First Read
It Ain’t Broke, but We Fixed it Anyway: A Letter to the Editor
Dear Sirs,
Last week in this column, Jim Kharouf, one of my friends in the industry, referred to the “broken” FCM model. Having had a front row seat to the travails of operating an FCM over the past 10 years, I take exception to the word “broken.” While the FCM model has been bent, twisted, shaken and turned on its ear, Mark Twain said it best: “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”
We all know what has happened to FCMs since business conditions began to change almost eight years ago. For me, the credit crisis began when Sentinel suspended withdrawals in August 2007. With industry scandals, low volatility, increasing regulation, rising compliance costs, potential disintermediation, virtually no interest income and stagnant volumes, it would be easy to declare the FCMs dead, and our model irreparably broken as many have.
But the role that an FCM plays in facilitating the transfer of risk remains a vital component for our industry and for our overall economy, and we continue to help foster efficient markets. Market conditions of the last eight years have forced all who have survived to improve our businesses. Another great scholar, Friedrich Nietzsche, provided us with the perfect summation of the recent FCM experience: “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.”
So what have most of us done? Specifically, the FCMs that have survived over the last few years have been forced to re-engineer their business and consequently those efforts have resulted in more efficient, better-run businesses. Customers are better protected, systems are more integrated, risk management has risen to the forefront, and most remaining FCMs have streamlined their business models. Those that couldn’t, or wouldn’t, have fallen by the wayside.
What is the end result? Most of the remaining FCMs are mature, better-run, more efficient businesses with better client services, client safety and more capacity. Scant few made those changes to evolve when interest income was rolling in, but that’s what businesses in a changing environment have to do to survive, and that’s what most of us still in business have done and continue to do.
Carl Gilmore
Co-Head of Futures
Wedbush Futures
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Futures for Kids Day has spread to Chicago!
Nick Garrow and Pierre Tamisier
Futures for Kids is a Charitable organisation which has been set-up and supported by a very large number of firms and people from across the Futures Industry (Banks, Brokers, Exchanges, Vendors…).
www.futuresforkids.org.uk
To date, they have raised over £2Million for a wide range of Children’s Charities, working to help some of the poorest Children in many countries across the world, including Nepal which we all know was recently devastated by a severe earthquake.
They are having a big fund-raiser this Friday 15th May , with a number of events being held in Europe / London called FFK Day.
Pierre, myself and a few other colleagues from the futures industry in Chicago, will be climbing 600 Floors (6,000 Feet) on Friday to raise funds for the charity. We hope you can support us by pledging a small amount of your hard earned cash.
Read more at JohnLothianNews.com
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Are we set for the rise of the non-bank FCMs?
Futures & Options World
Decreased trading volumes, low interest rates, increased regulation and higher transaction costs have all but suffocated business models that have worked for years, even decades. Furthermore, higher operational costs and client pressure for new services at lower prices have intensified impending challenges. In 2014, we saw a number of banks either reduce their client list or quietly back away from the clearing business completely as they felt the squeeze of leverage ratio and capital requirements. Banks have to reevaluate their technology investment and determine ways to deliver unique value to their clients.
jlne.ws/1H514VL
***** Non-bank FCMs are the hot thing.
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ICE’s Jeffrey Sprecher Has Built a Global Trading Powerhouse
By Michael Peltz, Institutional Investor
Just a year after purchasing NYSE Euronext, the Intercontinental Exchange chief executives has grown the company into a global trading and clearing powerhouse.
jlne.ws/1E7e1fx
***** Nice profile and interview of Jeffrey Sprecher
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Stan Druckenmiller Sees ‘Massive’ Problem Caused by Aging
by Simone Foxman – Bloomberg
Billionaire investor Stan Druckenmiller said an aging population will present a “massive, massive problem” in 15 years.
jlne.ws/1PIfEHh
**** Me too. Good news is I have lost 40 pounds. Bad news is that Monday I undergo partial shoulder replacement surgery. All of these are massive problems caused by aging.
