I am delighted to welcome a new sponsor to the parish today: Perfect Channel. If you have even the remotest aspiration to add an auction angle to your platform, Perfect Channel are the experts in every means to get folks bidding. Fascinating technology which I think can only play a greater role in markets of all kinds in the near future…
In events, lots happening: FESE Convention, Malta, 15/16th June. I’m chairing a panel on CMU-related topics and looking forward to the event: Book Here. Also on the CMU theme, September 15th, InterContinental Hotel, Warsaw. First CEE CMU Capital Markets Summit, chaired by me, Patrick L Young. Latest confirmed speakers are market structure gurus Jacek Kubas and Hannes Takacs from the EBRD.
Please note that due to the confluence of Pan European Day of Indolence – where they celebrate the political ideology closest to the Death Star (aka it always blows up but some stubborn folk keep rebuilding it)…alongside the much more just holiday of Orthodox Easter, not to mention a UK Bank Holiday… Monday looks like a “meh” day for publishing Exchange Invest. The industry newsletter will return Tuesday.
(I am in the office Monday but will be out this afternoon as it’s my final lecture of my Nicolaus Copernicus University course on “Entrepreneurships & Startups”).
If you’re at a loss Monday, don’t forget to watch the Twix video clarifying CCP anti trust in 2 minutes, or me with the excellent Katie Pilbeam discussing The mystery of TTIP on News.Markets.
Have a great weekend – and Happy Easter!
Public Markets
CME
vs Q1 2015: total revenues USD 934.2m, up 10.8%, operating income USD 573.9m, up 13.1%, net income USD 367.8, up 11.3%.
PLY: Good numbers.
CME Sees $5 mln Savings A Year From Shutting NY Floor
Reuters
Savings will begin in 2017 and could include another $3 million a year if CME subleases the floor space as planned, CFO John Pietrowicz told analysts.
PLY: A handy bounty to the Chicago parent. I will miss the NYMEX floor which I still recall being thrown off for being a potentially seditious influence spreading the word on digital markets in the wake of “Capital Market Revolution!” being published…
WSE
vs Q1 2015: sales revenue PLN 81m (USD 21m), down 8%, profit PLN 26.3m (USD 6.8m), down 31.4%.
PLY: Frankly given that the government decapitated the C-suite (again!) and everybody is worried that the ‘new’ government is even less economically capable than the previous kleptocrats and has abandoned privatisation, preferring to increase the size of the state’s influence, what else could we expect? Government needs to embrace free markets, not microwaved Marxism – that’s a maxim all of Eastern Europe needs to follow right now.
MondoVisione
vs Q1 2015: operating revenues NOK 226.6m (USD 28m), flat, EBITDA NOK 107.2m (USD 13.2m), up 1.5%, earnings NOK 47.8m (USD 5.9m), down 32%.
MondoVisione
vs Q1 2015: total operating revenue NZD 18m (USD 12.5m), up 9.6%.
PLY: Again NZX impresses with steady growth.
NZX: Ralec Litigation Update
MondoVisione
The High Court trial in relation to the Ralec proceedings is due to commence next week.
ICE’s Acquisition Of Trayport Faces Referral For In-Depth CMA (antitrust) Investigation
MondoVisione
Discussed yesterday.
QV Premium: Exchange Deals Brief.
CFO: DB1 Hasn’t Decided How To Use ISE Sale Proceeds
Reuters
PLY: i.e. He’s waiting to hear from LSE counterbidders how they expect him to spend it. If others bid (who knows!) that ought to reduce the cash pile overnight. Still not sure anybody will by the way and it’s probably about even money between ICE on LSE and CME on DB1, if anybody does.
Summary Of BME 2016 General Shareholders´ Meeting
MondoVisione
Markit & ISDA Seek To Settle EU Antitrust Probe On CDS
Bloomberg
…with pledges to change licensing arrangements.
High-Speed Trading Backlash Ramps Up Pressure On Sebi
Livemint
Sebi is coming under increased pressure to improve its oversight of high-speed trading after allegations of unfair access at the nation’s biggest equity bourse.
PLY: Gosh an entirely analogue regulator with a love of bureaucracy found itself in the midst of a bleeding edge digital revolution – what could possibly ever go wrong?
Private Markets
Global Exchanges Eye Rejig Via BSE IPO
Business Standard
SGX which currently owns 4.75% stake in BSE is looking at offloading its stake, while DB1 is keen on raising its stake from 4.75% at present to 15%.
PLY: Given their extensive tech cooperation it is unsurprising DB1 are looking to raise their stake in BSE which has transformed from an analogue sleepy hollow reminiscent of a scene from the classic film “Modern Times” to a proper technologically driven market in recent years.
KRX Awaits Greenlight For Holding Firm Plan
The Korea Herald
KRX is keenly awaiting the enactment of the revised Capital Market Act in order to realize its plan to go public and become a financial holding company as part of its efforts to bolster global competitiveness.
Dividend News
BME will distribute a gross €0.93 supplementary dividend, which will be effective on May 6, record date May 5.
Special Section: FTI, NSEL, India at the Crossroads
PLY: MCX is flat to small up, FTIL flat.
Technology
LME Launches Warehouse Electronic Tracking System To Avert Fraud
Eric Onstad – Reuters
LMEshield provides electronic receipts as proof of ownership for stored metal, with the capacity to give security for tens of millions of tonnes of material outside LME’s own network of registered warehouses.
