First Read
Bits & Pieces
By John J. Lothian
Futures Magazine is changing its name. Forty-three years after changing its name from Commodities to Futures, Futures Magazine will become Modern Trader, according to its editor in a video interview with a Chicago futures broker.
Futures Magazine Editor Dan Collins spilled the beans in a video interview with Price Group energy broker Phil Flynn on the Price Futures Group’s YouTube channel. That fact alone speaks volumes to the changes in the media space and the markets Futures has faced since last changing its name.
The re-booted magazine will feature 20 new sections, according to Collins, who noted the changes in the markets started shortly after the name change to Futures. He cited the introduction of equity options at the CBOE as the beginning of the industry changes, and the closing of the futures pits at the CME Group‘s markets was mentioned.
In related news, the NFA is changing its name to National Modern Trader Association. Or not.
It was in the back of a London taxi in 2010 that Martin Mosbacher and Candice Adam challenged Jeremy Grant to wear his kilt to the Futures for Kids Gala, pledging donations to the charity if he would. Jeremy would call me right away from that cab to tell me of the challenge in order to promote the fundraising and start the tradition. This year it is Simon Puleston Jones who bears the challenge. I shall never forget wearing the kilt to the event, and bringing my son Tim along with me to see me share my naked, and then original, knees. Please http://jlne.ws/1LLTGlQ support Simon in his fundraising this year.
Much stranger things have happened in the back seat of London cabs.
The CME Group presented $110,000 in scholarships to Chicago Public School seniors at the 30th Annual Mayoral Award Program luncheon on May 27. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was joined by CME Group Executive Chairman and President Terry Duffy and CEO Phupinder Gill in honoring 55 high-achieving Chicago Public School high school seniors. “The students were selected based on essays they wrote about innovation, as well as their academic standing and extracurricular activities,” according to the CME.
Rob Creamer of Geneva Trading is raising money for childhood cancer research by riding 100 miles in the 26th annual Trek 100. You can donate at http://jlne.ws/1HxZifU
Last week, Chicago trader Mark Mendelson filed a lawsuit against Allston Trading, accusing the firm of engaging in “spoofing” and other unlawful trading practices in the Treasury Bond Futures market. You can check out the suit on MarketsWiki HERE. Mendelson was part of the lawsuit against the CME Group last year related to Globex access.
I came in to the office yesterday, for the first time since undergoing shoulder surgery. Doug Ashburn was gracious enough to offer door-to-door service. Coincidentally (or not), yesterday was the last day to file this month’s payroll.
Speaking of Doug, he has offered to go on location for a story, after we received word yesterday that Euronext Paris has officially moved its headquarters to a new building in the city. He will have to fight me for the opportunity though.
Speaking of changing offices, ICE has moved its billing office for all NYSE accounts payables to Atlanta, according to multiple snail mail notices I received in recent days.
Lastly, a big contingent from the JLN team will be at IDX in June. Besides myself, we will have Jim Kharouf, Doug Ashburn, Colin Ashburn and Alison Fay. Colin and Alison will be handling the technical aspects of our video efforts there. If you would like to meet with us while we are in London, please let me know.
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Manhattan tower reflects tough property landscape
FT.com
This week, the observation deck atop the 1,776ft One World Trade Center — the tallest building in the western hemisphere — will open to the public. But rather than a symbol of New York’s recovery, the shimmering tower in Manhattan’s skyline is a glaring reminder of how the US commercial real estate market has changed in the past 14 years.
jlne.ws/1Fcn0wQ
***** Good thing I am not afraid of heights, that much.
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Futures Consolidation Drives Tech Change
Markets Media
Consolidation in the futures industry is having an impact on technology use by futures commission merchants, according to Carl Gilmore, co-head of Wedbush Futures.
