First Read
Shining Star: SGX’s Ramaswami Says Asia Risk Mitigation Still In Early Stages
JohnLothianNews.com
When exchanges look at growth areas, Asia gets top ranking. The Singapore Exchange, which has positioned itself as the Asian gateway for international traders over the past 30 years, now sees great potential in the decades ahead.
Muthukrishnan Ramaswami, president of SGX spoke with John Lothian News editor-in-chief Jim Kharouf at the FIA Boca conference, and said the exchange is ready to expand geographically through technology upgrades and by asset class as well, especially in FX and commodities.
Watch the video »
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Billy Salomon’s Leadership School
By Michael R. Bloomberg
Over the course of one’s life, there are a few people who have a major influence on the way you look at the world and define what is most important. For me, Billy Salomon was one of those people. Billy, who died in December at 100, was the most ethical person I ever met over the course of my career.
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***** We all have our mentors, and Michael Bloomberg writes about Billy Salomon.
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Why You Should Worry About Your Fund Manager’s Love Life; Study finds that a hedge-fund manager’s returns suffer during marriage and divorce
By SIMON CONSTABLE, WSJ
When managers of hedge funds get divorced or married, it’s bad news for their investors. Their asset returns are likely to suffer. Worse still, the pain could last years.
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***** The late Tom Madden of Price Asset Management always championed the importance of qualitative research about managers, not just quantitative. He was right.
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Not going quietly into that good night
By Daniel P. Collins
Futures floor trades speak out about the end of the floor
In February, CME Group announced that it would close the remaining futures trading pits, except for the S&P 500, by this summer. While not unexpected, the announcement took some floor traders by surprise. Futures Editor-in-Chief Daniel P. Collins—who worked on Chicago’s futures trading floor from 1989 to 2000—looks at this “End of an Era,” and discusses the decision with floor traders and end users.
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***** I am not sure who can’t let go more, traders on the floor or Dan Collins of Futures Magazine.
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What Chicago Loses by Closing the CME’s Futures Pits; A former trader remembers CME’s soon-to-be-closed futures pits.
BY TED C. FISHMAN, Chicago Magazine
My identical twin brother, Zack, began clerking, and then trading, on the Chicago Board Options Exchange in 1981, when we were 23. He wasn’t among the first generation of traders at the exchange, but he was close. By then, there were already legends about traders in that first generation, for whom making money was nearly as easy as raising their hands in the air. They rendered fortunes from a witless investing public that lacked an understanding of options’ mechanics and the technology needed to price them.
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***DA: Not exactly sure if this is a fitting eulogy – “witless investing public?” “FBI sting?” “Chicago mobsters?” I choose to remember a place where one’s word was his or her bond. A place where a customer could always get a market, even while the world was crashing down and the big Wall Street brokers refused to answer their phones. A place where one could see capitalism in action.
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Sponsored Content
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Special Report Series – Part Seven: Transaction Reporting Under MiFID II
FIA Europe
FIA and FIA Europe Special Report Series: Transaction Reporting under MiFID II
This Special Report is the seventh in the FIA and FIA Europe’s series covering specific areas of the European Securities and Markets Authority’s consultation process for the implementation of the recast Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (the MiFID II Directive) and Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation, which together are referred to as “MiFID II” and come into effect on 3 January 2017. On 19 December 2014, ESMA published final Technical Advice to the European Commission, together with a Consultation Paper on MiFID II implementation. The Consultation Paper includes draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) and Implementing Technical Standards (ITS), which ESMA is required to produce under MiFID II.
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***** This FIA report is not only Special, it is Precious.
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China’s War on Golf Courses
By Adam Minter, Bloomberg
Last week, the Chinese government quietly went to war against golf — or, to be more specific, against golf courses. Two-thirds of the country’s approximately 600 fairways were allegedly built in violation of a 2004 national moratorium, and Beijing is no longer willing to look the other way. On Wednesday, China’s Ministry of Land and Resources shut down 66 illegally built courses nationwide, including three in Beijing. More closures could happen anytime.
