First Read
CME Group Statement
CME Group
CME Group today released the following statement in response to the Navinder Singh Sarao case:
Nothing is more important to CME Group than the integrity of our marketplace. Following the Flash Crash on May 6, 2010, together with other regulators, we did a thorough analysis of all activity in our markets during the Flash Crash, and concluded – along with regulators – that the Flash Crash was not caused by the futures market. If new information has come to light, we look forward to reviewing it with the Commission. We fully support the CFTC’s actions to prosecute those who attempt to engage in fraud or manipulation. We are prohibited by law from releasing information about any individual’s trading behavior, including Mr. Sarao’s, so we are unable to comment further at this time.
jlne.ws/1OHDpyP
***** There is no single cause of a markets action. Every market movement is a result of numerous actions and even inactions. Regulation seems to be similar.
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Pushing the Cross-Border Envelope
Doug Ashburn – JLN
At my pre-conference interview with ISDA CEO Scott O’Malia (Un Parti Québécois: ISDA 2015 Montreal, JLN, Wednesday, April 22), he noted that the big issue of the conference would be achieving cross-border harmony. The first panel included people on both sides of the issue, including Commissioners Michael Piwowar and Mark Wetjen of the SEC and CFTC respectively, plus the FSA’s Masamichi Kono, who has served as the chair of IOSCO and also serves as a regional chair of the Financial Stability Board. The final panelist was Kay Swinburne, Member of the European Parliament.
I asked O’Malia if we would see fireworks with these panelists seated together on the stage. He replied that we are not here this week just so everyone can tour Montreal, but rather to push the envelope on cross-border issues such as substituted compliance and mutual recognition of central counterparties. Of course, we also toured Montreal, and it is a thoroughly lovely city.
I can report that the panel delivered, and the envelope has been pushed this week.
No legislation or regulation is passed with the express purpose of fracturing the market, but that is exactly what has happened to the swaps market, almost from the day the SEF rules were finalized. In data studies and user polls published by ISDA, all the evidence points to fragmentation.
Read more at: http://jlne.ws/1HYThx1
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Euronext announces departure of Dominique Cerutti
Euronext
Euronext today announced that Dominique Cerutti, CEO of Euronext N.V. and Chairman of the Managing Board, will leave the company on 15 July 2015. Mr. Cerutti, who joined NYSE Euronext in 2009 as President and Deputy CEO1, has decided to take a new position as Chairman and CEO at Altran. The Supervisory Board of Euronext has regretfully acknowledged this decision and would like to thank Mr. Cerutti for his outstanding contribution as CEO of Euronext N.V.
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***** First Magnus at SGX and now Dominique at Euronext. Who steps away next?
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LSEG CONFIRMS TWO NEW KEY POSITIONS
London Stock Exchange Group
Caroline O’Shaughnessy, previously at DTCC and Reuters, appointed Global Head of Sales & Marketing, Information Services
Brian Rosenberg, formerly of Sungard Financial and MSCI, named Managing Director, North America Sales, Information Services
Roles will spearhead sales, marketing and client services across LSEG’s global Information Services business
London Stock Exchange Group today announced the appointments of Caroline O’Shaughnessy as Global Head of Sales & Marketing and Brian Rosenberg as Managing Director, North America Sales, for the Group’s Information Services businesses.
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***** Caroline meet Brian. Brian meet Caroline.
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Nick Leeson: Wall Street ‘flash crash’ trader may just be scapegoat
The Telegraph
The original rogue trader says it is hard to believe Navinder Singh Sarao was solely responsible for market crash which saw the Dow Jones lose almost 1,000 points within minutes
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***** The original rogue trader left many people red faced.
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Flash crash hunt homes in on Hounslow
James Mackintosh. FT
Accused handled only a fraction of the futures contracts traded, writes James Mackintosh
Baddies who bring down global capitalism should have a HQ in a volcano, or at least a white cat. A chap trading futures from his parents’ house in a part of London best known for its motorway services is not Bond villain material.
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***** James has read too many Bond books.