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‘Flash Crash’ Trader Sarao Accused Rivals of Misconduct; Navinder Singh Sarao complained to CME more than 100 times
By ARUNA VISWANATHA, BRADLEY HOPE and CHIARA ALBANESE – WSJ
Navinder Singh Sarao, the trader arrested last month on U.S. charges he manipulated futures prices and contributed to the May 2010 “flash crash,” leveled claims of similar misconduct against other traders before his arrest.
jlne.ws/1G8UZLM
***** It takes one to know one, or there are so many of them they are hard to miss.
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Hotspot Cuts Trading Fees with “Hot List” Pricing for More than 30 Currency Pairs; Pricing Effective 1st June and Will Continue at Least Until Year-End
BATS
Hotspot, a leading institutional foreign exchange (FX) market owned and operated by BATS Global Markets (BATS), today announced plans to eliminate liquidity removal fees for customers in more than 30 select currency pairs, beginning 1st June 2015
jlne.ws/1EHasxa
****** This is the frosting on BATS cake. Tasty!
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Wesley Clark: The Penny-Stock General
Don’t Miss Out — Follow us on: Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube
by Zachary Mider, Zeke Faux, Bloomberg
Sixteen years ago, Wesley Clark was the four-star U.S. Army general running the Kosovo war. These days, he’s been pitching food-truck franchises to military veterans and helping a convicted felon raise money to grow hydroponic lettuce. “We’d love it if you joined with us in an investment,” the silver-haired Clark, 70, says in a promotional video for a company called the Grilled Cheese Truck. He’s pictured standing in front of a statue of a bald eagle in a replica of the Oval Office. “We’re going to be one of the fastest-growing young companies in America.”
jlne.ws/1G93aI3
****** This is just sad.
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CFTC’s Global Markets Advisory Committee Releases Agenda for Upcoming Public Meeting
CFTC
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today released the agenda for the upcoming Global Markets Advisory Committee (GMAC) public meeting that will be held on May 14, 2015 at CFTC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. [See CFTC Release 7163-15 for attending, viewing and listening instructions.]
jlne.ws/1K7R445
***** There is an agenda item for miscellaneous topics titled, “What the Heck????”
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Trading Tech 300, Innovation and Illinois’ Global Competitiveness
By Nancy Elder, Scouting Forward
Back in mid-February this year, newly appointed Governor Bruce Rauner visited Chicago’s 1871 to announce the creation of the new Innovate Illinois Advisory Council, which he formed to foster opportunity and increase Illinois’ global competitiveness.
jlne.ws/1HfsieU
***** We are making progress.
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Lead Stories
The Chicago Stock Exchange’s big idea to slow down trading
By LYNNE MAREK, Crain’s Chicago Business
The Chicago Stock Exchange, the smallest active stock exchange in the country, is rolling out a big idea. In an effort to trip up some of the trading speedsters and “spoofers” who have been roiling the stock market, the Chicago-based exchange wants to launch mini stock auctions on its exchange.
jlne.ws/1czG15r
Market Cops Got Power to Pursue Spoofers After Years of Failure
by Matthew Leising, Bloomberg
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission was tired of losing.
With only one court victory in manipulation cases dating back to the agency’s creation in 1974, concern had swelled at the little-known regulator that help was needed to catch cheaters in U.S. derivatives markets. They got it with the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010, which ushered in the most sweeping reforms of Wall Street rules since the 1930s.
jlne.ws/1ID7bEX
5 Big Banks Expected to Plead Guilty to Felony Charges, but Punishments May Be Tempered
By BEN PROTESS and MICHAEL CORKERY, NY Times
For most people, pleading guilty to a felony means they will very likely land in prison, lose their job and forfeit their right to vote. But when five of the world’s biggest banks plead guilty to an array of antitrust and fraud charges as soon as next week, life will go on, probably without much of a hiccup.