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***** This story is not to be confused with Doug Ashburn‘s war on golf courses. He has been hacking away at them for years.
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Courts use Facebook to serve subpoenas and divorce papers
By Quentin Fottrell
On Facebook, you have always been able to “unfriend” someone. Now you can use it to divorce them.
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***** Trading updates and regulatory notices can’t be far behind.
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Lead Stories
Trading Floors Can’t Feed Africa; Exchanges aren’t helping farmers as foreign backers hoped
by Alan Bjerga William Davison, Bloomberg
Mondelez International’s February announcement that it would increase production of coffee from Ethiopian beans 50 percent in two years was good news for the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, started in 2008 with the help of foreign donors to improve food distribution in a country where millions often went hungry. By government decree, almost all buying and selling of coffee, sesame seeds, and navy beans for export must take place on the exchange.
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New BATS chief steps in amid volumes peak
The Trade News
BATS Global Markets has reported a spike in trading volumes in its US options and equities markets, along with BATS Chi-X Europe and its trade reporting facility, as its new CEO takes the helm.
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Algorithmic traders invade $42 trillion bond futures market
Jonathan Shapiro, Sydney Morning Herald
Secretive “flash boy” operators are using high-frequency and algorithmic trading technology to “jump the queue” in Australia’s $42 trillion interest rate futures market, squeezing out local traders who can’t keep up with their computing speed and power.
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Fast forex moves raise liquidity worries
Roger Blitz and Philip Stafford, FT
For a market that trades a notional average of $5.3tn a day, foreign exchange is currently bedevilled by a perplexing problem: what has happened to market liquidity?
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Wall Street Law Firms Challenge Hedge-Fund Deal Tactic; Lawyers take issue with ‘appraisal arbitrage’ strategy
By LIZ HOFFMAN
A group of large Wall Street law firms have banded together in an unusual bid to clamp down on a popular hedge-fund strategy aimed at squeezing more money from corporate takeovers.
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Speed Trader Virtu Readies Another IPO Try; Deal could value the company at $2.59 billion
By BRADLEY HOPE and ANGELA CHEN
With the controversy over high-speed trading firms cooling, one of them is preparing to brave the stock market.
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Virtu’s Viola Beats Back ‘Flash Boys’ Attack to Resume IPO
by Sam Mamudi, Matthew Leising, Bloomberg
Vincent Viola’s Virtu Financial Inc. shelved an initial public offering last year after Michael Lewis’s “Flash Boys” brought the high-frequency trading firm under attack. He was up for the fight.
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Eurex eyes summer as LCH launches inflation swaps
Futures & Options World
German exchange group Eurex has underlined its pledge to start clearing inflation swaps in the coming months as its top European rival LCH.Clearnet became the first European firm to start clearing these products on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the German exchange said Eurex Clearing was sticking by its earlier pledge to start clearing inflation swaps during “summer 2015,” pending regulatory approval. The firm originally planned to launch in Q4 2014.
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Sorghum and barley become grain crops du jour
Emiko Terazono, FT
US planting increases as Chinese demand jumps
Sorghum and barley have become the crops du jour for US grains farmers thanks to surging demand from China.
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Australian interest rate derivatives market booms
FT
It has become extremely popular to bet on the future moves of Australia’s central bank — an institution economists and the market are currently struggling to predict.
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U.K. Bank Profitability Remains Below Crash Levels, KPMG Says
by Richard Partington, Bloomberg
Five years after the financial crisis, profitability at the largest U.K. banks remains lower than in 2009 and bad loans higher, according to KPMG LLP.
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SEC Charges Firms and Individuals for Defrauding Investors in Cellular Licensing Scheme
SEC
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged 12 companies and six individuals with defrauding investors in a scheme involving applications to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for cellular spectrum licenses.