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A Look At The 1st Criminal ‘Spoofing’ Prosecution: Part 2
Cliff Histed, K&L Gates
On April 16, 2015, U.S. District Judge Harry D. Leinenweber in Chicago ruled, in the first criminal case of its kind, that the “spoofing” statute was not unconstitutionally vague, and that the spoofing and fraud indictment against futures trader Michael Coscia would not be dismissed.[1] In Part 1 of this article, we examined what guidance could be gleaned from what futures regulators have said about spoofing and what they have charged as spoofing, and discussed the Coscia criminal case.
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***** Former DOJ prosecutor Cliff Histed is now at K&L Gates.
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OCC Lingo: SIFMU Stands For Clearinghouse Changes
JohnLothianNews.com
The OCC was designated a systemically important financial market utility in 2012. That led to some big changes at the organization, along with challenges in risk management and credit and liquidity resources. John Lothian News spoke with John Fennell, executive vice president, financial risk management at the OCC, about what the organization is doing to insure that it meets these and other regulatory obligations.
Watch the video »
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Reconcilable Differences: Duco’s Christian Nentwich on what can be done to address reconciliation problems in the financial industry
JohnLothianNews.com
Today, trades occur in milliseconds around the globe. But there are still aspects of the business that lag behind, especially in the post trade area. Christian Nentwich, CEO and co-founder of tech firm Duco, estimates there is more than $500 million in unreconciled fees in the brokerage space. Here is how his firm is attempting to address the reconciliation problem.
Watch the video »
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Lead Stories
‘Flash crash’ charges spark alarm over regulation of US markets
Jane Croft and Philip Stafford in London and Barney Jopson in Washington, FT
A UK trader accused of contributing to the 2010 “flash crash” in equity markets began a fight against extradition on Wednesday as US lawmakers pledged to probe a case which raises questions over the fragility of markets and financial regulation.
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Deutsche Bank to Pay $800 Million Penalty to Settle CFTC Charges of Manipulation, Attempted Manipulation, and False Reporting of LIBOR and Euribor
CFTC
The Fine Imposed on Deutsche Bank Represents the Largest Fine in CFTC’s History
With Today’s Action, the CFTC Has Imposed over $4 Billion in Penalties against 13 Banks and Brokers to Address LIBOR and FX Benchmark Abuses
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an Order against Deutsche Bank AG (Deutsche Bank) bringing and settling charges that Deutsche Bank routinely engaged in acts of false reporting and attempted manipulation and, at times, succeeded in manipulating the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) for U.S. Dollar, Yen, Sterling, and Swiss Franc, and the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor), interest rate benchmarks critical to the U.S. and global financial markets. Deutsche Bank is also charged with aiding and abetting, at times, the attempts of traders at other banks to manipulate Yen LIBOR and Euribor. The CFTC Order finds that Deutsche Bank, through its traders and benchmark submitters, engaged in this manipulative conduct to benefit cash and derivatives trading positions that were priced off of LIBOR or Euribor.
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Euronext C.E.O. to Leave in July for French Consulting Firm
By CHAD BRAY, NY Times
The stock market operator Euronext said on Wednesday that its chief executive, Dominique Cerutti, will leave in July and take the top job at Altran, a French engineering consultancy.
jlne.ws/1EgLcSw
Flash Crash’ Case Suggests Small Problems Can Cause Systemic Issues
By ANTONY CURRIE, NY Times
The flash crash of 2010 resurfaced with an arrest on Tuesday. Prosecutors at the Department of Justice along with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have accused one self-employed trader in Britain of manipulating futures markets so much that he played a significant role in the events that led to the five-minute, 1,000-point plunge in the Dow Jones industrial average on May 6, 2010.
jlne.ws/1Hqc59m
Trader’s Arrest Raises Concerns About Market Rigging
By NATHANIEL POPPER, NY Times
The arrest of a little-known futures trader this week drew back the curtain on one of the pernicious-sounding practices that have been linked to the distortion of global financial markets.
jlne.ws/1Oh0KfE
LSE Chief Says Exchange Could Do Deal With Rival Within Two Years; Xavier Rolet’s comments come after period of significant change for LSE
By DAVID WIGHTON, WSJ
The London Stock Exchange Group PLC is likely to do a deal with one of the other big four Western exchange companies within two years, said LSE Chief Executive Officer Xavier Rolet.
jlne.ws/1HYXWim
‘Flash crash’ whistleblower may see multi-million dollar pay day
BY SARAH N. LYNCH AND DAVID INGRAM, Reuters
An anonymous tipster who claims to have led the U.S. government to bring charges against alleged “flash crash” trader Navinder Singh Sarao could potentially reap millions of dollars under a federal whistleblower award program.
jlne.ws/1IJVevb
Is Berkshire Hathaway a Threat to the Financial System?