jlne.ws/1FmjGWl
Rising tide of financial regulation washes over recalcitrant boards
Caroline Binham and Lindsay Fortado in London, FT
Nearly half of the world’s biggest financial institutions are still not doing enough at board level to address risk management and bonuses, even as regulators clamp down.
jlne.ws/1bRM7gR
Task force chief: Forex probes caused by isolated traders’ misbehaviour
By Chiara Albanese, The Wall Street Journal
A few traders are responsible for the foreign exchange scandal that is costing banks billions in fines, said the central banker assigned to help restore confidence in the market.
jlne.ws/1L3DxZc
Timing key to size of UBS forex penalties
FT Reporters
Timing, as the adage has it, is everything. For UBS, one of five banks trying to settle with US prosecutors over alleged manipulation of foreign-exchange benchmarks, a criminal conviction and hundreds of millions of dollars in extra penalties could rest on exactly when its traders attempted to rig one of the world’s biggest financial markets.
jlne.ws/1cXbn78
FXCM posts $427 million net loss
By Josh Beckerman, The Wall Street Journal
FXCM posted a $426.8 million net loss for the first quarter, hurt by several items stemming from surge in the Swiss franc after the Swiss National Bank in January removed the cap on the currency’s value.
jlne.ws/1AYIPzc
**** Knight like numbers.
British ‘Flash Crash’ Trader to Appeal Bail Terms
By JENNY ANDERSON, NY Times
Navinder Singh Sarao, the British trader accused of helping cause the stock market “flash crash” in 2010, will appear in the High Court in London next week to appeal the terms of his bail. Mr. Sarao, 36, has been in jail since he was arrested on April 21.
jlne.ws/1E7dFWg
UK forex inquiry comes under US pressure
Caroline Binham and Lindsay Fortado in London and Gina Chon in Washington, FT
The integrity of a Bank of England inquiry is in question as prosecutors in the US probe what the central bank knew about traders’ behaviour in the foreign-exchange market.
jlne.ws/1L3FlkN
Missing in Financial Rules Debate: Hard Numbers; Without studying the economics of new regulations, the rewards and risks remain an unknown
By GREG IP, WSJ
The controversy around the Dodd-Frank law refuses to die as the financial-regulatory overhaul approaches its fifth anniversary. Senate Republicans unveiled a proposal this week to weaken some of its provisions, while some Democrats would like to impose even tougher rules.
jlne.ws/1EGccHS
Pope Francis to Congress: Capitalism Must Change
by John Follain, Flavia Rotondi, Bloomberg
Pope Francis will denounce the inequalities of capitalism when he becomes the first pontiff to address Congress on his visit to the U.S. in September, according to his closest adviser.
jlne.ws/1A2G0lz
SEC Has Over 80 Agreements With Cooperating Witnesses; Enforcement director says such deals crucial to building insider trading and other cases
By ARUNA VISWANATHA, WSJ
U.S. securities regulators have signed more than 80 agreements with cooperating witnesses who helped build insider trading and other cases since a formal cooperation program began at the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2010, the agency’s enforcement director said Wednesday.
jlne.ws/1G8Xuha
U.S. SEC examiner cites more problems in private equity sector
BY SARAH N. LYNCH, Reuters
May 13 The new top examiner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday that the agency is s
jlne.ws/1E7d5I6
Trading firms squeezed for time after Mifid II delay
By James Rundle and Tim Cave, Financial News
Europe’s trading community fears having even less time to get to grips with new rules underpinning trading in the region, after the European Commission pushed back an important deadline for finalising Mifid II.
jlne.ws/1Pl4k9d
Why Ted Cruz is wowing some of Wall Street’s money-men
BY EMILY FLITTER, Reuters
Presidential candidate Ted Cruz, a Tea Party favorite and leading figure in the 2013 government shutdown that rattled investors, isn’t the kind of politician who usually wins a lot of friends among Wall Street campaign donors.