“Over the last several years, we have had to do to re-engineer all of our business processes,” Gilmore told Markets Media. “The primary business model for an FCM has been heavily dependent on interest income, and interest rates have been at zero virtually for the past eight years. There really is no income, so to survive we’ve had to reorganize the way we do things from front to back. Technology has been a big part of how we have reorganized those businesses, and how we operate them today.”
jlne.ws/1RolsZ7
***** Some guys just can’t shut up.
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Spring Cleaning for a Good Cause – Give Back with WILD Chicago
WILD
WILD is honored to support Dress for Success, a global not-for-profit organization that promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.
jlne.ws/1Avzwfv
***** I guess my old clothes won’t work.
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Your Salad Lunches Are Killing American Leather; Diets and droughts have made cattle hide more expensive, creating a leather shoelace crisis
by James Tarmy
Underneath a cluster of fluorescent lights, Lisa Howlett inspects a 50-pound piece of skin that had, until recently, covered the back, belly, and shoulders of a cow. Dull blue, faintly moist, and so large that its sides drape over the edges of a huge table, the hide is destined to be dyed and cut into shoelaces by workers at Howlett’s company, Auburn Leather, in Auburn, Ky.
jlne.ws/1RnWzgr
***** Really interesting story from Bloomberg about the impact of reduced beef demand on other industries, including the shoelace industry.
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Liquidators of Ex-Harvard QB’s Funds Sue Barclays for $80 Million
WSJ
The liquidators of a pair of failed Cayman Islands-based hedge funds run by a former Harvard quarterback are suing Barclays PLC to claw back some $80 million they say was illegally funneled to the bank to cover margin calls. The offshore funds–ICP Strategic Credit Income Fund Ltd. and ICP Strategic Credit Income Master Fund Ltd. — were so-called feeder funds managed by ICP Asset Management LLC, a money-management firm founded by Thomas C. Priore.
jlne.ws/1FcikXU
***DA: He called an audible of a play code-named “The Corzine.”
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JPMorgan CEO faults company and shareholders for disagreements
Reuters
JPMorgan Chase & Co officials have not done enough to show how well the company is run, Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said on Wednesday, after one-third of shareholders disapproved last week of his pay and the practice of one person holding his two jobs.
jlne.ws/1Fcj7bm
***DA: On following the recommendations of shareholder advisory services, Dimon says “If you do that you are just irresponsible, I am sorry. And, you probably aren’t a very good investor, either. I know some of you here do it because you are lazy.” What a guy.
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As Activism Rises, U.S. Firms Spend More on Buybacks Than Factories
WSJ
U.S. businesses, feeling heat from activist investors, are slashing long-term spending and returning billions of dollars to shareholders, a fundamental shift in the way they are deploying capital.
jlne.ws/1FcjTVB
***** When you add up all the stock that is being bought back, you get a really idea on why the stock market is going up. And when your best investment is stock buybacks, you get a really good idea on why job growth hasn’t been faster.
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Why Lehman Brothers Lives On
NYTimes.com
The repercussions of Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy can still be felt. It has been almost seven years since the firm’s failure started a global financial crisis and deep recession in most developed countries. Yet the real damage is only now becoming clear.
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***** Because of the lawyers??
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Lead Stories
Forex’s ‘Last Look’ Practice Gets Curbed; Two of the world’s biggest currency-trading platforms will restrict a controversial industry practice
By CHIARA ALBANESE, WSJ
Two of the world’s biggest currency-trading platforms plan to restrict a controversial industry practice in which banks can pull out of trades at the last moment if the market moves against them.
jlne.ws/1RqdoqT
Wall Street Is Using the Power of Dodd-Frank Against Itself
By ADAM DAVIDSON, NY Times
Regulating Wall Street is an Old Testament sort of affair: Like Leviticus, it is all about the persnickety details. But politicians try to talk about it in New Testament terms, with sinners and saints, salvation and damnation. Only they can’t agree on who the sinners are — the bankers or the bureaucrats — and wherein lies salvation. Such moralizing, however, does very little to shine light on the benefits and drawbacks of the byzantine 2010 banking regulations known as Dodd-Frank.
jlne.ws/1SDO4iE
Exchanges to police position limits – CFTC
Futures & Options World
Exchanges could grant exemptions under the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) new federal position limits regime, according to the US regulator’s chairman Timothy Massad. Speaking at a roundtable in Washington DC on Tuesday, Massad said the regulator was “taking a closer look” at the possibility of giving exchanges responsibility for granting exemptions for certain hedges.