By ANUPREETA DAS, WSJ
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett European Pressphoto Agency/LARRY W. SMITH
Regulators periodically question whether Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. poses significant risk to the financial system and should be designated “systemically important.” The latest is the Bank of England, which recently asked the U.S. Treasury why Berkshire is not on a list of global reinsurance companies deemed too big to fail and therefore subject to special scrutiny.
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Executing Trader Sarao
FT Alphaville
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‘Flash Crash’ arrest ignites industry scepticism
Automated Trader
Big questions are being asked over the allegations levelled against UK trader Navinder Singh Sarao, who will be fighting extradition to the US on flash crash-related charges.
jlne.ws/1Jc5DTN
Deutsche Bank faces rate rigging fine from U.S., UK watchdogs
Reuters
Deutsche shares stable after plan to top up legal provisions;Bank likely to pay more than $2 bln fine to UK, US – source;Deutsche unit expected to make guilty plea;German lender among last major banks to come to terms over Libor
Deutsche Bank faced a multi-billion-dollar fine on Thursday as British and U.S. officials prepared to announce a legal settlement over alleged attempts at its London-based subsidiary to manipulate interest rate benchmarks.
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Europe needs Deutsche Bank as its champion
John Gapper, FT
The rules have been tightened, and rightly so. But one effect is to reinforce US hegemony
Deutsche Bank is the last heavyweight contender. While the other European investment banks — Barclays, UBS and Credit Suisse among them — retreat to retail and private banking amid investor discontent and a regulatory squeeze, it is doing the opposite. It wants to become more like Goldman Sachs, not less.
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AIG bailout judge’s questions seen showing Greenberg’s edge
www.chicagotribune.com
Former American International Group Chairman Maurice “Hank” Greenberg claims the U.S. bailout of the insurer cheated shareholders out of at least $25 billion.
On Wednesday, the judge presiding over his lawsuit heard final arguments in the long-running case. If previous rulings and questions posed to both sides are any measure, he may be leaning toward Greenberg.
jlne.ws/1HZ54v1
What do we know about Flash Crash trader Navinder Singh Sarao?
By Andrew Trotman, The Telegraph
Navinder Singh Sarao has been charged by the US Department of Justice with wire fraud, commodities fraud, commodities manipulation and ‘spoofing’. But who is the UK resident who allegedly caused 2010’s Flash Crash?
jlne.ws/1EuNMX3
British Flash Crash trader says arrest came as ‘bolt from the blue’ as he fights extradition
The Telegraph
Bail for Navinder Singh Sarao – who faces maximum sentence of 380 years if found guilty of all the charges against him – set at £5.05m
jlne.ws/1OKaFpa
Day Trader in Leather Jacket Far Cry From Wall Street Flash Boy
by Liam Vaughan, John Detrixhe, and Suzi Ring
Navinder Singh Sarao always stood out among the day traders sweating it out for small change.
jlne.ws/1K8iKDm
Regulatory
Delayed flash crash arrest may herald future spoofing detection woes
BY DOUWE MIEDEMA AND ANN SAPHIR, Reuters
The five years it took regulators to bring high-profile charges against a UK trader underscore how hard it is to spot wrongdoing in fast-developing markets, and may herald problems in detecting future mishaps.
jlne.ws/1DSoJtE
CFTC Staff Issue No Action Letters Providing Relief in Connection with Erroneous Swap Trades and Swap Trade Confirmations
CFTC
Today, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (Commission) Division of Market Oversight (DMO) and the Division of Clearing and Risk (together, the Divisions) issued a no-action letter providing time-limited relief to swap execution facilities (SEFs) and designated contract markets (DCMs) from Commission regulations to allow trades voided as a result of clerical or operational errors or errors discovered after a trade has been cleared to be corrected (Error-Trade No-Action Letter).