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SEC Wants Broker-Dealers To Join The National Securities Association
HedgeCo.Net
Hedge fund law specialist Sadis & Goldberg reports that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission has announced a proposal to amend Rule 15b9-1 under the Exchange Act to require broker-dealers who trade in off-exchange venues to become members of a national securities association.
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CalPERS boosts cash return through repurchase facility; Fund’s role shows how asset owners can be new source of liquidity
BY RICK BAERT, Pensions & Investments
A repurchase facility announced this month with access to cash from CalPERS to cover the cost of a counterparty default — the first such agreement involving an asset owner — is shining a light on potential roles for asset owners as sources of liquidity.
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Regulatory
Emir clearing rules set for further delays
By Chris Hall and Tim Cave, Financial News
European regulators are unlikely to force central clearing on the swaps market for at least another 12 months, according to industry experts, increasing pressure on the units established by banks since the crisis to handle an expected surge in demand for clearing services.
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Regulators Tap Prosecutors for Key Jobs; Agencies are hiring former U.S. attorney staff in bid to get tough
By ARUNA VISWANATHA and CHRISTOPHER M. MATTHEWS, WSJ
Federal agencies eager to sharpen their enforcement chops are turning to former U.S. prosecutors to help bring—and win—big cases.
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UK Treasury urges BoE to consider time stamps for forex trades
Aaron Stanley, Gina Chon in Washington and Caroline Binham in London, FT
The Bank of England is being urged by the UK Treasury to consider requiring time stamps for all foreign exchange trades as part of reforms that proponents say would help prevent banks from defrauding clients, according to people familiar with the issue.
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Bubble could burst on boom in bank compliance units
Tom Braithwaite, FT
never supposed to be a high-stakes job in finance. For thrills and big pay, the natural choices were investment banking or trading. But that is changing. As the consequences of breaking the rules have increased dramatically, the internal staff policing activities at JPMorgan, Citigroup and elsewhere have become more numerous, better paid and far more in the line of fire.
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ASIC statement on Australian dollar movement
ASiC
ASIC confirms it will investigate a spike in the Australian dollar shortly before the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy decision today. The investigation will look at trading in the dollar prior to the RBA’s interest rate decision statement at 2.30pm.
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Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) Rulemaking and National Market System (NMS) Plans
SEC
CBOE: Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change to Delay the Implementation Date of the Rule Change to Allow Market Orders to Sell in No – bid Series to be Entered into the Electronic Order Book from a PAR Workstation (Release No. 34-74654; File No. SR-CBOE-2015-034)
CBOE: Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change Relating to the Deletion of Rule 2.50 (Release No. 34-74651; File No. SR-CBOE-2015-033); see also Exhibit 5
CFE: Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change Proposed Rule Change Regarding Open Interest Reporting (Release No. 34-74652; File No. SR-CFE-2015-003); see also Exhibit 5
NYSE: Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change Amending Rule 1000 to Reflect that Exchange Systems will Reject Incoming Orders of Over 1,000,000 Shares that are Marketable Upon Arrival (Release No. 34-74649; File No. SR-NYSE-2015-14); see also Exhibit 5
NYSE: Notice of Designation of a Longer Period for Commission Action on a Proposed Rule Change Adopting New Rule 124 to Conduct a Midday Auction and Amending Rule 104 to Codify the Obligation of Designated Market Makers to Facilitate the Midday Auction (Release No. 34-74648; File No. SR-NYSE-2015-06)
NYSE: Notice of Withdrawal of a Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by Partial Amendment No. 1, Amending Rule 13 and Related Rules Governing Order Types and Modifiers (Release No. 34-74642; File No. SR-NYSE-2014-59; April 3, 2015)
NYSEMKT: Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change Amending Rule 1000 – Equities to Reflect that Exchange Systems will Reject Incoming Orders of Over 1,000,000 Shares that are Marketable Upon Arrival (Release No. 34-74650; File No. SR-NYSEMKT-2015-21); see also Exhibit 5
NYSEMKT: Notice of Withdrawal of a Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by Partial Amendment No. 1 and Partial Amendment No. 2, Amending Rule 13 – Equities and Related Rules Governing Order Types and Modifiers (Release No. 34-74643; File No. SR-NYSEMKT-2014-95; April 3, 2015)
Manipulation and Manipulative Device; Sue and Be Sued; Alleged Pastor Fraud; Transfer Trades – Bridging the Week: March 30 to April 3 and 6, 2015
By Gary DeWaal, Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
Two household names in the food industry—Kraft Foods Group and Mondelez Global—were sued last week by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for allegedly manipulating wheat futures contracts traded on the Chicago Board of Trade during 2011. However, the CFTC chose to charge the firms using both its traditional tools to prosecute alleged manipulation as well as its new tools to prosecute allegedly manipulative or deceptive devices. In addition, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed an administrative proceeding against the operators of a number of collateralized loan obligation funds for misleading investors, and the operators sued the SEC right back in federal court, claiming that the SEC’s administrative forum is unconstitutional.