jlne.ws/1FPRTvU
Traders Pile In at the Close
WSJ
The middle of the day has become awfully quiet on the U.S. stock market, as index funds and computer models push the action toward the end of the trading day.
jlne.ws/1Fci2QI
J.P. Morgan’s Dimon Expects Bank to Lose Some Business Due to FX Guilty Plea
By Emily Glazer, WSJ
Last week, five global banks including J.P. Morgan agreed to pay $5.6 billion in combined penalties and plead guilty to criminal charges to resolve a long-running U.S. investigation into whether traders colluded to move foreign-currency rates for their own financial benefit.
jlne.ws/1Fcia2x
Bund futures highlight trading challenge
Joe Rennison in London, FT
The challenges of trading in a key eurozone futures market were highlighted earlier this month as investors piled into the contract when German government bond yields shot up.
jlne.ws/1LLym0k
OCC Appoints Three New Members To Board Of Directors
Press Release
In its role as the foundation for secure markets, OCC, the world’s largest equity derivatives clearing organization, today announced that George S. Fischer, Thomas A. Frank, and Eric W. Noll have joined its board of directors as Member Directors. Fischer and Frank were elected to terms ending in 2018, while Noll was appointed to fill a vacancy with a term ending in 2017.
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NFA’s Board approves Fiscal Year 2016 budget
NFA
On May 21, NFA’s Board of Directors approved a budget of $85 million for Fiscal Year 2016. The FY 2016 budget reflects a 7.7 percent increase over projected FY 2015 operating expenses. A major influence that accounts for more than 60 percent of the increase is the continued expansion of NFA’s swaps regulatory programs ($2.5 million) and the growth in NFA’s technology staffing ($1.2 million). NFA’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30.
jlne.ws/9A3hzd
Electronic Trading Takes Over Currency Market Roiled by Scandals
by Lucy Meakin, Bloomberg
Electronic trading accounts for more than half of the $5.3 trillion-a-day foreign-exchange market for the first time, according to a Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc survey, as clients seek more transparency after rate-fixing scandals.
jlne.ws/1LLyfSl
Dimon hits out at ‘lazy’ shareholders
Tom Braithwaite in New York, FT
Jamie Dimon has hit out at “lazy” shareholders who followed proxy advisory services’ guidance to vote against his pay package, saying they were “irresponsible” and probably not very good at their jobs.
jlne.ws/1Fiaxsm
FX: just wait till next year
Euromoney magazine
The headline results of Euromoney’s 2015 foreign exchange survey show the leading banks have been remarkably consistent, despite the upheavals in the sector. But, beneath the surface there are changes that will transform the competitive landscape of the industry. Deeper analysis of the survey results demonstrates that’s already starting to happen.
jlne.ws/1FPQbdY
Tom Hayes alleged to have started rigging Libor in 2006
FT.com
Tom Hayes began his scheme to manipulate the London interbank offered rate shortly after he started working for UBS in late 2006, a prosecutor told a London court on Wednesday
jlne.ws/1FclKtF
Goldman Sachs Offered Tom Hayes $3 Million Bonus to Leave UBS
Bloomberg Business
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. tried to poach Thomas Hayes from UBS Group AG in 2008 with the promise of a $3 million signing bonus, according to documents at a London trial.
jlne.ws/1FPQAgv
Bernanke: ‘I don’t see anything that’s extreme’ in US markets
Business Insider
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday there were no signs of extreme movements in the U.S. real estate and financial markets.
jlne.ws/1GEuxtM
Ex trader dropped plan to recruit step brother in London Libor case
Reuters
Tom Hayes, a former trader accused of conspiring to rig benchmark interest rates, abandoned an attempt to enlist his step brother into the alleged scam after deciding it was wrong to ask for his help, a London court heard on Wednesday.
jlne.ws/1FckoPv
U.S. Probes Bank Links in FIFA Marketing Corruption Scandal
by Christie Smythe, Keri Geiger, Bloomberg
The U.S. is examining banks’ conduct as part of a wide-ranging corruption probe of international soccer that has led to charges against 14 people, including officials with the sport’s organizing body.