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US CFTC head: market complexity a factor in time taken to charge trader
Reuters
U.S. financial markets’ size and complexity were a factor in how long it took to bring charges against a British trader accused of contributing to Wall Street’s “flash crash” nearly five years ago, the head of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Wednesday.
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Flash crash: Trading terms and manipulation techniques explained
Philip Stafford and Michael Mackenzie, FT
The arrest of a futures trader operating out of a suburban house in London in connection with the US equity market “flash crash” in 2010 has shone a spotlight on trading practices.
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U.S., E.U. Regulators Trade Barbs Over Swaps
WSJ
Attendees at a derivatives industry conference in Montreal on Wednesday got a front-row seat to a continuing spat between international regulators over cross-border rules for the $700 trillion global swaps market.
Regulators in the U.S. and Europe have been divided over how far their respective rules should affect companies involved in swaps overseas that are already overseen by their home regulators, and whether to deem home-country rules equivalent across borders.
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Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) Rulemaking and National Market System (NMS) Plans
SEC
NASDAQ OMX BX: Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change by NASDAQ OMX BX, Inc. Relating to NASDAQ OMX BX Equities Market Participant Registration and Sponsored Access (Release No. 34-74783; File No. SR-BX-2015-021); see also Exhibit 5
NYSE Arca: Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change Modifying the Manner in which It Calculates Volume, Liquidity and Quoting Thresholds Applicable to Billing on the Exchange on March 31, 2015 (Release No. 34-74774; File No. SR-NYSEArca-2015-31; April 21, 2015)
jlne.ws/1eCTnOv
ASIC applies to wind up Reeltime Media Limited and five subsidiary companies
ASIC
ASIC has applied to Supreme Court of New South Wales to wind up publicly-listed company, Reeltime Media Limited (ACN 085 462 362) (RMA) and the following wholly owned subsidiary companies (the Subsidiaries) on just and equitable grounds:
jlne.ws/1ILNg4J
Update on licence conditions on two Commonwealth Bank financial planning businesses: ASIC releases initial report into advice compensation program
ASIC
ASIC today released KordaMentha Forensic’s first report on past activities by Commonwealth Financial Planning Limited (CFPL) and Financial Wisdom Limited (FWL) to compensate clients, and to identify high-risk advisers and affected customers.
jlne.ws/1Jg52AL
Global financial regulation meets a cul-de-sac
John Plender, FT
The notion of a single super-trader able to disrupt markets has not been high on authorities’ agenda
Who would have thought it? If the US Department of Justice is to be believed, an important contributor to the notorious “flash crash” in the markets back in May 2010 turns out to have been 36-year-old Navinder Singh Sarao, a day trader working through a company based at his parents’ semi-detached house in the tawdry London suburb of Hounslow. The flash crash, you may recall, raised questions about whether high-octane trading was making markets so volatile as to present a threat to global financial stability.
jlne.ws/1QkOcm6
‘Flash crash’ arrest raises new questions
Gina Chon in Washington, FT
The arrest on Tuesday of a trader from a London suburb on charges that he manipulated futures markets and contributed to the “flash crash” has raised questions about his role and previous explanations of what really happened on May 6, 2010, when the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 600 points and bounced back within 20 minutes.
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Exchanges & Trading Facilities
Dominique Cerutti to become Chairman and CEO of Altran
Altran
jlne.ws/1aSz8v8
SGX’s Big Derivatives Bet
online.barrons.com
China’s stock markets are booming and Singapore Exchange wants its piece of the red hot action.
While Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing has enjoyed an explosion in trading volumes as money from mainland investors flooded into the city’s undervalued H shares, Singapore Exchange has shown its northern rival that it too can make money from the surge of interest in trading China’s markets.
jlne.ws/1HZ4JbX
Electro Power Systems lists on Euronext in Paris;Raises EUR14.2 million, market capitalisation totals EUR52.2 million
Euronext
Euronext today welcomed Electro Power Systems, a company specialising in smart hydrogen-based systems for energy storage, to listing in Compartment C of Euronext’s regulated market in Paris.
jlne.ws/1DE0CvE
EnterNext invites seven innovative companies to present their business to connected technology investors and analysts
Euronext
EnterNext, the Euronext subsidiary dedicated to promoting and growing the market for SMEs[1],is organising its first EnterNext Pitch Tech Day on Friday, April 24. The event brings together entrepreneurs, investors and analysts to exchange views and gain fresh insights into innovative companies and their various activities. This first edition of Pitch Tech Day is dedicated to connected technologies.
