.S. auditing standards during their audits and reviews of financial statements for publicly traded companies.
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SEC Charges South Florida Woman Behind Ponzi Scheme Targeting Colombian-American Community
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a woman living in South Florida with defrauding investors in a Ponzi scheme and affinity fraud that targeted the local Colombian-American community and involved purported investments in immigration bail bonds.
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SEC Charges New Jersey-Based Accounting Firm and Founding Partner for Failed Audits of China-Based Company
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged a New Jersey-based audit firm and one of its founding partners for their roles in the botched audits of a China-based company that failed to disclose related party transactions by its CEO and others.
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FINRA Seeks Cease and Desist Order Against John Carris Investments and CEO George Carris for Fraud
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Judge Spares Money Fund Fine Sought by the S.E.C.
REUTERS
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday lost much of its bid for civil penalties in a lawsuit arising from the 2008 collapse of a large money market fund that “broke the buck.” Judge Paul G. Gardephe of Federal District Court in Manhattan awarded $750,000 to the commission, a tiny fraction of the more than $130 million it had sought
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Environmental & Energy
Fresh hopes on climate change
Alvin Powell, Harvard Gazette
You may have to dig to find it, but there’s good news out there on climate change, and not just a little. Really.
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**RKB — We followed Ms. Figueres’ address in several news articles over recent editions. Here’s Harvard’s take. Repeating the report, below.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report
The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) will provide a clear view of the current state of scientific knowledge relevant to climate change. It will comprise three Working Group (WG) reports and a Synthesis Report (SYR). The outline and content can be found in the AR5 reference document and SYR Scoping document.
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IPCC Scientist: Climate change will hit Europe’s competitiveness
EurActiv.com
One of the lead authors of a key UN climate report launched on Friday (27 September) has told EurActiv that Europe’s business competitiveness would be badly hit by global warming of the sort most scientists now believe is likely to arise this century.
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Asia-Pacific
HKEx Begins Rollout Of Orion Market Data Platform
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) rolled out the first phase of its Orion Market Data Platform (OMD), one of the HKEx Orion technology initiatives, today (Monday) with the introduction of the new system in its securities market.
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Launch Of SGX Thermal Coal Futures
Singapore Exchange (SGX) is pleased to announce the launch of two thermal coal futures contracts on Monday, 21 October 2013.
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South Korea Gets Its (Investment) Flows Back, Helped by a Strong Current-Account Surplus
Ewen Chew – MoneyBeat – WSJ
After foreign investors sought better returns elsewhere in the early summer, they are returning to South Korea thanks to a few factors that set it apart from other Asian investment destinations.
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SGX codifies rule on share buy-back limit
Singapore Exchange will codify in its SGX-Securities Trading Listing Rules the existing share buy-back limit of 10% for listed companies on both the Mainboard and Catalist with effect from 1 October 2013.
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Exchange Helps Market Prepare For New Sponsor Regulations Effective From 1 October
The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (the Exchange), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx), has held three seminars on its Listing Rules changes that will complement the Securities and Futures Commission’s (SFC) new regulations on sponsors that take effect on 1 October 2013.
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Frontier Markets
Massey resigns from MCX, FT’s foreign bourses
Business Standard
Joseph Massey who serves as a member of the board on multiple exchange ventures from the Financial Technologies group has resigned as director from the board of Multi Commodity Exchange of India and foreign bourses including Singapore Mercantile Exchange, Global Board of Trade and Bourse Africa.
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EOW registers criminal cases against Jignesh Shah and team
India Today
Till yesterday, he was the most sought after mind in the commodity exchanges – known for his smart move. He is connected to 80 board members in 10 different organisations across 11 different industries. He is affiliated with various international companies and commodity exchanges.
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Despite launch parties, Venezuelan oil tankers never set sail
Reuters
With flags and confetti, Venezuela in the last 14 months launched three new oil tankers that exemplify the socialist nation’s ambitions to diversify to Asian markets and give a helping hand to its political allies. But the tankers from shipyards in Iran, Argentina and China, have never set sail, according to five sources with knowledge of the company’s fleet,
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Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) Statistical Report – First Nine Months 2013
Value Of Shares Traded Reached SR 1,075.12 Billion – 23.76 Million Transactions Executed During First Nine Months 2013
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Current Status Of Tehran Stock Exchange’s Listed Companies
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Dubai Financial Market (DFM) Accredits “Mena Corp Financial Services” For Margin Trading
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