jlne.ws/1IA5M3u
Regulatory
Banks Would Get Boost for Overseas Swaps in House CFTC Bill
Silla Brush, Bloomberg Business
The House Agriculture Committee will meet Thursday to consider a bill that includes a provision forcing the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to redo its policy on cross-border trades in the $700 trillion global swaps market. The measure would curtail the agency’s ability to impose Dodd-Frank Act trading rules on deals conducted by employees in the U.S. but held in overseas divisions.
jlne.ws/1K7X1Ot
***DA: Rep. Mike Conaway, the industry’s BFF, is pushing this one.
Self-Regulatory Organization (SRO) Rulemaking and National Market System (NMS) Plans
SEC
BATS: Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change Related to Fees for Use of BATS Exchange, Inc. (Release No. 34-74938; File No. SR-BATS-2015-35; May 12, 2015); see also Exhibit 5/li>
BYX: Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change Related to Fees for Use of BATS Y-Exchange, Inc. (Release No. 34-74939; File No. SR-BYX-2015-24; May 12, 2015); see also Exhibit 5/li>
CBOE: Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change Relating to The Customized Option Pricing Service (Release No. 34-74937; File No. SR-CBOE-2015-046; May 12, 2015)/li>
EDGX: Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change to Change the Name of ConnectEdge Product Offering Under Rule 13.9 to BATS Connect (Release No. 34-74935; File No. SR-EDGX-2015-19; May 12, 2015); see also Exhibit 5/li>
FINRA: Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change to Extend the Tier Size Pilot of FINRA Rule 6433 (Minimum Quotation Size Requirements for OTC Equity Securities) (Release No. 34-74927; File No. SR-FINRA-2015-010; May 12, 2015); see also Exhibit 5/li>
NASDAQ: Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change to Modify NASDAQ Rule 7018 Governing Fees and Credits Assessed For Execution and Routing (Release No. 34-74946; File No. SR-NASDAQ-2015-052)
NASDAQ OMX BX: Notice of Designation of Longer Period for Commission Action on Proposed Rule Change to Amend and Restate Certain Rules that Govern the NASDAQ OMX BX Equities Market (Release No. 34-74934; File No. SR-BX-2015-015; May 12, 2015)
jlne.ws/1eCTnOv
Keynote Address of CFTC Commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo before the EnergyRisk Summit USA: Houston, TX
CFTC
“The CFTC’s Proposed Position Limits Regime: Are U.S. Energy Markets at Risk?”
jlne.ws/1AYJssr
Wall Street spending millions to quash new fiduciary rule
By MITCH TUCHMAN, MarketWatch
Look into the data on lobbying by the financial industry and the numbers are astounding. Big stockbrokers are spending millions to sway lawmakers to see things their way.
jlne.ws/1G92iTG
Bank of England’s foreign exchange investigation faces US scrutiny; Department of Justice reportedly raises concerns over Lord Grabiner report into Bank’s knowledge of scandal
By James Titcomb
The Bank of England’s controversial investigation into what its own staff knew about foreign exchange manipulation is being scrutinised by the US Department of Justice.
jlne.ws/1EGorV1
Financial Stability Oversight Council To Meet May 19
MondoVisione
On Tuesday, May 19, Secretary Lew will preside over a meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (Council) at the Treasury Department. The agenda will include both an executive and an open session. The preliminary agenda for the open session includes a discussion of the Council’s 2015 annual report and a discussion of charters for the Council’s committees.
jlne.ws/1EHf2vk
Judge Denies Group’s Whistle-Blower Standing in Suit Against U.S. Bank
By PETER EAVIS, NY Times
A federal judge this week dismissed an innovative lawsuit that had threatened to open a new front in the legal assault on the foreclosure practices of large banks.
jlne.ws/1JgmrZ9
What to do if you get caught in a misconduct probe
By John Marshall, Financial News
Whereas in the past, banks may have been slow at coming forward with their wrongdoings, regulatory and political pressure is now so intense that, in my experience, they are keen to be as transparent as they can.