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Changes to the connectivity fee schedules of Eurex Exchange
Eurex
Effective 1 July 2015, the following changes will be made to the connectivity fee schedules of Eurex Exchange:
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ISDA study: Continued fragmentation of global liquidity pools
Eurex
According to a new research published at ISDA’s 30th Annual General Meeting in Montreal, global derivatives markets are continuing to fragment along geographic lines. This is a result of divergent regulations across jurisdictions. The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) fragmentation analysis concludes: The cleared euro interest rate swaps market remains largely fragmented in U.S. and non-U.S. liquidity pools.
jlne.ws/1Hq2ajS
Product Delisting: Emmission Reduction Unit (ERU) Futures and Options
CME Group
jlne.ws/1DE0n3H
Flash Crash and Other Scandals: How London’s Unknown Rocked Markets
By LUCY BURTON
The home that rocked Wall Street: Nav Sarao Futures is registered at this house in Hounslow, West London. Reuters
A semi-detached house in London’s commuter belt has found itself at the centre of the 2010 Wall Street “flash crash” which wiped billions off the value of U.S. shares.
jlne.ws/1HmKWny
LSE Chief Says Exchange Could Do Deal With Rival Within Two Years
WSJ
The London Stock Exchange Group PLC is likely to do a deal with one of the other big four Western exchange companies within two years, said LSE Chief Executive Officer Xavier Rolet.
“Market infrastructure is still a bit of a cottage industry. It is ripe for change. When there is an industry with competitive tension, consolidation tends to be not too far behind,” he said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
jlne.ws/1HYXWim
Keeping up with the exchanges – the ETD challenge
www.fx-mm.com
Trading volumes in exchange-traded derivatives (ETDs) continue to rise and are up 30% from pre-crash levels, writes Bill Blythe, Global Business Development Director at Gresham CTC.
jlne.ws/1HYYXa7
BM&FBOVESPA announces proposals to enhance the governance of state-run companies, to be submitted to a closed hearing
BM&FBOVESPA
Drawn up by the Exchange’s regulation team, the proposals have been grouped into four courses of action: transparency, internal control practices and structures, management composition, and obligations of the controlling stakeholders.
Today BM&FBOVESPA announces draft proposals to experts and to representatives of federal, state and market bodies, to enhance the corporate governance of state-run companies. The proposals have been drawn from a study carried out by the Exchange’s regulation area and will be discussed by participants at the hearing in order to create a concrete proposal applicable to these companies.
Nasdaq profit drops on restructuring charges, FX impact
Reuters
Transatlantic exchange operator Nasdaq OMX Group on Thursday reported a drop in first-quarter profit, due mainly to restructuring efforts and a negative impact from changes in foreign exchange rates.
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Hedge Funds & Managed Futures
Hedge Fund Billionaire Paul Tudor Jones Seeks Corporate Justice
Institutional Investor
jlne.ws/1DihKru
Thomson Reuters Appoints David Akellian as Managing Director of Wealth Management
Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, today announced the appointment of David Akellian as managing director of Wealth Management. Akellian will be based in New York and will report to Abel Clark, managing director, Financial sector.
jlne.ws/1buOw1V
Banks & Brokers
Flash Crash Trader Struck Agreement with Credit Suisse
By GILES TURNER, WSJ
The family home of Navinder Singh Sarao, on a suburban street outside London. Simon Dawson/Bloomberg News
The vehicle used by the U.K. trader now blamed for helping cause the 2010 ‘flash crash’ entered into a security agreement with an arm of Credit Suisse Group A.G CS -0.08%. two days before the crash.
jlne.ws/1Huj1Aw
Investors question whether banks’ robust profit growth will hold
BY RYAN VLASTELICA, Reuters
Financial companies are among the standouts of the first-quarter earnings reporting season, but their dazzling profit growth has failed to impress investors, who are finding reasons for caution behind the headline numbers.