jlne.ws/1FEOXAF
Regulatory
Binary options look set to fall under FCA supervision
Futures & Options World
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) launched on Tuesday a public consultation on changes to binary options regulations that would see these products fall under the supervision of the regulator.
jlne.ws/1FPRPvV
PensionsEurope urges EC to protect flexibility
FTAdviser.com
PensionsEurope has urged the EU commission to work with pension providers to avoid imposing further costs and restrictions, as the EC reviews its European Market Infrastructure Regulation.
jlne.ws/1FPRObl
Statement From SIFMA CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. In Response To Remarks By FINRA Chairman And CEO Richard Ketchum On A Best Interest Standard
Press Release
“SIFMA has long supported the concept of a best interest standard and Mr. Ketchum articulated key elements that are important to ensure that customers’ interests do indeed come first–through identification and management of conflicts, targeted fee and product risk disclosure, and effective management of compensation incentives to registered persons.”
jlne.ws/1FckCX4
Give Brussels credit for curbs on market abuse
Arlene McCarthy, Hale, Greater Manchester, UK, FT
Sir, It is indeed good news that UK regulators are to take tough action including banning individuals for misconduct for market abuse in the Fair and Effective Markets review (News, May 26). However, it is a shame that “the people familiar with the matter” speaking to Caroline Binham neglected to mention that the UK’s new rules result from the implementation of the EU regulation on market abuse of April 16 2014.
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EU outlines plans to make multinationals pay their share of tax
Reuters
The European Commission outlined plans on Wednesday to limit how much multinational companies can reduce taxes on their European earnings through the use of creative accounting. The Commission, set to detail proposed tax measures on June 17, had already determined in March that European Union countries would have to share information on tax deals agreed with major corporations.
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EU regulators tell 11 countries to adopt bank bail-in rules
Reuters
The European Commission on Thursday gave France, Italy and nine other EU countries two months to adopt new EU rules on propping up failed banks or face legal action.
jlne.ws/1JWFIyV
ASIC reports on decisions to cut red tape – October 2014 to January 2015
ASIC
ASIC has released its latest report outlining decisions on relief applications covering the period 1 October 2014 to 30 January 2015. Businesses frequently approach ASIC for assistance to help make the law work better for them. ASIC uses its discretion to vary or set aside certain requirements of the law where there is a net regulatory benefit or where ASIC can facilitate business or cut red tape without harming other stakeholders.
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Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) Rulemaking and National Market System (NMS) Plans
SEC
NASDAQ: Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change to Amend the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and By-Laws of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Release No. 34-75052; File No. SR-NASDAQ-2015-058); see also Exhibit 5
NASDAQ OMX BX: Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change to Amend the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and By-Laws of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Release No. 34-75051; File No. SR-BX-2015-030); see also Exhibit 5
NYSE Arca: Notice of Designation of a Longer Period for Commission Action on Proposed Rule Change Relating to Listing and Trading under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3), Commentary .02 of Shares of the Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond Index Fund (Release No. 34-75042; File No. SR-NYSEArca-2015-18; May 26, 2015)
Phlx: Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change to Amend the Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and By-Laws of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Release No. 34-75053; File No. SR-Phlx-2015-46; May 19, 2015); see also Exhibit 5
Phlx: Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change Relating to the Exchanges Pricing Schedule under Section VIII with Respect to Execution and Routing of Orders in Securities Priced at $1 or More Per Share (Release No. 34-75041; File No. SR-Phlx-2015-45; May 26, 2015); see also Exhibit 5
jlne.ws/1eCTnOv
Hong Kong regulator confirms Hanergy probe
Charles Clover in Beijing, FT
Hong Kong’s securities watchdog has for the first time confirmed Hanergy is under investigation — hours after the troubled solar panel maker’s chairman dismissed any such probe as “purely rumour”.
jlne.ws/1BqOYV2
Exchanges & Trading Facilities
Frankfurt-based Renminbi platform to launch in Q4
The Trade News
Deutsche Boerse has teamed up with the Shanghai Stock Exchange to launch a new venue offering cash market products denominated in Renminbi (RMB). A joint venture between Deutsche Boerse, Shanghai and the China Financial Futures Exchange, the China Europe International Exchange is expected to launch in the final quarter of 2015.