jlne.ws/1L3EDnM
Esma delays Mifid II technical standards
Futures & Options World
The European Securities and Markets Authority (Esma) has delayed the submission of the Mifid II Market Abuse Regulation technical standards to the European Commission until the end of September, according to a Commission letter seen by FOW. Correspondence between Jonathan Faull, director general for internal market and services at the European Commission, and Steve Maijoor, chair of Esma, dated May 11 confirmed the formal submission had been delayed “from July to the end of September”.
jlne.ws/1K7Wyfi
Exchanges & Trading Facilities
CME Group’s Terry Duffy to Appear before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry
CME Group
CME Group Executive Chairman and President Terry Duffy will appear before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition & Forestry on Thursday, May 14, to discuss Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulatory issues impacting end-users and market liquidity.
jlne.ws/1Pl6q92
Euronext Exits Competition to Build Not-for-Profit Dark Pool
by John Detrixhe, Will Hadfield, Bloomberg
Euronext NV, an operator of stock markets in countries including France and the Netherlands, has withdrawn from the competition to build a European not-for-profit dark pool.
jlne.ws/1PIbbo9
NYSE GOVERNANCE SERVICES AND FTI CONSULTING ANNOUNCE RESULTS OF 15TH ANNUAL RANKING OF TOP CORPORATE LAW FIRMS FOR 2015
ICE
Directors and General Counsel Rank Top 25 U.S. Law Firms
NYSE Governance Services (NYSE:ICE), a leading provider of corporate governance, risk, ethics and compliance services for public and privately held companies along with FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE:FCN), the global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations protect and enhance their enterprise value, today announced the results of the 15th Annual America’s Best Corporate Law Firms Study, a comprehensive ranking by U.S. corporate directors and general counsel of the top 25 corporate law firms.
jlne.ws/1QLTpTj
Hedge Funds & Managed Futures
Traders eye Northern Trust stock as margins near 5-year high
Crain’s
Northern Trust Corp.’s stock is leading the broader market on investors’ optimism that cost-cutting and higher interest rates will buoy the bank’s profits.
jlne.ws/1HfmFgP
Richard Driehaus launches private-equity fund
By LYNNE MAREK, Crain’s
Driehaus Private Equity, led by Chicago mutual fund magnate Richard Driehaus, has launched its first investment fund.
jlne.ws/1F9OMxf
Why Stocks Belong in a Retirement Portfolio
By JOHN F. WASIK, NY Times
For years, the trope in retirement planning was to reduce the stock holdings in your portfolio and add bonds as you neared or entered retirement. That advice is being challenged.
jlne.ws/1RIN24v
The Koch Brothers Lost More Than $1 Billion Yesterday. Each; That’s about $3,400 for the rest of you
by Brendan Coffey
Billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch each lost $1.1 billion on Tuesday, a drop that might devastate even the wealthiest of the one percent. For the Kochs, the fifth- and sixth-richest people on earth, it represents just 2 percent of their individual fortunes.
jlne.ws/1IA20Y3
A Venture Capital Firm Led by 2 Women Plans to Introduce a Fund
By MICHAEL J. de la MERCED, NY Times
More than a year after striking out on their own, the founders of Aspect Ventures are preparing a formal introduction of a sizable fund.
jlne.ws/1PIauuZ
The EUR1 Trillion Eurozone Bond Oscillation
By CHRISTOPHER WHITTALL, WSJ
What a difference a month makes.