jlne.ws/1Edz1pC
Goldman-linked firm settles SEC charges over missed filings
Reuters
A real estate investment firm affiliated with Goldman Sachs Group Inc has agreed to pay $640,000 to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges that it failed to make required public filings, the regulator said on Wednesday.
jlne.ws/1Hmzjgv
Deutsche Bank Expects $1.6 Billion in Legal Costs
By JACK EWING, NY Times
Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday that it would incur 1.5 billion euros, or $1.6 billion, in costs from legal proceedings as reports surfaced that the bank was set to accept a record penalty for its involvement in a plan to rig the benchmark rates used to set trillions of dollars in interest rates.
jlne.ws/1GjpTPT
Genesis Trading Launches as Bitcoin Broker-Dealer
John D’Antona Jr., Traders Magazine
There’s always a first time for something – and now the industry’s first digital currency broker-dealer has opened its doors.
Genesis Trading, a wholly owned subsidiary of Digital Currency Group and a division of the broker-dealer SecondMarket, has just opened its doors and launched itself as the first U.S. broker-dealer to specialize in the trading of digital currencies, including bitcoin.
jlne.ws/1yPN18t
HSBC: Shrink and simplify
Martin Arnold and Patrick Jenkins, FT
A year after HSBC unveiled its $14bn acquisition of US subprime lender Household in 2002, Sir John Bond, the bank’s then chairman, penned an irritated memo to some of the group’s top managers.
jlne.ws/1ySCoSC
New chairman John McFarlane’s 5 priorities for Barclays
Martin Arnold, Banking Editor, FT
Barclays’ new chairman John McFarlane will quickly stamp his authority on the bank by writing to shareholders on Thursday to outline his priorities on the day he succeeds Sir David Walker.
jlne.ws/1aUtb0J
BofA appeals $1.3bn ‘Hustle’ toxic loan penalty
Ben McLannahan, Tom Braithwaite and Kara Scannell in New York, FT
Bank of America has appealed against a $1.3bn penalty for selling toxic home loans, arguing that the court prevented it from putting up a robust defence to charges that it knowingly sold bad mortgages in the run-up to the financial crisis.
jlne.ws/1GlJaTy
Clearing & Settlement
Market data, SEF confirmations and error trades in CFTC sights says Massad
www.ftseglobalmarkets.com
In a speech to the DerivOps North America 2015, CFTC chairman Timothy Massad highlighted market uncleared swaps – SEF confirmations and confirmation data reporting and error trades are now in CFTC sights.
jlne.ws/1HYVlFf
Lack of global equivalence ‘not acceptable’
GlobalCapital
The goals laid out in the 2009 G20 Pittsburgh summit have been approached from several angles by countries on both sides of the Atlantic, but issues surrounding the timely recognition of equivalent standards in the US, EU and other jurisdictions have stoked lawmakers’ and regulators’ irritation on many …
jlne.ws/1HYVxUZ
Indexes & Products
Slim’s Worst-In-Mexico Mining Company Poised for MSCI Removal
Bloomberg
Minera Frisco SAB, the mining company controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim, has posted the largest equity loss in the Mexican mining industry this year. Should Banco Santander SA’s prediction for the company prove true, the rout may be just getting started.
Santander analysts Stefano Rizzi and Jesus Gomez have “high conviction” that Frisco will be removed from the MSCI LatAm Standard Index, a benchmark for regional equities, according to an April 16 research note. Rizzi and Gomez correctly predicted all six Latin American equities dropped last year from the MSCI, which is expected to announce new index changes May 12.