jlne.ws/1J8gKMe
Deutsche Börse: BSE Derivatives Volumes Exceed 1 Billion Contracts On Its Deutsche Börse T7 Powered Trading Platform
BSE (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange) and Deutsche Börse today announced that the cumulative volume on BSE’s derivatives markets since the launch of its new trading platform BOLT Plus – which is based on Deutsche Börse’s T7 trading technology – has surpassed the 1 billion traded contracts mark. This milestone underlines BSE’s competitive edge in terms of speed, transparency and reliability.
jlne.ws/1FPOWvd
Hotspot Introduces Market-Leading Standards for Liquidity Providers
MarketWatch
Hotspot, a leading institutional foreign exchange (FX) market owned and operated by BATS Global Markets (BATS), today announced new standards for Hotspot liquidity providers that qualify as Market Makers, including reduced timeframes for acting on Non-Firm Liquidity and high targeted acceptance rates for such orders.
jlne.ws/1FcgDtm
DGCX Expands Ties With Chinese Market With China Futures Association MoU
Press Release
The agreement seeks to enhance ties between the markets of China and the UAE, with a focus on increasing interaction between key players in the derivatives industry both in the private and public sectors.
jlne.ws/1FcgEgW
HKEx To Introduce Three New Stock Option Classes On 22 June
Press Release
Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing Limited (HKEx) will introduce three new stock option classes on Monday, 22 June 2015: New China Life Insurance, Hang Seng H-Share Index ETF and CITIC Securities.
jlne.ws/1FPOVHx
Financial spreadbetter CMC Markets set to move forward on 2016 IPO – CEO
Reuters
Financial spreadbetting firm CMC Markets should announce details of a planned stock market offering within about two weeks and should float next year, the company’s chief executive and main shareholder Peter Cruddas said on Thursday.
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Hedge Funds & Managed Futures
Hedge Funds Have Taken a Shine to Silver
WSJ
Silver prices have remained stuck at historical lows for the past three years, but hedge funds have decided now is the time to pile in. Last week, hedge funds snapped up silver at the fastest pace since 1997, increasing their net long position to a three-month high according to data from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
jlne.ws/1AvwoQH
China markets plunge in record turnover as margin traders take fright
Reuters
China’s stock markets plunged on Thursday, with indexes dropping over 6 percent in record high turnover as investors rushed to sell after more brokers tightened margin trading requirements for clients and the central bank drained money market liquidity.
jlne.ws/1FchZV8
Borrowing to Replenish Depleted Pensions
NYTimes.com
Facing a shortfall of more than $50 billion in his state’s pensions, and with no simple solution at hand, Gov. Tom Wolf of Pennsylvania is proposing to issue $3 billion in bonds, despite the role that such bonds have already played in the fiscal woes of other places. And he is not alone. Several states and municipalities are considering similar action as they struggle with ballooning pension costs.
jlne.ws/1Fci3UJ
Investor Bill Gross: Bet against Bunds ‘well timed, not well executed’
Reuters
Bill Gross, the widely followed investor, admitted in his June Investment Outlook on Wednesday that his bet against the German Bund market was well timed but not profitable. “My famous (infamous?) ‘Short of a lifetime’ trade on the German Bund market was well timed but not necessarily well executed,” Gross, who runs the Janus Global Unconstrained Fund (JUCAX.O), wrote in his latest report to clients titled “Mr. Bleu.”
jlne.ws/1Fck8Qx
Gross Calls Bet Against Bund Well-Timed, Poorly Executed
by Charles Stein, Bloomberg
Bill Gross acknowledges doing a poor job of implementing his recommendation to bet against German government bonds.
jlne.ws/1RomFjp
Aberdeen agrees deal for $6bn alternatives firm
Investment Week
Aberdeen Asset Management is to acquire FLAG Capital Management in a bid to strengthen its alternatives platform and US offering.