Millennium Exchange Release 9.1 Oslo Børs – Timeline
MondoVisione
PLY: Meanwhile, I am still digesting last week’s remarkable dumping of their incoming CSD provider Percival by Oslo, that has reverberated around the parish all week.
Russia’s NSD Tests Blockchain-based E-Proxy Voting Prototype
Maria Nikolova – LeapRate
NSD has successfully finished developing and testing an e-proxy voting system running on a distributed ledger. Prototype based on NXT distributed cryptographic platform using ISO 20022 international standard for messaging. NSD has been collaborating with DSX Technologies on the project.
PLY: Swift appear to have been as silent as a wide mouthed frog perfecting its camouflaged speech in recent days – I wonder why?
Products
Derivatives Houses To Open Accounts With Federal Reserve (subscription)
Gregory Meyer & Philip Stafford – Financial Times
Derivatives brokers choosing where to park their margin money will now have the option of the world’s most powerful central bank.
PLY: Inevitable and logical – Fed having more firmly ‘intermediated’ into the CCP system post Lehman, it is only logical they will give a window to park house cash from GCMs into the Fed system.
Euronext Expands ETF Activity to London
Euronext
Euronext has extended its range of ETF listing and trading venues to London, enabling ETF issuers to access the UK investor base alongside its existing Eurozone trading and distribution network.
PLY: Logical incremental move.
How Shanghai Trading Is Changing The Physical Nickel Market
Andy Home – Reuters
This year has seen an unprecedented surge of trading volumes and open interest in Chinese markets as institutional and retail investors pour money into commodities.
CSRC Orders Major Commodities Exchanges To Control Futures Speculation
Xiaowen Bi – Reuters
In response, commodity futures exchanges in Dalian, Shanghai and Zhengzhou ordered major institutional investors that lack a commodities background to rein in their trading.
QV Premium: China Capital Markets Transformation Brief – Main File.
CBOE Livevol Launches New Data Shop Website
PR Newswire
CBOE launched a new website, CBOE Livevol Data Shop, which offers clients a full suite of uniquely customizable market data sets.
TMX Insights Launches Fixed Income Terms & Conditions (FITC) Service.
TMX
FTSE Russell: New Suite Of US ETF Reference & Analytics Data Available From XTF
MondoVisione
Indexes
FTSE Russell: Innovative New Index Supports Investors Seeking To Divest Fossil Fuels & Invest In The Green Economy
MondoVisione
Career Paths
London Metal Man Apurv Bagri Beats HK Fund Manager To HKEX Board (subscription)
Enoch Yiu – SCMP
Metdist head Apurv Bagri won the vacant HKEX board seat defeating local hedge fund manager and Occupy Central supporter Edward Chin Chi-kin, despite small shareholders’ criticism of the way the bourse openly sided with Bagri. (PLY: delivering an overwhelming victory to Bagri: 96% in favour of his election).
Mr Oscar Wong retired from the BoD of HKEX after the conclusion of the AGM. Mr Apurv Bagri was elected for a term of not more than approximately 3 years until the conclusion of the AGM to be held in 2019.
Changes in Bats team: Stacie Fleming, based in Bats’ Kansas City global HQ since joining in 2010, is heading to London in mid-June while Hannah Randall, who joined in London in 2013 is moving to New York in late July/early August.
PLY: It will be interesting to meet Stacie Fleming in London while hearty congratulations to the brilliant Hannah Randall who has forged a career for herself through excellent communications efficiency – a chip off the old block who will be a great addition to the NY office of Bats.
JPX Group, its subsidiaries Tokyo SE, Osaka Exchange, & Japan Exchange Regulation have nominated candidates for directors, etc. JPX and its subsidiaries will put forth the following candidates for approval at their respective annual meetings on June 21, 2016.
Liquidnet appointed Thierry Sciard as a NED to the board of Liquidnet Europe. Most recently Thierry was Managing Principal at StormHarbour Partners.
PLY: I wish Thierry Sciard every success in the board seat I occupied until my term expired in January last year.
Financial Calendar
New! – 15-16.06 – FESE Convention 2016 – Malta
All forthcoming exchange / investment related events are now listed in our Events page.
Share Notes
Oslo Børs VPS Holding ASA has 28 April bought 15,000 own shares at a price of NOK 91. After this transaction, Oslo Børs VPS Holding holds 17,280 shares in the company.
Crowdfunding
RBI Releases Consultation Paper On P2P Lending, Wants To Classify It As NBFC
Economic Times
With a view to regulating the nascent P2P market, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday published a consultation paper that looks to classify P2P as an NBFC, sets the minimum capital requirement at Rs 2 crore (USD 300k), allow a platform to operate only as an intermediary and proposes that no entity other than a company can undertake this activity.
PLY: Some steps forward here.
Other stories
CME Fines, Bars Two UAE Futures Traders Over ‘Spoofing’
Reuters
The Chicago-based futures exchange operator fined traders Nasim Salim $100,000 and Heet Khara $90,000, and permanently barred both from its markets for placing orders in gold and silver futures contracts last year.
FINRA Issues First Cross-Market Report Cards Covering Spoofing & Layering
MondoVisione
PLY: Report cards made available to members…one step more and things go transparent.
Bahrain, Egypt Bourses Sign Dual Listing Deal
Zawya