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iShares MSCI USA Minimum Volatility ETF Experiences Big Inflow
NASDAQ
Looking today at week-over-week shares outstanding changes among the universe of ETFs covered at ETF Channel , one standout is the iShares MSCI USA Minimum Volatility ETF (Symbol: USMV) where we have detected an approximate $62.1 million dollar inflow — that’s a 1.3% increase week over week in outstanding units (from 117,800,000 to 119,300,000).
jlne.ws/1HYYDbt
Euro STOXX 50 Daily Short Index Licensed To Korea Investment & Securities
MondoVisione
STOXX Limited, the market-moving provider of innovative, tradable and global index concepts, today announced that the EURO STOXX 50 Daily Short Index has been licensed to Korea Investment & Securities (KIS) to serve as the underlying for an exchange-traded note (ETN). The product will be listed on KRX Korea Exchange today.
jlne.ws/1GaeT4B
Over 50% of IRD and 70% of CDS Indices Traded on SEFs During Q1 2015
ISDA
More than half of interest rate derivatives (IRD) and over 70% of credit default swap (CDS) index average daily notional volumes were traded on swap execution facilities (SEFs) in the first quarter of 2015, according to a review of trading volumes published today by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA).
jlne.ws/1EgCLqy
Technology
Wall Street Veterans Back Fintech Software Start-Up
by Sarah Krouse, WSJ
A fintech start-up that helps banks and trading firms modernise their desktop software has raised $3 million in its latest round of fundraising, landing investments from three U.S. venture capital firms and several former finance-sector executives.
The group of investors, which was co-led by Bain Capital Ventures, Pivot Investment Partners and Nyca Partners, has invested in OpenFin, bringing the total amount the firm has raised since it was founded five years ago to $10 million.
jlne.ws/1HmwHPE
Traiana wins Waters Sell Side Technology award
Best Reporting platform or service
Traiana, the leading provider of pre trade risk and post trade processing solutions, announces today that its TR Connect service has won the Waters magazine Sell Side Technology award for ‘Best reporting platform or service’ at the awards ceremony held in New York last night.
jlne.ws/1OeGcEP
smartTrade Technologies Wins Waters Best OTC Trading Initiative Award
MondoVisione
smartTrade Technologies announces today that smart-FI™, its end-to-end trading solution designed for Fixed Income and OTC derivatives businesses, was awarded the best sell-side OTC Trading Initiative at the Sell-Side Technology Awards held by Waters Technology. This award recognizes the new and innovative ways of tackling the increasingly electronic derivatives trading landscape, with demonstrable benefits to sell-side firms.
jlne.ws/1GlLYA6
Calypso Launches Center of Excellence for Integration and Consolidation Services
Calypso
Latest Professional Services Offering to Help Customers Reduce TCO and Implementation Risks
Calypso Technology, Inc., the leader in financial markets software solutions, is launching a new Center of Excellence for Integration and Consolidation in response to growing demand from potential and existing clients to consolidate their technology footprint. The firm will enhance its pre-implementation, testing and post-implementation support services – with a focus on the needs of consolidation projects – in order to reduce associated time, costs and risks.
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Enforcement
Deutsche Bank to Pay $2.5 Billion Fine to Settle Rate-Rigging Case
Dealbook – NY Times
Deutsche Bank will pay a $2.5 billion penalty to United States and British authorities to settle accusations that it helped manipulate the benchmarks used to set interest rates on trillions of dollars in mortgages, student loans, credit cards and other debt, American and British officials said on Thursday.
The penalty is by far the largest in a yearslong investigation into whether large banks conspired to set the price of debt in ways that would be profitable for them. Until Thursday, the largest fine was the $1.5 billion the Swiss bank UBS agreed to pay in 2012.
jlne.ws/1HZ7oCo
SEC Announces Million-Dollar Whistleblower Award to Compliance Officer
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an award of more than a million dollars to a compliance professional who provided information that assisted the SEC in an enforcement action against the whistleblower’s company.
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SEC Charges Issuer for Failing to Make Public Filings
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged W2007 Grace Acquisition I Inc., a real estate investment firm, with failing to make required public filings. W2007 Grace, which is indirectly owned by one or more private equity funds affiliated with The Goldman Sachs Group Inc., has agreed to pay $640,000 to settle the SEC’s charges relating to eight missed filings.
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U.K. ‘Flash Crash’ Trader Navinder Sarao Fighting Extradition to U.S. Granted Bail; U.S. authorities allege trader played a role in ‘flash crash’ in May 2010
By TIM CAVE and JULIET SAMUEL in London and ARUNA VISWANATHA in Washington, WSJ
By day, Navinder Singh Sarao was a determined futures trader—headphones on, hood pulled low, feet on his desk—who boasted market powers that made him a legend among other small-time investors at an electronic-trading facility on the outskirts of London.
