APRIL 20 2017

Good morning and welcome to Issue 978 of Exchange Invest – the slight drought of Porsche type numbers will end soon and if you’re not careful I’ll just start telling random Zuffenhausen-related anecdotes again…

In the conference world, Prosperity UK next week promises to be a fascinating event, bringing together Britain and the world for the best Brexit future. The brainchild of hedge funder Paul Marshall and former Commissioner Lord Hill, it’s an ideal forum for bringing together Britain regardless of how they voted.

The session on our parish looks fabulous with crack lawyer Barney Reynolds of Shearman & Sterling chairing a dream duo, Jeffrey Sprecher and Michael Spencer. It looks like an unmissable panel with the two greatest entrepreneurial dealmakers in parish history…and yes, I am honoured to say yours truly, is the third member of this fabulous panel. Sounds like an ideal reason to be in London next week!

In Today’s Exchange Invest

Looks like a new CEO may be confirmed at LME while BIST sees both a potential investment from Islamic Development Bank (IDB) as well as suggesting the IPO is on for 2018. Oslo Bors takes over the rest of NOCT while NASDAQ formalizes its structure for investing in minority fintech companies.

(EI is out slightly early today as I am attending an EY summit on the future of the Maltese economy).

In BigWorld

So farewell then Emma Morano, an Italian woman believed to have been the oldest person alive and the last survivor of the 19th Century, who has died at the age of 117. What a remarkable lifespan – to see the 19th empires’ decline and tumble, the incredible march of technology, not least of which included the mass market expansion of the automobile and much more…

Public Markets

London Stock Exchange Group Plc Transaction In Own Shares
MondoVisione

Nasdaq Launches Venture Investment Program – Dedicated Unit Will Focus On Fintech Investment And Strategic Partnership Opportunities
MondoVisione

PLY: Very interesting albeit more codification of what was de facto happening than a hugely new plan. Interesting to see what comes of this move, joining CME in the space – albeit with the latter seeking arguably more large in scale transformative plays it seems.

Private Markets

Saudi-Based IDB Targets 10 Percent Stake In Borsa Istanbul
Reuters

PLY: Interesting as really EBRD has to date been the only ‘western’ entity really putting in money (NASDAQ has stock as a barter for tech) after a lot of work on the part of BIST to find some cornerstone holders – now IDB is interested and presages perhaps a new chapter for not just BIST but perhaps regional exchanges too?

Turkey’s Borsa Istanbul Chairman Says Plans IPO In 2018
Gulfnews.com
PLY: A firmer date than heard of later. Good luck to BIST with its IPO.

Oslo Børs Taking Over Notc
All About Shipping

Oslo Børs acquired 50% of the share capital of NOTC AS in 2006 and has since co-owned the company with NSDA.

PLY: Oslo Bors acquires the other half of the Norwegian Securities Dealers Association platform for unlisted shares.

Bloomberg Is Taking A Shot At The New York Stock Exchange (Again)
Business Insider

PLY: Data charge bickering continues.

Market Making Activities In The Qatari Market To Be Launched During The 2nd Half Of 2017
MondoVisione

Sebi Vigilance Clears Its Officials In Mcx – SX License Grant Case
Livemint

Squawker Completes Launch Of Equity Finance Platform With Six Banks…
Finextra

Special Section: FTI, NSEL, India at the Crossroads

No news today.

Technology

TriOptima And CME Clearing Include First Client Cleared Trades In triReduce Mexican Peso Compression Cycle
MondoVisione

Products

White Sugar Options Start Trading In Zhengzhou
Shanghai Daily (subscription)

PLY: First Soybean meal on Dalian now White Sugar is the second commodity option in China.

Gold Trading Systems Experience Growing Pains
Bloomberg

Polish Power Traders Support TGE Proposal To Revive Liquidity
ICIS

Increasing the share of power production that energy firms are obliged to sell via an exchange would revive the flagging Polish electricity market.

NSE Allows F&O Trading In 16 Cos Including Mahanagar Gas
Business Standard

Career Paths

LME CEO Announcement On The Way?
Metalbulletin.com (subscription)

Charles Li, ceo of the LME’s owner, Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing (HKEX), is said to be in London for the meeting…

PLY: Squawker has added Ian Axe (former CEO LCH, now incoming CEO of Panmure Gordon) and Derek Bandeen as two new members to its Advisory Board.

Dash Financial Technologies Names Ari House Chief Financial Officer
MondoVisione

CloudMargin Appoints Laurence Jones, Marc Desanges As Sales Executives In New York, London
MondoVisione

Crowdfunding

SEC Ban Puts Brakes On Equity Crowdfunding In Nigeria – Report
Ventureburn

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Nigeria’s ban on equity crowdfunding “is seriously slowing down” the introduction of crowdfunding.