A rout in eurozone government debt means that the bond market feels distinctly more positive – almost one trillion euros more positive, to be precise.
jlne.ws/1FfX47Z
Banks & Brokers
ICAP launches CNH Hub to provide a consolidated view of the market in offshore Chinese renminbi
LeapRate
ICAP plc, leading markets operator and provider of post trade risk mitigation and information services, announces today that it has launched the ICAP CNH Hub, a currency-specific portal which pulls together offshore Chinese renminbi (CNH) data from various services within the ICAP Group to offer a single, consolidated and holistic view of the market.
jlne.ws/1H51hs5
Liquidnet Builds Out Fixed Income Team With European Senior Sales Hire – Fixed Income Team Bolstered As It Moves Towards Platform Launch
MondoVisione
Liquidnet, the global institutional trading network, today announced that Mark Taylor has joined the company as a senior member of the fixed income sales team. Mark will work with Constantinos Antoniades, Global Head of Fixed Income, Jonathan Gray, Head of Fixed Income EMEA, and the company’s global sales team to grow Liquidnet’s fixed income platform for buy-side institutions.
jlne.ws/1FfX0Fb
Clearing & Settlement
Cyber security number one risk to financial markets – DTCC survey
Finextra
The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry, today announced that almost half of the respondents (46%) in its most recent Systemic Risk Barometer Study cited cyber security as their top concern and 80% of respondents rated it as a top 5 risk overall.
jlne.ws/1K7SJa2
A Faster Way to Debit and Credit
CFO
A lot of consumers and businesses love Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments. Workers have embraced direct depositing of payroll checks for years, and businesses that can direct debit a customer’s account have seen working capital improve when they go electronic.
jlne.ws/1H51tY5
Indexes & Products
MSCI India index rejig may increase inflows from passive foreign funds
The Economic Times
The quarterly tweaking of the MSCI India Index — a widely tracked emerging market index by global funds — on Wednesday may result in an increase of net inflows from passive foreign funds. India’s weight in the MSCI Emerging Index is expected to increase by 50 basis points from 6.7%. The changes in the index will be effective from May 29.
jlne.ws/1H51Py6
China exchanges make gains in drive for inclusion in MSCI global indexes
CER
China’s drive to have its mainland stock exchanges included in MSCI’s global indexes is gaining traction, with Templeton Emerging Markets Group’s Mark Mobius, a former detractor who oversees roughly US$40 billion in emerging markets, saying his funds are buying yuan-denominated shares, Bloomberg reported.
jlne.ws/1H51Sdj
S&P Dow Jones Close to Including Mainland-Listed Chinese Stocks in Indexes
WSJ
One of the major global equity index providers, S&P Dow Jones Indices, said a recently opened trading link between Hong Kong and Shanghai means Chinese stocks listed on the mainland will soon be included in its indexes. “I don’t think it’ll be terribly long” until so-called A-shares are included, said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
jlne.ws/1H522RS
What are the Missing Pieces in Chinese Fixed Income?
S&P Dow Jones Indices Indexology Blog
Unsurprisingly, most Chinese investors favor high-risk and high-return products. They tend not to find the fixed income assets appealing, especially after the recent China stock rally. However, Chinese investors often overlook the risk component. As of April 30, 2015, the three-year annualized risk of China’s equity market is 19.5% versus 2.77% of Chinese fixed income, represented by the S&P China Bond Index.
jlne.ws/1H526Ry
DoubleLine’s first actively managed ETF hits $500 mln
By Jennifer Ablan, Reuters
DoubleLine Capital’s first actively managed exchange-traded fund, the SPDR DoubleLine Total Return Tactical ETF, surpassed $500 million in assets in less than three months, according to its administrator on Wednesday.
jlne.ws/1H4s7jX
Technology
These Ex-Bankers Are Automating the Fintech Hiring Process
American Banker
Banks are struggling to recruit top software developers, app designers and engineers in a market where techies can pick and choose among employers perceived as cool and unburdened by aging technologies and rules.
jlne.ws/1H528Zy
Facebook raises minimum pay for contractors to $15 per hour
BY YASMEEN ABUTALEB, Reuters
Facebook (FB.O) raised wages for its contract workers, such as cafeteria staff and janitors, to a minimum of $15 per hour amid rising tension over the wage gap between the technology sector’s elite and the lower-paid workers.