jlne.ws/1FPQ1Dg
Star managers battered by rocky ride in yields, currencies
BY JENNIFER ABLAN, Reuters
Some of the biggest names in the investment world have been whipsawed by the recent rise in global yields and the strength in the euro against the dollar, with investors bracing for more sharp moves later this year stemming from central bank actions.
jlne.ws/1FPOqxe
Wipeout in Europe Bond Funds Tests Investors’ Resolve; Recent rout in government debt largely erases funds’ strong start to the year
By TOMMY STUBBINGTON, WSJ
A strong start to the year for many of Europe’s biggest bond funds was all but wiped out by an abrupt selloff in the region’s bond market, testing the mettle of investors who rely on the asset class for its steady returns.
jlne.ws/1LLLGB5
Chicago bond sale attracts $6bn in demand
Robin Wigglesworth in New York, FT
Chicago has pulled off a successful $674m bond sale after being downgraded to junk by Moody’s, attracting over $6bn of investor orders despite concerns over how the third-biggest US city will fill its gaping pension deficit.
jlne.ws/1LLJARU
Banks & Brokers
ADMIS gets ten former Bache brokers in US
Futures & Options World
ADM Investor Services has hired in the US at least ten brokers who recently worked for Jefferies Bache, marking the first group departure from Bache after it put most of its staff at risk of redundancy last month.
jlne.ws/1FPRGJ0
U.S. seeks JPMorgan communications with China anti-corruption chief in hiring probe -WSJ
Reuters
U.S. regulators have subpoenaed JPMorgan Chase & Co for all of its communications related to 35 Chinese officials, including anti-corruption chief Wang Qishan, as part of an ongoing probe into the bank’s hiring practices, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
jlne.ws/1Fci4rZ
JPMorgan told to provide communications with top Chinese official
Demetri Sevastopulo and Gina Chon in Washington and Tom Braithwaite in New York, FT
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has ordered JPMorgan to hand over any correspondence with Wang Qishan, one of the seven politburo members who rule China, in connection with a probe into how the bank hired the children of high-ranking Chinese officials to help win business.
jlne.ws/1J4jUlG
Wall Street Executives Strike Subdued Tone on Trading Revenues
WSJ
The chief executives of two Wall Street banks struck less-than bullish tones on second quarter trading activity Wednesday, with Bank of America Corp.’s Brian Moynihan telling analysts that further cuts to the bank’s markets business could lie ahead.
jlne.ws/1FcjrXx
SocGen Deal Reflects Commodity Troubles
MoneyBeat – WSJ
Société Générale SA told Jefferies LLC that it’s interested in buying its Bache commodities-trading unit — but only parts of it, Christian Berthelsen and Tatyana Shumsky report. It’s an indication of how unattractive raw-materials trading is amid fewer profits and more regulation.
jlne.ws/1Fck6IB
RBC profit tops expectations on domestic banking, capital markets
Reuters
Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s top lender, posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday, helped by strength in its domestic banking and capital markets divisions.
jlne.ws/1KruQqS
Goldman goes astray on Grand Theft Auto and productivity
Matthew C Klein, FT
There’s always a danger, when you question official statistics, that you come off sounding like a nutter.
jlne.ws/1GEqY6Y
ICAP Securities appoints Ted Bragg to MD of Fixed Income Product Initiatives
ICAP
ICAP announces today that it has appointed Ted Bragg to the role of Managing Director of Fixed Income Product Initiatives in the ICAP US Securities group, effective immediately. In this new role which is based in New York, Ted will be responsible for creating and developing new hybrid fixed income products for ICAP’s US-based Global Broking group.
jlne.ws/1AvwxDL
Thomson Reuters To Champion Higher Industry Standards For FX Trading
Press Release
Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, today announced the publication of proposed operational procedures for trading protocols on its FXall platforms, including a codified Provisory Liquidity protocol that governs participants’ use of ‘last look’ liquidity.
jlne.ws/1FcgHJM
Clearing & Settlement
ASIC consults on central clearing obligations for OTC derivatives
ASIC
ASIC today proposed draft rules to implement mandatory central clearing requirements (clearing requirements) for certain over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives. The proposals are the next stage in Australia meeting its Group of Twenty (G20) commitments to reform OTC derivatives markets following the global financial crisis (GFC).
