India burns corporate code in order to, well, burn FTIL. NSE looks to be doing a several step shuffle to eventually achieve own venue listing in keeping with global best practice (not that SEBI likes global best practice one little bit, it seems). MIFID II, that trojan horse of regulatory fiat looks set to be debated in parts once more – timeo sell-side and all that. Lots of interesting snippets as NASDAQ ended the week with a neat little acquisition to add to their department store offering.
In parish news, along with its rebrand to the International Commodities & Derivatives Association, the former SFOA is organising an interesting conference on the Blockchain in London April 19-20. I look forward to chairing a session at ICDA Blockchain 1, having seen the advantages of both sides of Bitcoin sometime in advance of many now flocking to the movement!
Happy scrolling:
Public Markets
Nasdaq To Acquire News Distribution Service, Marketwired
Street Insider
Nasdaq has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Marketwired, a leading global provider of news distribution services and analytics for communications professionals. The deal will be funded through a mix of debt and cash on hand and is expected to close in Q1 2016.
PLY: Interesting addition to the NASDAQ portfolio.
SEC Commits To Study PSE, PDS Merger Anew
Doris Dumlao-Abadilla – Inquirer
SEC aims to resolve within two months the proposed merger of the country’s stock and bond markets, deemed as a vital step to strengthening the local capital market infrastructure in a competitive global environment. QV Premium: PSE – PDEx Merger Brief.
PLY: The Philippine soap opera rolls on.
ICDA Announces Blockchain Conference – Understand The Business Opportunity Not Just The Technology
MondoVisione
PLY: April 19-20th, London, join me and a swathe of experts looking at the business side of the Blockchain for a dose of practicality alongside the fluffy nirvana stuff much hyped by the less analytical…
CFTC Designates NFA As A Recipient Of SDR Data
CFTC
CFTC
Kay Swinburne: ‘Approving Mifid Delay Won’t Be Just A Nod’ (subscription)
Tim Cave – Financial News
One of the European politicians responsible for rubber-stamping the one-year delay to an overhaul of EU trading rules has said the move could provide an opportunity to make limited changes to the reforms.
PLY: Battle recommences – which actually is a bad thing. Either do MIFID II or don’t MIFID II but every level of tinkering always weighs advantages to the more short-sighted on the sell side and does not benefit the market structure as a whole. The only way this can work is if we can untinker past stupidities – like block caps and other exercises pointlessly complexifying markets.
US – EU Financial Markets Regulatory Dialogue Joint Statement
MondoVisione
PLY: Further to last week’s “Phew!” on CCP equivalency, the Trans Atlantic dialogue is now a scheduled discussion platform so regulators can always be seen to be doing something. Presumably the Euronext regulatory caucus will host agreeable golf games when they’re all on the eastern side of the Atlantic and I expect the discussions will assiduously follow industry conference best practice (aka going to really pleasant sunny places like Florida in March).
Private Markets
Business Standard
National SE (NSE) is okay with listing on rival BSE if the exchange is required to make all mandatory information disclosures directly to SEBI or another body.
PLY: When the Indian exchanges fundamentally don’t trust each other, that is a huge worry but I think that interpretation is a red herring.This strikes me more as a means for NSE to keep fighting its case for self-listing as is common in quite financially sophisticated parts where even SEBI’s voluminous writ does not run. To that end, this looks like a two pronged move:
- Keep shareholders happy by getting listed….
- Use the third party disclosure to show that actually NSE ought to be self-listed and keep arguing this point until permitted to do so.
It’s a pity that the labyrinthine mess masquerading as Indian regulation doesn’t allow such flexibility in the first place.
Metropolitan SE Tweaks Transaction Charges
The Economic Times
Amid dwindling business volumes and a large number of brokers threatening to quit its platform, Metropolitan SE has revised transaction charges for currency derivatives trading.
PSX: Dar For Completion Of Divestment Process
Business Recorder
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar stressed the need for early completion of shares divestment process in Pakistan SE (PSX).