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Moorhouse fined for failures in relation to its telephone sales
UK FCA
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today fined Moorhouse Group Limited (Moorhouse) £159,300 for failures in relation to the oversight and control of its telephone sales and in particular the sale of commercial vehicle add-on insurance products during 2012.
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Environmental & Energy
Olam chief calls for carbon pricing in order to control emissions
Emiko Terazono and Neil Hume in Lausanne, FT
The chief executive of Olam, one of the world’s biggest traders of agricultural commodities, has called for carbon pricing in the face of rising concerns about climate change.
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China spells out cost of meeting pollution targets
Lucy Hornby in Beijing, FT
China needs Rmb2tn ($320bn) a year in investment over the next five years to meet targets on reducing pollution set by the ministry of the environment, according to the country’s central bank in a report on “green” finance.
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Asia-Pacific
William Barkshire: Will a Hong Kong-China ‘bond connect’ be next?- Nikkei Asian Review
asia.nikkei.com
The Hong Kong-Shanghai Stock Connect scheme had a lackluster start in late 2014, but by the beginning of April, it was deemed a roaring success.
Beijing has already announced that the trading of Shenzhen and Hong Kong shares will also be linked, so commentators are now speculating as to which asset class could be the next to benefit from connected trading with the special administrative region.
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China ETFs shrivel as Shanghai-Hong Kong stock link heats up
Reuters
China-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs) run by investment banks and Chinese fund managers have lost some lustre as regulatory changes make it easier for investors to buy into China’s booming stock market directly.
After a slow start, the landmark Shanghai-Hong Kong stock connect pipeline has begun to flow, increasingly taking more business from these once-popular investment vehicles.
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Debt Builds in China Stock Rally
WSJ
New warnings are emerging over a surge in risky bets by mom-and-pop investors who are using borrowed cash from brokers to pile into and fuel China’s booming stock market.
Margin lending has more than tripled in the past year to a record 1.7 trillion yuan ($274.6 billion), according to database WIND Info, echoing past investment crazes among Chinese speculators. Such investors have long shown a penchant for rushing into whatever is yielding the highest returns, from real-estate and wealth-management products, to bitcoin and online money-market funds.
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Partial Cancellation of the Bonds due to Conversion
HKEx
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Announcement Pursuant to Rule 7031 of the listing manual
SGX
SGX Statement Issued on 22 April 2015
Singapore Exchange Limited (SGX) wishes to make a clarification on market rumours in news reports including Dow Jones News wires and Bloomberg today, about a cross border stock trading platform between Taiwan and Singapore opening on 1 July. On 9 September 2014, SGX announced its entry into a Letter of Intent with the Taiwan Stock Exchange to co-operate on the study of a cost-efficient direct link between the Taiwan and Singapore markets (Link). The parties are working towards the progress of the Link and SGX will notify the market when there are material developments including launch date, as required under the Securities and Futures Act and the SGX-ST Listing Rules.
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Frontier Markets
Deutsche Börse and Romanian SIBEX sign Memorandum of Understanding for power futures exchange
Deutsche Börse
Deutsche Börse: Deutsche Börse Market Data + Services and the Sibiu Stock Exchange S.A. (SIBEX), Romania, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Under the MoU Deutsche Börse will provide trading technology to SIBEX to facilitate its plans to operate an exchange for trading electricity futures. This will include electronic systems and networks for trading, clearing and settlement of commodity products.
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GMEX Technologies And Avenir Partner With Agricultural Commodity Exchange For Africa – Providing A New Commodity Trading And Warehouse Receipts System For Developing Market Exchanges
Mondovisione
GMEX Technologies (GMEX TECH), part of the Global Markets Exchange Group International LLP (GMEX Group) and Avenir Technology Limited (Avenir), the UK based post-trade software firm, are pleased to announce that they have partnered with the Agricultural Commodity Exchange for Africa (ACE).
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READ MORE: John Lothian: ‘Flash crash’ charges spark alarm over regulation of US markets; Deutsche Bank to Pay $800 Million Penalty to Settle CFTC Charges of Manipulation; Euronext C.E.O. to Leave in July for French Consulting Firm.