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Exchanges & Trading Facilities
Chi-X in push to split ASX
Adam Haigh, The Sydney Morning Herald
Chi-X Australia, which is lobbying to loosen ASX’s grip on clearing and settling Australian equity trades, told regulators that forcing change would cut costs for investors and reduce conflicts of interest.
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Brazil stock exchange fined $641 mln on 2008 merger accounting
Reuters
Brazil’s BM&FBovespa SA stock exchange has been fined nearly 2 billion reais ($641 million) by the federal revenue service for booking goodwill amortization in 2010 and 2011 related to a 2008 merger, according to a Thursday filing.
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Euronext announces monthly trading volumes for March 2015
Euronext
Euronext, the leading exchange in the Eurozone, today announced trading volumes for March 2015.
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BATS Global Markets March 2015 Update
BATS
Chris Concannon Assumed CEO Role March 31st, Joe Ratterman Now Chairman
BATS Global Markets (BATS) today reported March volume, market share, and monthly highlights including its best month on record for U.S. Options market share. BATS Options reported 9.4% market share, up from 4.1% one year ago and surpassing the previous monthly market share record of 8.8% set in January 2015.
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Trading on WSE Group Markets
WSE
In March 2015 the value of order-book equities trading on the Main Market totalled PLN 19.2 billion, which marks a 15.0% decline versus March 2014. The average daily value of order-book trading between January and March 2015 shrank by 13.7% y-o-y, down to PLN 838.6 million per session, and the average daily number of transactions during the same period reached 64.1 thousand.
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Hedge Funds & Managed Futures
Currency, Oil Help Managed-Futures Funds
WSJ
After several years of disappointing returns, managed-futures mutual funds are hot again. These funds—where managers use computer models to try to cleverly adjust futures contracts in commodities, currencies, stocks and bonds based on trends—returned 18.4% for the 12 months ended March 31, compared with 12.7% for the S&P 500, according to Morningstar. The March data are preliminary.
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Gold Bust Means Less Mine Spending
by Eddie Van Der Walt, Bloomberg
The biggest gold bust in three decades is about to end a six-year expansion in mine output.
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Contrarian-Investor Payoff Seen Lasting in U.S. Stock Turnaround
by David Wilson, Bloomberg
Going against the crowd is becoming a rewarding strategy for U.S. stock investors after a period of poor performance, according to Thomas J. Lee, managing partner and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors LLC.
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Bonderman’s Wildcat Family Office Backing Hedge Fund for Masses
by Sabrina Willmer, Margaret Collins, Bloomberg
David Bonderman amassed a $3 billion fortune in private equity for sophisticated investors. He’s now selling hedge fund strategies to the masses.
