Welcome to Issue 914 commemorating perhaps the ugliest duckling Porsche ever created from the Volkswagen parts bin. I recall from my youth there was one hapless soul in Belfast who bought one… Seriously it had some merits (like reliable cheap VW parts and ‘styling’ which if you bent a fender you could just get the local farrier to work it back together for you). However, for this ‘design’ to be sandwiched circa mid way between 907 and 917, it does look dreadfully out of place…
In Video
FinTech, PLY, “Victory or Death” – view if you are interested in the future of finance!
In Today’s Exchange Invest
NSE IPO looks rather weak, new compression company raising funds, Liquidity Alliance expanding scope while some folks are betting on a Trump impeachment.
And there’s more, happy scrolling:
In BigWorld
So that’s all clear then, the hopey changey one delivered a final White House press conference which had blanket cable news coverage and left the curious viewer with a realisation that fake news is quasi-omnipresent on a rolling 24 hour schedule. Anyway the main takeaway was that apparently if you spill secrets as a contactor and flee to Russia this is bad. If you are Russian and you do the kinds of things America has habitually done (at the very least!) to influence overseas elections, this is downright evil. Whereas, if you are a uniformed employee of the military (with all employee right & benefits) and you realise you prefer being female while leaking secrets which exposes your fellow soldiers and many of your allies to exposure/death/torture, then that’s worthy of a pardon.
Call me old fashioned but I think I preferred it when the controversy concerned Marc Rich seeing his criminal record cleansed.
Public Markets
DB1-LSE Top Brass Have Away Day to Convince Hesse Blob
City A.M.
PLY: The Merger of Equal Desperation resulted in the ‘night of the long tongues’ in Wiesbaden the other day as the LSE’s execs talked and talked to convince Hesse Ministers et al that their HQ being in London didn’t impact the strength of Frankfurt – so presumably that all but confirms the diminution of London then as is standard M&A etiquette (sic).
‘Liquidity Alliance’ Builds Blockchain Solution For Cross-Border Collateral Transfer
Edmonton Journal
PLY: Interesting move, obligatory Blockchain deployment ticking the box too…
Bucharest Bourse President: Romania Needs A Sovereign Investment Fund
Romania-Insider.com
PLY: Nice idea in theory but given the sheer lack of corporate governance standards in Romania, the challenge is finding a way to have it run legitimately.
New CFTC Head To Ease March 1 Deadline For New Derivatives Rule
Reuters
Private Markets
BSE IPO: Low Pricing Alone Is Not Enough
Livemint
BSE IPO Leaves A Clutch Of Investors Disappointed; Here’s Why
Financial Express
The issue is priced at around 17 times adjusted earnings, far lower than Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd’s valuation of around 40 times…
PLY: Brutal discussion of the ongoing failings of BSE in the first article, while the second notes the hyper-salient point that returns to investors on the advertised IPO price may be as weak as circa 1% per annum.
SIX x-clear Further Extends Clearing Services To Nasdaq Nordic Markets
SIX
Sebi Considers NSE , BSE Plea On Self-Trading
Business Standard
PLY: Hopefully Sebi will see the folly of their protectionist ways. Not optimistic but one needs hope.
Exclusive: Fastmatch Lauches Dark Trading Venue Midmatch, Cuts Fees
Finance Magnates
Introducing new mid-point dark pool to address needs of specific clients.
Special Section: FTI, NSEL, India at the Crossroads
Nada.
Technology
NSE Conducted Live Trading From Disaster Recovery Site
Business Standard
National Stock Exchange ( NSE ) today said it has successfully completed a two-day live trading session from its Disaster Recovery (DR) site.
FX Swaps Start-Up LMRKTS In First Fundraising
Financial Times
PLY: The latest arrival in the Trade Compression industry pioneered by TriOptima.
Products
EEX To Extend Power Offering To Floor Futures As Well As Swiss Day And Weekend Futures
EEX
Derivatives Hold Incentive & Risk
VietNamNet Bridge
Investor sentiment in Vietnam has been riding high in recent months in anticipation of the opening of the first derivatives market in the country.
Career Paths
Lone Republican Commissioner Looks To Head CFTC
Financial Times
Meanwhile as the SEC looks to have enough staff to turn the lights on as the Trump Presidency begins, the latest departures are General Counsel Anne K Small and Deputy Chief of Staff Nathaniel Stankard.
Bahrain Bourse Elects Abdulkareem Bucheeri As Chairman
CPI Financial
Crowdfunding
Report: Crowdfunding Delivers More Cash to Business than UK Startup Loan Scheme
Crowdfund Insider
PLY: Further proof government needs to leave organisation to the private sector – a key issue for the interventionist Mrs May in the UK going forward methinks.
Other Stories
EBA And ESMA Call To Clarify Margin Requirements Between CRR And EMIR
EBA
Keynote Remarks Of CFTC Chairman Timothy Massad At SEFCON VII
Keynote Address Of CFTC Commissioner J. Christopher Giancarlo At SEFCON VII – Making Market Reform Work For America
MondoVisione
Brexit Blamed For Fuelling Frankfurt House Price Hikes
Irish Independent
PLY: And which brokers are the world’s least regulated? Oh yes, real estate agents…
People Are Already Betting on Trump Being Impeached
The Daily Dot
Over at PredictIt (which is a prediction market rather than a gambling site, if you want to split hairs), Trump’s odds of making it through his first 100 days …
PLY: And where is the index for that? Oh hold on a moment…here it is!
Thanks for all the excellent feedback on commutes, greeting from a delightfully warm and sunny Malta winter’s day…
Thanks as always for reading Exchange Invest and have a great day.
Best wishes,
Patrick
Patrick L Young
Executive Director DV Advisors