jlne.ws/1SDMOfC
Indexes & Products
FTSE Russell Introduces New Pure Style Index Series
Press Release
FTSE Russell, a leading global index provider, today announced the launch of the Russell Pure Style Index Series. An extension of the Russell Growth and Value Indexes, the series is designed as a more concentrated and targeted measure of stocks exhibiting strong growth or value characteristics, providing an added dimension to investors seeking additional ways of managing their U.S. equity style exposures.
jlne.ws/1FckruG
Nasdaq Tops All-Time High Amid Tech Rebound, Optimism on Greece
by Jennifer Kaplan, Bloomberg
The Nasdaq Composite Index closed at a record, after the biggest drop for U.S. stocks in three weeks, as technology shares rebounded and investors watched for progress in talks on Greece.
jlne.ws/1QcpscO
Technology
S&P Capital IQ Expands Real-Time Market Data Alliances Through Agreement With DataGenic –
Press Release
Through its Consolidated Feed offering, S&P Capital IQ will deliver real-time market data feeds from the world’s leading exchanges and brokers for integration with DataGenic’s Genic DataIQ, a real-time charting and analytical application designed for commodity traders, market analysts and researchers delivered via the web.
jlne.ws/1FcgLJr
Technology replaces schmoozing: the future of private banking
Reuters
No longer is schmoozing over long lunches and fine wines enough; Swiss private bankers are turning to video games and virtual reality to attract a new generation of skeptical clients and see off digital rivals.
jlne.ws/1FcgYwi
Summers and Swiss bitcoin hoards
FT Alphaville
The FT’s Richard Waters reports that Larry Summers, former US treasury secretary and secular stagnation theorist, is to form part of the advisory board at Xapo, a Silicon Valley Bitcoin start-up specialising in deep cold storage of bitcoins in Swiss vaults and the issuance of bitcoin debit cards.
jlne.ws/1FclLOc
Enforcement
Hong Kong regulator confirms Hanergy probe
FT.com
Hong Kong’s securities watchdog has for the first time confirmed Hanergy is under investigation — hours after the troubled solar panel maker’s chairman dismissed any such probe as “purely rumour”. The Securities and Futures Commission has up until now been mute on the subject despite media speculation and even as Hanergy’s share price soared and then, in the space of half an hour last week, virtually halved.
jlne.ws/1FcgQwK
Judge Gets Letter Demanding Flash-Crash Case Be Dropped Against U.K. Trader
WSJ
A plea to an Illinois judge to stop the case against British trader Navinder Singh Sarao, or else “bear the liability of all wrongs,” has been entered into official court proceedings.
jlne.ws/1FckvdT
Swiss charge ex-Bank of America employee in Parmalat probe
Reuters
Switzerland’s attorney general has seized more than 30 million Swiss francs ($32 million) in a criminal investigation linked to dairy group Parmalat and has charged an unnamed Italian citizen with money-laundering, bribery and forgery.
jlne.ws/1FPPBgb
Third Madoff Employee Avoids Prison Term After Aiding U.S.
by Erik Larson, Bloomberg
A former Bernard Madoff employee who helped create fake securities trades to trick customers for years avoided a prison sentence, the third ex-worker to do so after assisting in the prosecution of onetime colleagues.
jlne.ws/1d1aERu
ASIC suspends BBY Ltd’s AFS licence
ASIC
ASIC has suspended the Australian financial services (AFS) licences held by BBY Ltd, BBY Advisory Services Pty Ltd, and SmarTrader Limited.
jlne.ws/1Rq9le9
Environmental & Energy
Carbon tax or trade? Debate loses steam as world embraces both
Reuters
Tax versus trade is an issue that has stalked the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) over its 10 years of existence, but is fading in importance as the world moves towards increased use of both methods of cutting greenhouse gas pollution.