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Star Investors Reveal Their Hits and Misses; The hard lessons from Rob Arnott, Jeremy Grantham, Howard Marks and Jeffrey Gundlach
By GREGORY ZUCKERMAN
Even the superstars swing and miss. Much of the time, in fact. That is as true in investing as it is in baseball.
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BlackRock to Shift Funds to Comply With New Rules; Decision latest sign of how new rules are affecting U.S. money fund universe
BlackRock Inc. said it will close or consolidate some money-market funds and add new features to others—the latest reflection of how new rules are roiling the $2.7 trillion U.S. money-fund universe.
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BlackRock chief Larry Fink warns on strong US dollar
Stephen Foley in New York, FT
The steep rise in the US dollar risks undermining business confidence in the US and sending the country’s economy into a slowdown, the head of the world’s largest asset management firm is warning.
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The Simple Reason Mohamed El-Erian Has Most of His Money in Cash; “…there is a massive gap right now between asset prices and fundamentals”
by Julie Verhage, Bloombrerg
In an interview with the Orange County Register, Mohamed El-Erian was asked about everything from life after Pimco to where he is currently putting most of his money. Rather than putting most his money in stocks or bonds, El-Erian reveals that most of it is actually sitting in cash. And the reason is simple: pretty much everything else has gotten too elevated.
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Virtu Restarts IPO With Plan to Raise Up to $314 Million
by Sam Mamudi, Leslie Picker, Bloomberg
Virtu Financial Inc., which delayed its initial public offering amid a furor over high-frequency traders, renewed the fundraising effort with a plan to raise as much as $314 million.
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Banks & Brokers
Electronic Broking: March 2015 Volumes
ICAP
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EBS forex volumes rise 22 pct in March
Reuters
Foreign exchange spot volumes on the EBS platform rose back above $100 billion a day in March, up by 22 percent from February and by 30 percent from a year ago, helped by another handful of big swings in major currency rates.
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RPT-Former JPM infrastructure exec starts alliance, draws CalSTRS
By Megan Davies, Reuters
JPMorgan’s former OECD Infrastructure Investment Fund Chief Investment Officer is starting an infrastructure alliance and has secured $500 million of commitments from investors including Californian pension giant CalSTRS, the partnership said on Tuesday.
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UK’s top 5 banks slash bonus pools by more than £1bn
Laura Noonan, FT
The UK’s five largest banks cut bonus pools by more than £1bn last year and most also reduced pay and staff numbers, according to Financial Times analysis, potentially blunting political attacks on banker excess ahead of the general election.
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Clearing & Settlement
New payment systems regulator will open up payments systems to non-traditional players
Banking Technology
Last week saw the launch of the Payment Systems Regulator, the first time the UK gets a regulatory body overseeing the £75 trillion a year payments systems. Its brief is clear: to open up the UK payments infrastructure, which is currently controlled by the high street banks, make it more accessible to challenger banks and fairer for consumers. The regulator has been given strong powers by the government and has already made it clear it will fine the banks if they do not step up to the mark.
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LCH.Clearnet launches inflation swaps clearing
Finextra
Expanding the range of derivatives eligible for clearing will allow market participants trading UK, European, and US inflation-linked products to benefit from the efficiencies and enhanced risk management associated with central clearing.
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Gerard Denham on “CCP solutions for capital, collateral & margin efficiencies”
Eurex
Increases in margin and collateral requirements from the regulatory framework together with the higher capital charges are forcing market participants to embrace alternative solutions for trading in order to maintain an effective level of cost management.
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Indexes & Products
‘Smart Beta’ Funds Prove Popular, but Investors Don’t Know All the Risks
WSJ
“Smart beta” funds are trying to outsmart your active manager. But individual investors who are drawn to them should also make sure they don’t get outsmarted themselves. These exchange-traded funds and mutual funds, which blur the lines between active and passive management, continue to attract assets. Their angle: By tracking indexes that are based on measures other than market capitalization—such as earnings, book value, dividends or volatility—these smart-beta funds hope to boost returns or cut portfolio risk compared with traditional market-cap-weighted indexes.
