ICE will end the year having closed two acquisitions in quick succession. Clearing the decks for some serious deals in 2016?
EBRD completes 10% investment in BIST as Istanbul eyes a large Pakistan exchange stake. Welcome to Monday’s Exchange Invest, happy scrolling:
Public Markets
ICE Completes Acquisition Of Trayport
Business Wire
ICE completed its acquisition of Trayport from BGC Partners & GFI for approx $650 million, approx 2.5 million ICE common shares.
PLY: Last week I was impressed with the speed of conclusion of the IDC transaction. The Trayport acquisition announced November 16, 2015, has been closed even faster. Are ICE just focussed on year end clearing? Well I wouldn’t bet on it. The New year could yet bring a lot of pent up deal flow. (Presumably LSE will continue to dream of an ICE acquisition, although I am not sure that is top of the list for The ICE). QV Premium: Exchange Deals Brief.
EBRD Acquires 10% Stake In BIST
MondoVisione
EBRD & Borsa İstanbul (BIST) have agreed Friday to the acquisition by EBRD of a 10% shareholding in the stock exchange. QV Premium: Exchange Deals Brief 2.
PLY: Finally a fully completed deal in the original ‘cornerstone’ round where no other funds appear to have invested – or at least so far…albeit over a year after the process began.
FXCM Releases Statement on Ongoing Discussions With Leucadia & Stock Repurchase Program
GLOBE NEWSWIRE
Discussions ongoing, no assurances of a definitive agreement.
In addition, as previously stated, FXCM’s BoD has authorized a stock repurchase program of up to $130 million, of which $65.8 million remains. QV Premium: FXCM Stakes Sales Brief.
Plus500 Resumes Onboarding Clients Through FCA Regulated Unit
Victor Golovtchenko – Finance Magnates
PLY: As I mentioned Friday. QV Premium: Plus500 Turmoil & Deal – Brief – Part 2.
EU Extends Capital Grace Period For Banks Using U.S. Clearers
Huw Jones – Reuters
EU’s executive body has postponed for the fourth time imposing tougher capital requirements on banks from the EU that pass derivatives through non-EU clearing houses.
The six-month extension runs to 15 June, 2016.
U.S. Regulators Weigh Limiting Funds’ Use Of derivatives
Reuters
SEC Proposes New Derivatives Rules for Registered Funds & Business Development Companies
SEC
JSE CEO: It’s Ordinary South Africans Who Will Suffer
BDlive
The plunge in the value of investments on the JSE in the two days after President Jacob Zuma fired finance minister Nhlanhla Nene will have a longer term effect on the stability of the economy…
PLY: An air of turmoil in ZA after a long period of hyper-average government.
IEX Wants Buyside In Its Corner For ‘David vs Goliath Fight’ (subscription)
Tim Cave – Financial News
IEX Group, has called on buyside firms to petition regulators to back its regulatory application.
More about IEX here.
HKEx Guidance Letter On Trading Halts In Securities Of Listed Issuers
HKEx
CFTC Quizzes Clearing Banks Over Leverage-Cutting Tactic (subscription)
Fiona Maxwell – Risk
Banks that found a way to remove billions of dollars of cash from their balance sheets have been sent a list of questions by CFTC. The tactic is used to reduce the impact of the leverage ratio on clearing businesses.
Clearstream: Statement On Agreement Reached On New T2S Migration Plan
MondoVisione
ESMA Consults On Margin Period Of Risk For CCPs’ Client Accounts
MondoVisione
ESMA Consults On Improved Access To Trade Repository Data
MondoVisione
Private Markets
India Trade Body Partners BSE For First Physical Gold Exchange
Reuters
The Mumbai-based India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA) will hold 70% of the planned gold exchange (reported last week), while BSE will own the remainder, said Saurabh Gadgil, a VP at the trade body.
Pakistan SE To Become Operational From December 28
Kazim Alam – Tribune
With the merger of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, a single platform, the Pakistan SE (PSE) will become operational from December 28. QV Premium: Pakistan Exchanges Merger Brief.
BIST Shows Interest In Pakistan SE
Pakistan Today
Borsa Istanbul (BIST) has shown interest in the acquisition of 40% strategic stake in the upcoming Pakistan SE.
Kuwait Bourse Company To Manage KSE In April
Kuwait Times
Kuwait Bourse Company will begin managing the Kuwait SE (KSE) as of April 25.
India – The Exchange-Listing Impasse
Lokeshwarri SK – The Hindu Business Line
If SEBI really wants stock exchanges to list, it should stop putting hurdles in their way.
PLY: Yip yip & thrice yip.
New Clues Suggest Craig Wright, Suspected Bitcoin Creator, May Be A Hoaxer
Andy Greenberg – Wired
When Wired named Craig Wright last week as the most likely suspect to be Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious creator of bitcoin…
Special Section: FTI, NSEL, India at the Crossroads
PLY: MCX down 2.5% while FTIL is apparently in the stratosphere up nearly 18%! (Unclear why, as we race to pixel).
Technology
Algorithms Will Manage Trillions Of Dollars In A Few Years—Thanks To Millennials
Ian Kar – Quartz
The US robo-advising industry could balloon to $5-$7 trillion assets under management (AUM) by 2025.
Products
HKEx Launches Second Round Of Mini Metals Contracts
Reuters
Russia To Launch Own Crude Benchmark In 2016
RT
PLY: SPIMEX prepares Russian benchmark.
SGX To Cut Freight Clearing Fee In 2016 (subscription)
Luke Jeffs – FOW
China Launches New Yuan Index To Sway Markets Away From Yuan-Dollar Focus
Reuters
MondoVisione
ASIC Implements Clearing Regime In Australia For OTC Derivatives
MondoVisione
Financial Calendar
14.12 – Record date NASDAQ $0.25 quarterly dividend
14.12 – Interactive Brokers $0.10 quarterly dividend payment
15.12 – Thomson Reuters $0.335 quarterly dividend payment
16.12 – Record date ICE $0.75 dividend
16.12 – CFTC – Open Commission Meeting (press release)
18.12 – CBOE $0.23 quarterly cash dividend payment
New! 25.01.2016 – ESMA Open Hearing For Validation And Review Of CRA Methodologies (press release)
All forthcoming exchange / investment related events are now listed in our Events page.
Crowdfunding
Finextra
P2P lender Zopa is reportedly planning another round of fundraising that could see its valuation exceed £500 million.
California Opens Inquiry Into Marketplace Lending Industry
Noah Buhayar – Bloomberg
Other stories
Statement At Open Meeting, SEC Chair Mary Jo White, Dec. 11, 2015
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