jlne.ws/1cX2Z7n
Facebook Pushes Speedier News Publishing; Media groups hope the initiative will help them gain a foothold in fast-growing mobile world
By DEEPA SEETHARAMAN
Facebook Inc.’s move to directly host news articles marks Silicon Valley’s latest attempt to appeal to impatient mobile consumers.
jlne.ws/1A2848L
Google Moves Its Corporate Applications to the Internet
By RACHAEL KING, WSJ
Google Inc.GOOGL +0.11%, taking a new approach to enterprise security, is moving its corporate applications to the Internet. In doing so, the Internet giant is flipping common corporate security practice on its head, shifting away from the idea of a trusted internal corporate network secured by perimeter devices such as firewalls, in favor of a model where corporate data can be accessed from anywhere with the right device and user credentials.
jlne.ws/1ID0oez
Crowdsourced equity funding to boost fintech
InvestorDaily
Tuesday night’s Budget provided $7.8 million over four years to ASIC in order to facilitate crowdsourced equity funding for Australian start-up companies.
jlne.ws/1H52eQU
Enforcement
NFA permanently bars Chicago commodity trading advisor, Andrew James Aronson
NFA
National Futures Association (NFA) has permanently barred Andrew James Aronson (Aronson) from NFA membership, associate membership and acting as a principal of an NFA Member. Aronson is an NFA Member commodity trading advisor (CTA) located in Chicago, Ill.
jlne.ws/1KMGHzG
U.S. appeals court appears receptive to bond trader’s fraud appeal
BY JONATHAN STEMPEL, Reuters
A federal appeals court on Wednesday signaled a willingness to overturn part or all of the conviction of a former Jefferies Group Inc trader accused of defrauding investors after the financial crisis by lying about mortgage bond prices.
jlne.ws/1FmlL4C
UBS must pay $200,000 to Puerto Rico fund investor
BY SUZANNE BARLYN, Reuters
Securities arbitrators on Wednesday ordered UBS AG to pay an investor $200,000 for losses incurred by its Puerto Rico closed-end bond funds, marking one of the first rulings in a flood of cases involving the risky securities.
jlne.ws/1FfZq6E
FINRA Fines Morgan Stanley $2 Million for Short Interest Reporting and Short Sale Rule Violations
FINRA
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that it has fined Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC $2 million for short interest reporting and short sale rule violations that spanned a period of more than six years, and for failing to implement a supervisory system reasonably designed to detect and prevent such violations.
jlne.ws/1ID2rzb
Missouri jury awards woman $77M in case against Wells Fargo; Missouri jury awards $77M to woman in lawsuit claiming Wells Fargo mismanaged family trusts
Associated Press
A Missouri jury has awarded a woman $77 million in damages in a lawsuit alleging Wells Fargo Bank mismanaged her family trusts, costing her tens of millions of dollars.
jlne.ws/1Iz5ZUA
Environmental & Energy
The curious incident of the missing super contango in the night-time
FT Alphaville
A quick post to update readers on an interesting debacle that occurred in the world of oil stock data analysis this week. Philip Verleger, veteran independent oil analyst, launched a scathing attack on the quality of the EIA’s data on Monday, claiming the agency had been overestimating US output by some 1.6m barrels a day.
jlne.ws/1JK6qJ1
Saudi claims oil price strategy success
Anjli Raval in Riyadh, FT
Saudi Arabia says its strategy of squeezing high-cost rivals such as US shale producers is succeeding, as the world’s largest crude exporter seeks to reassert itself as the dominant force in the global oil market.
jlne.ws/1K7S2NK
Indian Prime Minister Prods Coal Monopoly; Narendra Modi seeks to boost output by cutting red tape and sparking competition
By RAYMOND ZHONG and NIHARIKA MANDHANA, WSJ
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to end decades of crippling electricity shortages and turn this country into a manufacturing dynamo.