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Inside the Baskets: How ETFs Are Traded; The business gets complicated, which attracts some wizards from the derivatives world
By ARI I. WEINBERG
It’s not brain surgery, but the business of buying and selling exchange-traded funds can get complicated. And that has attracted the brains of some fancy traders to solve the problem.
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Active funds struggle to beat the US market
Financial Review
Nearly anyone with money in the sharemarket since 2009 has benefited from the great bull market run. But compared with the overall market, most actively managed stock mutual funds haven’t performed very well or very consistently.
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Great Index Funds for a Dirt-Cheap Portfolio
US News
Think of the last time you picked mutual funds for your portfolio, either in your 401(k) or a taxable brokerage account. The sheer number of choices probably made your head spin, and you may have simply ended your misery by selecting funds with the highest ratings from Morningstar or another service. But there’s one often-overlooked factor that can have a huge impact on your money: expenses. That’s where index mutual funds shine, offering exceptionally low costs and a convenient way to diversify across asset classes, market capitalizations and global regions.
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Introduction Of EEX Agricultural Index Futures
Mondovisione
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Technology
4th Story Introduces LP Analytics Tools for FX
4th Story
4th Story has introduced new tools to give FX brokers and traders valuable insight into their liquidity providers’ pricing. Dubbed 4S.Rocky Mountain, the tools provide detailed analytics of spreads, depth, relative book position and other metrics and display changes in the quote book history.
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Bitcoin technology startup hires Morgan Stanley manager
Reuters
Factom, a bitcoin technology company, has hired Morgan Stanley investment manager Jacob Dienelt as its head treasurer, the company said on Monday.
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Coinbase poised to open Britain’s first bitcoin exchange
The Times
One of the world’s biggest digital currency markets is in talks with financial watchdogs about setting up a regulated bitcoin exchange in Britain.
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Enforcement
Federal Court Orders Texas-based RFF GP, LLC, KGW Capital Management, LLC, and Kevin G. White to Pay over $7.5 Million for Operating a Fraudulent Commodity Pool
CFTC
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today announced that Judge Richard A. Schell of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas entered a Consent Order for permanent injunction against Defendants RFF GP, LLC, KGW Capital Management, LLC, and Kevin G. White, all of The Woodlands, Texas. The Order, entered on March 30, 2015, requires the Defendants jointly to pay a $4,150,000 civil monetary penalty and restitution of $3,365,888. The Order also imposes permanent trading and registration bans against them.
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SAC Fund Manager Steinberg Can Challenge Insider Conviction
by Patricia Hurtado, Bloomberg
Former SAC Capital Advisors LP fund manager Michael Steinberg can go ahead and challenge his insider-trading conviction.
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Environmental & Energy
Price carbon, blue-chip panel tells provinces
The Record
The least costly, most efficient and effective way to reduce Canadian greenhouse gas emissions is by putting a price on carbon — and the provinces are best situated to make the move, says a blue-chip panel of Canadian economists.
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Terence Corcoran: Canada’s carbon taxapalooza!
Financial Post
“The provinces and Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission are leading a carbon tax attack on consumers”
We hereby declare this to be Carbon Taxapalooza Week. The objective is to acknowledge and deplore the great stampede of provincial governments to tax the hell out of fossil fuels.
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US billionaire bankrolls attacks on Jeb Bush over climate change
Barney Jopson in Washington, FT
Tom Steyer, the green billionaire aiming to counteract the conservative Koch brothers, is taking aim at Jeb Bush as environmentalists say his scepticism over climate change makes him “vulnerable” as a US presidential candidate.
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What Americans Think About Climate Change in Seven Maps; Researchers publish a new mapping tool that estimates county-level public opinion
by Eric Roston, Bloomberg
Researchers at Yale have unveiled a new interactive map that estimates public opinion on global warming right down to the county level.