jlne.ws/1FckaIl
Gap between crude oil benchmarks narrows
FT.com
Brent crude has fallen to the lowest in a month, hit by continued dollar strength and excess supplies from Nigeria, while its premium to the US benchmark hit its narrowest for five weeks on expectations of tightening North American supplies.
jlne.ws/1FclJpv
Norway oil fund plans to withdraw from coal-burning utilities
FT.com
Norway’s $916bn oil fund will consider pulling billions of dollars of investments out of coal in a move that threatens European utilities using the fossil fuel to generate power.
jlne.ws/1FclNWd
Stranded assets and climate stimulus
FT Alphaville
It was Climate Finance Day in Paris last week, a conference convened under the auspices of UNEP and the UNPRI to address the specific challenges and issues of redirecting capital towards a resilient low-carbon global economy ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference also to be held in Paris, in December.
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SolarCity, BofA create tax equity fund for smaller investors
Reuters
Top U.S. solar installer SolarCity Corp on Thursday said it has partnered with Bank of America on a $200 million fund that will enable smaller investors such as regional banks to finance the company’s residential solar systems.
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Asia-Pacific
HKEx To Introduce Three New Stock Option Classes On 22 June
MondoVisione
Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing Limited (HKEx) will introduce three new stock option classes on Monday, 22 June 2015: New China Life Insurance, Hang Seng H-Share Index ETF and CITIC Securities.
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China’s stock market plunges more than 6%
Josh Noble in Hong Kong, FT
The Shanghai Composite has ended a seven-day winning streak with a bang, tumbling 6.5 per cent on Thursday in one of its steepest daily falls in 15 years.
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Frontier Markets
Updated List Of Shariah-Compliant Securities By The Securities Commission Malaysia’s Shariah Advisory Council
The updated list, which takes effect on 29 May 2015, features a total of 674 Shariah-compliant securities. These counters constitute 75 per cent of the total 903 listed securities on Bursa Malaysia.
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Warsaw Stock Exchange: “Capital For Growth” – Gda?sk
Press Release
The Warsaw Stock Exchange in partnership with the Marshals of the Regions, the Central Securities Depository of Poland (KDPW), Bank PKO BP, Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego and Polish Investments for Development have launched a series of 16 regional meetings in Poland’s biggest cities. The Ministry of Treasury and Pracodawcy RP are the project patrons. The inaugurating meeting devoted to capital raising opportunities available on the capital market in the context of the EU perspective 2014-2012 took place in Gda?sk on 27 May.
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Here’s a Hopeful Sign for Emerging Markets
WSJ
Emerging market economies have taken a battering. A few have started to revive and there’s hope for others. Are investors right in believing an upturn is coming? Or have they underestimated quite how long lived emerging market bearish cycles can last.
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Miscellaneous
The World Will Never Retire; Retirement savings shortfalls challenge workers, employers, and governments from Canada to China
by Suzanne Woolley, Bloomberg
You can almost feel the shrug in French workers’ responses to questions about retirement. About 60 percent say they have no retirement plan, and just 8 percent of those with a plan have it written down. They have lots of company in Poland and the Netherlands, where the percentages are similar. The minority of global workers who are serious retirement planners—people who not only have a plan in mind but also say they have a written plan—are in Brazil, at 23 percent, as well as in the U.S. and India, both at 21 percent.
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The Wrath of Hank: Ex-AIG CEO Greenberg Won’t Give Up at Age 90
by Max Abelson, Sonali Basak, Bloomberg
Maurice “Hank” Greenberg spent some of his 90th birthday party like he’s spent much of the past decade: angry.
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Volatility for Breakfast: Egg and Bacon Prices Go Opposite Ways; This chart shows how the price of the American breakfast is out of sync—and likely to stay that way
by Mark Glassman, Bloomberg
You can’t put a single price on the American breakfast—at least, not for any length of time. The cost of foods commonly eaten at breakfast fluctuate independent of one another. The last year has seen egg prices jump and bacon prices crash, while cereal remains almost dead-even.
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READ MORE: John Lothian Newsletter: Forex’s ‘Last Look’ Practice Gets Curbed; Wall Street Is Using the Power of Dodd-Frank Against Itself; Exchanges to police position limits – CFTC.