Namibia Economist
Plans by former Minister of Finance Mr. Helmut Angula and co-investors for a possible second bourse appear to have gone nowhere after the regulator in the non-banking sector, the Namibia Financial Institutions Supervisory Authority explained its reasons behind the refusal by the regulator to grant it permission.
PLY: It’s a pity to find that Namibia is apparently still locked in the old world of unresponsive monopolies.
Special Section: FTI, NSEL, India at the Crossroads
PLY: MCX up almost 2%, FTIL up 4% as India announces what amounts to an idiocy of fiat. It’s not that I have any sympathy with the FTIL management – they have in the past promised to pay for NSEL and they ought to have made more effort to sort the problem out by now. However, when arms of government pursue one case of wrongdoing by changing globally accepted corporate precept then that is a leap into the dark for corporate structure. An Indian company is now Limited only by whatever strictures the government may impose upon it according to bureaucrats’ whim. That’s a bit broader than most folks like their corporate governance.
Government Orders Merger Of NSEL With FTIL
The Economic Times
The government has ordered a merger of scam-hit NSEL with its parent FTIL, confirming the draft order passed more than a year ago.
FTIL Disappointed With NSEL Merger Order; To Challenge In Court
Business Standard
FTIL-NSEL Merger: 96% Objections ‘Orchestrated’, Says MCA
The Economic Times
Minority Investors May Gain From NSEL Merger With FTIL
The Economic Times
QV Premium: NSEL Scandal Brief – Part 16 and NSEL-FTIL Merger Brief.
Technology
TOCOM To Go-Live With New Trading System On September 20
MondoVisione
Products
Hopes Rise For Easing Of EU Bond Trading Rules (subscription)
Tim Cave & Mike Foster – Financial News
Hopes are rising that European rules that could reduce bond market liquidity will be eased, lessening the risk of the market seizing up…
Russia Presses On With Plans For Urals Crude Futures, Improving Pricing
Reuters
The Russian government has taken another step towards launching futures for its flagship Urals crude oil blend in an attempt to promote the grade and narrow the pricing gap with global benchmark Brent.
HK, Singapore Agree To Launch Gold Trading Link
EJ Insight
Hong Kong’s Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange Society and its counterpart in Singapore have reached a preliminary agreement to launch a direct link in the trading of the precious metal between the two cities. Steven Chan Sheung-chi, president of the exchange society, said the link will be launched in June at the earlies.
Career Paths
CITY A.M. reports that CEO Katherine Garrett-Cox will leave ATI on 11 March after months of discussion around her future at the company. It follows a major strategic review, which has already seen her step down from the board, after a showdown with activist investors Elliott Advisors.
Former LIFFE staffer Karin Forseke, Chairman of Alliance Trust, stepped down from her role on January 1.
Post Wind-Up Of Stock Exchange Employees’ Future At Stake
Business Standard
The disgruntled employees of Odisha Capital Market & Enterprises Ltd (OCMEL), a company formed after winding up of the Bhubaneswar Stock Exchange (BhSE), have sought the intervention of the Chairman cum managing-director of National Aluminium Company (Nalco).
Financial Calendar
This week
16.02 – ISE Mercury Launch
17.02 – DB1 Q4 2015 Results
17.02 – Euronext Q4 2015 Results
New! – 29.02 – ESMA Open Hearing On MAR Guidelines, from 10:00 to 12:30, in the Auditorium, ESMA, 103 rue de Grenelle, 75007 Paris.
ICDA Blockchain Conference…In the City of London in April 19-20, 2016.
All forthcoming exchange / investment related events are now listed in our Events page.
Crowdfunding
P2P Lender Harmoney Nears Launch of Australia Expansion
JD Alois – Crowdfund Insider
Harmoney, the first P2P lender in New Zealand, is readying for its jump over to Australia.
Other stories
BSE Institute Launches Online Financial Education Platform
Business Standard
BSE institute, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bombay SE, launched its online platform ‘bsevarsity.Com’ to promote education in the field of financial markets.