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Asia-Pacific
Japanese Universities Look to Get Schooled in Investing; They see a need to be more aggressive to ensure financial stability
By ELEANOR WARNOCK, WSJ
Japan’s universities are looking to big U.S. college endowments for some investment inspiration, raising the prospect of more Japanese money going into previously shunned areas, such as private equity.
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How to stop worrying and love the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
The Washington Post
China launched the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in October of 2014 and has met with nothing but opposition from the United States. Officially, the objection cited by the United States is a lack of clarity about AIIB’s governance, as well as concerns about whether the AIIB will adhere to strict environmental and labor standards in its operations. It is clear, however, that U.S. opposition also derives from fears that the AIIB — spearheaded by China and part of China’s “New Silk Road” strategy — will diminish U.S. leadership in the region.
jlne.ws/1H1lXEW
Japan must shut out short-term investors, says Orix founder
The Japan Times
Yoshihiko Miyauchi, who ran Orix Corp. for more than 30 years, says Japan must discriminate against short-term shareholders. The 79-year-old says the nation should allow listed firms to strip voting rights from institutions that have not held shares for a certain time. He suggests a period of about three years, an approach which would be unprecedented in global developed equity markets.
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Frontier Markets
Judge in Batista trial charged with embezzlement
Samantha Pearson in São Paulo, FT
Brazil’s landmark insider trading trial against Eike Batista, formerly the country’s richest man, has suffered its biggest setback yet as the judge who has presided over the case was charged with embezzlement.
jlne.ws/1afGCIp
More time required for order on NSEL-FTIL merger, says Government
By ET Bureau
The suspense over the merger of crisis-hit NSEL with its parent Financial TechnologiesBSE 2.75 % (FTIL) continues. The ministry of corporate affairs, granted time to issue a final order on the merger by April 6, has sought three months more from the Bombay High Court to review and consider more than 19,000 objections received from FTIL shareholders and related parties before passing an order. The HC is hearing an FTIL petition opposing the merger. It directed the government on February 4 to consider all objections before passing a final order.
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MSX says not linked to FTIL, NSEL and their promoters anymore
The Economic Times
Metropolitan Stock Exchange, formerly known as MCX Stock Exchange or MCX-SX, today said it is no more linked to Financial Technologies, NSEL and its promoters and operates as a separate and independent entity.
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Enforcement Directorate fails to trace money trail in Rs 5,400 crore NSEL scam
DNA India
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has not found any evidence of money trail against Jignesh Shah, the top promoter of National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL), in the Rs 5,400 crore scam. ED’s first charge sheet restricts the role of Shah to ‘aiding and abetting’.
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Merger of LSE and ISE into KSE on the cards
BY AMER SIAL, Pakistan Today
Under pressure of the international financial institutions (IFIs) the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has notified constitution of a committee to merge the three stock exchanges that would be later offered to some strategic foreign investor.
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Kotak Mahindra seen exiting MCX Kotak
Mahindra Bank’s Rs.459 crore investment in Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd has almost doubled in less than nine months
Ashish Rukhaiyar, Livemint
Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd’s Rs.459 crore investment in Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) has almost doubled in less than nine months and some say the lender may sell its stake in the country’s largest commodity bourse after failing to get a board seat.
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Bank of Russia refuses to sell all shares in Moscow Exchange, SPCEX
By Maria Nikolova, LeapRates
Bank of Russia, the regulator of all of Russia’s financial markets, today issued an announcement, in which it states it is not willing to stop being a shareholder in the country’s two biggest trading venues: OJSC Moscow Exchange MICEX-RTS (OJSC Moscow Exchange) and CJSC Saint Petersburg Currency Exchange (CJSC SPCEX).
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The Golden Boy of Brazilian Finance Faces His Biggest Threat Yet
by Cristiane Lucchesi, Bloomberg
The golden boy of Brazilian finance is confronting his toughest threat yet.
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