jlne.ws/1czEoVm
Democrats revive Inslee’s carbon-tax idea
By Jim Brunner – Seattle Times
Democrats in the state Legislature are working to revive the centerpiece of Gov. Jay Inslee’s environmental agenda — new charges on carbon emissions that would raise billions of dollars for the state budget while combating global warming.
jlne.ws/1IzIoD6
Boris Johnson rejects London motion on fossil fuel divestment
By Adam Vaughan – The Guardian
(London’s) Mayor Boris Johnson has rejected a motion by the London assembly calling on City Hall’s pension fund to divest from fossil fuels, arguing the UK needs to press ahead with fracking to avoid being reliant on the Middle East and Russia for gas.
jlne.ws/1ICQ5Hm
Asia-Pacific
Taiwan’s ratings cut by MSCI in two indices
Taipei Times
Taiwan’s weightings in the two indices provided by MSCI Inc have been cut after the global index provider’s semi-annual index review, but analysts said the local equity market will continue an uptrend in the mid-term amid ample liquidity.
jlne.ws/1H51RpI
Rogue trader Nick Leeson sounds warning on China’s stock market
Sydney Morning Herald
Twenty years after bringing down a major British bank, Nick Leeson is sounding alarm bells about China. Unless the country reforms its stock markets, he warns, it’s only a matter of time until his earlier disaster repeats itself on a larger scale.
jlne.ws/1K7USCt
Biggest stock disconnect with JGB yields in 23 years reveals Kuroda’s heavy hand
The Japan Times
The weakest correlation between Japanese bond yields and stocks in 23 years is showing how dependent the nation’s markets have become on central bank support.
jlne.ws/1K7V2tN
Hard economics hit Southeast Asia consumer dream
FT.com
Multinational companies drawn to Southeast Asia by hopes of a long consumption boom are witnessing a reversal of fortunes in its three biggest economies as shoppers lose their mojo.
Household debt, sluggish wage rises and political uncertainties are dragging on spending growth in Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.
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Frontier Markets
Top five factors which are making Indian stock market volatile
The Economic Times
Both global as well as domestic factors are equally responsible for wild swings in the market, say experts, adding that the volatility is pretty much here to say. However, long-term investors should use the opportunity to enter the markets on every decline.
jlne.ws/1K7UWlE
Ghana’s currency falls to all-time low despite interest rate rise
FT.com
An unexpected interest rate rise by the Bank of Ghana to stem inflation failed to stop the debt-stricken nation’s currency plunging to an all-time low on Wednesday. The cedi lost as much as 1.7 per cent and hit a nadir of 3.955 against the dollar before recovering slightly to trade at 3.915, following a surprise 1 percentage point increase in the main borrowing rate to 22 per cent.
jlne.ws/1K7VhVA
The emerging market slowdown: don’t expect a quick recovery
FT.com
That big grinding sound in the global economy is the emerging market world shifting down to a lower gear. The stream of news this year suggests that emerging economies are recording their lowest rates of growth since the global financial crisis.
jlne.ws/1K7VkAF
Moscow Exchange Announces 1Q 2015 Results
MondoVisione
Moscow Exchange (MOEX) today announces its financial results for the first quarter (1Q) 2015 according to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Strong earnings growth was driven by fees and commissions generated by Money Market and Depository and Settlement Services, as well as higher net interest income.
jlne.ws/1G8V56h
Miscellaneous
‘Minecraft’ most streamed video game in YouTube’s history
By Tribune wire reports
“Minecraft” has built a big reputation on YouTube. The video streaming service announced Wednesday that content featuring the virtual brick-building video game has been watched more than any other interactive title in the 10 years since YouTube launched.
jlne.ws/1L3FaWF
Amazon launches advertising platform for mobile app developers – Bloomberg
Reuters
Amazon.com Inc launched a new advertising platform for mobile app developers to promote their apps on Android devices, Bloomberg reported.
jlne.ws/1IA16L9
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