News emanating from the ongoing DB1 takeover of LSE negotiations appear precisely in line with what I have been telling clients to expect – Brydon Chairman, Kengeter CEO, London likely HQ (I discussed that potential trajectory in Premium 2 years ago). In order to spare you, I have pared down the LSE-DB1 stories. None of the coverage is particularly insightful and a lot of it is flat out dross (well it’s LSE so the more general media is sharing their ignorance with us). No point wasting your time including it. I am meanwhile “Flying a Kite” in Premium.
Most exciting news of the day imho is the launch of a new product & a whole new acronym: CPCs; which debut in Moscow. Neither “C” stands for “catnip” or “cream” but that’s how this product could turn out for banks and exchanges, respectively.
Best hire of the month goes to Irish Stock Exchange whose CEO Deirdre Somers has secured the board tenure of former SEC Commissioner Dan Gallagher – a cracking appointment which filled my heart with joy. Dan will be a brilliant addition to the ISE board and a huge asset going forward for management and the company alike – fantastic news!
Public Markets
WSE
vs 2014: sales revenue PLN 327.9 mln (USD 82.6 mln), up 3.2%, profit PLN 123.7 mln (USD 31.15 mln), up 10%.
Management Board report, Management Board’s Statements.
PLY: Warsaw lucky to be fairly flat in revenue given government flux while the outgoing management did very well keeping costs under better control to deliver great results given the ongoing economic vandalism practised by micromanaging incompetents masquerading as governments. Departed Chairman Wieslaw Rozlucki & outgoing CEO Pawel Tamborski must be applauded for their leaving with remarkably good results given the challenging circumstances, particularly in the aftermath of the theft of half the private pension funds by the previous governmental regime.
Carsten Kengeter To Be CEO Of Combined LSE-DB1 (subscription)
Eyk Henning, Shayndi Raice & David Wighton – Wall Street Journal
PLY: As expected (if you didn’t hear me saying that already, clearly you weren’t paying…) LSE incumbent Donald Brydon, expected to Chair the new entity (discussed yesterday) with the Merged European exchange holding company expected to be based in London. QV Premium content.
LSE – DB1 Merger Plan A Challenge For HKEx (subscription)
Enoch Yiu – SCMP
PLY: Slight hysteria in HK as they grapple for an angle and remember that UK Finance Minister Osborne made some flannel about a London-Shanghai link several months back. Not that anything Osborne ever says is reliable so probably nothing to see here, move along please…
MondoVisione
PLY: Petitioners Susquehanna International Group, LLP, KCG Holdings, Inc., BATS Global Markets, Inc., BOX Options Exchange LLC, and Miami International Securities Exchange, LLC lose again.
MondoVisione
Commodity Exchanges, Brokers Hopeful Of Reduction In CTT, New Products
Ankit Doshi – Livemint
Rate of CTT may be lowered to 0.001-0.005% in the Finance Bill from the current 0.01% to shore up volumes.
Private Markets
OANDA Acquires TradeStation Forex Accounts
MondoVisione
OANDA to acquire all of the forex accounts of IBFX, Inc. (a/k/a TradeStation Forex), the forex dealer firm subsidiary of TradeStation Group, as it exits the forex dealer business.
Special Section: FTI, NSEL, India at the Crossroads
PLY: FTIL bounces 1.5% after yesterday’s sell-off while MCX is flat.
Technology
SGX Goes Live With Millennium PostTrade
LSE
MillenniumIT has successfully implemented its Millennium PostTrade platform to support SGX’s Central Depository’s (CDP) business.
DB1 Launches FinTech Initiative In Frankfurt
DB1
PLY: Localised municipal programme for Frankfurt PR it seems.
HFT Firms Plan Second 1,000-Foot Tower In Kent (subscription)
James Rundle – Financial News
KCG and Jump Trading want to build a giant communications mast in rural England, a mile away from a rival’s planned tower that has already drawn objection from local residents.
PLY: Classic HFT strategy, just when the heat is on, double down…
Products
Maijoor Says Transparency Won’t Hurt Bond Liquidity
Reuters
MOEX To Offer A New Type Of Security – Clearing Participation Certificate
MondoVisione
PLY: Very interesting: CPCs are universal collateral for repo transactions. I am sure Istanbul amongst others will be watching their progress very carefully, as anything which facilitates longer repo durations is catnip to bankers & cream for exchanges.
MondoVisione
MondoVisione
PLY: Good move by BIST as the product base expands in agri-commodities.
TMX
…an integrated set of capabilities that provide financial content, tools and applications, as well as capital markets analytics.
Career Paths
Business Post reports that Dan Gallagher, a former Commissioner of SEC, has been appointed as a NED of the Irish SE.
PLY: Brilliant news & a great boost for both Dan & the ISE alike…and indeed the exchange parish overall.
Bats promoted Tony Barchetto to EVP, Head of Corporate Development.
LSEG appointed Lars Asplund as Global Head of Product Management and Marc Barrachin as Global Head of Fixed Income Product Management for the Group’s Information Services division. They will be based in New York. Mr. Asplund will report to Mark Makepeace, LSEG’s group head of Information Services & CEO of FTSE Russell. Mr. Barrachin will report to Asplund.
Daily Times reports that SECP has appointed independent directors on the board of Pakistan SE (PSX). Muneer Kamal, who has served as Chairman of former Karachi SE (KSE) since 2011-2015, has been reappointed. Other independent directors appointed: Moin M Fudda, Tawfiq Asghar Hussain, Muhammad Naeem, Rahat Kaunain Hassan and Samir Ahmed.
Financial Calendar
25.02 – CFTC’s Energy & Environmental Markets Advisory Committee – agenda.
26.02 – Record date TMX $0.40 dividend
New! – 03.03 – CFTC Public Roundtable Regarding the Residual Interest Deadline
All forthcoming exchange / investment related events are now listed in our Events page.
Analyst Notes
A full table of current analysis can be found on our Analyst Ratings page which is updated daily.
Other stories
HK’s SFC Concludes On Expanding Scope Of Short Position Reporting
MondoVisione
ISDA Publishes Principles For US/EU Trading Platform Recognition
MondoVisione
PLY: Logical ISDA approach, follow the IOSCO principles and emphasise the similarities… That could all sound far too sensible for the Balkanised Trans-Atlantic regulators. How this recognition progresses will serve as good proof of just how much of a new leaf they have turned over in their recently charged and counterproductive relationship.